Newbie Question - Difference Between A Ninety & Defender

chrispy · Aug 7, 2014

OK, please forgive my ignorance but I need to ask this. I've been offered a 1989 Ninety for a very decent price. I've been looking for a Defender for a while for a project so I can restore ready for my wifes birthday next July (it's what she wants believe it or not). It has the N/A 2.5 diesel engine in but what I wanted to know was......as I plan to restore it to like a new vehicle and drop in a 200 or 300 Tdi is the Ninety just like the Defenders but with a different motor or are there big differences (body panel wise)? After the new paint job etc i'd like to install the Massai panoramic rear glass windows, RDX front grill with LED lights and all the usual tarting up toys to make the wife happy so will the Ninety be ok for this? Is the engine just a straight swap or will it need new mounting brackets? Any help advice much appreciated.

cornish rattler · Aug 7, 2014

Other than engines they are both the same although both used the same engines but 89 was when land rover started fitting tdi engines and re- named them as defender 90 / 110 instead of just 90 / 110

cornish rattler · Aug 7, 2014

Forgot to say mine is a 1988 2.5td ( 200tdi )

chrispy · Aug 7, 2014

So later body panels like roofs, doors, rear tub etc will all just bolt on? Lift kits will be the same as will wheel stud patterns?

TigerHunter · Aug 7, 2014

cornish rattler said:
Other than engines they are both the same although both used the same engines but 89 was when land rover started fitting tdi engines and re- named them as defender 90 / 110 instead of just 90 / 110

+1

As to the rest of your questions, it depends on how handy you are at spannering, and how much you can get the 90 for. The TDi engine swap is relatively straightforward and very common - you should pick up a Disco 1 with a reasonable engine fairly cheaply. The rest is more cosmetics than anything else - grill etc can all be done with some fettling.

Another option is to get a Defender 90 with the 200tdi motor already in and just get it sorted. In a nutshell if it's a 2.5 or 2.5 td then it's a 90. If it's got a 200 TDi engine (as standard) then it's a defender. But it's a name and a badge difference really - the cars (cosmetics, engines and transmission aside) are virtually identical.

TigerHunter · Aug 7, 2014

chrispy said:
So later body panels like roofs, doors, rear tub etc will all just bolt on? Lift kits will be the same as will wheel stud patterns?

In theory, mostly yes, but nothing should be taken for granted with these cars - things can vary from one example of a model to the next. They are basically motorised meccano sets at the end of the day

chrispy · Aug 7, 2014

Thanks chaps, much appreciated.

TigerHunter said:
In theory, mostly yes, but nothing should be taken for granted with these cars - things can vary from one example of a model to the next. They are basically motorised meccano sets at the end of the day

That's why I love them.

timtheenchanteruk · Aug 7, 2014

Mostly the same, they only changed the name when they added a new chicle to the lineup and changed Landrover form the vehicle to the brand, prior to this they had the Landrover (90 &110 was the model) and the Rangerover (the luxury vehicle)
They then added the Landrover Discovery, so completly rebranded, to make Landrover the Company Name, and the Discovery and the Defender the models (earlier Rangerovers didnt have LR badging)

Newbie Question - Difference Between A Ninety & Defender

chrispy

Active Member

cornish rattler

Well-Known Member

cornish rattler

Well-Known Member

chrispy

Active Member

TigerHunter

...sheesh, how long was I asleep for??

TigerHunter

...sheesh, how long was I asleep for??

chrispy

Active Member

timtheenchanteruk

Well-Known Member

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