 | Home > My Defender > My 300tdi Bonatti grey galv chassis rebuild |
 
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| WarPig Member Since: 04 Dec 2009 Location: Sheffield Posts: 1748   
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I know this isnt a Puma but Ive followed this forum for a while, mainly to get advice and ideas for my anticipated rebuild of my 300tdi Defender. And following a request by Zagato on a different thread for some photos of my 300tdi rebuild, I thought I'd start a new thread explaining the story of my Defender.
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. Was used as a major event 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..
Click image to enlarge My intentions from the begining were to have it resprayed, but I decided to have a new galv chassis fitted first (as you do). And I thought I may as well have a galv bulkhead also. I didnt want to have to strip it all down for a new chassis once it had been painted. So, last summer off I went to see Paul who works next door to Richards chassis in 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 )..
Click image to enlarge The new rolling chassis complete with new genuine standard spring and dampers.. Click image to enlarge New galv bulkhead (from a TD5 I think?)..
Decided to fit a Safari snorkle, some galv tree sliders & galv front bumper so that everything is in keeping at the same eye level around the bumper, sides & cross member, so here it is after being reassembled (the Bonatti bulkhead is just visible)..
Then I decided to get the door bottoms repaired. I cant weld myself but did consider learning the skill to save some £££. But instead I took the doors down http://www.landroversuk.co.uk/default.aspx in Bath for them to do it instead. Its funny how once youve spent a considerable amount of ££ then it doesnt always make sense to skimp on other areas (thats my excuse ).
Good job I did as they told me that the unknown material acting as a door lining was a real  to cut through and their guy suffered a headache for days afterwards from breathing in the dust I even planned a family holiday in Weymouth just so I would be passing LR UK 
Click image to enlarge Land Rovers UK.. Click image to enlarge 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..
Click image to enlarge 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 (from Brendan  ) Brunell front grill & headlight surrounds, and countless other sundries that were needed. So now it looks something like this...
Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Stainless torx hinge bolts.. Click image to enlarge On the security side, heres the quick release Momo steering wheel & Adrenalin pedal lock.. Click image to enlarge And the telescopic security post I installed on my driveway..
I still have loads 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
but I hope you all agree its quite a transformation from how it used to look..
So a big thank you for all the advice & ideas that you have all unknowingly given me over the past few years  [/img][/img]
Admin note: this post has had its images recovered from a money grabbing photo hosting site and reinstated  Last edited by WarPig on 10th Mar 2012 8:34pm. Edited 25 times in total |
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5th Jun 2011 4:06pm |
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| alanhid Member Since: 24 Jan 2010 Location: South Lanarkshire Scotland Posts: 221  
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Awesome job warpig, looking great
Life is not a rehearsal!
Def 90td5 CSW xs 2006 |
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5th Jun 2011 4:17pm |
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| Zagato Site Supporter Member Since: 08 Jan 2011 Location: Billingshurst West Sussex Posts: 5013 
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Great work Warpig your Landy will still be knocking about when we are all 6' under
Difficult to better a Defender for very long term ownership than one with a galv chassis/bulkhead and a TDi in it  |
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5th Jun 2011 5:20pm |
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| Landie Boy Member Since: 14 Jan 2011 Location: Essex Posts: 431 
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What a loverly defender, Its nice to see one in that condition
 I think a Land rover decal on the bonnet would look good on it.
Jack |
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5th Jun 2011 6:05pm |
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| Maverick Member Since: 08 Mar 2008 Location: Inverurie! Posts: 261 
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Mate, thats something else! Wish I had the money to do that to mine, or the time!
Ben
Rebuilt 1996 black/white Defender 90 300 TDi |
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5th Jun 2011 6:09pm |
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| WarPig Member Since: 04 Dec 2009 Location: Sheffield Posts: 1748
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Thanks for the nice comments
Ive had to hide a lot of the costs fromthe wife And shes had to put up with having LR parts cluttering the house over the last year or so.
Ive got the decals waiting to be put on. Im gradually doing a little bit each day. Its been quite stressful to be honest, whith it being my daily drive ive had to concentrate on keeping it road legal whilst rebuildig it. Although I did drive to the spray shop without lights, bumper or rear doors. Managed to avoid the 'old bill' fortunately
Id like to fit an aluminium (for looks) steering guard, preferably with recovery points but I dont know if it would be very strong? Last edited by WarPig on 5th Jun 2011 6:43pm. Edited 1 time in total |
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5th Jun 2011 6:32pm |
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| WarPig Member Since: 04 Dec 2009 Location: Sheffield Posts: 1748
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I did consider leaving it on , but ended up selling it on ebay for silly money |
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5th Jun 2011 6:34pm |
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| scotty38 Member Since: 21 May 2011 Location: Lincolnshire Posts: 571 
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Very nice!
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5th Jun 2011 7:57pm |
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| T1G UP Member Since: 08 Dec 2009 Location: Bath Posts: 3101 
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very good
this is the future of old landies |
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5th Jun 2011 8:19pm |
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| YORKSHIRELAD Member Since: 17 Mar 2009 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 159
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I love it. No corners cut, just a proper job done really well.
Richard 1963 Series 2A truck cab 2008 110 SW |
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5th Jun 2011 9:03pm |
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| double cab happy Member Since: 01 Jun 2009 Location: merseyside Posts: 573 
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great looking vehical, that one will out last diesal,
thank the nerds for bio-diesal. good work |
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5th Jun 2011 9:13pm |
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| 110SEB Member Since: 29 Jan 2009 Location: Essex, England Posts: 1444 
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Brilliant job warpig
I would be really interested to know the ballpark cost of the chassis & bulkhead fitting and the respray.
Great thread and great work. Were you ever tempted to leave it as bought? Great in a tailback on the M25 I'd imagine - straight down the hard shoulder at 70mph no questions asked! |
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5th Jun 2011 9:27pm |
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| WarPig Member Since: 04 Dec 2009 Location: Sheffield Posts: 1748
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Well unfortunarely the blue lights and most of the red stripes had already been removed, along with the metal windscreen grill. But there were bits of police decals everywhere, took ages to remove.
As for costs, the galv chassis cost £1400, pre-sprayed galv bulkhead cost £1000, fitting cost about £1500, respray cost £1600. And then a good few hundred quid for the other parts needed. Perhaps up to £6k in total. Sounds an absolute fortune now I come to think of it , but I saved up over the years and bought things in stages. I guess a chain smoker spends more than that in their lifetime?
So the Defender cost £6,900 plus £6k in costs, so a total of about £13k or so. With only one previous keeper (the police) I guess I could get most of my money back if I sold it to someone who knew about Defenders? But its not for sale |
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5th Jun 2011 9:48pm |
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| T1G UP Member Since: 08 Dec 2009 Location: Bath Posts: 3101
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good to know.
i fancy getting my 90 a refresh, use the original chassis, get it galved, along with the bulkhead etc what have you done about the doors? they rust easily and cost alot to replace. |
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5th Jun 2011 9:53pm |
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