This must be the most typical landy project start ever had...

As some of you may have seen today I was due to pick up my first defender (90 pick up). First time since I’d seen it since the newer 200tdi was fitted. Test drive fine so handed over cash and drove home all 75miles of boring motorway miles... first thing you do ? Take it to your mates to show off the new tractor of course... Only for it to not start when you go to move it in front of said mates and smoke appears in the dash... long story short it appears a loose hose was dripping and shorted the starter! So it’s currently sat awaiting the first of no doubt many little things to be fixed “face palm” should anyone have a 200tdi starter located near or in the West Yorkshire area let me know.

New car day photos will follow when I finally get the thing home !

It’s just pushing the boundaries to see what it can get away with!

Good luck ck with the new addition. Looking forward to seeing some pics!

why the loose hose - did a mechanic fit it? which hose was it?

So quick update time,

After being let down and fobbed off with two separate starters I now have one ready to be fitted and should have it ready for photos this week and no doubt it’s first family contribution will be Xmas tree collection.

With regards to which hose, right now it appears to be a water hose that comes in above the rear of the engine not had much time with it so cannot explain better right now haha.

I can only assume the guys that put the engine in either didn’t secure correctly or worse it’s blowing off but more on that to come as I will being going over it and making a wish list of updates.

Ok so finally some photos first off some exterior and interior as I picked it up.





However as explained above the first drive home didn’t end well which then left it looking like this


So now a new start is in but while I am there, it turns out the previous owner did the bare minimum and has basically thrown the engine in so wires are all over and quite dangerous draped over the manifold, wrapped around moving parts etc so I am now systematically going over what I can and rewrite where I can with help from a friend slow going but it will be worth it. How it looked before...

She is purrrrty.

If you plan on playing with it in deep water, then make sure your snorkel works as it should , otherwise you will get smoke of a different sort from what you want, if you go play in deep water.

Top tip, do not use your hand to try and seal the snorkel off to see if it stalls the engine, remove the snorkel top and use something very solid like a piece of thick flat wood to seal the pipe off and if it stalls it is pretty much working OK.

Cheers

It looks great!

So update time, my truck is now at its new home...finally! Just in time for Christmas perfect.

Here are some of the wiring ends/potentially missing, anyone see anything obvious please shout up otherwise I’ll address as I change/upgrade things.







Fuse board appears abit tired, any off the shelf replacement?



Whilst under the truck everything appears tickety boo, the sump has seen better day so could replace next oil change but if it’s not leaking why bother ?



That’s all for now, adding few more security bits and bobs then enjoying ownership need to learn how to change gear, struggle to get into 2nd smoothly (shameful)...

Make sure to check what fuses do what......write yourself a cheat sheet , otherwise you will be looking for the right fuse on a damp and cold light with a torch.

Cheers

I think your wiring looks neat compared to mine......


I am replacing mine with a blade fuse box.

You maybe onto something but so long as it’s functional right.

I’ll have a look into that block, cheers

My Old Landy said:

I think your wiring looks neat compared to mine......
View attachment 165562

I am replacing mine with a blade fuse box.
View attachment 165564

Click to expand...

Ok so nothing much to report due to the festive season, but by chance I left some cardboard under the front end and a day later I spotted some drips (nothing unusual I hear you cry) however i spotted some little orange colours, went to investigate further and found a jubilee clip not quite tight and it had seeped down a hose. So a little nip up and a dry rag to wipe away. Just something to keep an eye on but I suspect no further action needed as yet.

SkillzTom said:

You maybe onto something but so long as it’s functional right.

I’ll have a look into that block, cheers

Click to expand...

I'm changing mine to a blade in my 101 but have got an led one they light up when blown.

So whilst enjoying a New Year’s Day drive I found a new fun trick* out about my new tratter. *Item requiring adjustment.

...The drivers door won’t open from the inside ? Handle moves fine and opens lovley from the outside .... im guessing a link or something has come loose. It’s no big deal but another thing to make me chuckle.

On a positive ... I am seeing no leaks from some of the pipes which appeared to be leaking so loose clips may have been the cause. Hurray simple fix.

Over and out.

Update time,

So after a busy January with one thing and another ive just been enjoying driving around and doing little jobs (the doors now both open from the inside and i found a solution to the rear window rattle (cocktail stick is the perfect fit apprently), fitted some more security features along with my new shiney optimil quick release steering wheel which im over the moon about.

I have been creating a little list of things that i find annoying whilst in use, i think next up will be the blowers as i am not sure they are working at all??? should i be able to feel a breeze (hot or cold) from the vets iin the windscreen??? is it really a case of ripping the whole system out to get to the motor to test it? seems a bit of a farce when researching.

Ciao for now Tom.

Looking forward to rest of ur journey keep it up

Right so still not much further down the line as ive just been plodding along, I manged to get out on my first ever green laning trip (photos will be coming at some point).

Over the last few week I have start to strip the interior and begin to tick things off my list along with plan how i want to end up dash layout etc etc.

Soon i shall be undertaking my first service myself so im sure many photos and epic fails will be posted.

I promise the next update will have photos!!!! we all love photos.

So proper update time with photos this time hurray !

Firstly the good stuff prior to the first laning trip I had my custom made load cover fitted (thought i had better photos of it but times moved on so much) it is 4mm stainless bent to flair out fixed down via the corners, it allows the rear door to be opened on its own aswell as having a custom lift up access panel on the top (has gas struts) to aid lifting as its a hefty old bit of metal, it was painted in black but abit dissappintly its chipped off in placs but life goes on.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1m8T_VBLIC64GdJ58_025sCJkD5Fnm6Un/view?usp=drivesdk
I then enjoyed using the landy for while before undertaking some niggles as mentioned & smaller jobs have been fixed but the big strip out and replace is still on going (i want to re cover the trim and such to make it feel comfortable most are suitable but the rear panel behind the seats is shot and will need replacing).
(Interior shot)
Following this I had the time and wanted to do some routine maintance, learn the various bits and better understand... so off to my friends garage to use his proper tools and ask questions when i get stuck.

However as with these things, I started one thing and ended up playing with another... none of the fluids got changed but i fixed the washer pipework which stopped the windscreen washer from squirting (oooh err), cleaned down various joints which appeared to be leaking but couldnt find any damage (more on this to come 'sad face') tighted up various joints which were loose could have been the cause? and adjusted the aux pump as the belt was too loose and caused power loss during full lock. I also had a look at his tire discount to see what tyres I would be getting next 'happy face'.
(Bay shot)
(Pump Leak)
Some more time passed and I stumbled across what I feel is a bargin £50, a genuine canvas bedcover with framework (it was in poor condiciton but no rips or tears just needs tlc)


While the weather was good I decided to crack on purchasing some Zine primer and Black Satin Topcoat Srays. Now there is no urgency for this as it will be used when carrying larger loads like camping etc but seemed nice little project. The weather was nice so I gave the frame a compelete sand down and wash off to prepare and then primed which went well in my make shift spray area using various things to ensure I could coat it all.

That brings us too today and my first MOT !!! 'dramatic music'... dropped off and in a happy place was maybe expecting some advisorys but that wasent to be...

I was a little dissapointed and feel some of the listed are harsh but thats life, so it looks like I have some work to do... however I am short of time so will need to collect some parts and try to do it all at once before sending back for a retest but for now its going to rest up untill I get free time.

Tom.