I've just embarked on what now seems a rather large restoration project, having taken possession of a sight unseen 1986 2 door 110 yesterday. She's pretty rough around the edges, however the chassis appears good (I hope I don't live to regret that statement!)
The rover V8 will make way for an LS3 which I collected yesterday, from a 2015 Holden Commodore SS-V Redline (some fancy model here downunder). It came mated to a 6L80E which seems like the perfect pairing for some of famous Nick's conversion parts.
The plan is really to take it all the way back to the chassis and give it a good once over - repair any rust, galv it, new bushes etc. etc. Probably slot in the LS3 whilst it's at this stage. Interested in views on brake upgrades as the factory ones seem pretty shocking (although maybe I've just forgotten in the short time since I sold my 2014 110 and purchased a sensible family car!)
Body will also undergo some fairly extensive work also, with the hard top making way for a soft top, series 3 split doors and so on. It will be 'heritage' themed although I'll probably opt for a custom colour somewhere between marine blue, keswick green and aintree green (use your imagination!)
This is the first project of this significance I've undertaken - which I will blame on the inspirational work of the members of this forum and the way they make things look so easy! Any advice along the way would be appreciated.
I'm also interested in a good provider who might be able to sea freight me a bunch of body parts to NZ? I've emailed SP-4x4 a few times and have not got a response after a week. I'm sure the stateside guys have had dealings with the UK based suppliers in this context. Next people I was looking to get in touch with were Paddock and Rimmer Bros, however both have varying degrees of stock of the parts I'm after - I'd prefer to deal with one place which is why SP-4X4 seemed like the idea.
SP doesn't respond well that way. I found the way to get a response was to order and pay, then they have no choice
That being said I did some receive items that I did not pay for and can't get them to respond to my requests to return their stuff...
I love your starting point! Post lots of pictures and ask away on questions. People on here are knowledgeable and very helpful. I’m looking forward to your build!
Okay, so first weekend with the new vehicle meant for a bit of spring cleaning... I was not quite ready for what was lurking under / behind the seats - YUCK! 30 years of bottle caps, dust, coins, pens. You name it, it was there. I also uncovered a bunch of rusty bits hiding beneath carpet and so on... Replacement parts are on the way, namely the drivers side under-seat box and the trans diaphragm.
All this tidying has got me very motivated to get the old girl painted and re-upholstered ASAP!
Yep, they replied pretty much immediately after my order was placed but have not come back to me following a few questions I had related to shipping options. Frustrating! Guess I'll give them a call at 10pm tonight my time which works out to be 9am in the UK.
So I've been chipping away at this and have failed to update the thread! oops. The SP4x4 order finally arrived after like 6 weeks... as well as a swag of other parts including the first bits from Nick for my LS conversion. I've rented a workshop and over the last couple of days just removed the chassis from the body. Pics are below.
Next steps are to strip the chassis of that horrendous motor, hopefully sell it to someone! Then get on with the chassis repairs, and finally get it galvanised. Once that's complete, I'll start fitting up the LS3 and then on with the body restore which includes a bit of bulkhead work etc.
Oh, he lives! Unfortunately your pictures didn’t make it. At least on my iPad I can’t see them.
All good updates, but I recommend you weld in the LS motor mounts prior to galvanizing the chassis. I’m with Kip on hitting the bulkhead also, particularly since you already have it apart.
So the last couple of weeks with the truck in the shed have been quite productive. With the help of a couple of great mates we've been stripping the thing down - now at the bare chassis stage with just the loom and a few brackets to come out now. Tomorrow we'll degrease and waterblast it down, and start to grind back areas with speculative repair work to see what needs doing.
So far, I have a rear crossmember and front legs to put in, although I suspect there may be other areas requiring some love. We'll also strip back the bulkhead which is in need of equal attention, new vents, pillars, footwells to go in.
On the LS side we pulled out the loom and TCU to be sent away with the ECU for their various modifications.
Had a massive Summit order arrive although I've now realised I need a few other bits and bobs (not cheap either, given one of those is a Lokar accelerator pedal). If anyone has used the factory pedal do let me know, I have this but not the BCM wiring that goes to it.
I ended up using a corvette pedal and made a bracket. A lot cheaper then the Lokar pedal. Just need to tell who ever is wire you harness what pedal you plan on using. The difference is the truck pedal vs the car pedal. Only two wires change. I highly recommend using the Dakota digital gauges. Worth every penny!
I used the factory pedal it works great. Some people complained about it being too sensitive, so I was concerned about that. What I ended up doing was shaving the sides down so a Lokar pedal (just the pedal itself) could slip over the stub. This allowed me to extend the length of the stock pedal slightly to increase the stroke. I then cut up an old Porsche bumper bracket and welded up a bracket that allowed me to rotate the pedal anti-clockwise to align it with the brake pedal. I also trimmed the stock brake pedal so I could bolt a matching Lokar pedal cover to it. It’s all good so far.
Okay, ended up ordering the Lokar setup - oops. After receiving the shifter, the quality is just too nice to pass up in favour of something I'd probably make a mess of.
Regarding gauges - I've gone with a suite of VDO stuff to go in place of the factory gauges as I am really going for a heritage look with the build and the Dakota gauge cluster just felt too modern and against the grain of the rest. Managed to track down a 200kmh gauge (as we use the correct method for measuring speed, weight, size and distance in NZ ) from JEGS which will keep it looking really factory.
Project is starting to really take shape now and I have most of the cost in parts out of the way - PHEW! I do not want to start counting what this crappy old One Ten is costing me. I'm getting married in just short of two months - wonder if I can make it happen in time? Who knows.
Found the big USA flag in a box of stuff from since I last moved and thought it was appropriate to hang given the LS conversion going on! One for you stateside boys.
The lads and I finished stripping the chassis and got it degreased and water blasted. Makes life a lot cleaner in the shed having removed 30 years of crud!
We also stripped the bulkhead, which is looking very sad in parts Not looking forward to repairing this. Seems like we'll be welding repair sections onto.... thin air and crud. Grrrr.
I have a couple of questions:
- How do you remove the wiper system? We have taken it back to the piece where the arm attaches and cannot figure out how to get the piece which has a cog on the back and an allen head on the front.
- How challenging is re-wiring the LS3 harness? Any specialist knowledge required? I know you did this yourself Factoid. I have a friend who came down last night who is a marine auto electrician so is a very handy wiring guy but no specific application knowledge. Alternative is to send away but I'd prefer to say the $1600 it's going to cost me apparently. An advice welcomed (or links).
Basically, I took those other pics ages ago. Since then, the chassis and bulkhead underwent some pretty significant rust repair. The boys and I then sandblasted it, primered, painted it all over a number of long and frustrating weekends, followed by all of the suspension arms, diffs, and other bits and bobs like brake drums. Basically everything on this thing was either a) rusty or b) painted some strange colour like teal or bright red. Can't find a pic in action of the chassis on the rotisserie undergoing aforementioned rejuvenation, but you can see it against the wall in the pics below.
Sand blasted some diffs
Painted them
Few coats of Keswick green on the bulkhead, prior to seam sealant which will then be repainted over. Plan is to build the vehicle around this central piece prior to getting the whole thing painted (minus the engine bay where quality of finish isn't as critical).
Couple pics of my last two Defenders, now sold:
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