Land Rover Defender retrim, anyone got any experience?

[V8Smith]

I'm looking at getting a Defender, looking to personalise it, especially the interior changing the front seats and rethinking the seats, dash, door cards etc in leather to make it a bit nicer inside. Other than the obvious Overfinch, does anyone have any experience or knows a good company that can do this?

Thanks

[V8Smith]

Seriously....?

From someone that has modified pretty much every car hes had, to question wanting to simply improve an interior that's pretty basic, I find your comments rather strange

I don't recall mentioning we couldn't live with, or didn't like, the fundamentals of the Defender or wanting to change the construction, are you sure you read the correct thread?

We love the Defender, its the fun element and the character we like, that isn't going to change by bringing the Defender interior a little more up to date? We also wouldn't update it to seats that are out of character or make it difficult to get in or out of? But thanks for your input it was duly read and ignored

300bhp/ton said:

Honestly??

Buy a different vehicle. If you can't cope with how a Defender is inside as standard, you are unlikely to cope with it after you've spent a fortune on the interior either. No matter how much money you throw at the interior, you'll never change the fundamentals of the basic construction of the vehicle. So it will never be ultra refined, spacious and comfortable.

Stock seats are buy and large very comfortable anyway and allow access to the battery. Aftermarket ones usually don't and more often than not only make it harder to get in and out of rather than achieving anything positive.

[V8Smith]

The Wookie said:

To actually answer the OP's question, there's plenty of places to buy bits to make your Defender a bit more comfortable.

First of all I should point out I have a relationship with Corbeau so I'm not unbiased but I have their RRS's in mine with lower squab bolsters to ease entry and egress. They do a few options with the low bolsters and they are essential, I used to have regular buckets and they were a pain to climb over to get into the car. Recaro do a similar option with their Sportster CS's which are also a nice seat.

Corbeau's fitment and subframes are also really good, they use the original sliders and raise the frame just over the seat box lip in station wagons without a bulkhead so you can move the seat further back and win some much needed leg room without sitting in the roof.

Exmoor trim also do less 'sporty' seats which will be an improvement in comfort over standard. They also do padded cubby boxes which lift the interior a bit and are much more comfy as an arm rest than the standard item.

As captain helpful mentioned you do lose the ability to get straight to the battery box with aftermarket seats but this is easily overcome for most issues by installing a covered positive terminal on the front of the seat box. I also wired in a Ctek charger to keep the batteries healthy

In terms of trimming the doorcards and dash it's probably best value to find a local trimmer and buy some leather from whoever you buy your seats from so it matches.

Edited by The Wookie on Wednesday 19th April 19:48

Thanks for getting this back on topic, much appreciated. I will certainly look at the options you mention, thanks some helpful tips there. I have already found a local trimmer, so might just go the full retrim of original seats route. I'm going to keep the car a while first and see how it goes, it is a lot different to what we are used to, but modern cars don't have character and looking forward to it. I had an old V8S TVR some years ago, loved it, I completely transformed it, over time, (photos in profile) but kept it looking close to original, just updated it, 'pimping' a car to be something it isn't is not what we are after.

Thanks again for your advice.

[V8Smith]

battered said:

You've said it yourself, they look cool. Most of my driving is in town or on motorways between cities. I suspect that goes for most of us, the times you get a winding country road with no cameras on it are rare events for most of us. On that basis something that looks the part makes perfect sense, after all you are generally under 30mph or in a straight line on the M whatever at (ahem) 70 officer.

I have to agree, for us it's an occasional car for when we take the dog or when the in laws stay and we need 7 seats. I love the look and feel of them it's all about character. We currently have a 2016 Range Rover Sport and as excellent as it is, it lacks that sense of occasion when driving it, dare I say it's boringly excellent. We will have other cars, I have a new Merc for work miles and we are changing to a Maserati Grancabrio, so it's not like we will have to drive it day in day out. What one person thinks is a pig to drive, another finds an 'interesting' drive. Having had the Range Rover for a year or so, it is excellent, but we need more space, plus we want to move away from boring and into interesting,

We have always wanted a Landy, if we do find we don't like it, we certainly won't regret trying it, but I remember people saying the same to me years ago when I bought a 1989 TVR. It was bought, supposedly, while I looked for a good Griffith, but when I drove the Griff, it was so much better than the S in so many ways, quicker, more refined, BUT, it wasn't as much fun. So I ended up buying a V8S which I loved and I think the same will happen here with the Defender.

[V8Smith]

Timbuktu said:

Fair enough! In which case knock yourself out! What is your budget?

This one looks perfect, the interior is already done!

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

Thanks, but that ones not for me, not white, interior is ok, def not lhd. If I'm honest I'd rather customise myself as my idea of what looks cool. I fancy citrus grey, black wheels, nice interior plus maybe an uprated engine, hopefully auto. But I'll keep it looking authentic and like newer models which I like.

Budget I'm thinking to spend £20k+ then maybe £8k on interior and then I'll take it from there, but if I go the new engine route, I'm more likely to go 4ltr Range Rover/TVR engine so it's more a smooth growl and in tune with what a Defender should be. I love a nice noise but an LS3 or 400bhp+ engine belongs in a sports car not a 4x4

[V8Smith]

300bhp/ton said:

Wow £8k on the interior, you must really like spending money! Seriously though, do your research, as what companies are changing £8k for, you could probably achieve for more like £1500-2000. The rest is just the bling tax for the wealthy clueless fodder.

As for engines, really depends. The Rover V8 is a pretty easy swap into a Tdi or even Td5 Defender. There is some work, but you can easily retain the gearbox. Auto's on these are sluggish, kill the performance and ruin the fun.

Puma's use a different gearbox, its out of a Mustang, hence like the one above it has a Ford V8 in, because it bolts up to the engine. Lots more power than a Rover lump, but likely useless in a Defender unless you spend a fortune on the chocolate axles.

Rover V8's sound awesome, classic OHV sound. But that's pure sports car IMO. LS engines do sound different, but they are a similar sort of noise. I know as I have two RV8's and an LS sitting outside the house right now.

£8k is just what I was quoted by a local bespoke trimming company, it's just an estimate at the moment....!

One question though, are you always this rude to everyone, or do you just get a kick out of being a tt to someone new to the forum? Just thought I'd ask, although I see straight through the sarcastic bravado

[V8Smith]

300bhp/ton said:

Timbuktu said:

Fair enough! In which case knock yourself out! What is your budget?

This one looks perfect, the interior is already done!

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

Wow that thing looks totally tasteless and horrid. If that's what you want, there really is no point getting a Defender tbh.

That car is hideous, but Timbuktu likes it, each to their own......

[V8Smith]

Hard-Drive said:

OP, fear not Mr 300bhp, he does tend to do that a bit ;-)

I get what you are trying to do, however with a Defender everything is a compromise, so it will never be truly comfortable due to such an old design. But you can certainly make it a more pleasant place to be...I've retrimmed my Defender seats with Exmoor leather and heaters, and it's very nice indeed thanks. I did look at alternatives such as RX8 seats, but that was going to give a world of issues. I've actually thought about just buying some leather from a trimmers and doing my dash top etc too, and I have a groovy dark headlining ready to go in one weekend too.

I think just consider what you want the vehicle to do. Mine is a second car, granted 95% of it's miles will be on road, however I still need it to be capable of driving in muddy fields, launching boats, and the odd bit of green laning, along with family holidays and perhaps one day an overland trip. So my rule is no materials or electrics than can't be hosed out up to the top of the seatbox, simples.

However personally I think all this Kahn/Urban Truck stuff is a bit non-sensical...even getting in and out the thing in a slightly muddy field you will end up with scuff marks up the door cards, so why would you want to trim those in leather? Even if you fit leather seats, you can also fit covers for protection. Taking a Defender to a professional trimmer would seem like an easy way to blow a fortune.

That said, if it's what you want, do it. A Singer Porsche on paper makes no sense at all compared to a 991, but it's a heart not head car, right?

Thanks, you are right, this is a heart purchase, not a head one and we are well and truly ready for compromises, over the years with TVRs it made me realise even more that technically better cars arent always the cars I want to drive. We will have two other cars that do the boring/quick stuff, this is about making a family trip out an adventure and in the process, making the cockpit a nicer place to sit

I had a look at the Exmoor stuff last night, looks pretty good so might give them a go, as the seats are the most important thing, then over time we can assess whether we want to improve the dash, door cards etc I like the fact their seats seam to have the removable seat for the battery, which seats do you have and are they comfortable, the modular seats look like the standard 2013- seats?

Fundamentally, I want to buy a newish Defender with the updated dash 2008- and then over time bring it in line with the 2013- cars, add Sat Nav, reversing camera etc (wife will be driving it and she is concerned about parking it) but keep it looking original not pimped, that is key for both of us as we don't want it to look like a 'modified' car I agree some of the Urban Truck/Twisted stuff, looks OK but its not for us.

Going to look at a car on Sunday, so hope to be in one soon.

Cheers

Mike

[V8Smith]

Hard-Drive said:

To answer your question, I have standard 110SW seats in the front, and yeah, they are fairly comfy, although never as good as "car" seats, although they are much smaller! My 110 is so old it was originally fitted with Series 3 seats, which I removed. I bought scrap seats off eBay and retrimmed them myself.

Don't get too hung up on every piece of trim though. Defender driving isn't like that, you'll be too busy smiling out the windows and thinking about the next oil leak to worry about whether contrasting stitching is right for you...

Reversing camera? It's a square box which pretty much ends where the rear door glass is!

They do "update" well however, this is mine, ex MOD and now 31 years old...

Looks great, certainly doesnt look 31 years old

Been doing some digging and found another local trimmer that has quoted £2.5k for a full bespoke trim of the full interior, which seems reasonable to me, might include the Exmoor Elite Sports seat, as they look great and appear to have the obligatory lift out base to get to the battery :-)

The reversing camera is just for the Mrs, I agree with you, but shes had the camera in her cars for the past 7-8 years so has got lazy and relies upon it and in the scheme of things, its not that much money tbh and plugs straight into the Sat Nav unit.

Cheers
Mike