The Defender thread

Icyseanfitz

Oh ffs

murph226

New Defender owner here, 1990 90 inch pickup 200TDI.

After doing a heap of work to it already as it was off the road for a while, just fitted some Wolf wheels and new Cooper tyres, in the middle of changing the chassis loom now, wiring to rear lights was shagged!

Tiercel Dave

So, trying to dip my toe into the Defender pond. Going to look at a 110 Hardtop on Friday, lets say it's '00 and 150 miles away.
Got onto my insurance, Post, to temporarily transfer over in case I buy it. Can't have a temporary substitution if I own the vehicle. So,I need to take out a new policy or do a permanent substitution.
Ok, I say, quote me for new policy. Read out reg number, '00, Oh we can't insure a car over 15 yrs old, hands are tied etc.. It has current tax and CVRT. Also turns out they won't insure a commercial body anyway.
Any ideas what to do, how do I get it home? And who will insure me, clean licence 15 yrs, no points, full no claims bonus on car.......Near Loughrea, Galway.
If you got this far.......thanks for reading!

murph226

I was in a similar position with my 1990 Defender 90 pickup, ended up getting trade insurance from Powers in Limerick.

banjolin

Specialist commercial insurers or brokers are the only ones who will even look. Several guys on a bookface group recently found insuremyvan.ie to be decent enough.

murph226

Have you got another car or has your partner got a car?

You could get it insured on a classic policy.

Icyseanfitz

thought classic had to be 30 years or older?

murph226

Icyseanfitz wrote: »

thought classic had to be 30 years or older?

for classic/vintage tax yes but some cars/trucks can be insured on classic policies at just 15 years old.

Icyseanfitz

my 110 is an 88 so i just presumed it had to be 30 years for the lot......crap well tbf my insurance is only 500 with fbd for the year so i cant complain too much, never had any trouble with its age either funnily enough, maybe its because its classed as commercial

Tiercel Dave

So I've taken the leap and got myself a 110. Seems good mechanically, just a few cosmetic bits to sort out. I do miss some of my comforts though so I bought a Central Locking kit.......
http://www.hawkcaralarm.com/Universal4DoorRemoteCentralLockingKit.aspx
I'll let you know how I get on fitting it........

Tiercel Dave

Tiercel Dave

So my Central Locking Kit arrived.........


Inside the box..........


What you get..........

Tiercel Dave

Took a while to sort the best position for the actuator. There seems to be a lot of space in there but the window mechanism requires most of it.


Took me close to two hours to figure it but finally settled on here..........


Even at that the window runs fairly close, you'd hardly fit a €50 note between them.........


How I connected at the rod end..........


Fitted the other side in about 20 minutes..........

Tiercel Dave

Tiercel Dave wrote: »

So I've taken the leap and got myself a 110.............

Looks great, very purposeful and none of the enhancements/mods look anything but apt

Tiercel Dave

The back door was a bit trickier to do. I started by drilling out the rivets and splitting the mechanism open.


It took two attempts to get it right. Again, there's not much free space in there so I went with the idea of fitting the push rod through a hole drilled in the 'casing'.


I drilled a hole in the catch and riveted the end of the rod......

Tiercel Dave

On the 'Test Bench', then pop riveted it back together...........


Fitted back to the door


And with the actuator secured.........

banjolin

This kind of determination has got to be admired. Thumbs up. Come and work on mine any time. Always needs something done to it. ALWAYS.

Gravelly

Tiercel Dave wrote: »

On the 'Test Bench', then pop riveted it back together...........


Fitted back to the door


And with the actuator secured.........

Fantastic job.

I wouldn't have been able to sleep at night if I had had the door cards off, and didn't do anything to those door bottoms while I was there (which is probably why any of these "small jobs" end up with me having a completely stripped down vehicle which may or may not ever run again).

Icyseanfitz

mmm central locking you posh fecker

question lads, after sending my 88 110 in to get every single bit of rust inside and out sorted as im hoping to do a fair bit of work to her this year. I was thinking for my next goal to either get my chassis galvanized or buy a galvanized chassis. I take it dipping my own will be cheaper but are there any major downsides to doing it? its in very good nic for its age to be fair. what are prices like for a new chassis?

banjolin

As I understand it, Irish car registrations are based on the chassis number and hence the chassis. If you put a new chassis in it you are essentially building a new vehicle, with all the hassle that entails. If you put in an older chassis you are changing the age of the vehicle (aging). That's how lads are buying Disco 2s and putting them on a vintage Range Rover chassis; instant classic.

If your original chassis is sound it might be worth doing but a new one (in Ireland anyway) will be a no no, I would guess. If you galvanise the old chassis make sure the chassis number is still visible.

Icyseanfitz

the only thing that would worry me with doing my old one would be whether it will get the inside or not. Thered be nothing worse than galvanizing the chassis but it to get eaten from the inside out with rust, Can you get a VIN number printed on a new chassis?

banjolin

Not legally. The number dies with the chassis. A chassis can be legally repaired, but to the extent that the only bit of the original that is left is the bit that the number is stamped on might be pushing it. But who is to say;)

Icyseanfitz

so m friend is after getting back onto me about the rust, he said theres a lot of work to do on the bulkhead. I am wondering am i as well lf trying to replace it with a new/nearly new one. what sort of money are galvanized bulkheads going for these days?

banjolin

You'll probably pay well over a grand for a galvanised bulkhead, although with Sterling being what it is, now might be the time to do it. However you'll do a lot of welding for that kind of money. Unless it is falling apart it is probably worth salvaging the original.

Icyseanfitz

Oh god its going to be an expensive year haha, hoping to get either the chassis galvanized or a crewcab conversion done by years end too.

Is it worth getting a galvanised bulkhead?

Icyseanfitz

And the left doors rotten too haha oh she's going to kill me

banjolin

Being objective, you have to factor in what it costs to do all the things you want and determine whether or not you would get that money back if you sold it. If you just want a keeper then the head often rules the heart and that equation goes out the window. Only you can decide if it is worth spending the money. An original bulkhead can run to thousands. That's not even galvanised. But you can buy most of the panels and parts that tend to rot. It won't be a cheap repair but it may be cheaper than new.

Icyseanfitz

ah ive had it 6 years at this stage, shes a keeper work in progress job. Im long past the point whered id even make my money back but i dont really care, dont ever see myself selling on tbh. Ive decide to get 2 new galvanized doors and repair the bulkhead this time around. hopefully stick a galvanized chassis in next.

Tiercel Dave

Ah lads, and ladies, we're slipping down the page. I'm getting 'round to tidying up a few bits on my recently acquired '01 110 hardtop. This is my first Defender so I'm learning as I go along. Wipers. I have 4 positions, from nearest my knee......
1 Nothing
2 More nothing!
3 Normal wipe
4 Fast wipe.
When I press the stalk I get a squirt of water and 3 sweeps of the wipers so that looks good. AND the wipers return to their park position!
I'm thinking of getting an adjustable relay, similar to this one
https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=46486
but want to make sure my wiper switch is not faulty first.
Thanks.........

banjolin

Sounds like your intermittent is on the fritz. From your knee up (td5 at least) its 1. Intermittent, 2. Off, 3. Normal and 4. Fast. I'm not sure if it is a relay that controls the intermittent or the main switch. The switches in a landy were all obviously designed by committee. Although, now that I think of it, if a different relay gives adjustable intermittent then it is probably the relay.