cheap and cheerfull defender project , rechassis and modifying pics :)

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shaggydefender

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279
90 project front 2.jpg
90 project outside rear.jpg
90 project chassis 2.jpg
defender body side.jpg
donor discovery body lifting.jpg
discovery chassis complete front.jpg
disco chassis with gearbox.jpg
disco chassis with box 2.jpg
figured it would be ideal to post my project in here ! , not had much time to spend on her so far but shes coming
so basicly i found this defender for £200 sat in a farm yard , it had been stood there in the grass for 5 years with no wheels , the farm baught it as a spares vehicle for thier identical one , i had it as it was minus the engine as they wouldnt sell that no matter what i offered , so i removed the engine on site for them and got the landy taken away to asses, as i had to scrape to get the cash to buy it there was no way this was going to be an all singing all dancing galved chassis project , i purchased a few parts for £100 including bonnet,doors,spare screen and galvanised tub cappings, found a discovery in my local scrapyard so decided to use the chassis and 24 spline axles from that , i was thinking of making it a 100" but that would mean buying a new tub and more work again , as my tub was in perfect condition i decided to shorten the chassis while adding strenthing mods to avoid rock denting of the rails

work done so far
body removed from 90 along with gearbox and diffs , rest has been chucked in scrap
body removed from discovery
rear end chopped and middle has been shortend to 92.9 inches
discoverys transfer box fitted to the defenders gearbox and mounted into the chassis
discos engine was beyond repair so was stripped and then scrapped
auto box has been kept to sell on
 
Great seeing this after I made the decision yesterday to make my disco a hybrid.This has given me more inspiration.Be intersting to see what each of us ends up with.
 
It's amazing just how rusty they get before they collapse completely. Looks like you're using a good deal of ingenuity to get things going on a tight budget.
 
thanks for the positive comments guys, on one of the facebook pages there were comments such as "saving a defender theres no defender left ect..."
suprisingly the body of this one is in really good condition, strangest thing being the headlining is perfect! also the bulkhead is in near perfect condition with only minior repairs needed to the footwells
woody13 what are you planning on doing to the disco?
ill post a pic of the chassis on this, when removed it snapped in half under the weight of itself, the next job to do is to fit the galvanised tub cappings and also fit galvanised outriggers to the chassis ready to mount the body back on, only have very minimal equipment to do this kind of job and hardly any lifting gear so that has made it much more difficult, doable, but difficult!! i will need to source an engine of some kind ideally a 300tdi so maintiance is easy and at 21 insurance is cheaper for me :)
ideally the whole project im hoping will be under £1000 by the time its mot'd
now more piccys.....
defender rotten chassis 2.jpg
defender rotten chassis.jpg
90 project inside roof.jpg
90 project inside front.jpg
90 project inside.jpg
 
had some good progress today , as you might see from the shiny rivets on the side i have fitted the new galvanised cappings , also we have a body on the chassis :) one solid defender now , still needs tweaking but the mesurements seem to have been right ! , the damage to the front panel was a slight mishap when i dropped it !
defender on chassis drivers front.jpg
defender on chassis front 2.jpg
 
thanks for the positive comments guys, on one of the facebook pages there were comments such as "saving a defender theres no defender left ect..."
Faceache is for muppets, post it on lz, we appreciate the finer things in life.! :cool:
Some of my vintage car mates have cars with only a few original parts on the whole car. A competent blacksmith can make most of their bits from scratch! :D
Good to see you are making progress there, will be worth it in the end! :)
 
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haha yeah i have found a few problems on there
you find that with some of the classics is very un original but its always better that breaking or scrap and handmade panles are very close to original in my eyes :)
, the only thing on here is there dosent seem to be much interest in my project although im doing it because i love it lol
while this one is in progress im building up a stock of panels to make a 100" trialer
finding it really difficult to get an engine at a reasonable price though , ideally the whole truck should cost less than £1000 by the time it has an MOT which is my budget goal , currently ran out of welding wire and welding torch is broken too :(

the main goal of this project was to avoid scrapping a defender, build a good working vehicle on a tight budget, while using the best bits i can along the way such as the 24 spline axles ! although may upgrade to td5 axles at a later date :)
 
, the only thing on here is there dosent seem to be much interest in my project although im doing it because i love it lol
Wouldn't say that, your fred has had 160 views! :)
This area is really supposed to be a gallery of vehicles. Not really for chat, just a few serial trolls, like myself, comment on the motors.:)
If you want lots of chat about your project, you might do better to post it as a build fred in Defender section. They always seem very popular! ;)
 
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Wouldn't say that, your fred has had 160 views! :)
This area is really supposed to be a gallery of vehicles. Not really for chat, just a few serial trolls, like myself, comment on the motors.:)
If you want lots of chat about your project, you might do better to post it as a build fred in Defender section. They always seem very popular! ;)
Agree with that, its always interesting and informative to see a project like this, sometimes its good to chip in when you see something which you have experienced and may be able to offer help, and sometimes its good to ask about something which you see in the rebuild and need to ask for some detail, for future reference.
Keep on going.
 
ha cheers guys , figured i was talking to myself for a while lol , is there any way of fast tracking this thread into the defender section without writing it all again?
anyone have any suggestions on the build for me? for now will be 300tdi powered but when all on the road i might fit the 5.9 6cyl turbo engine from a daf lorry as theres one next door cheap !
 
ha cheers guys , figured i was talking to myself for a while lol , is there any way of fast tracking this thread into the defender section without writing it all again?
anyone have any suggestions on the build for me? for now will be 300tdi powered but when all on the road i might fit the 5.9 6cyl turbo engine from a daf lorry as theres one next door cheap !
I will try and get it moved for you. But do post a few pics of it in here when it is done! :)

Personally I like to stay pretty much standard, with a few little alterations. Sounds like you might have a bit in common with a chap called Aaron Morris! ;):)
 
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What is the new identity of this vehicle going to be? The reg number of the disco or the defender? As I think the ID is tied to the chassis not the body so in the eyes of the law is what you will have is a rebodied discovery


Legalities asides, great shoe string project :D
 
What is the new identity of this vehicle going to be? The reg number of the disco or the defender? As I think the ID is tied to the chassis not the body so in the eyes of the law is what you will have is a rebodied discovery


Legalities asides, great shoe string project :D
So long as he has the numbers, and the docs, for both vehicles, sure it will be possible to sort it out. Plenty of hybrids running around! :)
 
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