LeadFarmer
Well-Known Member
Seeing as I've pestered you all over the last year or so for advice, I thought that seeing as the project is pretty much complete then i'd post some details of the rebuild of my 1996 Defender 110 300tdi.
I first decided to get a Defender after my two dogs were making a right mess of the interior of my Ford Mondeo. I had always wanted one, so the decision was an easy one. Little did I know of the path that lay before me
So here is a photo I took of my Defender just a few days before I bought it in 2005, a 10 year old South Yorkshire Police 1996 110 300tdi with 50K on the clock. It had been used as an Incident Command Vehicle and I managed to obtain a very detailed print out of all the service/repair work that it had ever had done, including things such as tyre replacements etc..
After winning it at auction for £6900 I quickly set about removing all the stuff that the police had left on, such as the siren, perspex headlight guards, police decals, bits of uniform found inside etc. Visibly it was being let down by the rusting door hinges and surface rust on the rear crossmember. But after putting on new wheels & a snorkle, my Defender spent the next few years looking mostly like this..
My intentions from the begining were to have it resprayed Bonatti grey, but I decided to have a new galvanised chassis fitted first (as you do). And I thought I may as well have a galv bulkhead also. Also, I didnt want to have to strip it all down in the future for a new chassis once it had been painted. So, last summer off I went to see Paul Marsden who works in the unit nextdoor to Richards chassis in Mexborough, Rotherham. I suppied him with an Ashtree LR galv bulkhead, which they had pre-sprayed Bonatti grey for me.
So the rebuild starts, and off with the body (ouch )..
The new rolling chassis complete with new genuine standard springs and dampers..
Heres the old chassis, not too badly rusted but at least the new galv chassis would give me peace of mind. Its the one on top of the pile...
And the old bulkhead, pictured in front of the nice shiney new one. Again, not too badly rusted. Perhaps I could have got it repaired instead??..
Paul fitted some galv tree sliders and after collecting the vehicle from him, I decided to fit a Safari snorkle. Heres how I did it..
Taped the template to the wing & marked the holes to be drilled..
Drilled the holes using a step drill..
After bolting the snorkle on, I marked the holes in the A-pillar..
Fitting a galv front bumper also meant that everything is the same colour at the same eye level around the bumper, sides & cross member, so here it is after being reassembled (the Bonatti bulkhead is just visible)..
Two of the doors were suffering from rust in the usual areas...
We had a family holiday booked in Weymouth so taking the wifes car, I decided en-route to treat the family to a sight seeing detour of Frome, Somerset. Which just by chance is where Land Rovers Uk is based. Conveiniently I had packed two of my doors into the wifes car and I dropped them off, and arranged to collecct them on the way home
Heres how they looked when ID refitted them..
Then a few weeks ago I decided to finally get it resprayed. And so the dismantling started again. Here it is outside the spray shop..
And during the respray..
Also fitted a few extras such as heated front screen, heater intake snow cover, quick release Momo steering wheel new tailgate door, new rear quarter extention panels (mine had corroded), new windscreen brackets, new door handles, new door hinges with stainless torx bolts, Nakatanenga rear door strut, Brunell front grill & headlight surrounds, roof mounted DAB aerial, and countless other sundries that were needed.
So now it looks something like this...
Torx stainless bolts from a2stainless on the door door & bonet hinges..
Momo Quarke steering wheel fitted with removeable boss adapter, and Adrenalin pedal lock...
Heavy duty galvanised telescopic 'hydrolic lift assist' security post..
I still have plenty to do to finish it off, such as fitting the door seals, internal door cards, painting the interior etc. And Ive got a pair of RR P38 seats to fit...
Can't believe the stress Ive gone through during the project as its my daily drive that I need to get to work & back each day. Had to keep partially dismantling bits and then reassemble again, just so that I knew everything would come off ok. But I hope you all agree its quite a transformation from how it used to look.
So thanks to everyone on this forum for the help you've given me, by putting up with my many questions etc
** EDIT 2/3/2012 - Ive recently obtained some brand new Defendeer XS leather heated front seats which Ive just fitted instead of the RR P38 seats...
I first decided to get a Defender after my two dogs were making a right mess of the interior of my Ford Mondeo. I had always wanted one, so the decision was an easy one. Little did I know of the path that lay before me
So here is a photo I took of my Defender just a few days before I bought it in 2005, a 10 year old South Yorkshire Police 1996 110 300tdi with 50K on the clock. It had been used as an Incident Command Vehicle and I managed to obtain a very detailed print out of all the service/repair work that it had ever had done, including things such as tyre replacements etc..
After winning it at auction for £6900 I quickly set about removing all the stuff that the police had left on, such as the siren, perspex headlight guards, police decals, bits of uniform found inside etc. Visibly it was being let down by the rusting door hinges and surface rust on the rear crossmember. But after putting on new wheels & a snorkle, my Defender spent the next few years looking mostly like this..
My intentions from the begining were to have it resprayed Bonatti grey, but I decided to have a new galvanised chassis fitted first (as you do). And I thought I may as well have a galv bulkhead also. Also, I didnt want to have to strip it all down in the future for a new chassis once it had been painted. So, last summer off I went to see Paul Marsden who works in the unit nextdoor to Richards chassis in Mexborough, Rotherham. I suppied him with an Ashtree LR galv bulkhead, which they had pre-sprayed Bonatti grey for me.
So the rebuild starts, and off with the body (ouch )..
The new rolling chassis complete with new genuine standard springs and dampers..
Heres the old chassis, not too badly rusted but at least the new galv chassis would give me peace of mind. Its the one on top of the pile...
And the old bulkhead, pictured in front of the nice shiney new one. Again, not too badly rusted. Perhaps I could have got it repaired instead??..
Paul fitted some galv tree sliders and after collecting the vehicle from him, I decided to fit a Safari snorkle. Heres how I did it..
Taped the template to the wing & marked the holes to be drilled..
Drilled the holes using a step drill..
After bolting the snorkle on, I marked the holes in the A-pillar..
Fitting a galv front bumper also meant that everything is the same colour at the same eye level around the bumper, sides & cross member, so here it is after being reassembled (the Bonatti bulkhead is just visible)..
Two of the doors were suffering from rust in the usual areas...
We had a family holiday booked in Weymouth so taking the wifes car, I decided en-route to treat the family to a sight seeing detour of Frome, Somerset. Which just by chance is where Land Rovers Uk is based. Conveiniently I had packed two of my doors into the wifes car and I dropped them off, and arranged to collecct them on the way home
Heres how they looked when ID refitted them..
Then a few weeks ago I decided to finally get it resprayed. And so the dismantling started again. Here it is outside the spray shop..
And during the respray..
Also fitted a few extras such as heated front screen, heater intake snow cover, quick release Momo steering wheel new tailgate door, new rear quarter extention panels (mine had corroded), new windscreen brackets, new door handles, new door hinges with stainless torx bolts, Nakatanenga rear door strut, Brunell front grill & headlight surrounds, roof mounted DAB aerial, and countless other sundries that were needed.
So now it looks something like this...
Torx stainless bolts from a2stainless on the door door & bonet hinges..
Momo Quarke steering wheel fitted with removeable boss adapter, and Adrenalin pedal lock...
Heavy duty galvanised telescopic 'hydrolic lift assist' security post..
I still have plenty to do to finish it off, such as fitting the door seals, internal door cards, painting the interior etc. And Ive got a pair of RR P38 seats to fit...
Can't believe the stress Ive gone through during the project as its my daily drive that I need to get to work & back each day. Had to keep partially dismantling bits and then reassemble again, just so that I knew everything would come off ok. But I hope you all agree its quite a transformation from how it used to look.
So thanks to everyone on this forum for the help you've given me, by putting up with my many questions etc
** EDIT 2/3/2012 - Ive recently obtained some brand new Defendeer XS leather heated front seats which Ive just fitted instead of the RR P38 seats...
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