Defender 300 TDi Project!

Hiya, just thought id get round to posting a thread about my Defender 300tdi that I have started to work on.

Recently purchased a clean example 300tdi off ebay here are the sales pics







After an inspection pre sale on site in fading light I gave it a better look once home.

The bulkhead is fantastic





Similar condition inside under the mats etc

Rear crossmember although jazzed up with some paint, is solid throughout,



Everything underneath was waxoyled twice a year according the seller and some work with a hammer confirmed everything was solid, outriggers included.

Inside was fairly clean too





Decided to take a peak to see if the battery was about to fall out, bit of surface rust but actually solid



Treated that



Made up some brackets for a battery clamp as it was just held in by a brick and some wood, and oxide painted it



In the meantime found my first bit of rot, in the corner of the seatbox



So decided to get everything out



small collection I found





Drilled the welds and removed the ends on both sides







New panels etched primed and in place







one coat of black por15 later



neoprene sheet for battery to sit





in the day



new seatbox trim





and that little first job was complete

Next up I wanted to stick the spare back on the rear door

picked up this on ebay



Drilled some holes





Bolted on





Pulled this off



replaced with black





Also decided to replace rear fog and reverse with later td5 style round ones, bit of a ball ache, had to order these plugs





Going to order some wheels next week, probs out of these two, im undecided




And il be wrapping it at some point, in this colour



Reason iv gone for that over a paint job is simply that its not for a show and shine competition the aim is to make it solid and clean, if I spend a grand+ on a repsray il be ****ting myself everytime it gets dirty or touches a bush! The vehicle was bought because we suffer bad flooding and get stuck in the snow where I live so it is for some function and not a #towie town queen lol

Enjoy!

:welcome2:

Smart landy

Awesome stuff very tidy. Whats that wrap stuff like and is it fairly expensive?

yeah its not cheap but nowhere near the price of a respray, its about 15pm and iv worked out I need 15/16 meters, so looking at 270ish

You can get cheaper stuff, KPMF wrap about £8pm, but after receiving samples for both this avery and the KPMF it looks and feels a bit cheap

that crossmember isnt standard

Wouldn't surprise me if it has been replaced, probably in too good condition to be original

it looks too thick and lacks all the factory holes, i'm guessing its a blacksheep
http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f7/black-sheep-offroad-x-member-install-216230.html

cheers for the info, interesting stuff

im still learning about these, its my first defender, my only other experience being a freelander 2 in the family, this is a bit easier to work on mind lol

looks very nice. i think you made a mistake adding the wheel to the back door mind.

people remove them because they cause the door to sag, it's just not strong enough to support the weight, especially if you are thinking about larger tyres.

also if you don't care about showroom finishes, then people hand paint them. should cost around 50quid for paint and bits and bobs. have a search fopr the threads.

welcome

Cheers for the reply

I was aware of the sagging issues but I figured I just prefer the look of it there and the extra room inside, replacing worn hinges is something I'm just going to have to foot for the privellage. That said I know someone who's had one on for years and it's still not sagged. I guess is depends how much abuse you give it or open the door etc.

Regards paint. My initial plan was to roller a paint on. Probably matte black, however I'm caught in between realising is a functional vehicle and my inner ocd of making everything I do as good as poss. the wrap seems like a good compromise.

It's more than possible to get a very good finish with a roller. Look for the Rugged Guide videos on the method before you commit to wrapping it. IF you roller it yourself, it's easy to touch up if you scratch it but the wrap material will bunch up and tear if you scratch that. Other than that, well done on what looks like a very sound 90.

SJW2511 said:

Cheers for the reply

I was aware of the sagging issues but I figured I just prefer the look of it there and the extra room inside, replacing worn hinges is something I'm just going to have to foot for the privellage. That said I know someone who's had one on for years and it's still not sagged. I guess is depends how much abuse you give it or open the door etc.

Regards paint. My initial plan was to roller a paint on. Probably matte black, however I'm caught in between realising is a functional vehicle and my inner ocd of making everything I do as good as poss. the wrap seems like a good compromise.

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Mounting the spare on the rear door doesn't just cause sagging hinges, it will break the frame unless you add some serious strengthening to it. Later models have a better designed door that can better take the weight (I don't know what date the new design was introduced)

godzilla84 said:

It's more than possible to get a very good finish with a roller. Look for the Rugged Guide videos on the method before you commit to wrapping it. IF you roller it yourself, it's easy to touch up if you scratch it but the wrap material will bunch up and tear if you scratch that. Other than that, well done on what looks like a very sound 90.

Click to expand...

Yeah iv seen a very good finish with rollered on rustleum near spray quality.

I kinda disagree about the commitment though, painting is more of a commitment than wrap as it can be just peeled off to go back to original colour.

waldershelf said:

Mounting the spare on the rear door doesn't just cause sagging hinges, it will break the frame unless you add some serious strengthening to it. Later models have a better designed door that can better take the weight (I don't know what date the new design was introduced)

Click to expand...

From what iv read there are two style doors one basic and one with reinforcements for a wheel mount. The latter have extra braces welded in certain points on the frame.

Mine had these braces as well as cutouts in the frame already there to drill the holes through so I can only assume the door was designed for it. I will endeavour to keep my eye on it though

If you're sticking with the standard tyre sizes you shouldn't have a problem for some time. The doors do suffer from wheels hanging on them but it's generally accelerated by people mounting silly size wheels/tyres and obviously the rougher the treatment the vehicle gets road/surface wise the quicker it will fail.

Very tidy looking car though. Paint looks too good to hide with wrap! Or is it a case of looking good from afar?

Cheers!

Yeah the paint is not bad, there are a few areas where you can tell its oxidising underneath at the edges so would need rubbing down and painting, of which im rubbish at, plus im not a massive fan of the green i think the met grey looks a lot more modern.

But yeah its not bad and I think with wrap it can go back to how it looks now fairly easily

if your ocd will allow, you can retro fit a later Td5 rear door, they are one piece and a lot stronger. I've been after one for a while but keep missing out, or not wiiling to pay silly money that some folk want.

But sweet motor and nice workman ship on the seat box!

thanks, il keep my eye out for one of them, the door is in need of repair or replacement anyway (the usual rot on the bottom section)

I was going to repair it, but if there is a better replacement I might look into that!

SJW2511 said:

yeah its not cheap but nowhere near the price of a respray, its about 15pm and iv worked out I need 15/16 meters, so looking at 270ish

You can get cheaper stuff, KPMF wrap about £8pm, but after receiving samples for both this avery and the KPMF it looks and feels a bit cheap

Click to expand...

I think that's pretty reasonable to be honest. Paints starting to flake off mine so looking at my options cheers.

Have you had a look at a swing away rear wheel carrier? Best of both worlds, wheel out the way on the back and very little stress on the back door as most of the weight is transferred to the rear crossmember.