 | Home > My Defender > From white TD5 hardtop to Puma inspired poptop |
 
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| andy2111 Member Since: 17 Oct 2021 Location: Kent Posts: 365   
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Jeff is a MY 2002 TD5 hard top, he was registered in 2001 so that makes him one of the very first of the facelifted TD5s with the 15P engine and updated dash etc.
I bought him from a chap on the south coast who runs an independent Land Rover garage - the truck had belonged to a customer and he had serviced it for years before eventually buying it for his son. It had a comprehensive service history going back years (adding up to a shocking amount of money) and I knew it had been looked after and that the seller was genuine. Jeff had done approx 112,000 miles when I got him. I think I paid about 7K for Jeff and was planning to smarten him up a bit and have a bit of fun green laning and going to shows. The more I started looking into things the more the crazy notion of really trying to modernize Jeff took hold. My wife had a very nice Puma 90 XS a few years before and I got it in my head that I could bring Jeff up to the same standard in terms of equipment and comfort. This really was the beginning of my downfall, and a 4 year (thus far) obsession was born in modernising Jeff and spending so much money in the process that I could have bought at least 2 late model 110 XS Pumas and still had money to spare! I have to say that I have done almost none of the work myself, I like to think of myself as the designer  and to be fair, I spent countless hours researching what I wanted to do and finding someone that I wanted to work with on the project. Over the years I've had help from a great team of people at different times for different jobs and I thank them all for their unending patience as I throw them yet another problem as I try to bend and shape an old truck into something it was never meant to be.
So let's get started with a few more pics of Jeff as I found him...  Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge |
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30th Oct 2022 4:40pm |
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| andy2111 Member Since: 17 Oct 2021 Location: Kent Posts: 365
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I'm sitting here looking at the invoice to remember what we did in the first stage of the upgrade and I'm having heart failure already remembering the list (and the expense). The invoice is 5 pages of itemised parts and 187 hours of labour!!
My wife made the inspired choice on colour for the respray - Carpathian Grey and Santorini Black, which I think looks fantastic. Here's a summary of the rest of the job - remember I have "Puma XS" in my head when dreaming up the to-do list... New front and rear doors and door cards Electric windows inc tinted glass Heated front windscreen Heated seats Central locking Rear bulkhead removal LED headlights NAS style indicators and brake lights Security bonnet hinges Billet door handles Windscreeen jet wash upgrade Dual battery and management box NAS rear step New front bumper Rock sliders Chequer plate Steering guard Snorkel Wide wheel arches 2" Terrafirma lift kit Terrafirma wheels Polybushes all round Alcantara headliner Dynamat and carpeting in the rear Full Exmoor trim carpet set New cubby box with CB radio build in New front grille New steering box New front propshaft Etc etc etc etc..... And here are the pics from the first big upgrade, starting with the stripdown.. Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Last edited by andy2111 on 30th Oct 2022 5:35pm. Edited 2 times in total |
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30th Oct 2022 5:22pm |
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| andy2111 Member Since: 17 Oct 2021 Location: Kent Posts: 365
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And then some pics of it all being put back together again..
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30th Oct 2022 5:27pm |
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| andy2111 Member Since: 17 Oct 2021 Location: Kent Posts: 365
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And here's Jeff as I collected him, with me foolishly thinking that I was just about done with all my upgrades and modifications
Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge At this stage we still have the standard TD5 dash and interior and I started to think that I should update the cab to match the nice external refurb.... |
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30th Oct 2022 5:30pm |
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| Co1 Member Since: 19 Aug 2018 Location: North Yorkshire Posts: 3674 
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It’s a risky business wading through all those invoices!
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30th Oct 2022 6:04pm |
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| andy2111 Member Since: 17 Oct 2021 Location: Kent Posts: 365
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So having done the largely exterior refurb, the interior of Jeff was looking very much the poor relation and I'd been mulling over for some time what to do about it.
I really should have just refurbished the standard TD5 interior and added a few extra comforts, but I decided that I could try to upgrade it to "Puma XS" spec and so the madness began. I have always had a love of making old things new/better and whilst I can't claim to have done all work, I think I play the role of "evil designer genius" in this particular tale! So, step 1 - go fit an aftermarket Puma replica dash. Here are some pics of the job once finished - I don't have any pics of the work being done. Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Last edited by andy2111 on 26th Dec 2022 11:47am. Edited 2 times in total |
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9th Dec 2022 6:15pm |
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| andy2111 Member Since: 17 Oct 2021 Location: Kent Posts: 365
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The beauty of this kit is that it's specifically designed to upgrade an older car to the Puma dash. It reuses your instruments/clocks and so is just plug and play. There are custom controls for the heating/AC as well because the standard TD5 vent flaps are now hidden behind the dash.
I had my flaps motorized with some actuators linked to a switch on the dash, it looked really cool to see them going up and down, but you had to remember to close them if it rained as the water went straight in behind the dash! I also had an aftermarket AC (HVAC) unit fitted because I intended to travel and wanted aircon. The problem is neither the standard TD5 or Puma AC units fit because of the non-standard pairing of dash and bulkhead, so I got a unit specifically designed for the job. It was all going so well for a while and then I started to have some elecrical problems and needed a few things looked at. I had found a new local mechanic to service and maintain the truck and he'd not done any of the conversion work. When he started investigating my various issues he called me to declare the wiring a fire hazard and said he would not work on it because it was such a mess and he couldn't provide any guarantees on any work and he'd also be liable for any faults thereafter. Perfectly reasonable! I think the wiring woes built up over many many years, all compounded by different people doing different things at different times and I'm certainly not going to blame anyone for what happened - but it was quite a mess. I found a great auto electrician who knew Defenders really well and he looked at it.... and said the same thing! He didn't want to touch it for fear of being on the hook for every subsequent problem. I literally begged him to help, and eventually wore him down. Here are some of the pics he took of the rewiring job.... Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge |
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9th Dec 2022 6:33pm |
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| andy2111 Member Since: 17 Oct 2021 Location: Kent Posts: 365
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We ended up with bags of old wire, clips and terminal blocks...
Click image to enlarge Which were all replaced by three beautiful new custom looms Click image to enlarge |
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9th Dec 2022 6:38pm |
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| LandRoverAnorak Member Since: 17 Jul 2011 Location: Surrey Posts: 11324
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I feel your pain. I'm going through a similar exercise with a camping trailer that I bought last year:
Click image to enlarge Darren 110 USW BUILD THREAD - EXPEDITION TRAILER - 200tdi 90 BUILD THREAD - SANKEY TRAILER - IG@landroveranorak "You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia |
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10th Dec 2022 11:15am |
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| andy2111 Member Since: 17 Oct 2021 Location: Kent Posts: 365
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Maybe your trailer and my truck had the same owner somewhere in the distant past!
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10th Dec 2022 11:20am |
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| Procta Member Since: 03 Dec 2016 Location: Sunderland Posts: 5166
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looking great, i did look at the puma upgrade dash my self, as it brings it more up to date. i am sure i read you could even upgrade the clocks to puma units too if i am right.
 Defender TD5 90 ---/--- Peugeot 306 HDI hatch back
Success is 90% Inspiration and 4 minutes Preparation # you can make it! |
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12th Dec 2022 3:02am |
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| andy2111 Member Since: 17 Oct 2021 Location: Kent Posts: 365
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Hi, yes you can... and I did! Will upload those pics next...
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12th Dec 2022 8:21am |
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| andy2111 Member Since: 17 Oct 2021 Location: Kent Posts: 365
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So we are around September 2020 at this point and the next upgrade to Jeff is to upgrade the instrument cluster.
At this point I am still using the aftermarket/replica Puma dashboard where reusing the TD5 clocks is a great time and cost saver, but I really wanted to have the truck looking as genuine Puma as possible, and so I bought a used instrument cluster from eBay and the Futuranet guages adapter (from our very own Martin who provides this amazing forum). I also bought a new perspex screen for the cluster which made the unit look brand new. Click image to enlarge I removed the old TD5 cluster Click image to enlarge And fitted the new Click image to enlarge I used a mileage correction service to update the odometer which initially showed 235K miles and got it to match exactly the 114K miles from the original odometer. Click image to enlarge All very strightforward and simple enough that I could do it myself! Click image to enlarge I'm really pleased with how it all looks and everything works perfectly including all the relevant warning lights. The all important termperature guage reads just like the original too. Visually the whole dashboard is "a lot more Puma" now, except for the centre console, and of course the TD5 gearstick which is dog legged under the dash. Both of these will feature in a future update! TD5 hardtop to Puma inspired Poptop - my build thread 2002 110 TD5 Hardtop ¦ Full Puma interior ¦ Carpathian grey / Santorini black ¦ X-Vision-X poptop |
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12th Dec 2022 4:36pm |
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| Procta Member Since: 03 Dec 2016 Location: Sunderland Posts: 5166
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something a little extra for the clocks?
https://www.alivetuning.com/product/alive-classic-instrument-set/ Defender TD5 90 ---/--- Peugeot 306 HDI hatch back Success is 90% Inspiration and 4 minutes Preparation # you can make it! |
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12th Dec 2022 11:55pm |
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