Defender nut and bolt rebuild

Doors nearing completion, glass is back in with new regulators, new runners, locks and handles.
There does seem to be a gap in the outer waist window seal though ?? Wonder if the cheaper ones aren’t as good as genuine LR? If I left them water would just run into the door again

battery isolator concealed into the seat box, will save me having to disconnect the battery terminal when the landy is in storage.

Where did you find all these perfect condition body panels?!

RustyDefender said:

Where did you find all these perfect condition body panels?!

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those are not any kind of panels, these are mostly genuine panels with hours of bashing, fetteling and heating up and shrinking.
The only new sections were the rear lamp panels and the front wing outers oh and new door skins. Most panels are readily available to buy, but I do have a budget to try and stick too

had the steering box back from Coventry power steering as I couldnt for the life of me get the input shaft to seal. Now fitted I can crack on… left wing now bolted on with re galv inner wheel arch.

I’d be watching this everyday if you did YouTube videos on your progress!

RustyDefender said:

I’d be watching this everyday if you did YouTube videos on your progres

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What with my north wales accent, I’d expect not !

Well there’s a suggestion Youtube …. possibly with the next build? To be honest I have been inspired by Mike of Britanica Restorations but I haven’t got a yorkshire accent

UpandOver said:

What with my north wales accent, I’d expect not !

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I recon all my videos would be classed as adult content and age restricted, not because of my builders bum showing in most clips but of the constant cursing and swearing, although I could possibly get some sponsorship deals … forget snap on Im thinking more kronenburg or San Miguel

Have you seen this chap. Sounds similar to what you've just described.

Let us know when you decide to go on youtube so we can follow the build!

Some small wins this evening, decided to order a genuine window outer waist seal as the reproduction one didnt even touch the glass. And guess what neither did the genuine one … hmmm right then I decided the only thing to do was to bend the steel section that the seal attaches to inward. A small 6” adjustable did the job and hey presto seal re fitted and tight up against the glass. New wing vent grill screwed in place with some stainless screws.

Tomorrow evenings fettle… start the old girl up and get her up to a decent temperature, dump the water as there is currently no antifreeze in the system. Which should be easy as the right hand side wing isnt attached.
Do some more turning of the steering wheel to test the recon power steer box as I’m not convinced yet that the inlut seal is doing its job … jury is still out on this one.
If successful then I can crack on with fitting the air in pipe work, aerial and wing.

Weekend Landy repairs report, drivers seat base repaired, well it was heated up sprayed with wd40 and wiggled free! Cleaned up and painted. Centre seat stripped cleaned painted. Centre seat covers cleaned with warm water and carpet cleaner and hey presto its techno cloth!

Right wing fitted for the third time as I wasn’t happy with the alignment. All air ducting fitted with new vent covers and genuine aerial. Bonnet stay fitted along with the bonnet opener cable and catch

Drivers wing off once again! I wasn’t happy with the gap at the bottom where it meets the sill. 3hrs later and I’m a happy man once again.

UpandOver said:

Drivers wing off once again! I wasn’t happy with the gap at the bottom where it meets the sill. 3hrs later and I’m a happy man once again.

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The gap looks bigger now haha jokes!

Looks good!

Door gaps adjusted one final time before fitting the door cards, these are the original cards, steamed all the dents out with a kettle, cleaned then polished. Very please with how they have turned out, wish I’d taken a before photo

Rear door fitted yesterday thinking of not fitting the rear wiper as I’m going to fit a rear wheel carrier (SP4x4) galv one but going to paint it black and the plate that fits to the door painting that blue to blend in with the door.

UpandOver said:

Rear door fitted yesterday thinking of not fitting the rear wiper as I’m going to fit a rear wheel carrier (SP4x4) galv one but going to paint it black and the plate that fits to the door painting that blue to blend in with the door.

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I guess you can still install it just so it’s there and not just the water jet