Introduction: Upgrading the Exterior Lights on a Landrover Defender to NAS. (Part 3 of 3)

By

This Instructable is part 3 of 3 - Fitting the rear lamps on a defender.

Step 1: Original Lenses at the Rear.

As you can see the original lenses were looking pretty tatty. They're normally quite brittle and don't take a lot to break them. Once the coloured lens has been removed I saw the screws providing the earth and securing are very rusty and the actual head had collapsed completely. They needed to be removed using a drill.

!! SAFETY NOTE !! - Use safety goggles for this step as it is very easy for the drill to slip and break the bit, or for some small part of the screw head to come flying out.

Step 2: Access Inside to the Wiring.

It is not possible to simply cut the holes in the rear panel without first moving the wires out of the way. On the right hand side just inside the door is a small cover providing protection for quite a lot. There is another panel on the left but this doesn't hide so much. These may be switched if you drive on the other side of the road from me.

You need to remove the cover by undoing the bolts and screws as indicated by the purple arrows. Check the wiring colours for the rear lamps before you attack anything else.

Take pictures with a digital camera to act as an aid mémoire. 

Step 3: Aligning Rear Plinths

When aligning the rear/brake light plinth, make sure that none of it sticks out from the body panel. If it does, they are more likely to catch on something and be dragged off.

More care needs to be taken when placing the rear lenses. I would suggest using a bright marker of some sort and then stepping back from the vehicle to make sure things look ok. There are legal requirements in some countries for the position of rear lamps etc.

Once a position has been chosen, the fitting of the lamps is very similar to the front lamps covered in' Upgrading the exterior lights on a landrover defender to NAS. (Part 2 of 3).'

Step 4: The END

That covers the work done so far. At some point I may get on and change the standard reversing & fog lamps.

If you made it this far then thanks for reading. 

I hope these three small Instructables prove to be of some use.