Another 90 Rebuild

miktdish said:

Great thread/rebuild. Keep it coming

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Cheers, mate. Hopefully, on the down hill stretch now

james6546 said:

Dude, that looks amazing.

After looking at how shiny that it I really want to get mine resprayed now.

Not a bad cost at all considering. I would have expected more for a finish like that.

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Thanks, James. It's a lot of money, but I'm pleased with the result. The paint feels really thick too

The paint job looks first class
I bet you are very happy with it

That's so shiny. If I were you I'd hardly dare drive it in case I scratched it.

Very happy with it, greyhair. Although most of it is still in the bubble wrap, as I don't have the space to move bulky stuff like that around. It's better left safe and sound wrapped up Hopefully, it's all the same standard.

That's exactly what the Mrs said, Brown. Yeah, it'll be a worry for a while until it's picked up a few knocks and scrapes.

Got a bit more work done to today. Fitted the rear brake calipers and started to fit brake pipe.


Replaced the gasket from the end of the drive shafts while I was at it. Last weekend, when I fitted the new discs, I thought I should have changed them but didn't have any so bought some this week.
They are pretty fine gaskets!


I need to buy a new T piece for above rear diff


The new chassis doesn't have small holes for the brake pipe clips to push in to so I made some aluminium plates and used araldite to fix them to the chassis rail. Not sure what others have done for this, but it seems to have worked well.


I made 6, here they are in place.




This is my first rebuild, so getting things done in the correct order is an issue for me. I'm thinking the next thing to do is to get the main wiring loom through the chassis. I know some people like to duct it along the chassis rail, but my first thoughts are to put it back where it came from. I reckon then it will be putting the bulkhead on so I can start putting pedals, servo etc on and complete the brake and clutch pipes. Can anyone think of anything I need to do before I get to the bulkhead stage?

Wicked paint job mate. Looks amazing. Coming along nicely now. I've just pulled my engine ready to go on to the new chassis so getting excited now. What colour have you chosen as it looks very close to my colour but a million times better. I think mine is Rimini red. Keep at it mate. 👌

Cheers, defenderdog. Yeah, it's coming along ok.
I'm keeping mine the original colour which is Rioja Red, LR paint code 601. Looks very similar to yours mind. How sure are you yours is Rimini?

Al2O3 said:

Cheers, defenderdog. Yeah, it's coming along ok.
I'm keeping mine the original colour which is Rioja Red, LR paint code 601. Looks very similar to yours mind. How sure are you yours is Rimini?

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Not very tbh. I think it is actually could be Rioja red but just faded over the years. Looking good though mate. I must press on with mine. Trouble I Just go out to get on with it but then mill about going from one thing to another. I think I need to change tactics and go out with a plan of what I'm going to do next time. Brake pipes look great to. Did you do them all yourself. Anyway going on a bit now. 😁

Nice idea for the brake pipe clips bud, I ended up drilling mine and using rivnuts and rubber lined p-clips.

The brakes pipes are a kit by Automec. Cost £79 quid though! You just have to bend them in to shape.

aaronmorris said:

Nice idea for the brake pipe clips bud, I ended up drilling mine and using rivnuts and rubber lined p-clips.

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You drilled your galv chassis

Started taking the old doors apart today to move the glass and winding mechanism over. Is nothing straight forward

The welded bracket on the bottom left of this door is about 75mm lower than the original! The corresponding bracket on the right hand side is not there! These hold the bottom of the metal panel which holds the winding mechanism. This is my brand new, plastic coated, sealed and beautifully painted doors . I'll have to fabricate some brackets to take their place. I can't find bolt on brackets on LR Direct, Paddocks etc.

Has anyone cut the bottom off the channels the window glass runs in?

The steel U channel in mine are rotten, but I'm wondering if the bottom 6 or 7 inches being cut off will affect the window too much? I think I'll put a separate post up because loads of people refurb doors compared to reading this thread. Those channels are quite expensive though! I've found cheap kits for series doors, are there any for 96 plate Defenders? I can't find any yet.

Sorry, just catching up with your thread. My chassis had the holes for the brake pipe brackets in it. They were hard to find the right part numbers for the brackets though, so I have loads left over!

As for the loom, if you can get it in your chassis go for it. I spent 15 mins looking at mine and decided it wasn't worth the effort! Plus it was pretty disgusting when I took it out, this way I can keep an eye on it and fix it if I have to. My heavy duty cable ties seem to have done the job nicely, though what to do with all of the spare loom is a bit of a headache.

Can't help on the door question, you are ahead of me on that!

I'll have to wait for the weather to fair up before I try to get it in. Was raining yesterday, which is what forced me inside, so started work on the doors. They are becoming a major project in themselves Still, they've got to be done.

Designed a bracket and made a card template. Cut it out of some 2mm ali plate and bent it in to shape in the vice.


Bolted it to the door and put some masking tape on to mark the hole from the winding mechanism plate.


Cut a straight section of plate with plenty metal on either side of the bolt to make it more stable when tightened down. You can see how far out the bracket is


This is one of the completed doors. I need to buy more M6 nuts and bolts for the new brackets.


Does anyone know the thread on the screws which fix the door handles on? I would like to replace mine with small bolts rather that the philips screw heads.

That looks like a neat job. As if it was done like that in the factory.

Cheers, Brown. They have turned out better than I expected. Far more rigid than I'd hoped for, they'll be absolutely fine. I've no idea why the brackets weren't there. I bough the doors through my local LR specialist who knows my vehicle very well. I guess it's the problem with buying aftermarket gear.
Got the wiring harness out this afternoon

I carefully labelled everything up at the time, but some of the masking tape labels must have had oily finger marks on and the oil has spread through the tape, making the writing illegible.
The harness to the rear looks a bit grubby, but I'll give it a clean in the morning.

Some of the tape is starting to wear through, so I'll re-tape it after it gets a clean.
Son finishes work at 2.30 tomorrow, so I should be able to get the bulkhead on when he gets in. Should be ready to start getting the wiring looms in and connected to the bulkhead on Thursday which is forecast to be a dry and sunny day here.
Tonight I'll be studying the strip down pictures to try and remember where the cable runs were!

u can use series window channel to do your drop glass channel guides £2.50 a length used it loads of times

Cheers, Gatso. I've ordered some from SP4x4 as suggested on the other thread.
Any good ideas about dealing with water inside the doors? Do you think much flows through? I'm thinking of trying to catch it and pipe it out.

Cleaned the pedals up today. Spent ages more than I had planned to, but wanted to get the faces that fit to the bulkhead smooth. Cleaned the bulkhead brackets and a few others. Rubbed them down then painted them with aquasteel rust treatment, let it dray for half an hour then rubbed them down again. The aquasteel raised the rust time and time again and makes it easy to rub more and more off. Eventually it stays smooth. Got them etch primed.


Will paint them satin black in the morning.
Then got the bulkhead bolted on with the two outrigger bolts.


Forecast is good for tomorrow and so will start bolting pedals on and fitting the wiring loom.