Defender completion during lockdown

[anonymous-user]

Great cars, idyllic setting.

(Everyone driving a hybrid hatchback in a suburb now has that sudden realisation, like the line in that old Talking Heads song: "my God, what have I done?")

[andburg]

w1bbles said:

andburg said:

I imagine so, I'm IT so wasn't up for extended stays and brawling. Normally stayed at the Glen in Newtonmore as it was pretty central, the food was fantastic, that's what matters!

Always said to the fiancee that we'll head up on the bike or hire a camper one day.

I seem to remember from PHSS stalking that you have a very cute dog. Mrs w1bbles says you're welcome to drop in on the way past if you bring him!

When we eventually do it he will 100% be coming up!

Probably more likely to be in a camper, be a long old ride on the bike with a dog!

[Greendubber]

This looks great, liking your work.

[G-P]

Great work, I agree with the TD5 and think it’s the best standard engine in the Defender, I am a little biased though.

[kbf1981]

Lovely car.

[w1bbles]

Thanks folks - I'll take that as permission to keep posting daily while there's work happening! Today the front end got some attention. Bonnet off, grille off, lights off, some minor rust on the bulkhead sorted out with Hammerite rust stabilising stuff, and lots of sanding and etch priming.

I haven't finished the bonnet yet but the tricky bulkhead and the wings/front are now all done:

[mikeg15]

Heh heh. It's beginning to look very RUC.

[w1bbles]

That’s unintentional, so it is...

It doesn’t have a V8, so the sound should keep me safe if I take it to Norn Irn!

[RSTurboPaul]

w1bbles said:

Thanks folks - I'll take that as permission to keep posting daily while there's work happening! Today the front end got some attention. Bonnet off, grille off, lights off, some minor rust on the bulkhead sorted out with Hammerite rust stabilising stuff, and lots of sanding and etch priming.

I haven't finished the bonnet yet but the tricky bulkhead and the wings/front are now all done:

May I ask which headlamps they are?

And what the beam pattern / cut-off is like?

[w1bbles]

Sure - I’m sorry to report that they’re cheap ones off eBay. They don’t get through an MoT despite the seller stating they would, but the beam pattern looks good to me. They don’t blind anyone and the high beam is bright. If you want I’ll PM you the eBay link if it still exists. They’re E marked for what it’s worth.

[braddo]

Are there any brush strokes visible? It looks incredibly good in the photos.

[w1bbles]

braddo said:

Are there any brush strokes visible? It looks incredibly good in the photos.

It’s high quality synthetic enamel so if you’re half competent you can get a great finish. Sadly I’m only quarter competent and it’s been pretty chilly all day so there are some visible brush marks. However a rub down with 240 and then 400 should see it looking pretty good. It’s certainly very glossy already.

[w1bbles]

Bonnet now has coat 1. Just the doors, the interior and then coat 2 to do. Plenty of wet and dry pads so here comes next week!

[CAPP0]

That looks very nice! Mine is coated in grey Plastidip (needs re-doing actually) which is a matt finish, I've liked it up until now as its very stealthy, but I do like the gloss on yours.

w1bbles said:

Go on - stick up a photo or two.

Well I don't like to hijack, but since you ask I should put these in my own thread. It's still a work in progress so excuse the state of it, the filthy seat, etc!

Front End:



Business End . The yellow cable is the electronic speedo feed awaiting an electronic speedo home. Not quite finished under there yet, needs some more tidying. And it'll need a bulkhead replacement at some stage, I do have one but let's get it back on the road first!



And the interior coming along:



I made the console from the donor Discovery one, with a lot of cutting/heating/bending and a lot of fibreglass. It's not perfect but neither is the rest of the Landie. I could only find one place selling a console for an auto Defender, Ashcrofts, but it was really pricey and I actually didn't like the look of it anyway. There will be a cubby behind, had to leave space at the front for the fusebox cover to go on & off.

Welded the rear x-member yesterday so now just the rest of the exhaust to refit and to weld one front outrigger (which is bad enough to need replacing but it can have one last patchy tango).

Edited by CAPP0 on Sunday 22 March 17:03

[w1bbles]

Looks great - fantastic conversion work. Have you managed to get the ECU working with the injection or have you gone down the Megasquirt route? Our V8 has a dirty big Edelbrock carb on it, which is great but very unsophisticated.

[CAPP0]

Thanks . Yes, it's running the original 14CUX ECU, fished out of the donor. I'm pleased that I have done this 100% on my own, every single last job including ripping the donor apart and all the installation here, including working out the solution to a lot of little side-problems which have cropped up along the way. I'm not in the first flush of youth, and the Defender is too tall to fit in my garage (and there is something else in there anyway) so I've done it all on the drive. Partly accounts for how long it has taken!

It starts and runs OK on the drive, so I know everything is working and I have Rovergauge to check things further. A PHer far more knowledgable than me (100SRV, thank you) has been very helpful with a lot of hints and tips. The only two things I'm unsure of yet, I don't know whether I have the road speed sensor connected correctly, which apparently causes stalling if wrong, and also I made up my own starter inhibit circuit with a couple of relays but I have read that the ECU needs to "know" whether the car is in P or N. It seems to hunt slightly on tickover which may be that the speed sensor wiring is incorrect. And the water temp gauge runs very hot without the fans kicking in ( it's a 90 degree fan switch) but that may be the sensor, or a difference between the Disco and Defender instruments. I believe Rovergauge will tell me the actual temperature. We'll see; I've only driven it a few hundred yards, to make sure it went and stopped, as it's not MOTd (or taxed for that matter) but I'm close now and itching to get it out and see how it goes!

Edited by CAPP0 on Sunday 26th April 13:19

[w1bbles]

G-P said:

Great work, I agree with the TD5 and think it’s the best standard engine in the Defender, I am a little biased though.

I agree. I’ve had a few Defenders over the last 22 years:

1988 90 (Ninety if we’re being pedantic) with a 2.5 n/a - horrible
1988 Ninety with a 3.5 carb V8 - disappointing and a pig to handle thanks to drum brakes and ancient axles
2001 90 with a JE Engineering stage 2 Td5 - awesome and very quick but too small once children arrived
1985 Ninety with a 4.0 carb V8 - not as much fun as you’d think, but sounds great
2001 110 with a bog standard Td5 - flexible and fun, capable of the odd overtake

I may chip the 110 Td5 but don’t want to shorten its life with excessive exhaust gas temperature, but head may over-rule heart. Once you put in a Disco transfer box the combination of increased power and longer gearing makes the ideal machine. Covid-19 means I’m going to be very cautious about spending money frivolously and if it works fine that’s probably OK for me at the moment.

I’ve still got the 1985 Ninety and the 2001 110 (in this thread) and would like to think I won’t need another vehicle until the 110 gets edged out by EVs.

I’ve also had a 4.4 V8 Disco 3 (brilliant but thirsty and expensive), a 2.7 TDV6 Disco 3 (great but sounded like a washing machine full of nuts and bolts) and a 3.0 TDV6 Disco 4 (fantastic piece of kit). I used to have a 1984 RR Classic but ended up scrapping it. With hindsight that was a poor move.

[Jared123]

Hi, nice to see what your doing to the Land Rover looks really good! I owned this one between 2008 @ 2011.

[Jared123]

It was an Ex National Trust with about 43,000 miles then, think it was on 90,000 odd when I sold it

[w1bbles]

Jared123 said:

Hi, nice to see what your doing to the Land Rover looks really good! I owned this one between 2008 @ 2011.

Wow! How cool is that? How on earth did you find this thread? Brilliant to see it being trialled... as you know, it's a Special Vehicles Defender and had a crane installed in the back. Great to see what it used to look like. It still carries some great battle scars which I'm planning on leaving in place.