I finally have some time on my hands to start posting the progress of my rebuild.
Late last year I bought me a 1988 Land Rover 110 at the US CBP General Order Merchandise Auction and then brought it back to Canada to rebuild.
Here she is sitting in the bonded warehouse in NC:
The vehicle is almost completely original, except the engine was replaced from 2.5 TD to a 200 TDI and the bulkhead appears to have been replaced not too long ago as it’s in a very good shape, whereas the UK car report talked about bulkhead issues in 2007, so, I’m guessing, that’s when the previous owner replaced it to pass the MOT.
The rig (based on the timing of its’ seizure by the CBP and some remaining paperwork) is one of those, exported in 2013 by a company in North Carolina that caused a major issue in the US when dozens of trucks were seized from their rightful owners (Why Are The Feds Obsessed With Seizing These People's Old Trucks?). This one was seized right at the US port of entry. The issue with vehicle seizures was later resolved by Will, aka “The Defender of Defenders” (http://www.defendersource.com/forum...ers-1997-land-rover-defender-110-a-63852.html).
And my rig was sitting in a bonded warehouse in NC, waiting for the court case to be resolved, and was listed for an auction as soon as the dust settled in the courtroom. First time it was bought by a company in Vancouver for $7K, but then, I suppose, they never picked it up, and it was relisted at which time I scooped it up for a mere $201 (yes, that’s right, I’m not missing any zeroes here).
I then transported it as a bonded cargo to Calgary (in late November), thawed it for a day (antifreeze froze to gel, but not too bad to push the freeze plugs out, so I fortunately just needed to replace it), inspected it carefully, put a new battery in, and, low and behold, the zombie came back to life!
From what I saw right away, I knew that from the structural perspective, I needed to address rear crossmember, doors, sills, C-posts and second row seat base.
Rear crossmember (looking from behind and from the front) – nothing too bad, that can’t be fixed with enough duct tape and Bondo, right?!
C-Post:
Rear seat base:
I also took it in for an out-of-province inspection and sure enough, they gave me a 4-page long laundry list that included mostly the structural issues I’ve noted above as well as a couple of oil leaks (ha-ha), addition of the third brake light, addition of rear bumper and addition of DRL (the latter being a bogus requirement, as the DRL is only required for vehicles manufactured after 1989). BTW, finding an out-of-province inspection facility for a RHD stick-shift Land Rover 110 in Calgary was one hell of a quest, as most facilities don’t deal with these vehicles as they “don’t have the specs, dimensions, etc.” even if you offer to give them a copy of the workshop manual with all that info.
So, I’ve been working away on it since then.
So the plan is (for major components):
I’m not going to repaint it just yet, as I wanted to do a Polyurethane paint and am having difficulties finding a shop in Calgary. Plus, I might be moving to the Easdt Coast now that the Oil and Gas Bonanza is over for a while, where I’m certain I can paint the truck for less than a second mortgage worth that my greedy fellow Albertans would like to charge me for it.
Wish me luck!
------ Follow up post added October 24th, 2016 11:17 PM ------
BTW, here's a Link to my Defender Source post on the front door frames I've rebuilt for this project.
Late last year I bought me a 1988 Land Rover 110 at the US CBP General Order Merchandise Auction and then brought it back to Canada to rebuild.
Here she is sitting in the bonded warehouse in NC:
The vehicle is almost completely original, except the engine was replaced from 2.5 TD to a 200 TDI and the bulkhead appears to have been replaced not too long ago as it’s in a very good shape, whereas the UK car report talked about bulkhead issues in 2007, so, I’m guessing, that’s when the previous owner replaced it to pass the MOT.
The rig (based on the timing of its’ seizure by the CBP and some remaining paperwork) is one of those, exported in 2013 by a company in North Carolina that caused a major issue in the US when dozens of trucks were seized from their rightful owners (Why Are The Feds Obsessed With Seizing These People's Old Trucks?). This one was seized right at the US port of entry. The issue with vehicle seizures was later resolved by Will, aka “The Defender of Defenders” (http://www.defendersource.com/forum...ers-1997-land-rover-defender-110-a-63852.html).
And my rig was sitting in a bonded warehouse in NC, waiting for the court case to be resolved, and was listed for an auction as soon as the dust settled in the courtroom. First time it was bought by a company in Vancouver for $7K, but then, I suppose, they never picked it up, and it was relisted at which time I scooped it up for a mere $201 (yes, that’s right, I’m not missing any zeroes here).
I then transported it as a bonded cargo to Calgary (in late November), thawed it for a day (antifreeze froze to gel, but not too bad to push the freeze plugs out, so I fortunately just needed to replace it), inspected it carefully, put a new battery in, and, low and behold, the zombie came back to life!
From what I saw right away, I knew that from the structural perspective, I needed to address rear crossmember, doors, sills, C-posts and second row seat base.
Rear crossmember (looking from behind and from the front) – nothing too bad, that can’t be fixed with enough duct tape and Bondo, right?!
C-Post:
Rear seat base:
I also took it in for an out-of-province inspection and sure enough, they gave me a 4-page long laundry list that included mostly the structural issues I’ve noted above as well as a couple of oil leaks (ha-ha), addition of the third brake light, addition of rear bumper and addition of DRL (the latter being a bogus requirement, as the DRL is only required for vehicles manufactured after 1989). BTW, finding an out-of-province inspection facility for a RHD stick-shift Land Rover 110 in Calgary was one hell of a quest, as most facilities don’t deal with these vehicles as they “don’t have the specs, dimensions, etc.” even if you offer to give them a copy of the workshop manual with all that info.
So, I’ve been working away on it since then.
So the plan is (for major components):
- Rebuild front row doors
- New sill rails and lower C-posts
- Rebuild rear tub
- Strip the vehicle to the frame (chassis), rebuild and galvanize the frame from the two frames I currently have
- Replace the gaskets and any worn components on all leaking parts (engine, tranny, transfer gearbox)
- Replace front/rear U-joints and rear diff oil seal
- Replace all worn balljoints
- Replace the clutch (old one works somewhat but I figured I’d do it now anyways while the engine and tranny are off the frame
- Replace the fuel tank (cleaning the old one will cost me as almost as much as buying a new one)
- Replace the rear exhaust pipe
I’m not going to repaint it just yet, as I wanted to do a Polyurethane paint and am having difficulties finding a shop in Calgary. Plus, I might be moving to the Easdt Coast now that the Oil and Gas Bonanza is over for a while, where I’m certain I can paint the truck for less than a second mortgage worth that my greedy fellow Albertans would like to charge me for it.
Wish me luck!
------ Follow up post added October 24th, 2016 11:17 PM ------
BTW, here's a Link to my Defender Source post on the front door frames I've rebuilt for this project.