Defender Bender: My 110

This site contains affiliate links for which LandyZone may be compensated if you make a purchase.

Corbs

Active Member
Posts
141
Thought I should start a thread on this rather than just using my intro thread (Here: http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f20/good-day-193050.html )

At the moment I'm caught up in a house move, the load space has bee brilliant to say the least, chucking all sorts of furniture in the back with no issues at all.

Last weekend I removed the driver side step, which under the rubber cover had seen better days.
You can see the state of it in this photo of zombies attacking the car
189368_10151116298904213_645676388_n.jpg


It needs a load of stuff done to it. One at a time though

Bulkhead needs hole cutting out and fixing (Usual corner hole)
Passenger vent is fillered shut - would rather fix it praaaper jaarb
Need to wire in a stereo in a way that doesn't require me to take the entire head unit out of the car (Surround is rather damaged since the old stereo was nicked)
Usual rust treatment, painting etc
Want to build a bed base in the back for camping holidays, that can fold away for usual loadspace
The aforementioned smoke
Diff is a bit drippy

On the whole though, absolutely loving it and finding any excuse to go out and drive it.
 
Good stuff ... mine was in that sort of state when I bought it just over two years ago ... a sort of rolling project. Now, after many empty wallets and thousands of man hours I've got it to where I want it ... but ... I've now started replacing bits that originally didn't need it!
Like you though I just love driving it ... much better than the boring 3 series BM I also drive :) ... good luck and keep the pictures coming as she progresses!
 
Thanks, yes I can envisage this costing me a fortune, oh well, I'd only waste the money on food and other boring stuff anyway!

Today whilst moving stuff out of my house, my neighbour (Who used to own a blue 90) offered me his old disco roofrack for free, how kind! Will have to see if we can adapt it to fit, it's a full size one.
 
Picked up the roof rack today, had to duct tape it to my current roof bars as two of the brackets were missing, and then crawl across town to the garage.
I'll try and get some pics when I can, but the plan is to remove the bars that are fitted to it (Which themselves have seen better days) and drill bolt holes in my own roof bars, so it can be easily fitted and removed.
It's a decent size though, definitely needs a tart up but looking good so far!
 
True. I was filming sunday's antics though, so here's a screenshot of that
Screenshot2012-10-22at083845.png
 
Bit of a boring update, but have ordered a couple of bulkhead repair panels (For the usual corners by the windscreen - just the drivers side has gone but thought I'd get the pair).
New rocker cover gasket too - there's a few years' worth of oil spillage on the block so going to fit the gasket and get some GUNK on there.
Hopefully picking up some new side steps as my drivers one was corroded to hell and the mountings for both are on their way out. New ones will get the grease and paint treatment before they go on.
psim0045.jpg
 
Blah blah blah. Update blah blah.

Changing rocker cover gasket, also changed a jubilee clip as it was a bit rank.
IMG_0021.jpg

IMG_0022.jpg

IMG_0023.jpg

IMG_0024.jpg

IMG_0025.jpg


Gave most things a wipe down to ease the grime build up
IMG_0026.jpg


Then I thought I'd get some practice taking things apart and investigate the bulkhead rust
IMG_0027.jpg


Looks fixable
IMG_0028.jpg

IMG_0029.jpg

IMG_0030.jpg

IMG_0031.jpg


Replacement panel ready to go on
IMG_0032.jpg


Then as the doors are going to have to come off, I made sure all the bolts would come undone, then gave them a wire brushing and a dab of copper grease - the welding is being done by a friend of mine, so I thought anything I can do now to make the disassembly process quicker would be good.
IMG_0033.jpg

IMG_0034.jpg


Other than that, still smoking from cold, but not really getting any better or worse so hey ho. Pulls like a train.
I've sealed the roof up with some blobby stuff - it no longer leaks on the drivers side but I ran out of light before I could finish the passenger, so SWMBO got a bit wet this morning - whoops!
 
Last edited:
The repair panel is that welded over the top of the original or are you cutting out the panel and fit the new one and weld it in place?

What is usually done?

Did you set the valve clearances when rocker cover off? Did mate's diesel other week found them all tight made a huge differance to get some clearance in them.
 
The repair panel is that welded over the top of the original or are you cutting out the panel and fit the new one and weld it in place?

What is usually done?

Did you set the valve clearances when rocker cover off? Did mate's diesel other week found them all tight made a huge differance to get some clearance in them.

Well, as far as I know from the research I've done, it's:

Fake hinges off
Doors off
Top and side of dash removed
Windscreen panel out
Flaps out (OH)
Then, cutting back the rusty panel on the outside until it gets to good metal. I'm thinking that then exposes the inside panel. The plan is to cut that back, get the crud out, then just paint and seal it, as it doesn't seem to join much together.
Then, the repair panel can be trimmed to fit, placed in so that it butts up to the original metal, tacked and then stitch welded in to seal any holes.
I want to dribble some used engine oil mixed with a bit of waxoyl down inside the panel gap to try and delay the corrosion any water may have had, then spray/paint the back of the panel to avoid rust.
Then, as haynes says, reassembly is a reverse of removal!

Here's a few reference articles I found:
Massive resto job but shows how everything fits together: Bulkhead
The rot was really bad on the one in these pics. I hope mine isn't this bad: Bulkhead replacement + Hi! - Defender Forum - LR4x4 - The Land Rover Forum

As for valve clearances, I didn't adjust them as it simply didn't occur to me to do them and I haven't done such a thing before!
 
Today's fun and games...

In between fixing my girlfriend's bike, I managed to get the pesky chequerplate off the back door to investigate.
IMG_0046.jpg


Yup, that's a big hole
IMG_0044.jpg

IMG_0045.jpg


I think the self tappers that held the plate in were unsealed, they were all rusty and seem to have been letting moisture in (Along with the broken down seals from the rear window) - all the steel is splitting apart from rot.
Would rather get a new door for £100 or so and swap my bits over than faff about trying to save this one, so that's something to add to the list!

IMG_0043.jpg


It still does the job of sealing the back of the car though, so I'm in no rush.
 
Back
Top