 | Home > My Defender > 130 double cab rear body conversion.. |
 
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| alwoodley72 Member Since: 14 Mar 2010 Location: salisbury, wilts Posts: 724   
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Hi all,
Had my 130 for over 3 years, it had a utility rear body that was always ‘temporary’ for me…!  Click image to enlarge Now whilst we’ll made it was wider than long, with encroaching cupboards on both sides and annoying ( and lethal!)barn doors on the rear.. Plan was to make it usable for both my work landscaping/ timber building construction, and going away in it camping. Wish list was Long enough to sleep in Enough width in the back for a double bed Useful storage Possibility of link with cab Large openings to allow for flaps to be used as hade/ shelter. Tailgate- love my disco 3 one, great for sitting and allows the rear flap to be higher to aid opening when trailer hitched… Done on a budget.. So, here we go as a ute.. Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge No going back now, 2 week trip to French alps booked with son and good lady…3 weeks to go.. Then managed to get covid.. Timing… felt ok so squirrelled away at my workshop and ordered loads of bits and fasteners.. I dismantled the old body to reuse the profiles, hinges and catches, I picked up a sprinter milk float rear body for £150 3 years ago, a sprinter curtain sider that hit a bridge donated its rear doors for £80.. Couple of bits of aluminium angle and box ( for £300..!)and loads of nice fixings.. First was to extend the body to the cab, gaining 50 mm, then to the rear gaining 150 mm. These were in steel box I had. Reused the old floor stiffeners and wheel arch boxes as they’re galvanised and just right, used the old floor as a template for the new buffalo board one.. Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Then the real thinking started, I never drew it out properly, just let it work itself out.. rear was to have an angled base to allow good access to tow bar and less of a sharp rear end to hit. Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge I profiled the aluminium around the steel to accept the ply and dibond panel sides that slot/ screw in.. I reused the top profile from the milk float, using the roof stiffeners bent to a slight arc to deflect puddling, dibond fitted to that and 25 mm celotex insulation slotted in nicely.. 98 300 tdi 90 project 94 Range Rover vogue 4.2 lse 79 911 sc 08 130 double cab utility Last edited by alwoodley72 on 28th Jul 2022 8:51am. Edited 1 time in total |
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28th Jul 2022 8:22am |
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| geobloke Member Since: 06 Nov 2012 Location: Nottinghamshire Posts: 4410 
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That there is the dream for my wife and I...
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28th Jul 2022 8:25am |
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| alwoodley72 Member Since: 14 Mar 2010 Location: salisbury, wilts Posts: 724
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Next was doors/ openings…
The rear and side door were too large, so a fun amount of time was spent working out how they were constructed, then deconstructing them and cutting to fit..then refitting the seals which was the worst job ever on the hottest day ever..! Click image to enlarge Also made the tailgate out of lots of spare profiles, and bathroom thumb catches..! Made stays to keep it level to sit on.. Bit panicky as only a week to go and a lot to do… Found a cheap (£80) sliding drawer unit from a pickup that fitted in between wheel arches perfectly, greased up and ply lined / buffalo board fronted.. excellent bit of kit, extends nearly a metre and made a table top for it.. Click image to enlarge Put rams on the flaps, quite a bit of weight and whilst fine in 40 degree heat, not man enough when cool.. reused old catches and locks, extending rods etc. Click image to enlarge With both flaps up there’s lovely airflow through the back.. Home stretch, mechanic mate then turned his attention (!) to fixing broken helper spring retainer ( that’s what that knocking was for 2 years..) and replacing the rear shockers with some lovely old man emu ones.. rear shock bushes were so worn I was really, well shocked that the mot had been only 4 months previously.. Also he did a great job wiring in the rear light pod, again over engineered from lots of profile, all wiring on bullets to allow taking body off in the future.. Click image to enlarge The last bit was a bit of a blur as so little time, 14 hour days at the workshop, fitting front wind deflector/ visor, fridge, roof tent then on with the double bed making and putting a shelf in to fit wolf boxes, area for barbecue etc.. Finally ready and early for our channel tunnel on Monday! Had 2 night in /on it on the way down, Troyes and annecy, loved it! Now down in st gervais les bains getting ready for a few days into verbiers then Italian lakes… Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Hope this inspires others to do the same, I’ll post up some better pics this week if anyones interested! Such a usable vehicle now, wish I’d done it sooner.. Loads of minor mods/ additions but basically love it, hope the other half does too when she gets here later!.. Cheers Alex 98 300 tdi 90 project 94 Range Rover vogue 4.2 lse 79 911 sc 08 130 double cab utility |
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28th Jul 2022 8:43am |
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| blackwolf Member Since: 03 Nov 2009 Location: South West England Posts: 17372 
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Outstanding, turned out very well!
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28th Jul 2022 10:05am |
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