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- Narpy
- Member Since: 30 Apr 2025
- Location: Stockport
- Posts: 98
Following on from the battery lug posts, I have today completed the Ctek connector install and it fits nicely through the grill, which required a little grinding to fit the battery connector but it works a treat and looks ok too. I’ve just got to remember to push it through if I ever need to remove the grille.
Regarding fitting poly bushes all round, there was a general rule of thinking amongst D3 + 4 owners that it wasn’t recommended due to the total change in ride characteristics. The change was so drastic that many owners changed back to OE bushes and the practice was not whole heartedly recommended as I recall. Proceed with caution as you’ll probably be pioneering the practice in the UK anyway.
Last edited by Narpy on 2nd Aug 2025 1:12 pm. Edited 1 time in total -
- Mole HD
- Member Since: 18 Nov 2024
- Location: Orkney Islands
- Posts: 306
I like that...where's my Dremel?
Narpy wrote:
...Regarding fitting poly bushes all round, there was a general rule of thinking amongst D3 + 4 owners that it wasn’t recommended due to the total change in ride characteristics. The change was so drastic that many owners changed back to OE bushes and the practice was not whole heartedly recommended as I recall. Proceed with caution as you’ll probably be pioneering the practice in the UK anyway.
Polybushes are really made with the 'performance' road car tuners in mind...and they're very good at giving a sharper, firmer ride. I was more tempted by the durability factor than any thoughts of skipping gaily into tight corners with my baseball cap on back to front...
I suppose someone has to try them somewhere along the road before it's a yay or nay for the D5 on Polybushes...or even heavier 4x4's in general...
As they are, they're only a remote wishlist thing for me...I'd perhaps give it a go at some point to test the waters if nobody else fits a set to try them out... but it's a fair bit of spannering work and a load of shekels to fork out to then discover the Bling Barge handles like a 3 ton Renault Clio
I guess I'll wait until some other enthusiastic muppet with a load of spanners tries them out first.
Atque in perpetuum, frater. Ave atque vale -
- Narpy
- Member Since: 30 Apr 2025
- Location: Stockport
- Posts: 98
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More pointless blingy bit sorted today. I decided to spray the lower front tow cover. It just looked a bit grey so I sprayed it bumper black and I reckon it looks better. You can only see the forward edge once it’s fitted to the car so I made certain this looked good before refitting it.
Here’s the before + after pics:
It’s a very subtle change and you’d need to know to spot it, but I just think it works.
Having said that, my skills with a rattle can in the garden paint shop are not good enough to attempt the rear tow cover, which has a big area visible if it goes wrong.😳
That tow cover is a big part when it’s off the car too.😜 -
- Mole HD
- Member Since: 18 Nov 2024
- Location: Orkney Islands
- Posts: 306
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The front bash plate is actually a lot bigger than the rear tow trim cover despite the visible surface area. A rattle can is perfectly fine for the rear tow trim plate... Just pop it off and stick it in a vice is the easiest way to make sure you've got good, even coverage...if you get a run or 2, just wipe the run off off with some white spirit and respray that little section.
It's only a plastic panel so it's not like you're having to add 7 coats of lacquer to it or anything
I only used my compressor and airbrush because I find it easier to use than a rattle can. I used to do a bit of amateur hour doodling on mates bikes for a beer token type of hobby...plus I had the premixed black stove paint already in the can after spraying a rebuilt engine on my neighbour's quad.
Atque in perpetuum, frater. Ave atque vale -
- Narpy
- Member Since: 30 Apr 2025
- Location: Stockport
- Posts: 98
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- Mole HD
- Member Since: 18 Nov 2024
- Location: Orkney Islands
- Posts: 306
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Ach, my doodling on bike tanks and mudguards was never show quality or anything professional. I did about half a dozen or so over the same amount of years, all one-offs, never signed any of my work or anything. It started off with other mates with bikes liking the paint job I did on my own bike and being tolerant enough to let me practice vandalizing their pride and joy...they even paid me for it
I've always been in awe of what you do now, I watched a guy on the Repair Shop BBC program rebuilding and repairing stained glass door panels and windows, I found the process absolutely fascinating...considering the techniques involved have changed very little in hundreds of years. Pure craftmanship at it's very best.
Isn't retirement strange though, when you end up rediscovering a love of creativity far removed from what you did as a form of employment?...And some folks still insist that retirement is boring and don't know what to do with themselves...
Last edited by Mole HD on 20th Aug 2025 2:08 pm. Edited 1 time in total
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- Mole HD
- Member Since: 18 Nov 2024
- Location: Orkney Islands
- Posts: 306
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Back on topic though...my recently purchased black plastic door rubbing strip thingies arrived yesterday but the weather was still too wild and wet to go fit them on...hoping for some nice weather over the next few days...or at least weather where everything isn't moving horizontally and very quickly. I couldn't even open my workshop doors it was so wild
Atque in perpetuum, frater. Ave atque vale -
- Narpy
- Member Since: 30 Apr 2025
- Location: Stockport
- Posts: 98
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- Mole HD
- Member Since: 18 Nov 2024
- Location: Orkney Islands
- Posts: 306
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Quote:
Sometimes you’ve gotta do a job because you like it and not for the financial rewards, I think that’s the same in any line of work.
Amen to that
I really like the Repair Shop, they showcase craftmanship and old fashioned tradesmanship with everything they do...From Steve with his clock tinkering and Suzy with her leather work and saddler skills...to the book binding dude with his Japanese paper...
All those tactile skills are sadly dying out having largely been replaced by automated machinery, so it's nice to see them represented as they once were. I'm a huge fan of watching folk working with their hands doing something they obviously love.
I haven't once met a proper carpenter who didn't run his hands over a piece of wood rather than just look at it
Last edited by Mole HD on 28th Aug 2025 8:00 pm. Edited 1 time in total
Atque in perpetuum, frater. Ave atque vale -
- Mole HD
- Member Since: 18 Nov 2024
- Location: Orkney Islands
- Posts: 306
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On a completely different tack but tied to the remote app...checking my longest journey of the last week...it seems we're short of roads on this isolated rock. Points A and B are both of the local shops with a spin around the north-eastern end of the island for fun
Atque in perpetuum, frater. Ave atque vale -
- Narpy
- Member Since: 30 Apr 2025
- Location: Stockport
- Posts: 98
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- Mole HD
- Member Since: 18 Nov 2024
- Location: Orkney Islands
- Posts: 306
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- Narpy
- Member Since: 30 Apr 2025
- Location: Stockport
- Posts: 98
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- Mole HD
- Member Since: 18 Nov 2024
- Location: Orkney Islands
- Posts: 306
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Aye, a bunch of shysters, the lot of them.
Stranger than that...when I rang up about my last renewal quote...the girlie on the end of the phone, although she couldn't officially 'advise' me.... told me that I could get a cheaper quote (dropped the price from £565 to £485 per year) if I said the Bling Barge was parked overnight on my driveway rather than in a secured garage...
I did tell her that besides that being a completely nonsensical statement... our farmhouse has a huge enclosed courtyard with several secured outbuildings and worksheds... and my 'driveway' is half a mile long... Car insurance companies really only see what fits in the tick boxes on an anonymous form...then they see Land Rover Discovery and your postcode and quote a 3 or 4 figure number of their chosing
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- ajac
- Member Since: 20 Jul 2025
- Location: Shakespeare's County
- Posts: 29
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