Steve's Land Raft

Hello All. Another Defender 90 thread..... I have been Restoring, modifying and Racing old Renaults for 35 years ish, so not new to vehicles.
I have been looking for a Tow Vehicle/ General purpose carrier for some time. I had a sort of Schedule of attributes that I needed to follow. 1. No tech allowed 2. The more basic the better 3. It's got to live out in all weathers 4. I will be doing any repairs it needs as I'm too tight to pay anybody else.
I had been daydreaming about old yank pickups, but size was the problem here , most are ridiculously large and no Diesel options. I was idly Daydreaming over a real nice 1973 International Stepside, which at nearly 20 foot long was a touch impractical, when on closing the ad down on Car and Classic an advert for a Blue Defender 300TDI popped up. A Vera Landy. I had made the joke every time my wife was watching Vera on telly, that what I really needed was a Vera Landy and here I was looking at one
"Wonder where it is" I thought
"Perth" Said the Advert
"you're ****tin Me" I Thought
The Ad didn't reveal anything more, but a quick call revealed it was indeed in my Local area, so a viewing was organised with Mark, an old friend who has only ever driven Land Rovers!!! and the Vehicle purchased.
I'm not really a stranger to Landrover. When I fished as a younger man, we had one to get us up the hill to the Loch. I actually has a Series 3 Lightweight that had a 2.4 Ford York conversion fitted , this had to go due to impending Marriage (old story) My Mate Sandy had a nice 2A which he actually got the length of getting a Range Rover Chassis and cutting a Foot out of it down to 88". I was quite Enthusiastic about it and was sad to see it go as 2 separate lots unfinished, but was not in a position financially to do anything about it.
Here it is



I Drove it to my mate's place to keep it out of the way until the 1st Mar. It was Raining heavily and those 7.5x16 tyres got very special at speed and not in a good way, so a rummage in the World's dustbin (e-bay) unearthed locally a set of 8 spokes with a set of 265/75x16 nearly new tyres for not a lot of money, so these were got and fitted



Better for sure, I forgot to mention the Chicken coop came with it and the easiest way to move it was to fit it , plus it gives a secureish place to keep things............
I have been looking it over this past week and making a list of what needs doing to make it useable and amassing the bits needed. From the paperchase that came with it it appears to have had 2 owners for the first 14 years of its life and the rear load bed has no paint on the n/s wheel box meaning that's where the Keeper or Shepherds dog sat, so it was an Estate or Farm Vehicle It Failed it's MOT for corrosion in 2011 and there is a receipt for supply of a new Galv Chassis in 2011. It looks like the then new owner re-Chassis'd it and did the springs dampers and bushes at that time and kept it until 2021-22 then it was sold to someone who kept it a year 2022/23 and put a fuel tank , steering box and steering Damper on it for it's MOT in sept 2023, then sold it to the young Chap I bought it from, who had bought it on his journey up from England to take up his job, post Uni, on one of the North Perthshire Estates. Prior to this it had been in the South West Scottish borders since new. The need to raise a house deposit had made him put it up for sale and now it's my problem.........

Well done, that looks and sounds like a good one.

Galvanised chassis, tidy bulkhead nice, Basic mechanics. Body not bad for a 30 year working truck. Will tow a Renault no problem. [If still doing that]
If you want to have a hard top instead of the hen house it is just a bolt on job. [also need a rear door]
Those old 7-50's while fine off road were not good on road or for the mpg.

Thanks for the replies Guys. I am usually the one who answers questions on Elderly Renault Forums. I have decided to move some of the Landy stuff I have put up on one of the Renault forums where there is a category for any other vehicles, so that when I start to ask questions, there is a bit of context to who I am and what I do.
By the way. The Bulkhead isn't really that clever........... moving swiftly along.

The War of the Land Rover.
Pt. 1 The battle for the brakes
It is Mot'd until the end of Sept, so I have a bit of time to sort it out. Since getting it I have roughed out a plan of attack. 1. Do something about the Driving position. Defenders are not Roomy and Truck cabs are worst, so to this end I have fitted Riser Rails which I first thought were expensive, but on getting them have realised they are a much more subtle shape than I thought, so ultimately worth the money. Then there is the Drivers door handle which is always trying to dislocate your Right Kneecap, that's gone and a soft handle fitted. Finally the 16" steering wheel is gone and replaced with a 14" with a flat bottom, doesn't look right, but what a difference in the comfort dept.
Next up is a full service , belts, fluids, lubricants, brakes, some plumbing, radiator, breathers, sort leaks and a windscreen rubber n wipers. Then I can look at a better intercooler, lose the EGR and a few other tweaks.
Having got all the bits together I decided to fix the fuel leaks around the new tank and look the brakes over before going on the road.
The Garage that fitted the tank re-fitted the old filler and vent hoses which were shot, must have been working on the cheap as possible model.
Easy win to replace them



It's too expensive to waste, wonder if it needed a tank at all.
Next up was the rear brakes. Last serviced in 2011 by the look of this.....



Sorry about the picture quality. I'm a nightmare with a phone when I'm not wearing my Glasses.
I thought that new calipers were going to be the order of the day, but shockingly it freed off with minimal persuasion and went back together no problem .
More like this



Sometimes I surprise myself. Funny to see how there's an invoice for freeing off the brakes owing to lack of use for Mot in 2023 think he must have taken it to the nearest big road and pressed the brake pedal hard until you could smell them then tested it ........

Just got the fronts to sort out Tomorrow and we are good to go. Then the Steam cleaner, then straight through the Front panel and radiator to the timing belt, rocker cover and tappets...................

Presume with bulkhead you mean the lower bits we have not seen. YRM metal solutions have many Defender replacement/repair panels available. [Stay on this forum for info like this]

Bear with me. I'm transferring content here, so that when I start to ask questions, you will better know what has and hasn't happened.

The 2nd battle for the brakes
The fronts were not really much better than the rears, but the N/S Freed off and got put back together



The O/S was a different story the outer freed off, but the inner refuses to move, so I've put in a slightly thinner used pad and will go to the airfield to see if heat and pressure will crack them off, then I can sort them out. Don't want to rush into this as really want to put 130 Front brakes on (vented) Looks like I should be able to do all of this for under £200, but need to check for definite..

My Dodge for the front brake didn't work, so as all the calipers are tired/knackered, this was the solution



I have elected to put 130 Front brakes on and replace the rear calipers, this changes the fronts from solid to vented disk, a useful upgrade. It was a complete front kit at £200 plus a pair of rears for £75.00.
The box was Effin heavy.

Popped the pistons in the rear calipers and there was the slightest trace of grease.



They Got washed and rebuilt with Brake grease.
The Fronts were dry out of the box.



These have also been lubed and re-assembled requiring only finger pressure
Seems to be the case with all the Cheaper hydraulics around these days if you buy them Dismantle them wash them and rebuild with the correct lubricant and away you go.. Still a Bargain. I'm just not used to the weight of the bits...

The Main battle commences tomorrow with a visit to the steam cleaner. I have been over it with my cold machine and got about 80% of the crud off, so should only take an hour or so to go over it, then it starts in earnest. I'll be down at my old mate, Mike's workshop. I hope this will not be the end of a long friendship...
The plan after washing it off starting at the rear is as follows
Change rear axle oil and exchange rear calipers grease rear propshaft U/J's
Change oil in Transfer box and Gearbox.
Change front axle oil and one shot lube front swivels, grease front propshaft joints and fit front brake kit.
Go in through front Grille, remove rad and intercooler and strip front of engine, relpace timing belt and idlers, oil seals, water pump , t/stat. While I'm in that length the rocker cover is off to do the tappets and injector sealsl. Disc and remove EGR system
Re-assemble and replace Aux belt, all the water hoses and the radiator for a custom Ally one.
Oil+filter change plus fuel and air filters.
If that all goes smoothly and I doubt it will, it will be mostly ready to use and abuse.
There are a few other bits and pieces to pick off that I have already got the bits for, under seat panels, battery box, windscreen seal and 2 new seat belts.
That will leave, a bigger intercooler, an exhaust modification and a couple of small patches on the bulkhead for the Mot at the end of the Summer.
If it's going to be a keeper then I may fit a Galv. Bulkhead and convert to hardtop to make it more practical.
The faster you say it the easier it sounds.......

Been Busy doing battle with the Landy the last couple of days. It would appear that some work was done at chassis exchange time, but very little thereafter, so lots of siezed /mullered bolts, but slowly getting there. All lubricants renewed except engine oil , various kinds of Mud came out of various places, I think it will probably develop a couple of oil leaks, but we'll just have to see.
The Footbrake performance has been transformed.



Original pretty worn out fronts.



The Caliper bolts are Bi-hex and have been killed by a previous assailant, so these will be replaced. On the road it has a bit of a Howl , which I thought was the tyres, but after the outer wheelbearing fell in the basin full of crap that was under the hub, I cursed my own stupidity and went to the parts washer to clean it up , which it did to the colour of a used teabag - completely buggered, another thing on the list. I cleaned it up and re-greased it and was pleased to note the Howl had halved in volume on the way home.
It felt a little dull for performance, I drove these at work when they were new and they were good /faster than what we had as vans, at the time (sherpa 400 ,smiley Transits Vauxhall combo non turbo) I assumed that being spoiled by the increased performance of modern Diesels, that was it, but on arriving back in perth it really had woken up and was how I remembered them. Iwonder if the wastegate had been a bit sticky. It's on the list, but service first, then fit boost gauge and egt gauge before meddling. It's the 6 P's again
Proper
Preparation
Prevents
****
Poor
Performance
The Radiator has arrived, this with a Hose kit ,Water pump and T/stat will see the whole cooling system revamped except the Block, Head and Heater



It's the oil cooler too.
One small heartstopping moment when I fired it up to move it outside, was the rumble coming from the gearbox, before I remembered that it has a pump which needs to prime after an oilchange, then silence resumed, Whew.........................

It is more or less ready to use now, I have went through most of it and have sorted what needed sorting and will use and evaluate what happens next.
Rear axle: oil changed, new calipers and pads. Will change out backplates for the MOT as they look bad
Transfer box : oil changed. I await the leaks...
Gearbox : Oil Changed, as above
propshaft U/J's Greased
Front axle : Oil changed Front hubs One Shot Lubed, New Backplates, Discs Calipers & pads, flexi brackets plus a N/S wheelbearing.
Full engine Service All belts water pump, filters repair airbox, repair EGR.... Tapppets , new Injector seals .
New set of Silicone breather hoses
New cooling system Rad and hoses, this is also the oil cooler
New seatbelts
Couple of pics of stripped front which were taken for my memory



Everything on it's marks
There was a strange knock from the steering and a slight dead spot, which I thought was a TRE on the way out or incorrect adjustment of the steering box, this was a recon part which was only really months old. We had it on stands and Mike was rattling the steering while I was underneath Feeling for the clonk, nothing doing, nothing found. However I decided to put it back on it's wheels to adjust the steering box and the clonk was back with weight on the front tyres.
This turned out to be the 4 untightened bolts holding the steering box to the Chassis!! These were tightened up and revealed the movement in the lower steering U/J which was also done up, but not tight. It must have been the end of the day or ringing phone thing when all the bolts are in, but not tightened and when whoever got back to it they forgot where they had got to.
A good piece of advice given to me by an old Mechanic was that if you fit a bolt tighten it or remove it if you can't. That way when you return later you know what is fitted is tight and what isn't tight isn't fitted. It is not always possible on Engines, but could be a life or death thing on Steering, suspension or Brakes.
Easy to sort out with the front out of the vehicle anyway.
I am going to replace the 4 M12x100mm bolts, as they are highly stressed and don't like the idea of them fretting when not properly tight.






Still a few things to do which don't affect driveability, but need doing.
Refit Windscreen with new seal
Front vent seals, I've done the pins, but am getting a Draught..
Refit trailer plug
New Doorhinges and refit the doorcard clips, so they open/close properly
Then we are on to the fun/bling stuff
Going to fit a full frontal intercooler (better for towing)
Fit a Boost gauge and EGT gauge, so that they can be monitored and possibly modified...
I am going to paint my scabby wheels as they are annoying me.
Play safe......
More soon

Steering Box bolts replaced and Tight.
Also fitted new Door hinges and replaced all the trim clips that hold the trim on, as they tend to break on removal. £5 a set no big deal, also had to weld the door frame at the window channel due to fatigue, the Doors will need the bottom frame renewing, but repair sections are available, back together for now and we have less wind noise and easier closing.
Still fighting with Seatbelt mountings, Corroded bolts 3 down 1 to go. This will be repaired properly as part of the seatbox, batterybox, floor plates, refurb, which is the next job.
Today the new seals arrived for the forward firing gun ports. I was getting a draught on the Drivers side ( had to be) and thought the seals would be past their best.
Port in the Heatwave/ Forward firing position.



Then the flap is removed all together..



The pins came out easy as I had spend an hour or so removing the original rusted hinge pins, and replaced with stainless pins. The 2 M5 bolts that hold the adjuster to the flap are easy to remove, but a bit of a game to get back on ..

The removed flap is caramel wheeled to get rid of any trace of of the old seal/ adhesive and the new ones are pressed on, they are a double sided tape fitting.



Turns out the original seal had not been fitted correctly and had snagged on the operating mechanism and wasn't sealing for about 150mm on the top edge.

No more Draught .. Yay.. These are the Dog's in proper hot weather as with them fully opened and the windows down, it's like being in a convertable from the neck down .
Just need some Sun. I won't hold my breath....
More Soon.

Scabby wheels:
I'm a shallow guy who likes shiny things I suppose

These were contributing to the Stop this and throw the book at it Look .



It's a pain to rub them down, but the weather isn't great and Neither is the Telly,so after an hour or so of rubbing, cursing, etching the bare bits and finishing with the heaviest coat of 4:1 filler primer you dare, you are Here:



This needs 24hr to cure then Flat for topcoat.
A quick hose of 456/90 Alpine white you then get..



This is the same colour as the roof, they are done inside and out, this is why I didn't get them powdercoated, if I Hardtop it later the whole hardtop will be alpine white like a Series Landy would have been. Never was a fan of the one colour, except the roof, when the Defender came out.

Testing



To be continued...................

Testing...



To be Continued.........

Erm, so where was I ...... OK I was Adjusting the wastegate to give a little more squeeze, and was edging up a bit at a time when at 14 psi it started to get noisy, you guessed it, we have found the limit of the original inter-cooler core, which was in poor condition.
That was then time to fit the big full frontal inter-cooler as above. Jeez it was a tight fit. After much trimming and cursing (not necessarily in that order) I managed to get the front panel to fit back on, after a little splash of Arles Blue.



It shows how much it has faded ............
Along with the wheels it now looks a bit happier, I think



I should have gone back to the wastegate, but it is a total arse to adjust, and I don't want to take the whole shooting match off the head, as it's running like a watch, ok a noisy one, but it's prety good

I have been looking at it as a whole and have decided to start at the back crossmember and work to the bulkhead , tidying up the body and more importantly the fixings , which I am replacing throughout. The rear tub floor is a framework sitting on 3 transoms on the Chassis. One was missing and the other 2 were not too pretty, so I waded in with the Drill and Grinder

No horrors. Some of the Chassis is not Galvanised and there is a small hole as a result. After removing it all I put the rearmost Transom in to keep it in shape and have actually put the centre on in also to suport the rear tub and keep it all in shape.

I then stripped the framework off the Tub floor



I knew that the spotweld cutter I bought would come in handy, it's perfect for this. You can see how Galvanic corrosion has completely dissolved the floor stiffeners where the steel Transoms were touching it. The replacements are now Galvanised. I'm not ****ing about, all the replacement steel parts are going to be Galv and I will be fitting Polyurethane tape between the steel Ally interfaces to stop the Galvanic corrosion taking hold.
A picture of the old trash removed



The replacement parts



Luckily I remembered my Lazy Tong Riveter, These are the business and set pop rivets in one hit, nearly as fast as an air riveter.. Which might be on the shopping list.



I've etched the original floorplate and need to get some Raptor and tint it to body colour , that'll do....



Next up is to tidy it all up, replace as many bolts as I can. The A frame balljoint is in good nick , which is a bonus, weld the chassis and deal with the coating deficiencies. Then I can refit all the framework, I'll replace the seatbelt mount brackets with Galvy ones and refit the floor with a handful of rivets as I don't want to make it permanent until the seatbox has been out and the new batterybox fitted. I will keep on going forward right up to the bulkhead. Then it is the biggest decision on that, either repair or replace. I'm leaning on replace , as it would add significant value to the vehicle. There is a lot involved, it's not a job you would want to pay someone to do......
I'm Free to Me, so that's OK.
I've also got a Hardtop roof, so just need to find 2 90 sidepanels and a Safari back door then I can loose the Doghutch on the back.
As you will have guessed I'm not big into smoothness and quietness in cars. Modern stuff is far too insulating for the driver to ever be enjoyable. What I get out of this thing, is the banging and crashing, bouncing around and the noise and smell, suddenly it's 1978 and I'm back in my Dad's lorry. It's like being 10 again. It makes me smile. Sure I would not want to travel around the world in it , But my preferred method of doing a long journey is to send someone else..........
All the best..

Good write up!

Lessons in Bedliner paint.
Whilst waiting on the welder to have a slot to repair the top crossmember end for me, I decided to tidy up the pick up tub. I had decided to use bedliner paint. My local paint factor Does not do Raptor, but does do Roberlo's version Robliner, bonus is it can be tinted to Land Rover Arles blue, downside is it is a 4 litre kit for tintable.



The Factor tinted 2 cans for me and gave me enough tinter to do the other 2 cans if Reqd. This is a 2k product, so once you have added the hardener you have about an hour of potlife.
I had Rubbed the floorplate down with 180 and etched the bare parts, so time to go. I added the 200ml of activator and used the schutz gun, it was ok, but left a big profile finish, ok for the floor, but not the rest of the tub.



It looks patchy in the pic, but is fine in reality.
I scrubbed the tub down with 180 and etched up the bare bits and activated another can , but also added 20% thinner and loaded it into the primer gun.



I actually blew some Sheep wool out of the hollow section in the tub, proving this was a working Landy.



I could have spent a week on this easy, but there's no point as I'll be putting wheels and trolley jacks in this .........



I'm calling that a win for a ton, that's what it cost and I've still got the last can left untinted.
In other news I have got a roof and sides for the hardtop conversion, so the last can will get tinted Alpine White and it will do the inside of the hardtop sides.
Tomorrow will finish off sorting the tired rear wiring and towbar electrics.
More to follow.............

Dauphproto said:

I have elected to put 130 Front brakes on and replace the rear calipers, this changes the fronts from solid to vented disk, a useful upgrade. It was a complete front kit at £200 plus a pair of rears for £75.00.
The box was Effin heavy.

Popped the pistons in the rear calipers and there was the slightest trace of grease.

Click to expand...

I know a little late to comment as you have fitted an moved on, but vented discs fill with mud and stop being vented if you venture off road any more than occasionally, but not a problem if mostly road worked. I would also always recommend fitting stainless pistons to new callipers to ensure you never have to do the job again. I may cost almost as much as the callipers but they should never seize again and hopefully never need seals as you don't get the old worn chrome catching the seal when it is pad change time. As you even stripped them down to clean it would have been the ideal time to do it!

Dauphproto said:

I could have spent a week on this easy, but there's no point as I'll be putting wheels and trolley jacks in this .........

Click to expand...

I know you have painted with bed liner which claims to be nice and hard wearing but if you are planning on throwing lots of work type things in the back you cannot beat a piece of stable matting fitted upside down (bobbles down) as the hardest wearing bed liner money can buy. and fitted upside down the drain channels work to aid sliding things in and out and drain out anything that spills, less of an issue on a 90 but makes a difference on my 110!

After making jokes on another thread about how long a piece of string is. I have discovered that along with car painters, car welders seem to operate in their own timelines, not governed by the laws of Physics like the rest of us.
I have been waiting a couple of weeks for the welder to fix the 2 small holes in the chassis. I phone Mon as instructed and got `I'll call you back in half an hour'
I'm still waiting..
Made the decision today to patch it myself, the TiG is not the ideal piece of kit for this job, but I got there in the end. It won't win a beauty contest, but it's now all 2mm thick .



and the side



I have fitted the 3 crossmembers complete with foam tape to stop the dissimilar corrosion thing happening and the 3 Alloy Longitudinals needed painting, so I did them along with the battery box .
180 orbital followed by 2 light Etch coats dry overnight. Scotch and 1 light, 1 full coat. Near enough for me

Always but the strongest washing line you can. You just never know what you may have to hang up!



The rear needs the Longitudinals riveting to the crossmembers, then the floorplate gets fitted on top. Then I need to haul out the seatbox to make repairs there and renew the batterybox , which was what was on the Washing line



You'll see that all the bolts that were easy to access were changed as part of the process and the shock mounts and holding bolts. The shock bushes were absolutely solid on the pins and had to be dismembered, as opposed to dismantled. Never underestimate the importance of lubrication, Never...