Rebirth of Big Bertha

V8 exMOD Defender 110... Named Bertha and her step by step upgrades

When we Purchased her

Very nice!

Bertha was bought from Austria, from what I know the car was in service in Germany and released there.

In order to pass MOT in the Czech Republic where she will be living, we had to mount a bumper gaurd and reverse light, not really happy with the outcome so this is only going to be temporary... MOT specified the bumper was originally 5cm too high because of the lift package.
Also added mud gaurds, and company logos...which didnt seem to hold on the canvas top....

Otherwise she had all her fluids changed, filters and small bits added for now.

more to come..........

ive just fallen in love:faint2:

nice, but that bumper guard.. lol there goes your clearance.

trax said:

nice, but that bumper guard.. lol there goes your clearance.

Click to expand...

yeah I agree, but it was a quick fix to get those pesky MOT guys to pass it.

Anybody have any suggestions, send them along..:clap2:

....so what's the idea with the bumper guard what does it do? Is it to stop cars submarining you if they hit the back off you?

Pricilla said:

....so what's the idea with the bumper guard what does it do? Is it to stop cars submarining you if they hit the back off you?

Click to expand...

Im guessing thats the idea. But not sure 5cm in the original bumper hieght would be a difference. more like a silly gov. directive.

Varsity said:

Im guessing thats the idea. But not sure 5cm in the original bumper hieght would be a difference. more like a silly gov. directive.

Click to expand...

so the orig bumper height would have passed the mot?

that looks way more than a 5cm drop on that thing

trax said:

so the orig bumper height would have passed the mot?

that looks way more than a 5cm drop on that thing

Click to expand...

As it is now the stock bumper is to high. So the boys in the shop added a quick step bar. Albeit they went overboard, but lets chalk it up to a communication problem.... guess I should have explained the problem a little more.

Well it did pass MOT :lol:

Spent the weekend trying to align the doors and install barell locks... had to drill out the old locks and take apart the entire anti burst latch assemply...
barrels I ordered didnt fit...

So now Im thinking of replacing the barrels and latches...

Varsity said:

As it is now the stock bumper is to high. So the boys in the shop added a quick step bar. Albeit they went overboard, but lets chalk it up to a communication problem.... guess I should have explained the problem a little more.

Well it did pass MOT :lol:

Spent the weekend trying to align the doors and install barell locks... had to drill out the old locks and take apart the entire anti burst latch assemply...
barrels I ordered didnt fit...

So now Im thinking of replacing the barrels and latches...

Click to expand...

i was just thinking if it was only due to the lift, and the stock is fine.. and you wanted to keep the lift, then you could get some height adjustable suspension or fit a bolt on bumper thingy you stick on for the mot.

Because the 110 is a RHD vehicle in a LHD (Post Communist) country, getting it registered is a pain in the backside. Its a rarity and quite frowned upon as its NOT NORMAL

Additionally as soon as the MOT boys noticed it was RHD, they spent the next hour, checking every detail of the car to make sure it met the rules. all the rules.... literally the guy had the book and checked every bit.
Needles to say the 25 year old Skoda that went in ahead of me was in and out in 10 minutes, and technically looked ready for the scrapper and not for the road.

So yes even 5cm difference in bumper height was a big issue to them, when the car came back for a second check with the new Lorry bumper, the lads at MOT were more then pleased... (Edit) Bolt on bumper idea wouldn't pass, as the MOT boys warned me against it beforehand.

Anyway trying to find an alternative because this this current setup there is zero clearance.
any ideas are welcome

Heres a picture of Bertha at an event pre Christmas...

Stunning looking landy
Love it

greyhair said:

Stunning looking landy
Love it

Click to expand...

Thanks... plans are in the works to spruce up this lady in the coming months..

Some work finally done to Bertha this weekend....

Installed DRL lights, originally I wanted to put them in the front bumber, but as seeing that the parking or position lights are useless I decided to swap the indicator bottom to top and add the DRL lights in.
Install was straight forward, only some grinding out of the holes by half an inch was needed... and installed a override switch inside on the dash.
Also plan to put in clear indicators for a cleaner look.

While playing with the 12v I installed some LED lights on the inside cabin and the bed. Straight forward install too about 30 min and the outcome is great.

Also installed new door hinges, had to spray them matt black as they came in silver...
now if only I could line up the doors as not to have bloody gaps everywhere..

future project is planning to fix the soft top... its leaking badly and paint is cracking….YES PAINT, seems it was originally painted UN BLUE and then painted over on camo black pattern..

Any ideas?
Ive thought of using PLASTI DIP spray... only concern is colour matching… and if the stuff will hold.

Daytime only



daytime and road



over ride switch for the DRL



wiring through the bulk head for the over ride switch, bit of a pain but looks cleaner, used a coat hanger wire to get through but it took allot of fiddling.



control unit



freshly painted door hinges



Interior led hidden under the panel in the cabin and also in the bulkhead with a switch...

Nice looking landy mate, looks a beast!
Couldn't you get one of your tailors to knock a new soft top up for you?

here is a picture of the soft top, taken after the graphics started to peal off on the highway... if you see white letters on your way to Prague, please mail them to me LOL

you can see the blue peaking through from when it was painted for UN service..