90 Retro restoration project

[CY88]

Last year I bought a 1986 Land Rover 90 from a mechanic friend of mine. The main appeal was the fact that it was a V8, had formerly been owned by an airport fuel depot (therefore mechanically well looked after) and a canvas top. Downside was the various layers of paint - original blue, then yellow, then orange, culminating in a horrible brush applied pea-green slap, done by a former owner clearly in a hurry who’d managed to overpaint all the rubbers, light fixtures, interior etc in the process.

We struck a deal which included my friend replacing the usual rusty bulkhead corners (the only real corrosion) and, much to the delight of my kids, I took possession of the car just in time for summer use last year. Using what I had lying around in the garage, I did my best to tidy it up by popping on a set of Range Rover alloys, a replacement bumper and grill, and over the winter a new set of shocks all round.

These pictures really fail to show the horrible paintwork but, as you can see, the early V8s (LT95 gearbox) were essentially a Series 3 on the inside with three rudimentary seats across the front and very basic dash.


From fall into winter - Day 330 by CY2010, on Flickr


Dog-eared by CY2010, on Flickr

When the run out models were announced for the Defender last year, I thought the Heritage one was best, and hatched a plan to give the 90 a new lease of life, combining some elements of the new Heritage and also the older NAS models. There’s a Dutch outfit called Riverhouse who do up 1980s Land rovers to export to the US, and their projects have provided some inspiration http://miniobsession.com/category/defender-2/.

So over the last few months I have been amassing a stash of bits in preparation for the project, amongst the new parts including (externally) puma bonnet, series-style two piece door conversion and classic style led lights all round. I’ve arranged to get all the layers of old paint stripped back and a new paint job… probably Keswick.

Imagine a canvas top version a bit like this and you sort of get the idea….



Old style interior, updated like this from that Dutch site…



So, do you guys have any advice? Perhaps alternative colours, or must have bits and pieces to add, or recommended work to sort out during such a restoration? Cries of derision or support?

This may become a build blog, so look forward to hearing any suggestions!

[CY88]

Easter weekend brought some sun, and some "before" pictures to record the 90 in all its loveliness prior to work getting underway.

Interesting bonnet accent that I've been waiting to be rid of...


Layers of thick brushed paint over the top of old decals and signwriting....



Virtually everything in this picture will be replaced with new


As it used to work for a living, it had sheet metal reinforcement panels riveted on top of the rear wheelarches. I took these off (and the spare wheel mounting) to reveal what is left of the original colour. Black paint all over the inside too!


And one quick question. I started dismantling the front end as its going to have a new radiator prior to painting. A quick line up of the aircon style front panel reveals that, whilst it fits nice and snug at the sides, the fixing holes on the top of it are a good cm forward from the screw fixing holes in existing 1980s slam panel. I'm assuming this is normal and some kind of work around is required?


Cheers all.

[CY88]

Rob_H said:

My preference in colour is the grassmere green with black roof, alloys and black plastics. Look forward to seeing your progress !

Rob

i did wonder about that colour too, but I think its a little too pale. There's a 110 softtop on ebay that's in that colour and I reckon it clashes with the canvas they've used - would probably suit black better.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/LAND-ROVER-DEFENDER-TD5-20...

[CY88]

mikeh501 said:

The beauty of them is you can do as you want!

Amen to that! I'm hoping it will that it will be more classic in appearance than not once all is done. Just put an order in for old style metal light surrounds.

hidetheelephants said:

at the ebay ad LR; rusty chassis available as standard

I saw that too! makes you wonder why they didn't treat even the visible bits of the chassis after all that effort on the paintwork?

[CY88]

Bit of progress at the weekend, mainly the fitting of a new radiator with twin kenlowe fans

Was also pleased to discover that behind the standard plastic headlamp surrounds there isn't a big square hole between the sidelight and indicator. This means that I should be able to get away with painted series light surrounds only, and not those expensive nakatanenga inserts I was mulling over

3 successive paint colours on the front.


Can anyone recommend good alloy / stainless door and bonnet hinges? I'm yet to decide on these. Cheers

Edited by CY88 on Monday 20th April 11:08

[CY88]

Look what came in the post today. Stainless steel ... too shiny?

[CY88]

hidetheelephants said:

Not too shiny but deffo bloody trop cher! Nice though.

Luckily I managed to get them a bit cheaper than the advertised price - less than a lot of the aluminium ones advertised. They certainly feel excellent quality.

[CY88]

Going in this week for prepping and painting

[CY88]

Crossflow Kid said:

SHutchinson said:

CY88 said:

Going in this week for prepping and painting

Leave it like that. It's done!

+1
All hail, the Defender Super Leggera.

Its certainly dropped a load of weight - I was amazed how heavy each of the one piece doors are!

[CY88]

So this project is taking a lot longer than I though it would! As is removing all the layers of paint!

A couple of update pics from this morning....

[CY88]

On target for a V8 90-shaped Christmas present!

[CY88]

100SRV said:

Nice Land Rover!

What do you think of the shift quality of the LT85 gearbox?

Is it the solid or split-case version?

I'm afraid to say that I don't know which it is , but the shift quality is pretty good assuming its the original 80s box.

smn159 said:

Good choice of colour!

cheers!

Couple of bad phone pics from today....

The lights are something to upset the purists here I'm sure. I have to admit I'm not sure I'm convinced by the LEDs either, but I'm going to try them for a while. Desperately needs bigger wheels too - I'm thinking 265/75 16s?



And one from the rear. Tailgate should be on tomorrow.

[CY88]

Almost ready to leave the shop.... took an age to get all the LED lights working properly.



Some details....







Comparison with what it started out like - really pleased with what has been achieved.



And picked up a new set of tyres today too, still to go on.....




New hood frame and canvas at the beginning of January

Edited by CY88 on Wednesday 30th December 19:06

[CY88]

paintman said:

Looking very nice!
Don't forget to fit good security to it.

Cheers! Good call - am investigating this too.

Got her back home earlier today, and wheels now on Will start putting the insides back in tomorrow...





Any opinions?

Also discovered in this evenings rain storm that I have severe "new door seal" leaks to sort

[CY88]

paintman said:

Looks very good indeed.
As far as security is concerned, this was a new one on me!: http://forum.lro.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=97344 Likely that only Tracker or something on those lines would help.

Gutted for you. In the middle of the day too!

hidetheelephants said:

they all do that sir.

This is like someone turned a tap on though!

[CY88]

UKAuto said:

WOW.

I was scrolling through your thread here with interest as I am looking to get another defender and get it to my liking. Then as I reach the shots of yours all put back together I realized it was the same one I saved an image of from a 'show us your Rover' thread. Love it - that is the colour I am pretty sure I will be using when the day comes.

Cheers.

Thanks v much. The colour is Keswick Green (coded as HFU and 799). It's up to date but suitably retro - much praised in the Land Rover community it would seem. Good luck with your search and build!

[CY88]

ZOLLAR said:

That looks stunning, really struggling as to whether I should sell my Discovery 2 and buy a defender or keep the Disco.
Need to own a Defender at some point!

Cheers Zollar! Disco may be more waterproof in this weather!


Here's some pics from today

Did some tidying up in the cab - trying some wood accents and coir mats




Also trying out a galvanised rear step for the kids




then managed to go out for some fresh air with the sides up

[CY88]

g7jtk said:

on my lightweight I stuck insulation to the inner door skin and made door cards covered with carpet. Made a huge difference in cold weather.

I was just thinking about door cards today. Not made up my mind yet... will await a cold snap!

[CY88]

smn159 said:

CY88 said:

Also trying out a galvanised rear step for the kids

THat's a cracking looking 90

What you need now is a side hinged tailgate

Cheers v much

The tailgate hinges (from Purely Metal) already allow for side opening, although it would be nice if there was just a handle as its a bit fiddly (having to remove the pin in the lower hinge and disconnect the cable first).

Edited by CY88 on Sunday 17th January 20:33

[CY88]

BullyB said:

Love it!
Less really is more

The mats are great

Cheers!

HotJambalaya said:

That really is cracking!

How much of the work are you doing yourself? Is there anyone good over there at restoring, I have a place in Jersey, and I've always thought about getting some old farmers defender defender for a laugh, not sure I could follow it through though, I enjoyed the day dreaming until you came along to give a prod with this!

Thanks. I used Cartech up in St Lawrence for the bodywork and paint - Alex there is a Defender owner and therefore had a keen enthusiasm for the job.

What motivated me to get mine sorted was the fact that they're about to stop making them. My involvement (aside from dismantling the easy bits) was "vision" and sourcing all the new bits!

ZOLLAR said:

OP,

If you don't mind me asking what were the costs for the full respray?

I'm considering it on the Discovery in the next 5 years or so once I've done everything else to it.

I wasn't willing to do any of the prep other than taking he easy bits off, and the estimate that they gave me for the job when I pitched up in the horrible brush painted car was £2K for a full 2pack respray on the exterior only. To be honest, given the layers of paint everywhere, I thought this was optimistic. In the end the prep work (there was a lot!) and respray (on the inside too, including the load bay) together cost £3K, which given the results I was happy with. This included refurbing / respraying the original seat runners and seat belt bar and some other bits and pieces.

I didn't shop around and it probably could have been done cheaper had I put some elbow in first, but I'd used these guys before and was pleased with their work, plus Alex being a land rover man sealed the deal for me.

Edited by CY88 on Monday 18th January 20:56