I rehabbed my original headlights [kit w/2000 grit to 10000 grit - and they turned out okay - but revealed some deep cracks in the plastic and still had some foggy areas. Since I was having the 2008 LR3 SE w/182k miles painted, I decided to go all out and buy brand new OEM headlights at $485 each. Then decided I would be all kinds of tricky and beat the damage of the Phoenix sun on this new set by applying a clear coat UV protection coating as seen on a YouTube video on restoring headlights. I wiped the headlight off to remove any dust and sprayed them with an even coat of the clear spray only to see it dry in a kind of bubbly, bumpy mess! Sooooo any suggestions on how I can remove this coating without damaging the brand new beautiful shiny clear headlight underneath - fortunately I only did one to see how it would turn out. Any ideas, suggestions, recommendations would be very welcome...

 

I removed the driveshaft so I could swap out the center bearing as I have one in the garage, and discovered that the middle CV joint and the U-joint in the back were the notchiest bearings I had ever seen. So now we have a new Amazon cheapo driveshaft, and we will see how it holds up. I'd be happy to get a couple years out of it. The banging and thumping for under the rescue rover are gone now, and it's smooth driving. Fluid change and some better wellies and I'll be ready for winter.

 

Regarding that fluid change-I have a pit in my garage so an oil change is usually a fairly simple undertaking.
The rescue rover had other ideas. The bolts holding the skid plate were all frozen, and two had to be taken off with an angle grinder. Once I had the plate off I discovered that the oil plug now considers itself to be a permanent part of the oil pan, and I'm lucky the the head rounded off before the bolt broke. I figured that I'd change the oil filter at least, and even that was a struggle, with the bonus of it looking like it was ready to rust through. It did come off and the oil cooler musy hold a decent amount of oil as it took 2 1/2 quarts to fill back to the mark.
SO-best way to proceed? Vice grips on the bolt and hope for the best, is there a drain plug repair kit, or should I get a mightyvac and get out as much as I can?

 

Rather than Vise Grips, I would try a 12 or 18 inch olfashion pipe wrench. when adjusted properly, they actually dig into the metal more, in the harder you pull on them.

Just thought.
Jeff

 

I've ordered a oil extractor, not chancing that plug. It's getting too chilly to ride the motorcycle to work so I am trying not to rip the plug out with a chunk of the pan!
And considering an oil filter relocation kit so I never have to dig that stupid skid plate off ever again. What a palaver that was! The oil in the front diff got changed out, maybe for the first time ever.....and yet despite the glaring lack of maintenance this truck is still solid.
Buuuut of course once I got that done Ginsu decided there is more, the tailgate isn't opening. Next project!

Also, updated the ECU's, programmed a couple of new keys, and turned off the TPMS which hasn't worked ever since the rims are aftermarket and have no transponders. I now have that rare state where there is nothing of a warning light thing on the panel.

 

Some ideas.

If the front diff oil seemed like it had never been replaced, take a look at the front diff rebreather. If it’s “old style” replace it with a new style (“D4”) rebreather. Takes about 5 minutes to replace.

I agree that the bottom plates are annoying to replace. If you ever get the bolt loose, replace it with a quick drain (Femco, Fumoto, etc.). Makes the draining a bit easier and less messy.

 

Definitely looking at that next chance I get, given what I have found thus far I'd expect the original filter to be there like a museum peice. No pressure from the diff though.
As a side note, the wifely one had a Bronco Sport which she loved dearly, right up to the noise it started making from the rear end. Every time you'd start offwith a turn it made a scraping grunting sound, and research revealed that the line for the breather for the rear diff was too short and allowing contaminants into the rear diff. The initial fix is to upgrade the line for a new inproved aaaaaaannnnnddd unavailaible one and to change out the oil in the rear end and hope that the diff hasn't been too damaged as the replacement is $4K-ish and we were just outside of warranty. The rear quieted down after we insisted they change the oil, as it hadn't occurred to them to do that, but the doubt was put into her mind and she sold it on. Now she drives a Disco Sport, so we are both back to LR.
I ordered a new bracket for the suspension compressor as the old one was corrosion welded and it came off in pieces after cutting off the bolts as best I could. Got it off ebay for $26 shipped and for that price expected a cheap knockoff, and was surprised to find it was a LR item with logo and part number. Found the captive u-bolts at Ace for $0.85 each instead of the crazy pill LR price and actually installed it properly in the box instead of hanging from the frame supported by safety wire. Piece by piece it is coming together
Yeah the 6G Bronco was fun but I can see it now as better as a second vehicle rather than the main DD.
Oh, and while I'm thinking about it, the Disco Sport has a panoramic roof, it's nice and I like it. The LR3 has that big glass too that is kind of split down the middle between the middle and rear sunroofs. Anyone else ever thought of making that a pano roof?

 

I always want to remeber you just this way....

 

Drove through some colors.

 

Spent 2 hours with goo gone and a card removing packing tape residue where the paper plates had been taped to the paintwork…

there is a special place in hell for people that do that.