 | Home > My Defender > The Beast Is Finished ..... for now |
 
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| Ranger Member Since: 17 Nov 2011 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 75   
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Having owned a few TD5 110’s, 2 ex MoD 90 soft top’s and Wolf 90 in my time, I decided that I was getting fed up with either fixing, painting rusted area’s or worrying about which bit would rust next. You would think that the ‘Rust Option’ came factory fitted. So I decided I wanted a galvanised chassis. Whilst working abroad, I spotted this one on fleabay (I know!) and the guy selling agreed to hold onto it til I got back to UK. It’s a 1990 HT with original 200 TDI engine, galvanised chassis AND a galvanised bulkhead. When bought, it was a complete shell inside but the paint and mechanics were good. I got it back to N Ireland and started getting it how I wanted, which is all the fun!
The silver grille and surrounds had to go (I hate silver trim, too bling) and were replaced with KBX including the wingtop intakes. The tyres and rims had seen better days and I’ve always preferred BFG MT’s, so on went a full set on black alloys (did I mention I hate silver bling?), including the spare. The turning circle wasn’t great, so on went some 30mm Terrafirma spacers (have to spray them black at some point). Galvanised rock sliders were next and also sprayed black. Had thought about powder coating but satin black paint allows touch ups every so often to keep it fresh. Due to the 2 inch lift and no rear steps, my dog, a 55kg Alaskan Malamute, tended to face plant itself every time it got out. Whilst I found this hilarious, the dog wasn't impressed as it was starting to get a face on it like a pug….so rear NAS steps were added and completed the exterior, allowing the mutt to enter and exit with some dignity and stopping the Mrs from gurning (only about the rear step, coz as we all know you can’t stop them gurning about everything, bit like trying to stop a Land Rover from leaking). A rear LED replaced the rear washer nozzle which I’ve always found to be useless, probably coz there was no wiper fitted……  Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Last edited by Ranger on 29th Sep 2015 3:11pm. Edited 1 time in total |
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29th Sep 2015 3:00pm |
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| Ranger Member Since: 17 Nov 2011 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 75
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Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge The interior had received some emergency treatment upon purchase, as the centre seatbox top panel was split and I’d basically driven back from Newcastle, across Scotland to get the ferry, with my left butt cheek hanging in the wind and getting soaked, shoulda worn thicker pants. New panels were riveted in and Exmoor trim lining installed to insulate the cab area. The dash panel looked a cluster, so I installed a Raptor dash. An MDF glovebox panel covered in black vinyl gave the dash a more completed look instead of like something from Ikea. Now, not being electrically minded, I was amazed that I did the wiring without blowing anything or turn the 90 into a mobile bonfire. I did some googling of forums and then installed a separate fusebox behind the front passenger seat and ran new wiring to it for the CB, LED interior/exterior lighting and USB sockets. Each is fused with the whole lot being protected by a 100 amp megafuse in the battery box. Dash clock lights were replaced with blue LED bulbs and now all the interior switches, CB, radio etc all have matching blue lights. |
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29th Sep 2015 3:03pm |
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| Ranger Member Since: 17 Nov 2011 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 75
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As said previously, this was a bare shell when bought. I insulated/soundproofed the whole interior with self-adhesive closed cell foam pads. These look good initially but don’t wear well so I managed to track down some very cheap Alcantara headling. I resprayed the door panels and sun visors to match. Rear Mudstuff side panels and rear speaker panels were added along with a bed liner. The previously mentioned mutt loves to sit looking over the bulkhead and covers the cubby box in slabbers so I also added the dog guard. Now the dog only slabbers over the kids in the back …….
Storage was next. I’d previously bought items from Mobile Storage Systems and found it to be good quality stuff, however the price of their rear arch storage boxes are quite high and the P&P to N Ireland is frigging extortionate. Not their fault, just the price charged by couriers due to weight. I then tried Barebox UK, who won’t deliver to N Ireland regardless of how much, so f**k you very much for your custom. I therefore took measurements for a seatbox and went to a local fabricator and got 2 made for a quarter of the price, result! Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge |
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29th Sep 2015 3:06pm |
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| Ranger Member Since: 17 Nov 2011 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 75
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Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Now it may seem that a lot of stuff was just bolted on and a lot of money thrown around……. and you’re right, but I had an image in my mind of the look I wanted. Also as I work away for a few months at a time, it meant every time I came home, there was a bunch of boxes under the stairs and the Mrs giving me dirty looks as she got a crappy bottle of perfume from the airport. So that’s her done for now, next spring I’ll do a seatbox rebuild and start on engine upgrades, intercooler, silicon pipes etc….you’re never really done, are you? |
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29th Sep 2015 3:08pm |
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| g-mack Member Since: 07 Jan 2014 Location: northumberland Posts: 1967
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Look ace awesome job.
Did you use any particular paint when spraying door cards? My 109 thread my youtube channel |
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29th Sep 2015 6:02pm |
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| Ranger Member Since: 17 Nov 2011 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 75
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Paint used on the inside door cards and sun visors was Plastikote, satin black. The underside, rock sliders and rear crossmember was Halfrauds, satin black, very easy to maintain and touch up. I was told the exterior was Stornoway Grey but I may be wrong. I tried to go for the subtle but menacing look.
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29th Sep 2015 9:05pm |
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