Back on the roundabout.

This time last year we were making the "final" adjustments to Elisfor's interior, incorporating the lessons learned after our Pyrenees trip and congratulating ourselves on an almost perfect solution to living out of a Defender.

 That, as they say, is history. With our new and expanded living space, it all has to change again. Needless to say, the kitchen has got to be done all over again and it's more than just changing the doors like I might do in the house. Oh No. Everything new. A bit like having a baby....

So, I've shoved the question to one side until we've had some more thinking time. For the time being, I've concentrated on putting the electrics back together and doing some more insulation.

 This is the new site for the work lamp. It has to be squeezed into the corner - the high-level reversing lamp is on the other corner - because, of course, the obvious bit of the roof now elevates and I didn't want to have to run about 5 metres of extra wire on both sides. It'd have to go from the back corners to the front and then up the side of the new roof.
I also fitted the vertical "assister" gas struts that Larry seemed to think we didn't need. They don't, actually, help much when pushing the roof up, but they hold it sufficiently clear of final closure to let us check that everything's folded away properly. Before we fitted them I had to hold it up while Sue ran around tucking things in, if she could reach. I think that once we've worked out just where to put the bungee that gathers the side curtains this won't be a problem.

The Hannibal awning has gone back onto the side, on the vertical "upstand" of the Alu-Cab system. Both the supports have a bracing plate on the inside and the upstand is 3mm thick, but I might put a larger load spreader on the back eventually - there's a fair amount of weight and leverage there and we wouldn't want anything to crack. 

The awning will now be about 100mm lower than before, but still just high enough to walk under without brushing my head against it, which would be really annoying...

The ladder that gave access to the roof when we had the roof tent can't be used in the same place as there's no gutter to hook into. With the bonnet spare wheel temporarily removed - who needs 2 spares outside of Morocco? - it's difficult getting onto the rack since it's now about 170mm higher. Although I can use the mast steps these aren't ideal, so I cut the legs off the Hannibal ladder and had the local fabricators weld them back in a place that let me put the ladder on the side instead. There's a gutter rivetted to the side of the upstand at the front end and this I've used to stabilise the top,  but all the weight goes onto the legs. I hope.

I tell you, when I retire I'm gonna get myself a TIG welder at set up in business....I reckon, since I'd done all the prep, clean-up and re-paint, this little job might've taken the chap less than 15 minutes. It cost me £20. Not a bad hourly rate. I'm not complaining - I don't have the kit to do it myself - but it got me thinking.

Just because I could, I put another mast step on the back end which gives me a step up onto the spare wheel and from there to the roof, and it also serves as a grab handle for Sue to get in and out, having previously used the ladder.

In case you're wondering why this determination and necessity to get on top, this is what goes up there a lot of the time:

We're off to Stonehaven this weekend

 I thought that the extra height might be a problem when loading the kayak, but a piece of plastic drainpipe lashed to the back of the rack lets it slide up there fairly easily. It's a 2-person job though, which is never a great outcome, so I'll think of a better - solo - way later. The most difficult part of this was refitting the kayak carrier cradles. There's very little space between the bottom of the rack and top of the roof now, and getting the clamps into place was a struggle.

I have some different cradles - like vertical bars - but these can't be fitted at all because the bolts are too long and can't be inserted the other way round, so some creative thinking might be necessary there.

The solar panel has gone back under the front of the rack, which was also a tight squeeze to get the mounting tray underneath, but it's out of the way and in a proven location.

The inside already has a lot of insulation from noise (see previous) but now we've added some closed cell foam to beef it up a bit.

The side of the truck now has a layer of Silentcoat bitumen-and-aluminium panels topped by 10mm Noisekiller foam and now 10mm closed-cell on top of that. Hopefully this'll stop any moist air getting at the metal and keep some heat out - or in - depending on where we are.

Other stuff - larger door mirrors for example - have made an appearance while we've been deliberating on the roof question. 

These give a much improved view although the larger area makes them vibrate quite a bit more at speed. At speed? In a Defender? Well, actually Elly drives much better now all that rooftent weight is off the roof, and we came back up the M6 at a comfortable 70mph without emptying the gas tank at the usual rate, so something - probably drag - has improved a lot. They still have a blind spot, though, so that'll have to be sorted before we nearly crush another unfortunate Spaniard. The mirrors were only changed, really, because it was convenient to do it as I was replacing the front door hinges. These are stainless steel and look a lot better than the previous rusty items. I was going to paint them but since they're stainless and paint seems to peel off quicker than the barmaid's knickers on Boat Race night, I decided not to. One less job and I'm sure they'll "dull down" soon.

While messing about with the doors I noticed this:

This is the corner of one of the Masai windows we fitted less than 2 years ago. In fact, all the corners of both the windows are like this. I wrote to Masai some weeks ago but only got a response this week. They helpfully suggested that as "aluminium doesn't rust so this can't be corrosion", this "must be some kind of chemical reaction" from a car wash or salt and I should just sand down and repaint. Hmmm...and I thought decent prep and paintwork was supposed to prevent just this problem. After all, 23 years and the truck hasn't gone all lumpy like this and unless I've been seriously misinformed, it's made of ally too.😠

After all that messing about, we did manage to get away last weekend to christen the new bed...

This remote spot had a great view of the mountains when we stopped, but come the dawn the cloud had spoilt that a bit. Never mind, a peaceful night on a comfortable mattress and we could dress standing up - luxury!