grasshopper
New Member
- Posts
- 15
- Location
- Tropics
Hi all, I finally got my Defender 90 running, after much trial and error, so I thought I may as well post a picture of the finished product. She ain't no looker, with that dog-**** brown paint job, but under the hood where it counts, she's downright illegal. Fitted a stainless steel set of headers and complete exhaust system, which gives a nice V8 growl that announces its presence without being too loud for regular driving.
Fitted her with a 3.9 V8 fed by a Holley Truck Avenger 470 CFM carburettor plumbed to the motor via an Edelbrock intake manifold, but I had to limit the travel of the accelerator pedal because the first time I drove the truck, it broke several valve springs from what seemed like normal, sedate acceleration. The gearbox is a 4-speed manual LT95?, transplanted from an old Rangie that got put to pasture a while back. To reduce that notorious D90 hot floor syndome, I insulated the engine compartment with silver-backed material from Second Skin.com, which reduces that floor heat to the level of being barely noticeable - a great improvement over my Defender 110 pickup truck that literally cooks my feet on even short runs.
That gas pedal limiter obviously lowers the top speed, but nonethless this D90 chirps the front tires when I occasionally floor it to get out of tight spots, startling the odd road hog who expects a D90 to be dead slow off the line.
I plan to install an overdrive into the gearbox at some point, to increase the highway cruising speed a little, but so far I haven't located a source to buy an overdrive for such an old vintage, plus the installation of those overdrives does look rather complicated, judging by an assembly drawing I saw. To try and smooth out the bumps some, I installed dual Bilstein shocks in the front, and replaced stock rubber bushes with blue polybush throughout. I must say that despite that comprehensive suspension upgrade, this D90 rides HARSH, though I may be a bit spoiled since my other car is a quarter-century old W126 Mercedes 500 SEC that glides with eerie smoothness over all but the absolute worst potholes on these Third World roads.
Fitted her with a 3.9 V8 fed by a Holley Truck Avenger 470 CFM carburettor plumbed to the motor via an Edelbrock intake manifold, but I had to limit the travel of the accelerator pedal because the first time I drove the truck, it broke several valve springs from what seemed like normal, sedate acceleration. The gearbox is a 4-speed manual LT95?, transplanted from an old Rangie that got put to pasture a while back. To reduce that notorious D90 hot floor syndome, I insulated the engine compartment with silver-backed material from Second Skin.com, which reduces that floor heat to the level of being barely noticeable - a great improvement over my Defender 110 pickup truck that literally cooks my feet on even short runs.
That gas pedal limiter obviously lowers the top speed, but nonethless this D90 chirps the front tires when I occasionally floor it to get out of tight spots, startling the odd road hog who expects a D90 to be dead slow off the line.
I plan to install an overdrive into the gearbox at some point, to increase the highway cruising speed a little, but so far I haven't located a source to buy an overdrive for such an old vintage, plus the installation of those overdrives does look rather complicated, judging by an assembly drawing I saw. To try and smooth out the bumps some, I installed dual Bilstein shocks in the front, and replaced stock rubber bushes with blue polybush throughout. I must say that despite that comprehensive suspension upgrade, this D90 rides HARSH, though I may be a bit spoiled since my other car is a quarter-century old W126 Mercedes 500 SEC that glides with eerie smoothness over all but the absolute worst potholes on these Third World roads.
Attachments
Last edited:
