Defender restoration

Hi Folks
Hope everyone is doing good. I love the iconic Defender and I’m thinking to buy an old 110 so it could be restored properly with galvanise chassis and other parts along with an Automatic transmission. When I read the threads about 300Tdi, TD5 or M57 engines everyone has their good and bad reviews. Many people says 300Tdi Auto conversion don’t have any power, TD5 engine itself has lots of electrical problems and expensive to repairs and M57 itself is very pricey as MAHKER quotes £25k plus VAT just for the conversion.
It’s so confusing what would be the best way forward?
Thanks

Win the lottery and have it how you want it.
Seriously though if you are considering paying someone to restore a Defender then you need a LOT of money which you will never get back.
What would you like is the most important thing.

Buy one that’s fit for the road and run it for a while. If you enjoy it, then spend the money. tdi’s are simple to run and very reliable, but noisy. TD5’s are more refined, but more complex, but maintained well a reliable engine. Can’t comment on anything else as I’ve never had them.

Buy one with a galvanised chassis already fitted and customise it yourself to suit your taste. Cheaper than paying someone else to do it.

Don't get an automatic and learn to drive with a proper gear box and most of the problems go away! but as above if you have not had one before buy one that is road worthy and drive it for about 6-12 months before doing anything with it. if you are used to a modern car regardless of how you restore it or what engine you get you will probably not like it. they need to be thought of as motorway going tractors not off road going cars!

Mine's in the for sale section

Knappster said:

Buy one with a galvanised chassis already fitted and customise it yourself to suit your taste. Cheaper than paying someone else to do it.

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He already has a 300tdi.

marksman said:

Mine's in the for sale section

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Hi where have you advertised your Defender?

dag019 said:

Don't get an automatic and learn to drive with a proper gear box and most of the problems go away! but as above if you have not had one before buy one that is road worthy and drive it for about 6-12 months before doing anything with it. if you are used to a modern car regardless of how you restore it or what engine you get you will probably not like it. they need to be thought of as motorway going tractors not off road going cars!

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Hi I have a full driving license and own a luxury Auto Mercedes, but I still love to drive my Defender 90 with LT77 gearbox. I’m interested to find out that people prefer manual Defender or automatic? I was under the impression everyone wants Automatic

Personal choice. Manual in a Landy for me.

Singr07 said:

Hi I have a full driving license and own a luxury Auto Mercedes, but I still love to drive my Defender 90 with LT77 gearbox. I’m interested to find out that people prefer manual Defender or automatic? I was under the impression everyone wants Automatic

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I've never driven an auto Defender. I imagine it will be painfully slow with a tdi.
Maybe an early one ten with a V8 and autobox.
Regardless of that it won't be anything like a luxury Mercedes with an automatic.

The automatic Discovery 300tdi was tuned for a little more power compared to the manual- basically to offset the losses through the transmission. Without doing anything else, you'll probably find that a similar gearbox in a Defender makes it too slow for your liking. It can be done, but doing it well is more involved than simply throwing the transmission in the vehicle. The main appeal I guess is getting rid of the very heavy clutch pedal.

Mahker do a stage 3 TDI upgrade that will give it some more power for about ~12K- i prefer TDI/manual Less eletrickery to have to deal with and mines a good donkey.

TD5's are not too bad if you keep on top of servicing and you can do more with them tunning wise, i'm just not a fan of them and happy with my tractor engine. Allways felt the TD5 needed a Mk2 instead of some old transit engines.

From experience the Ashcroft’s Auto box isn’t too bad but will make it more sluggish if its just swapped so rather keep/uprate an R380. no land rover engine is going to be as good/smooth as an auto M57 if the auto is a must have for you. not sure if the mahker costs inc the Auto Box or Winchester Stage 2 LT230 upgrades that you will need if you go for power. think £25K gets you the engine remanufactured/mounted to puma running gear. But the work Mahker do can't be knocked! its why its ££££.

FlyingPete said:

The automatic Discovery 300tdi was tuned for a little more power compared to the manual- basically to offset the losses through the transmission. Without doing anything else, you'll probably find that a similar gearbox in a Defender makes it too slow for your liking. It can be done, but doing it well is more involved than simply throwing the transmission in the vehicle. The main appeal I guess is getting rid of the very heavy clutch pedal.

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Thanks for your advice, I have read on the Wikipedia Defender history and noticed that 300tdi with Automatic transmission does 122bhp? If 300Tdi is more powerful with an Automatic transmission then why would it makes sluggish?

shaynecm said:

Mahker do a stage 3 TDI upgrade that will give it some more power for about ~12K- i prefer TDI/manual Less eletrickery to have to deal with and mines a good donkey.

TD5's are not too bad if you keep on top of servicing and you can do more with them tunning wise, i'm just not a fan of them and happy with my tractor engine. Allways felt the TD5 needed a Mk2 instead of some old transit engines.

From experience the Ashcroft’s Auto box isn’t too bad but will make it more sluggish if its just swapped so rather keep/uprate an R380. no land rover engine is going to be as good/smooth as an auto M57 if the auto is a must have for you. not sure if the mahker costs inc the Auto Box or Winchester Stage 2 LT230 upgrades that you will need if you go for power. think £25K gets you the engine remanufactured/mounted to puma running gear. But the work Mahker do can't be knocked! its why its ££££.

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The price they charge is insane, for M57 conversion, I personally think it’s not wise to spend that much. I think Engine kits are below £3k and used BMW are the same mark.

Singr07 said:

Thanks for your advice, I have read on the Wikipedia Defender history and noticed that 300tdi with Automatic transmission does 122bhp? If 300Tdi is more powerful with an Automatic transmission then why would it makes sluggish?

The price they charge is insane, for M57 conversion, I personally think it’s not wise to spend that much. I think Engine kits are below £3k and used BMW are the same mark.

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Is that the Discovery 300 TDI as that had an auto option? think there is 3 different specs for 300 TDI's. Defender, Discovery and Wolf and each had a power increase over the previous. think its because I rev the hell out of my 300 tdi to get it moving so the auto didnt feel as good for me in a defender. never tried a discovery.

think Mahker use wolf style/spec injectors and uprated pump to give more power based on the wolf spec. but think they have special spray nozzles which give an extra boost as you get a better spray pattern. Only thing is more power = less reliable so think they do stage 1, 2 and 3 so you can pick your poison.

think its a get what you pay for type of thing on the M57 engine but a mahker one will be remanufactured and be as new 0 miles not simply rebuilt or dropped in as is and nearly all ancillaries will be new, plus you have their own bits I think + the premium for the name and will be near damn perfect when it comes out which takes alot of hours. Whatsapp dave he can talk you through the options - he maybe slow to respond as his misses was about to drop i think.

oh if you want a 110 might be worth going to a 1.3 ratio in LT230.

shaynecm said:

Is that the Discovery 300 TDI as that had an auto option? think there is 3 different specs for 300 TDI's. Defender, Discovery and Wolf and each had a power increase over the previous. think its because I rev the hell out of my 300 tdi to get it moving so the auto didnt feel as good for me in a defender. never tried a discovery.

think Mahker use wolf style/spec injectors and uprated pump to give more power based on the wolf spec. but think they have special spray nozzles which give an extra boost as you get a better spray pattern. Only thing is more power = less reliable so think they do stage 1, 2 and 3 so you can pick your poison.

think its a get what you pay for type of thing on the M57 engine but a mahker one will be remanufactured and be as new 0 miles not simply rebuilt or dropped in as is and nearly all ancillaries will be new, plus you have their own bits I think + the premium for the name and will be near damn perfect when it comes out which takes alot of hours. Whatsapp dave he can talk you through the options - he maybe slow to respond as his misses was about to drop i think.

oh if you want a 110 might be worth going to a 1.3 ratio in LT230.

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Hi thanks for the explanations, sorry what would be the advantage of 1.3 ratio ? Does anyone has a experience with TD5 automatic Defender

Singr07 said:

Hi I have a full driving license and own a luxury Auto Mercedes, but I still love to drive my Defender 90 with LT77 gearbox. I’m interested to find out that people prefer manual Defender or automatic? I was under the impression everyone wants Automatic

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We have a couple of Autos but both with V8s so its never an issue with power.
Our little slug/mudball is a manual. It has to be driven with many gearchanges, but even then it wont break many speed limits , but we still keep it cos its fun.

There are many Disco TD5 autos and peeps seem happy, so why not in a defender?
From what I can see many complain about a heavy clutch in the manual so a reason to change. but there are alternatives to make that easier and keep manual.
I would agree that an auto can dull the (perception) of power, but its still there. Its a Defender not a sports car.

But I would say start with a good base.
Are you doing the work yourself (doesn't sound like it)?
If not then buy 1 already done. There are many if you look.

A defender is wot it is.


J

marjon said:

We have a couple of Autos but both with V8s so its never an issue with power.
Our little slug/mudball is a manual. It has to be driven with many gearchanges, but even then it wont break many speed limits , but we still keep it cos its fun.

There are many Disco TD5 autos and peeps seem happy, so why not in a defender?
From what I can see many complain about a heavy clutch in the manual so a reason to change. but there are alternatives to make that easier and keep manual.
I would agree that an auto can dull the (perception) of power, but its still there. Its a Defender not a sports car.

But I would say start with a good base.
Are you doing the work yourself (doesn't sound like it)?
If not then buy 1 already done. There are many if you look.

A defender is wot it is.


J

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Hi yes, i am intending to do all of the work myself as gained my will power by working on my 90 lol. I am looking for a pre 1985's Defender 110 with TD5 but can't find any. Maybe I'm looking at the wrong place :-(

Singr07 said:

Hi yes, i am intending to do all of the work myself as gained my will power by working on my 90 lol. I am looking for a pre 1985's Defender 110 with TD5 but can't find any. Maybe I'm looking at the wrong place :-(

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Pre 1985 will not have had a td5 engine originally and most engine conversions of older vehicles use a tdi as these are an easy and almost straight swap. A td5 is far more complex to do as a conversion into an older vehicle because of the electronic controls and dashboard. If anyone has gone to the time, effort and expense of converting and older vehicle to a TD5 they are unlikely to be parting with it!