Getting the Disco how I like it

[thermidorthelobster]

I've been having a bit of a fiddle with the Disco to get it just how I want it.

I've refitted my CB (see elsewhere for details).

I've also fitted a set of spotlights, and a worklight.  The spotlights were from Brookwells, but one has the cover on, because unfortunately it arrived with a crack across the lens, so it's only there temporarily while they ship a replacement.  These Ring spotlights have an up/down direction, and naturally, I wanted them to hang down, making the lenses upside down, so I had to remove all the lenses from the reflectors, turn them upside down and silicone them back again.

The wiring for the spotlights and the worklight comes from a relay & fuse box in the engine bay, and I ran the cable up the A-post next to the windscreen, underneath the plastic surround.  This is a really neat solution, or at least it will be once I figure out how to get the windscreen surround back on;  currently one of the clips isn't engaging, and the wind howls through it like a banshee.

I wired 3 relays under the bonnet.  One is for the horn I just fitted (see below), one is for the work light, and the third for the spotlights.  They're all separately fused on a dedicated circuit that runs straight from the battery.

The horn isn't really in a totally ideal place, but you try fitting a horn that length anywhere it's not going to fill up with water!  I just managed to shoehorn it in where the ACE gear would be if I had ACE.  I patched in to the existing horn wiring in the engine bay fuse box, and used a live feed from the OEM horn relay to trigger a separate relay.  It works fine;  the OEM horn is still fully functional and I can disable my train horn very easily by pulling a fuse if I need to.

[thermidorthelobster]

Inside the cab, I've properly wired in my 400W pure sine wave inverter, under the passenger seat (no picture).  I've also fitted a 4-way cigarette lighter adapter, and a USB hub, which runs off a constant voltage circuit I built myself.  To power these and a couple of other things, I fitted an additional fuse box next to the main one underneath the steering wheel (see picture).  This now has spare fuses for other things, plus another decent dedicated feed straight from the battery.  I've also put in an earthing block which runs straight to the battery (right of the picture).  The relay shown uses a feed from the cigarette lighter socket to energise, and switches the supply to the cigarette adapter and USB hub, so they only run when the ignition is on.  The spare spades on the relay are for when I run a bypass switch to constantly energise the relay, so I'll be able to leave them running when the ignition's on, on the few occasions I need to.

I've fitted an iPod adapter, which replaces the CD autochanger.  The cradle is on the top of the dash and you can drop an iPod / iPhone straight in and play / charge it simultaneously.  The cradle is a universal Apple dock, so it will work with any iPod, and it has a separate remote control.  Because it feeds directly into the head unit (instead of through an FM modulator), the sound quality is awesome.

To switch the spotlights and work light, I didn't want to fit clumsy-looking generic switches, so I've adapted 2 cruise control switches and mounted them upside-down on the left side of the binnacle.  The LED telltales work when the spots / worklight are on, and they're independent of the ignition, so you can leave the worklight on if you want.  They're also illuminated when the headlamps are on, which keeps the whole thing looking nice.  You can see some of the cabling from this next to the new fuse box, and yes, that is Cat 6 network cable I'm using!

The only thing left to do is replace that relay, as it was supplied U/S;  for the moment it's just a way of keeping those cables tidy.  Then I just need to fit my winch, and job's a good un.

[thermidorthelobster]

Reattaching the CB picture as for some reason it won't fit into the above post.

[lee celtic]

Looks very neat...

I have the same sort of box under the bonet with the lamp wiring in it but I ran a three way switch to the dash so the exiter wire on the relay for the roof lamps can have feed from the high beam wires to the head lights or take a direct feed from the battery so you can switch them on independantly or center the switch and take them out of the lighting system for road use...

I had my lights hanging down but I changed the light bar to put them up wish I haddn't broke two already :roll:

Keep up the good work (always looking for ideas) ;)

[thermidorthelobster]

but I ran a three way switch to the dash so the exiter wire on the relay for the roof lamps can have feed from the high beam wires to the head lights or take a direct feed from the battery so you can switch them on independantly or center the switch and take them out of the lighting system for road use...

That was Plan A, but in the end I couldn't quite be bothered;  however I've left some spare strands of Cat 6 cable going through the bulkhead, so it would be dead easy to add in.  In fact I could do it with two bits of wire and a switch.  Shame I've run out of spare binnacle switch sockets, I could have done it really neatly!

[beast5680]

looks very neat nice job you,ve made there :D

[thermidorthelobster]

Just added another switch in so I can switch the feed to the cigarette lighter / USB hub separately from the ignition if I want to.  So can now charge up phones etc with the engine off, but can isolate the whole thing at the flick of a switch so it just comes on with the ignition as normal, to save draining the battery.  I managed to find a switch at Halfords which fits the little cutout just below the foglight switches perfectly - probably the same one Land Rover use, although I'm not sure what that cutout's for.

The last thing I'm planning (thanks, Lee!) is to add yet another Cruise switch (there's a spare socket below the original one, the last in the binnacle) so I can switch the spotlights in with the main beam if I want to.  As with the isolator switch above, I'll use it to trigger the relay feed but I'll stick in a diode so I'm not trying to run main beam off the little relay exciter wire when I turn the spotlights on separately.

[thermidorthelobster]

Done the last bit - plumbed in a FOURTH cruise control switch, which tethers the spotlights to full beam.  So I can switch them independently, or hit a button and have them come on with full beam.

The spotlights are only 50W but between the four of them they give a pleasing aura that is probably visible from space.  It'll certainly be a useful way of "reminding" people who don't bother dipping their headlights!

I need to go and have a play now.  It's just a shame that a tank of diesel now costs more than the car.

[stageonesimmo]

Now that my second battery and alternator set-up is up and running, the light bar is fitted and the roof-rack is going back on ready for the roof-tent and summer camping trips, the spots for the bar and a hard-wired inverter are the next things on my list to do (after fettling a leaking oil-cooler pipe)  I'm just wondering, is normal mains cable OK for the feeds from battery to lamps - I've got a reel of 3 core mains stuff (orange insulation) so I was just gonna use that the thinking being I could use it to send separate feeds to pairs of lamps down the red/blue wires and earth then through the green/yellow one....

Would that work?.................

Also I have a set of leads to use as jump-leads and they are on Anderson connectors - the vehicle side will be mounted on the top of the front bumper under the grille then the leads will have a pair of croc clips on one end and an Anderson socket with handle at the other - my question is I need the use of a set of heavy duty hydraulic cable crimpers, but cant seem to find any listed by the usual tool suppliers - anyone any ideas?

If I say nice truck and good work will I get away with the (still roughly on topic) hijack, I wonder?...... :lol:

[Jake]

Nice work David
Very tidy
 :D

[thermidorthelobster]

I'm just wondering, is normal mains cable OK for the feeds from battery to lamps - I've got a reel of 3 core mains stuff (orange insulation) so I was just gonna use that the thinking being I could use it to send separate feeds to pairs of lamps down the red/blue wires and earth then through the green/yellow one....

Would that work?.................

I hope so, because that's exactly what I've done - one core for the spots, one for the work lamp and the third for the return!  I found that the normal 3-core stuff on reels is (a) inflexible and (b) white, so the cheapest solution I found was to buy a cheap extension lead and snip the cable off it.  For the low-current wiring to the relays etc I used Cat 6 network cable because I could get some for free, it has 4 or 8 cores (twisted pair so 8 but I've paired them up), and it's easy to run.  The only thing I found is that when you strip the outer shielding, it's very easy to damage the twisted pair insulation.

[lee celtic]

I used trailer cable, think it was 7 core from maplin for all the wiring just left the extra wires incase I want to add somthing else (which I will) :roll:

[stageonesimmo]

TTL - I've gotten hold of some cold weather stuff so the insulation on it is very flexible, (even down to minus numbers type weather), but hard-wearing.  Now all I need is a suitable box to house the whole lot in and I'm off................

Its never ending.................

[Disco_Stu]

Very nice indeed thermi, you've been busy. Like the cut out CB placement, you must have been syphoning my thoughts off.....

Stu.