Bankzs 110 CSW XS Build

Missed owning and driving a Defender too much, so started looking! Saw 3 or 4 finally found this on up in Stoke.

143k, FSH, 2 family owners and well looked after. Interior is im very good condition as its the rest.




Stopped off at Clarksons Farm on the way back, much nicer than a services!



270 miles later and we home. Didnt feel too bad really! Surprisingly comfortable for a bog standsrd 110. Everything felt good too, rides nice, steerings tight and has good feed back. Loved every mile driving back.

It has got some nice upgrades though. 2 stage electric sunroof! And electric rear windows, however need to fit regulators.





A new build starts!

Already got some Corbeau bucket seats, perfect timing with 60% off for their anniversary! Heated of course. Diamond stitch because why not!

Could've popped into mine on way back, 2mins from j10

Those seats are choice

Looking forward to this taking shape!

First jobs -

- Refinish the rear crossmember, not rotten but seen better days.
- LED Headlights
- Wipac LED Lights all round, went for smoked
- Fit the Sparco sports wheel
- Wire up cruise control, using Empires kit this time. Much much neater and a very good price.
- Change gearbox/TX box oil

Nice one mate and indeed they do get under ur skin where nothing else will do

Like the seats and look forward to the build

Is that a 2003 plse as looks good for the year

Yes! It is a 2003

Insurance is also £13 less than the D2!

For the time being its staying at my parents house, got my honeymoon next week, then offroading in france. The last trip for the D2, then swap to the 110!

After finding out that AC Condensors are now £700 for the Defender its ridiculous.

Bit of research found a German company makes condensors that fit the Defender. Requires some minor modification apparently but nothing drastic. Also much larger and has mounts for a 15" fan opposed to a 13" fan.

Should result in longer lasting AC between refills and better AC at a standstill!

All for the grand price of £120 + Spal fan for £60. Much more reasonable.

I will detail any modifications needed to fit!

bankz5152 said:

Already got some Corbeau bucket seats, perfect timing with 60% off for their anniversary! Heated of course. Diamond stitch because why not!

Click to expand...

Which seats are these ?
Do they fit the existing LR mounts or do they need another mount altogether or just some fettling ?

miktdish said:

Which seats are these ?
Do they fit the existing LR mounts or do they need another mount altogether or just some fettling ?

Click to expand...

Corbeau RRS they also do a low base version for 4x4s. Howeve defeats the point of a bucket seat imo.

They need mounting plates (DA2778) bolting under the seat which then bolt into the existing LR seat rails. I could have quite easily made some but more effort than its worth having to cart around a pair of bucket seats!

They also move the driving position around 1" closer to the inside making for a much more comfortable cabin.

Also best off buying direct from Corbeau. ALOT of companies increase the price massively for the Land Rover market. Seen the same seats going for 1600+ on some LR websites!

Very busy day today!

Picked up some 285/75/16 BF Goodrich KM2s, only covered 300miles! Tricky trying to get them in the D2

Started with removing the rotting NAS step which Ill repair at work. Going to need some parts laser cut and it needs shot blasting for sure. Rusty but definitely salvageable.



Crossmember also needed some attention, perfect time to do it while the 110 can sit in the garage for a week.

Taken all back to bare metal, cleaned & degreased throughly. 3 coats of Buzzwelds Passivate, high content zinc primer.

Followed by 3 coats of 2K Smooth FX Liner.



With a some very minor adjustments the german AC Condensor fits!

You need to bend the left hand AC pipe a touch to fit. The right hand pipe needs to be bent and moved further back into the engine bay.

The top bolt also needs to be replaced with a cap head as the clearance is minimal, not enough for a socket.

15" Spal Fan fitted as well, cut the old plug off the LR fan and wired it in. Should result in better AC at a standstill and potentially even better general cooling.

According to the manufacturer should take 70g more gas but thats to be worked out when regassed.



Swapped the headlights for LED and all the indicators for smoked Wipac + gloss black surrounds. Not 100% sold on the shade of black though may need a respray.

First time ever none of the cabels needed switching. All worked first time!



Got the windows tinted. After contacting 12 companies in West Sussex and Kent.

8 refused the work entirely, 4 quoted £600 - 800 claiming all the windows had to be removed.

Finally found Creative FX based in Bromley who came out and did the job in4 hours for £200! No windows out all, did an excellent job, he was worried about the alpines but they worked out well. 100% recommended.





Finally Sparco 383 Wheel with an Optimil Boss. Just had to bend the indicators/flasher stalk a little but works well.

Not a fan of the Optimil on the boss though, so a mate of mine is going to look at milling me a new one with Sparco instead!



Didnt get my seats in though as i forgot I needed bolts to actually fit them to the subframe

Silly me!

Busy day!!

Looking good. Couldn't have been much profit in the £200 for the tinted windows, excellent price.

Looking smart!

Started to sort the NAS Step issues...

Very rusty!



Laser cut a new one from 3mm mild, added etch lines to make it easy in the pressbrake. I did bend it to shape but forgot pics



Also have to cut the end plates where it mounts to the crossmember. Will be going for 6mm mild, nice and strong + no need for any spacer plates.

Shot blasting the steps tomorrow, then weld it up this week.

Also drawing up a recovery eye, replace the tow ball. Its rare if ever ill need tow.

One I made for a standard Defender Crossmember, will do a modified one to.suit the NAS step.

10mm laser cut mild, full pen wells on all sides for maximum strength. Hole is designed to suit a standard winch hook for quick and easy recovery.

Got quite a few if anyone wants one

Nice recovery eye ... what are it's dimensions ?

miktdish said:

Nice recovery eye ... what are it's dimensions ?

Click to expand...

Made to suit the Defender Crossmember, cant remember off the top off my head! But its 10mm thick, tab and slot design, then fully mig welded with a minimum of 8mm penetration.

Made the modified recovery eye for the NAS Step, 15mm mild so extra strong

Thanks to Gigglepin for fitting and balancing the tyres!

The KM2s feel great on the road, much better than the Radar tyres on my D2 and much quieter than Cooper Pros.

Bucket seats in! Such comfy seats!

Need a matching cubby box now

Loving your work again @bankz5152

Seat envy!

Busy again after work today!

Need the fridge on the weekend so that means split charge needed! Took the bjg Oddessy battery from the D2 and had a spare battery. Nothing fancy, no relays just linked batteries.

Forgot to buy a battery clamp so made one quickly and sprayed it, given the heat dried in seconds.

Also ran an additional large earth.




Also put 30mm spacers on, properly clewr the new tyres, doesnt make a huge difference because of the Boost offset.

However feels far more planted.



Not that exciting but reinforced my disklok, no pics but youll get the jist. 4mm plate, welded over the back. No peeling this off.