So here's my Defender 90, I've owned it for just over a year now, third owner with just over 70k on the clock. I bought it to use at weekends for my shooting and greenlaning/off roading but now use it full time for work which involves both those hobbies so happy days!! I want to make it into a sort of expedition vehicle that me and the missus can use on trips away etc but still able to retain its needs for work etc. I'm going to use this thread to track the build and work that it does.
Although it looked good when I first bought it its safe to say it was a mechanical wreck, cambelt so worn I didn't need to undo the tensioner to remove it, 75% of suspension bushes knackered, bent steering damper, the list goes on!! Here's a picture of it a couple of months after I bought when I'd only sorted the engine side of things.

And here's a few in its current state after a lot more work, again more mechanical and cosmetic. Wheels painted silver, window tints removed and a few other bits.

I'll put some up shortly of the interior and the work done to get it through MOT.

After checking the Landy round for MOT it was obvious it needed a lot of work doing, the rear shocks were knackered, nearly all suspension bushes needed replacing, exhaust was rotten, brake pipes on the rear looking worse for wear, steering joint had excessive play and a few other bits and pieces. So the parts were ordered and out the spanners came. Here's a before picture,



And a few after pictures,





Whilst there and doing all that work I thought it would be worth painting up the chassis and axle etc. I also added a few extras like longer shocks, lowered mounts, new springs, relocation cones, heavy duty steering damper and a lot of new nuts and bolts, the exhaust is now a straight through pipe from turbo to tailpipe. The work was all worth it as the MOT went superb, straight pass with no advisories and even had a little chuckle when the tester opened the passenger door and a load of empty rifle rounds came rolling out of the passenger footwell landing on the ramp and workshop floor. So along with a clean pass and some nice comments from the MOT tetster and the boys in the workshop I drove home a happy man.

I agree with the tester!

Timely, well crafted, and sensible rolling repair and resto work. Pretty practical and able looking landy anorl!

Hats off to you, Sir!

Many thanks!! It would of been a shame to left it how it was, it gets worked hard most days and how it drives now incomparrison to how it was before its like a completely new vehicle, I'm dead chuffed. Still doesn't mean I've not got a list as long as my arm of things that still need/things I want to do to it!!

So here's the interior, its not in too good a state a lot better than when I first got it though. As you can see it used to be green with a white roof. All the inside was clad in the horrible blue carpet you can see in the back which clashes with the green paint something rotten in my opinion.



As this moment in time I'm not to worried about the inside as I've a lot of work that I intend to do in the coming months.

On Sunday I set about finding the horrendous clunk that goes with the uptake of drive, glad I did as the nut of the flange of the front diff had worked loose, has anyone else had this happen?!

This is the list of work/jobs I've got for the Landy,

Exterior- Front and rear lamp guards
- Bush/branch cables
- Front and rear badges
- Alpine windows
- Possibly purchase and installation of a caranex tent

Interior - Finally get rid of the blue carpet
- Fit a working interior light!1
- Relocation of battery to rear so I can fit a safe under the passenger seat for safely locking away valuables, rifle ammunition and bolts etc
- Make some pull out draws so I can safely store firearms on the move
- Make/install racking on the sides for tools, camping gear etc
- Do something that is the dire mess of a headlining

So all in all I've got a fair bit of work to be doing, plus there's a few mechanical niggles like a annoying bonnet rattle, water leaks into the cab and a tyre that insists on losing 10 psi of pressure each day!!

SeanJ said:

So here's the interior, its not in too good a state a lot better than when I first got it though. As you can see it used to be green with a white roof. All the inside was clad in the horrible blue carpet you can see in the back which clashes with the green paint something rotten in my opinion.


As this moment in time I'm not to worried about the inside as I've a lot of work that I intend to do in the coming months.

On Sunday I set about finding the horrendous clunk that goes with the uptake of drive, glad I did as the nut of the flange of the front diff had worked loose, has anyone else had this happen?!

This is the list of work/jobs I've got for the Landy,

Exterior- Front and rear lamp guards
- Bush/branch cables
- Front and rear badges
- Alpine windows
- Possibly purchase and installation of a caranex tent

Interior - Finally get rid of the blue carpet
- Fit a working interior light!1
- Relocation of battery to rear so I can fit a safe under the passenger seat for safely locking away valuables, rifle ammunition and bolts etc
- Make some pull out draws so I can safely store firearms on the move
- Make/install racking on the sides for tools, camping gear etc
- Do something that is the dire mess of a headlining

So all in all I've got a fair bit of work to be doing, plus there's a few mechanical niggles like a annoying bonnet rattle, water leaks into the cab and a tyre that insists on losing 10 psi of pressure each day!!

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Interior doesn't look too bad, that will clean up fine! I never worry too mmuch about cosmetic stuff, as you will see if you look at the pics of mine!
Take a small pry bar, have a go at the a frame ball joint on the back axle first, could be source of the clunk on pulling away.

Turboman said:

Interior doesn't look too bad, that will clean up fine! I never worry too mmuch about cosmetic stuff, as you will see if you look at the pics of mine!
Take a small pry bar, have a go at the a frame ball joint on the back axle first, could be source of the clunk on pulling away.

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I'm happy with the front, as all the blue carpet tiles are gone, annoying dash rattles fixed, loose steering cowls put right etc and I've just one last little piece to trim up so there's green paint visible. The rear can wait till shooting seasons finished as it would only get trashed. The A-frame joint was one of the first things I checked but its fine, it literally came down to the flange on the front diff being loose, uptake of drives completely different now!!

SeanJ said:

I'm happy with the front, as all the blue carpet tiles are gone, annoying dash rattles fixed, loose steering cowls put right etc and I've just one last little piece to trim up so there's green paint visible. The rear can wait till shooting seasons finished as it would only get trashed. The A-frame joint was one of the first things I checked but its fine, it literally came down to the flange on the front diff being loose, uptake of drives completely different now!!

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Rough looking ones aren't so likely to get nicked! And the flange being loose would explain the clunk!

I do like the colour scheme with yours, it looks ace, a real unique truck!!

Well I've not had much time to play Landrover's as of late as all the pheasants and ducks are eating up most of my time but yesterday I did find time to fit some front light guards, change the oil and all the filters and sort a few interior water leaks so its better than no progress. Need to really get on top of the water leaks, the ones in and around the dash/footwell areas are getting bad!!


This is why the interior in the rear is going to have wait a good few months yet, carrying almost half a ton of this stuff around would ruin it and it stinks!!

Looking great so far. That's pretty much the way I've done mine - as a series of weekend-ish sort of jobs so as to break it up into bite sized pieces.

SeanJ said:

Well I've not had much time to play Landrover's as of late as all the pheasants and ducks are eating up most of my time but yesterday I did find time to fit some front light guards, change the oil and all the filters and sort a few interior water leaks so its better than no progress. Need to really get on top of the water leaks, the ones in and around the dash/footwell areas are getting bad!!


This is why the interior in the rear is going to have wait a good few months yet, carrying almost half a ton of this stuff around would ruin it and it stinks!!

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Search for the water ingress manual! It is a bit OTT, but does have some useful tips!
And I do love to see an old motor at work, so much better for it than being shut up in a shed with the battery going flat and all the rubber deteriorating!

Brown said:

Looking great so far. That's pretty much the way I've done mine - as a series of weekend-ish sort of jobs so as to break it up into bite sized pieces.

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Thanks very much, its still got a long way to go yet though!! That's what I used to do but at the moment I don't even have that luxury, I have to use it everyday at least three or four times so I've got to be very careful with what I decide to do!!

Turboman said:

Search for the water ingress manual! It is a bit OTT, but does have some useful tips!
And I do love to see an old motor at work, so much better for it than being shut up in a shed with the battery going flat and all the rubber deteriorating!

Click to expand...

Ah ace I'll be sure to take a peak at that thanks very much!! As much as I love to wash and polish and seeing it shine I enjoy using it for work just as much, plus my bos pays for all my diesel usage then, for both in and out of work!!

SeanJ said:

Thanks very much, its still got a long way to go yet though!! That's what I used to do but at the moment I don't even have that luxury, I have to use it everyday at least three or four times so I've got to be very careful with what I decide to do!!



Ah ace I'll be sure to take a peak at that thanks very much!! As much as I love to wash and polish and seeing it shine I enjoy using it for work just as much, plus my bos pays for all my diesel usage then, for both in and out of work!!

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All my landies have always been used mainly for work. And as I am self employed I get some of the costs back from taxman!

Lucky you, I'd love to be able to get some costs back from the taxman!! What do you do for work if you don't mind me asking?

So after a few weeks off from the Landy due to family, duck days etc its time to crack back on. I had intended on sorting out a lot of the water leaks that come into the cab but I now have a set of leaks to worry about. The following need attention,

Fuel tank-Massive leak out of nowhere
Lift pump-Leaking fuel
Header tank-Leaking coolant from the joining seam
N/S/F Brake caliper-Leaking brake fluid

So tomorrow as long as I can shake this stinking fever I intend to,

Stone chip the new fuel tank, whip out the old one and replace with the new
Install new Delphi lift pump and change fuel filter
Install new header tank, drain coolant from rad and block, replace with new and run up to temp
Remove old calipers and flexi brake hoses, put new second hand calipers on (after painting) and braided front pipes
Remove front air flaps/vents, clean up, paint and replace seals
Stick new Defender sticker onto the front grill
Clean all the spilt wheat and pellet out of the back and remove the horrid blue carpet
Start stripping down the dash to assess the rust from the water getting in

To be continued....

So today's efforts.... I intended to be up bright and early to start work today but this b**tarding fever had me up all night sweating it right out so it wasn't till gone midday that I had a chance to make a start.

The vents - I thought I'd start with a nice easy job seeing as was still a sweaty mess so I took the vents off wiped them down with spirits and gave them a new coat of paint and they look a lot better for
it,

So whilst waiting for them to dry I turned my attention to fuel tank, so I sprayed the new one from DDS in black stone chip, several good coats and left that to dry so I could turn my attention to removing the old one,
New tank prior to stone chipping,


Old crusty, rusty tank after removal


I'm pretty certain that the old tank is a crappy aftermarket replacement as the weight difference between the two was drastic with new one being what felt like twice the wait. I also cleaned up and painted the inlet and outlet pipes of the tank as when removed they looked sh*te. I also opted to use stainless steel allen bolts instead of the Phillips head originals.


Here's the new tank all fitted up and dry ready for installation


Now the air vents were dry I removed the old seals and replaced them with some that I'd made


And they seal lovely, no drafts or water leaks so happy days!!
Now one other thing that held me up today was removing parts that needed attention, I cannot and will not put a sub standard part back on, what I will do is clean it, paint it, stone chip it, weld it, replace it etc etc, what ever is needed to make it a proper job. Here's the new tank after installation

As you can see all the surrounding chassis, out riggers etc were cleaned up and stone chipped even though they were only freshly painted a few months back, I just couldn't help myself. I would also like to add that when undertaking any work on the landy that any nut, bolt, washer removed is replaced with a stainless equivalent and lathered in copper slip. So once all the tank was finished, plumbed up etc and the vents installed I then changed the lift pump and header tank.


In the process I dumped the remaining coolant from the block and rad and replaced with new and changed the fuel filter. I also finished the day off with a nice little job that I've been meaning to do for over a year, putting a sticker on the front grill!!


I think its the wrong one, but o well its better than none!!

So after running it up, taking it for a little trip round the woods I dropped the ball and chain at her dads and sat down to enjoy my well earned Saturday night cheat meal and good few bottles of fizzy apple with some man telly, bloody good day.


Didn't get round to doing the brake calipers and pipes but there's always tomorrow or the next day or next week....

Managed to get some more time in on the 90 over the weekend so with winter fast approaching I've got to get onto the water leaks. I've been watching where the waters been coming in for some time now and have been stockpiling parts that I'm going to need.
I intend to replace the following,
Bottom windscreen frame seal
Windscreen to bulkhead bracket seals
Both top frame seals
Side panel to roof seals
Side panel to tub seals
Both rear 1/4 window seals
Front and rear door rubbers

I'm also going to remove the dash as I've a feeling I'll find some rust there from the water leaks.
So I started with the dash removal,


Not happy at all about the state of the wiring so that's going to need a tidy!!



Again more wiring that is going to need a tidy up, but it now means I can take a peek at the suspected rust.....



So out came the grinder.....



There was slight corrosion just to the left of this hole but that cleaned up okay so that just got primed and painted, and the bit on the door pillar in the picture came up great with some rust treatment. At this point I drove the Landy to a local garage I've gotten friendly with and used their welder to plate it. I'll put a picture of that up next time as I still need to tidy it up a little more. So onto the water leaks!!

Windscreen frame out new seal going on.


Side panels off, new seals going in,




So with all the seals changed on the panels, windows, doors and holes welded up hopefully I'll have a few less leaks into the cab and I can fit the stereo equipment I've been hoarding. I started to look at the wiring after this but was starting to loose interest and the had to go out at three-ish anyway so I fitted something I've again been saving and have always wanted...



A roof rack!!

I'm going to be trying to get some time on the 90 in the week to sort the wiring, re-attach the snorkel, refit the dash etc but L200's now broken so that might have to take priority as I need one vehicle on the road!!