defender rebuild and trayback project , fast progress with pics !

shaggydefender · Jan 9, 2017

right so a few of you rember me from years ago on here , some may rember the vehicle too !

after collecting a lot of photos i have realised i have a few for a project thread on here , so far the vehicle is around 60% complete

i owned this vehicle around 3-4 years ago but sold her 2 years ago , i have regretted it ever since so a few months ago i managed to buy her back but she was a mess , due to owning a range rover l322 i decided a full resto to standard is pretty pointless considering how much is missing and i already have a road car , therefore decided she should once again be used heavilly offroad as a toy

spec will be as such ( some already done)

200tdi engine
300tdi gearbox
discovery td5 axles
twin air locking diffs
full tubulaur front end
rollcage
trayback
custom alliminum fuel tank
front , centre and rear winches
chassis extension to 100 inch

much more but cant think of what yet

anyway onto the pictures ! havent used this forum in a long time so please forgive captions in incorrect places ect

yellow 90 footwell in welded close up.jpg

yellow 90 footwell in outside view far.jpg

yellow 90 lifting engine in with crane.jpg

yellow 90 rear end cut spring mount offf.jpg

yellow 90 front end challenege wing and wheels.jpg

shaggydefender · Mar 20, 2017

so its been quiet on here for a while but the work hasnt stopped on the challenge truck

a few things have changed biggest one being the 200tdi engine is now out and a td5 engine fitted instead !

anyway ill let the pics do the rest if anyone is actually reading this thread

shaggydefender · Mar 20, 2017

few more pictures as i kept cocking up the last post , yes they are in the correct order too

td5 was stripped and wired , engine was run in the chassis to test the wiring was correct , after that it had the transplant with gearbox into the defender

Shifty1962 · Mar 26, 2017

That roll cage is the mutts nuts.

shaggydefender · Apr 3, 2017

well although she looks the same some bits have actually been done

now starting and running from the key , diagnostic plug fitted , fuel tank loosely fitted and electric fuel pump is in !

driven as a td5 powered defender for the first time now , starts , drives , steers and stops !

next few jobs are mount the radaitor and all of the suspension

Al2O3 · Apr 3, 2017

That's a nice off-road toy alright.

shaggydefender · Apr 3, 2017

Al2O3 said:
That's a nice off-road toy alright.

its costing a fortune and i break landies so most of the parts have come from my own stock lol !

build would happen quicker but its down to money again , some brackets are like £30 each and i need a few of them and different types !

Al2O3 · Apr 3, 2017

shaggydefender said:
its costing a fortune and i break landies so most of the parts have come from my own stock lol !

build would happen quicker but its down to money again , some brackets are like £30 each and i need a few of them and different types !

Tell me about it. Just finished rebuilding mine last year. Had a planned budget and soon in to the rebuild flew past that. Haven't dared add it all up since

shaggydefender · Apr 3, 2017

Al2O3 said:
Tell me about it. Just finished rebuilding mine last year. Had a planned budget and soon in to the rebuild flew past that. Haven't dared add it all up since

always the way lol ! this one stands me at around £3500-£3800ish as it stands !

wont be done for a while so may start entering my l322 into some trials events

Mr S1 · Apr 3, 2017

That looks a proper bit of kit ! Please keep the thread updated !

Alan Crossley · Apr 3, 2017

Looking very good and the same colour as my own td5. Why did you decide to fit a td5 engine?

I'm interested to know if it was just available or did you choose it for a specific reason?

PS: a bit of Tcut would'nt go amiss

. Keep up the good work, leave the horses to your yard manager, and keep the images coming

shaggydefender · Apr 3, 2017

Alan Crossley said:
Looking very good and the same colour as my own td5. Why did you decide to fit a td5 engine?

I'm interested to know if it was just available or did you choose it for a specific reason?

PS: a bit of Tcut would'nt go amiss . Keep up the good work, leave the horses to your yard manager, and keep the images coming

this one has had a multitude of engines incuding 200tdi(twice) 300tdi and v8 , i had a td5 disco available that was meant for another project but i fancied being a bit different this time around anyway , i have some good friends who are experts on them and good with mapping ect so it seemed the way to go ! , still having some issues as i currently have no throttle but overall im very pleased with how its coming along , i dont have a massive time or budget and a lot of things require fabricating and working out to fit all theese bits together

my aim is to have a fully waterproof td5 so all sensors will be sealed , all connectors and the ecu is mounted in the roof along with other essentials such as a nanocom diagnostic machine and a box to hold phone and wallet ect.....

Al2O3 · Apr 3, 2017

shaggydefender said:
always the way lol ! this one stands me at around £3500-£3800ish as it stands !

and that's with having your own breakers!
It's misplaced optimism that always makes us underestimate the costs.

Having said that, if we new to the penny what one of these jobs was going to cost us we probably wouldn't bother. Just as well we don't cos we'd miss out on all the fun

shaggydefender · Apr 3, 2017

Al2O3 said:
and that's with having your own breakers!
It's misplaced optimism that always makes us underestimate the costs.
Having said that, if we new to the penny what one of these jobs was going to cost us we probably wouldn't bother. Just as well we don't cos we'd miss out on all the fun

yep ! its suprising where the costs add up , materials for the cage and panneling alone add up to around £700 , brackets for mouting cage ( special machined ones ) are £11 each and this will eventually have around 12 of those , fuel tank, pipes and fittings and pump are another £300 , some work on the ecu cost a bit ,
reels of wire and connectors ect £250 , wheels and tyres £630 , front wings £120 , new brakes and lines £130 , winch tray £150(x3) , suspension £300 , more axle brackets and chassis brackets to mount the suspension £200 or so .......... and thats without the base vehicle or cost of my own parts i have used

thats just a very quick and basic run down i cant be arsed listing all the costs or ill cry lol !

shaggydefender · Apr 9, 2017

well progress is still going and should speed up much more soon with the rest of the cage !

in the mean time i have had the mind-numbing job of repairing someone elses cock up !

basicly the guy who was doing the cage originally decided he knew better than me when it came to the chassis,
and did unorthorised modifications to it which are not only terrible but prevented the shock mounts being fitted

the shiny welds are ones i have added as removing the whole lot would have resulted in more damage so.....
it was easier to add more plates , grind and square the lot up ready for shock mounts , not perfect as this will get covered anyway ,
also my grinder was playing up and welder leaking gas lol !

not quite finished yet after 3 hours id had enough , need to weld and grind a bit more yet , mount is just tacked and will be coming back off so i can finish underneath

ill let the pictures do the rest going in order of fixing this crap !

tottot · Apr 9, 2017

That was an OTT and ugly chassis weld,yours is much better.A lot of extra work for you though. What,s withe the weld on the axle tube? [ if that's what it is ]
A mate has his 88 [ coil ] trialer on a disco 2 axle, turns on the proverbial sixpence.Cheers.

shaggydefender · Apr 9, 2017

tottot said:
That was an OTT and ugly chassis weld,yours is much better.A lot of extra work for you though. What,s withe the weld on the axle tube? [ if that's what it is ]
A mate has his 88 [ coil ] trialer on a disco 2 axle, turns on the proverbial sixpence.Cheers.

yes he made an absolute mess of it ! still a bit more to do on my repair but im much happier with it now

the weld on the axle tube is just to fill a gap from manufacturing , as they are friction welded on at the factory it makes a massive "U" shaped hole where the axle ends can snap off so that weld is just a little extra strenthner , im still undecided if i am going to add trusses to it yet to stop axle bend

im not suprised his lock is good , the lock on this is bloody exellent too !

tottot · Apr 9, 2017

Ta for the axle explanation,hope you get to enjoy driving it soon.

shaggydefender · Apr 9, 2017

just a quick update , rest of the axle brackets are now on ! got to adjust a few things but the truck feels much more solid now

welder was still being an arse but im happy enough with the welds

shaggydefender · Apr 13, 2017

more progress !

few days ago i started to debracket the disco td5 rear axle , then fitted an A-frame ball joint bracket and discovery 1 lower shock mounts , after that it was onto the top shock mounts then a very basic test , i do need to make some adjustments as the travel isnt as good as it should be in general its still a step forward !

although today started badly when i got sent a shockingly badly made rear hoop from shire fabrications( dont use them)

anyway after failing to come to an agreement i decided to fix it instead so after adjusting pretty much every bend and line it finally fitted

after that i moved onto the rear stays which are just tacked loosely , all is just being tacked for now till the rest is made , once its all there and fitted i can adjust and then fully weld everything

the rear tray is NOT being used it is from another vehicle , its the right shape but wrong width , lenth and feet are in the wrong place , ill be modifying this to fit with my bodywork an chassis , once im happy that it fits with everything around it i will remove it from the vehicle and make a new one using this one as a template

first few pictures are of the suspension work , the first rollcage ones are of the poor fit and after that is when i have modded it and moved on to the other jobs

in one photo from the rear although the rear hoop is straight it looks high as it was sat on a block of wood

defender rebuild and trayback project , fast progress with pics !

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