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South African 1994 Defender 110 200tdi Refresh

23K views 69 replies 30 participants last post by  Mgriz 
#1 ·
Hello Everyone, I introduced myself over in the new members forum back in December, then disappeared for awhile :grin. I'm finally getting around to throwing my 110 up here to share.

Anyway, long story short, I'm living in South Africa and I picked up a 1994 Defender 110 CSW with a 200tdi at the end of last year. It has the LT77 5-speed, a long range fuel tank (extra tank where the filler neck goes), some spot lights (that don't work), an aftermarket alarm (that needs to be removed), non working factory AC, a radio, and around 270,000km on the clock.

I intend on giving it a bit of a refresh while I'm here, enjoying it, and bringing it back to the states when I head back. I'd like to disassemble and paint it as well as make some minor upgrades here and there while I'm at it. I understand it can be a fine line before the DOT starts considering it a new vehicle so if anyone has some words of wisdom as far as that is concerned I'm all ears. The chassis, body, engine, and most of the doors are solid so they will all be maintained original...

Here it is shortly after I bough it last year.


Like many late eighties/early nineties defenders, onetens, and nineties here in South Africa this one was built by a company called Associated Automotive Distributors (AAD) who, the way I understand it, took over production after Land Rover divested from South Africa in 1985. If anyone knows more about AAD or the history of Land Rover in South Africa I'd love to here it.

Unfortunately for me, it appears that AAD did not keep very good records of what the VIN numbers they were assigning meant and they didn't use the same sequence as all the other ROW Land Rovers so I have been unable to sufficiently decode the VIN. Thanks to the lack of records, when I bought it I was under the impression that it was a 93, but I've since determined that it is an early 94 model. Not a big deal but changes when I can legally import it... Fortunately the chassis, engine, and body numbers all match what is on the title paperwork so I should be good to go once it's old enough. I just might have a few extra hoops to jump through given I don't have any way to establish an accurate date of manufacture.

Here are a few more pictures of it's condition shortly after I purchased it. Not great, but not too bad for 22 year old truck. Most of the plastic interior bits are way past their prime and it's super dirty but nothing that can't be fixed.







Over the past few months I've been busy with it and at times it has in turn kept me busy so I've got a bunch more pictures to post. I'll try and throw them up over the next few days!

Guess, I'll throw in a more recent picture to keep people interested. This is from a trip over Easter weekend...


Thanks for looking.
 
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#5 ·
Raptor Binnacle and Dash

I don't have any detailed pictures of the condition of the stock plastic binnacle mount but as you can imagine there wasn't much holding it together. So one of the first things I did was order up a steel replacement from Raptor Engineering in the UK. While I was at it I also ordered their center console and separately picked up some VDO gauges for boost, oil pressure, and EGT as well as a CB and stereo head unit to go in the center console.

Here are some pictures from the binnacle replacement, not very exciting but makes a big difference now that the gauge cluster no longer sways in the wind.





And the finished product, doesn't look like much but the gauges were super loose before now everything is solid like it should be.


Next up was the center console to replace the joke of a radio bracket that came in these things from the factory.



Fitting these consoles requires cutting out a large section from the center of the lower dash. It was fairly easy and the console went in without much strugle. There is a little interference with the aircon vents below the dash that I still need to sort out but for now it's fine.







And here is what it looks like with most everything installed. Still waiting on switches, I'm replacing the hazard, rear wiper, interior lights, and rear glass defrost switches with carling rockers in the four open spaces you see in the console. Should be much better than the existing switches which are falling apart.

The head unit I went with is from a brand I normally would steer far clear of, Jensen. But after reading some good reviews of their heavy duty line I decided to give it a shot and I'm actually quite impressed with what you get for the money. I think the intended market is semi drivers and agricultural equipment so it has some features that normal car stereos don't such as weather band, battery voltage alarm, and an alarm clock function. That and it has bluetooth, aux in, and USB without a CD player (so no moving parts or dust traps). Also on the console are a dual USB charger and a standard 12v socket both from blue sea systems.

 
#7 ·
LEDs



Thanks! Yeah the Raptor console is great although I do also have a Mud Pod waiting to go in. But I think I'm going to mount it on the bottom side of the raptor console instead of on top of the dash pad.


At the end of last year I replaced all of the exterior lights with LEDs and installed a full length Front Runner roof rack. For turn signals and brake lights I bought a Wipac kit from the UK and for head lights I scored some old style military truck-lite units that were taken off an MRAP. Needless to say it's all a huge improvement over the stock stuff.

Here is some pics during the wiring. Check out all the dirt inside the truck!




I did the left hand side first so I could see the old and new side by side.


Quite a difference with the headlights. These older truck-lite LED headlights aren't known for being the best (but I think they match the Defender much better than the new modern looking ones). You can see they have that hot spot right in the middle but it hasn't bothered me at all while driving.




Finally here is the headlight beam pattern with both done.



I also installed rock sliders, checker plate on the fender tops, and finally some new wolf wheels and BFG MT KM2s. It's amazing how much of a difference they made to how the truck looks.


And finally to give it a little shakedown run and because I realized all of my pictures are from the same spot in my driveway, I took it to a nature reserve that has a 4x4 trail about 10 minutes from our house in Pretoria. The trail surprised me with some of the obstacles being quite a bit more serious than I was expecting. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of the obstacles, but the truck worked great and pulled through everything without much of a fight. Here are a few pictures from the tamer section of trail, you can just make out a group of wildebeest behind the trees in the first pic. The nature reserve has a bunch of wildebeest, ostrich, giraffe, zebra, and various antelope for you to look at while trudging through the mud pits...





 
#8 ·
Alright, time for another little update... In late January, on my way in to work an oil cooler hose failed and sprayed oil absolutely everywhere until there was none left. I didn't notice until I heard some excellent high pitched metal on metal screeching. At that point I looked down and saw the oil light on, reached to kill it just before it died on its own. I locked it up, took some pictures, and walked the rest of the way to work.





I returned in early afternoon and met a flat bed to have it towed over to the shop I've been working with.



We took the oil cooler hoses off to check what happened and found that they were the original hoses! The little metal tags on them hoses said 10/1993! I guess it is pretty amazing they lasted as long as they did. They were terribly brittle and just gave up. No signs of damage or wear from rubbing on the outside or anything.



Fortunately I was able to have the lines rebuilt here for around $30. Land Rover wanted $300 for new ones they would have had to order from the UK!

So anyway, it took around two months but the engine was pulled and stripped down. All bearings replaced, new cam bushings, new rings, but all in all the damage was pretty minimal. We did find some unrelated cracking in the head, between the valves, so we found a refurbished factory head. In the end, despite being without the truck for two months, I'm happy it happened. Now I know for sure what the condition of the engine is and I won't have to worry about it...

------ Follow up post added May 8th, 2016 10:45 PM ------

About a week after getting the truck back I went with the mechanics who have been working on it and a bunch of their customers and friends on a trip from Pretoria to Kosi Bay using unpaved roads as much as possible.

I think there were about 15 or 16 Land Rovers in the convoy, all Defenders except for one Discovery 3. My 110 was the oldest LR there by a few years and definitely the slowest. Although there was a slightly newer 3.5L V8 110 that gave it a run for it's money in the slowness department. The drive there was split into two days and we covered a little over 400km each day. On to the pictures... sorry, most are from my phone.

Meeting at the shop prior to departing.






The first 1.5 hrs of the first day was mostly highway, but once we got away from the city the scenery got pretty great.






We stopped for fuel and noticed that I had somehow dislocated the rear right spring, it was not resting back in it's perch, and it was slightly rubbing on the inside of the tire. A quick lift with the hi-lift and a couple whacks with a solid object fixed that and we were on our way...










After about 10 hours of driving we arrived at our camp for the night.


We left early in the morning and some horses were out running around the campsite.












After another very long day of driving we arrived at our camp site in Kosi Bay and setup for the weekend. I was absolutely filthy from riding the entire way with the windows down (no working AC) and was badly in need of a shower, which fortunately this campsite had decent facilities, unfortunately they didn't have hot water.


Here is the GPS track from the trip there.



The next day we went to Sodwana Bay National Park and played in the sand dunes. We could only get a certain number of vehicle permits so with my RTT I was happy to leave my 110 behind. I spent the day riding in an interesting 110, from 1997-2000 BMW built Land Rovers in South Africa and fitted some with their 2.8 inline 6 (M52B28). I drove it a bit in the dunes and it's a heck of a lot different than my 200tdi, plenty of power and really smooth as you'd expect. A few pics from Sodwana...














We spent another day at the beach and headed home on the 5th day. Using the most direct paved roads only took 7 hours and it was nice not to have to deal with all the dust in my eyes. All that said, it was a great trip and the freshly rebuilt 200tdi had no issues!
 
#10 ·
Thanks! :thumb:

Last update and I'm caught up to present day. I'm starting to get stuff together to start really digging into the truck. I'd like to have it more or less where I want it as far as parts and accessories go before pulling it apart for a respray.

Picked up a used Warn M8274 a few weeks ago. Not what I was planning on going with but couldn't pass it up. Now I've got to figure out a front bumper to mount this beast. I sold the front bumper that was on the truck and now I'm running around with a stock bumper.


Last week I received an order from stone accessories (small shop based near Cape Town) including their rear drawer system, rear bumper steps with corner protectors, and a snorkel. I'm really impressed with the drawer for the money!
 
#12 ·
Great posts Marc...I wish I was able to have played like that during my time living in ZA...spent most of my time flying between Joburg (Sandton) and Durban...did get some fun time but not quite as cool as a Defender outing...Truck looks great...
 
#14 ·
Thanks all!

Not much progress on the truck lately. But I have been working on something that has been bothering me... the plastic shift knobs. In an effort to get rid of some of the plastic in cabin I looked for metal replacements to the stock shift knobs. Nothing seems to be available locally and I don't really like what I've found online. The CroyTec ones are nice but not exactly what I'm looking for. So I'm looking into making some. I whipped up what are more or less copies of the original knobs in CAD. Planning on having them powder coated black and the pattern filled with white paint...





I'm also considering doing something like this for the transmission instead of the shift pattern...



What do you all think? Is it worth it or should I just go with the CroyTec knobs?
 
#15 ·
Wow it has been a long time since I've updated this thread. I guess I've been busy doing everything but making progress on the truck. I guess most of my focus was on enjoying it while getting everything in order before an extended trip back to the US (where I am currently).

Shift knobs are on hold because the quotes I received were way too high, even if I do a decent size run of them.

Picked up some synthetic winch line for my M8274 from a local vendor. I supplied him with a Factor 55 splicer for the end and it came out great. Still working on a solution for mounting the winch...


Met a group of local Landy guys at a 4x4 park and campground called Rust de Winter. They have some obstacles and a dry river bed to play around in. I spent most of the time driving around in the river bed looking for the group...





Had some family come down to visit and my father, brother, and I spent one night camping at another 4x4 park called Serendipity. They had an awesome trail with great views and a really nice secluded camp site with a nice camp kitchen.









Other than that over the past few months I just collected parts and made plans for the rest of the build... In September I dropped the truck off at my body guy and departed back to the US for a four month trip. With any luck, when I get back to South Africa I'll have a freshly painted 110. I decided on Keswick green with a white roof. Interior will be black bed liner with black upholstery, no glued in carpet.
 
#17 ·
Good to see you are still online, and truck progressing. I think a lot of us envy that factory galvy chassis, and lack of rust. Good looking truck.

I saw most of this when you originally posted, and I need to get a pic by the Amersfoort signs I drive past, in the Netherlands!

Keswick with a white roof is a good combo, but I am biased. Are you going to paint the wheels also?

I think your truck is a V code, in 11th place in VIN, for a LR VIN. Other places got CKD, complete knock down. This was the kit that LR made and outsourced for assembly.

Does your VIN look like AADD1WT1B______. The letter after B should be year. R=1995

------ Follow up post added November 17th, 2016 01:24 AM ------

1994 was the year BMW bought LR and moved local assembly from the old Leyland plant at Blackheath up to a BMW owned plant in Rosslyn, which was dedicated to Land Rover production and opened by Queen Elizabeth II on her state visit in 1995.
- grabbed from another forum.
 
#18 ·
haha, I hadn't noticed the Amersfoort sign and didn't know the significance until reading your comment and looking it up, neat! :thumb:

Yeah my VIN is similar, AADD11WT1CPB followed by a 6 digit unique serial number. I've pretty much given up finding any solid information on any of the AAD built VINs. None of the online VIN databases that I have found recognize them and it doesn't seam to follow LRs VIN conventions.

Almost forgot, I ordered some custom badges from Gavin at Artmin Design in the UK. I ordered a rear badge, matching grill badge, and front defender badge (to replace the decal). I can't find a picture of them but they came out great and were very reasonably priced. I threw in a couple more badges for some other folks in SA as well and everyone was very happy. I'll have to grab some pictures when I get back, but here is a CAD screenshot of the badges...

 
#22 ·
ZA 110's

I've been working with a friend in the UK to import a 110 to the US, but thought I'd expand my search to South Africa. are there any import concerns unique to the south african 110's? all seems the same except for the lack of a de-codable VIN.

Do South African Landy's tend to fetch less on resale in the US? or does the galvanized chassis make them just as/more desirable?

Any contact info for Matt Davis in Capetown that was mentioned in earlier South African threads?

Thanks!
 
#25 ·
I've been working with a friend in the UK to import a 110 to the US, but thought I'd expand my search to South Africa. are there any import concerns unique to the south african 110's? all seems the same except for the lack of a de-codable VIN.

Do South African Landy's tend to fetch less on resale in the US? or does the galvanized chassis make them just as/more desirable?

Any contact info for Matt Davis in Capetown that was mentioned in earlier South African threads?

Thanks!

Other than the VIN issue (which only really applies on 110s built in ZA from approx. 1985 to 1995) I'm not aware of any specific import concerns. I personally know of a few that have recently been imported from ZA without any issues. I don't see why they would fetch any less than any other RHD defender in the states. IMO it has a little bit of additional cool factor for the fact that it was built in ZA instead of the UK like most others.

I did email with Matt Davis early on when I was trying to figure out the VIN issue but have not been in contact with him since. I'm sure you probably already have his email but if you don't it is matthew@righteoustradingco.com.


From my limited exposure it seems as though they hold up a little better in South Africa over a 25 yr period - a milder climate than the UK.
I'd say that's accurate about South Africa as long as you're not on the coast and having to contend with salt. Otherwise it is pretty dry and temperate in South Africa so the climate isn't as harsh. In my experience you also have a good amount of expertise and knowledge on Land Rovers in South Africa that you might not have elsewhere on the continent, so there is at least the opportunity for them to be well maintained.
 
#23 ·
Obviously the VIN sounds like a hurdle but also the galvy chassis could give Cuntoms some pause. At one point in time the word was no galvy chassis would be allowed entry. However, with that said there are guys here who were successful getting the US to recognize that the galvy chassis is original spec in some instances.

Curious. Is the price point on a comparable 110 elsewhere significantly more costly? I can't imagine they are anymore well taken care of. At least the parts of Africa I've seen lead me to believe such.
 
#27 ·
Alright, time for an update on this project. I left off having dropped the truck off at my body guy before spending 4+ months in the US. Here it is the day I dropped it off:


And here it is a few days after I got back to South Africa in late January:


Yes it’s the same picture, but the point is it didn't even get touched in the 4+ months I was gone. As you can imagine, I wasn't so happy but didn't have what I saw as a viable alternative so on we went. Funny enough things progressed quite quickly from that point on. The truck was stripped:


Then thoroughly cleaned, having the 23 years of dirt and all the glue from the carpets removed:


Then body work started:


Unfortunately we found what the checker plate on the doors was hiding:


Three of the doors look like this, not sure what they were going for with this “repair” but I guess removing the bottom of the door skin is a good way to keep the galvanic corrosion at bay… We’re just going to seal it up as best as possible, recover it with checker plate, and I’m going to try and forget about it.

I’ve also been working on a few things in parallel. New metal dash from Raptor Engineering with a new VDO speedo (I’ll be ditching the speedo cable for a hall effect sensor) and new VDO electronic water temp gauge (it came with a mechanical temp gauge that made removing the dash a huge pain).





And here is a pic of the actual rear badge, it turned out great:
 
#30 ·
Thanks! You're right, it was one of those time you just have to grin and tell yourself TIA... Sometimes in South Africa it's hard to swallow b/c it feels more like the US most times but every now and then I get reminded where we are.

You. Are. My. Hero! What a great post. The pics are awesome and I feel I've been with you on these excursions! Keep the pics and stories coming!
Thanks!:thumb: Looks like you're from my neck of the woods in the US. We have a house in Suwanee...


Late last week they put the first coat of color on the body. Keswick is apparently a hard color to photograph. The color here isn't very accurately captured...


And the roof was finished.


As of yesterday the chassis had been painted and they will soon be getting ready to spray Raptor bed liner.


Everything that is currently white other than the engine bay side of the firewall we be getting a healthy coating of black bed liner. The engine bay side of the firewall will be sprayed with bed liner tinted to match the body paint. We're also going to spray the insides of the fender wells with the black bed liner. It's all coming together (finally) so far I'm pleased!

I will say that I seam to have gotten very lucky in that the condition of the truck has been much better than many other examples I've seen here. The galvanized chassis, firewall, and cappings are a huge plus. But other than the massacred doors and minor cosmetic issues (door dings, etc) there really hasn't been anything in need of repair.
 
#35 ·
Thanks! I'm certainly fortunate to get to be where I am and able to play with Defenders. :thumb:

Progress has slowed a little as the shop is trying to finish up a couple other trucks so mine can move into the shop instead of the yard...

Bed liner sprayed and roof on:



A few weeks later and the wings are on and they're starting to hang the doors:



I've still been trying to make progress on a few things in parallel. I decided to take apart my winch since it was leaking oil all over the place and could use some freshening up.



I found it had way more oil in it than WARN recommends so I'm assuming that's part of the reason it was leaking while it was just sitting there...



I also found some interesting work in the motor. Looks like someone had some trouble with the brush cables shorting out so they got creative with a cut up bottle of coolant for insulation. It was all melted and keeping one of the brushes from sliding in the holder. I'm surprised it was working like this... I think I'll add some real insulation to the wires



I also installed a SPAL universal powered window kit for the rear doors (I've got factory electric window units in the front)



And finally, I ordered up some rocker switches for all of the extra electronics I'll be adding. I'm planning on throwing these in the front face of the center cubby box along with a flush mount dual battery monitor...

 
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