Defenders of Kernow

Morning all. New to the forum. Last time I 'owned' a Land Rover it was a Series 1, and my Mum took pictures of me standing on the driver's seat naked pretending to drive. Well, that was back in 2019 and...

...1970's actually and now I'm a big boy and I own my own Defender 110. I grew up messing with petrol engines so am feeling a bit clueless but luckily have some reliable and friendly local mechanics and enthusiasts on my doorstep. Massive thanks to old school friend Alain Cook (not sure if he's on here) for entrusting Betty to me. I know he still misses her.

Looking forward to getting to know folks here.
Happy New Year from Cornwall.
Tom

Welcome

Wosson!

Betty93 said:

Morning all. New to the forum. Last time I 'owned' a Land Rover it was a Series 1, and my Mum took pictures of me standing on the driver's seat naked pretending to drive. Well, that was back in 2019 and...

...1970's actually and now I'm a big boy and I own my own Defender 110. I grew up messing with petrol engines so am feeling a bit clueless but luckily have some reliable and friendly local mechanics and enthusiasts on my doorstep. Massive thanks to old school friend Alain Cook (not sure if he's on here) for entrusting Betty to me. I know he still misses her.

Looking forward to getting to know folks here.
Happy New Year from Cornwall.
Tom

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Welcome to LZ, Tom!

Betty93 said:

Morning all. New to the forum. Last time I 'owned' a Land Rover it was a Series 1, and my Mum took pictures of me standing on the driver's seat naked pretending to drive. Well, that was back in 2019 and...

...1970's actually and now I'm a big boy and I own my own Defender 110. I grew up messing with petrol engines so am feeling a bit clueless but luckily have some reliable and friendly local mechanics and enthusiasts on my doorstep. Massive thanks to old school friend Alain Cook (not sure if he's on here) for entrusting Betty to me. I know he still misses her.

Looking forward to getting to know folks here.
Happy New Year from Cornwall.
Tom

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Hi Tom, we are new (as of yesterday) too. Everyone is very helpful and welcoming! Just get stuck in, let us know if you need a hand!
Do you have any plans for Betty?
Happy New year to you too!

Bust2Built said:

Hi Tom, we are new (as of yesterday) too. Everyone is very helpful and welcoming! Just get stuck in, let us know if you need a hand!
Do you have any plans for Betty?
Happy New year to you too!

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Hi Guys,
Thanks. Plan A is to keep her road legal and running! She's absolutely first and foremost my everyday workhorse (except today as it is ****ing it down here! If I can get the money together (sell road bike/a kidney) she could do with new doors, front bumper, and some general tidying up. MOT until April which is a massive help! Under the bonnet, things seem to be pretty sweet. I really shouldn't have said that! How about you?

Betty93 said:

If I can get the money together (sell road bike/a kidney) she could do with new doors, front bumper, and some general tidying up.

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Provided you can do the work yourself, nothing on an older Defender costs much.
Unfortunately, the doors are an exception, they are fortunes to buy new, hard to get decent ones second hand.
There are some aftermarket new doors available now, they are pretty good, expensive, but nothing like as much as LR will charge you.

Betty93 said:

Hi Guys,
Thanks. Plan A is to keep her road legal and running! She's absolutely first and foremost my everyday workhorse (except today as it is ****ing it down here! If I can get the money together (sell road bike/a kidney) she could do with new doors, front bumper, and some general tidying up. MOT until April which is a massive help! Under the bonnet, things seem to be pretty sweet. I really shouldn't have said that! How about you?

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Fair enough! Once you start you won't be able to stop.
We are doing a full rebuild (which mainly means removing rust / rott) with the intention that this becomes our workhorse for future projects. Currently we are down to a rolling chassis, check out the videos if you have a spare few minutes, the first video is here:

Turboman said:

Provided you can do the work yourself, nothing on an older Defender costs much.
Unfortunately, the doors are an exception, they are fortunes to buy new hard to get decent ones second hand.
There are some aftermarket new doors available now, they are pretty good, expensive, but nothing like as much as LR will charge you.

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Turboman, do you have any recommendations for where to get doors from?

Betty93 said:

Hi Guys,
Thanks. Plan A is to keep her road legal and running! She's absolutely first and foremost my everyday workhorse (except today as it is ****ing it down here! If I can get the money together (sell road bike/a kidney) she could do with new doors, front bumper, and some general tidying up. MOT until April which is a massive help! Under the bonnet, things seem to be pretty sweet. I really shouldn't have said that! How about you?

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The doors if it's just rot could probably be done using lower door repair sections, it'll save you a fortune

I reckon I could cut the rot out of the bottom of the door frames and get away with new skins. But then again I haven't even got a parking space outside my house, never mind a workshop! All on the list for when I win the lottery!

Thanks guys, we already did replace the bottom of the doors a few years ago. Success with the drivers door, but the passenger one ended up pretty warped (strangely over time, it was fine initially). Doesn't even come close to closing now so used to drive it around with a tow rope holding it shut. As this is going to be a truck we use daily as a workhorse, we are willing to spend a bit on replacement doors. Much searching has come up with lots of different options and was wondering if anyone had bought aftermarket replacements and could recommend some. We obviously dont want to end up with some junk that doesn't fit, but I know some companies are producing bits better than Land Rover managed initially.

Betty93 said:

I reckon I could cut the rot out of the bottom of the door frames and get away with new skins. But then again I haven't even got a parking space outside my house, never mind a workshop! All on the list for when I win the lottery!

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Always the kitchen...

Bust2Built said:

Turboman, do you have any recommendations for where to get doors from?

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This is the ones my mate got for his 200Tdi Defender. They have been fine.

https://www.sp-4x4.com/category_s/144.htm

As can be seen, they are not inexpensive. However, they are galvanised steel all over, which should get you out of the dissimilar metals problem that plagues standard doors.
Also, be aware that you will need to paint them.

Thank you Turboman,

I have just realised I hijacked someone else's thread here. Betty93, I am sorry, still working this out. Hopefully the door chat is of use to you too.

Apologies again and many thanks all.

Welcome to the forum

Hi and welcome!

Hello and welcome aboard

Bust2Built said:

Thank you Turboman,

I have just realised I hijacked someone else's thread here. Betty93, I am sorry, still working this out. Hopefully the door chat is of use to you too.

Apologies again and many thanks all.

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No worries. All useful stuff for me too!