1986 Landrover Defender 130

[nickburt]

I'd been contemplating another truck and although some banter between Jap and LR owners is always loyal, I had often said if I ever bought an LR it would have to be something different - an air portable lightweight for a resto toy - more to follow in another thread one day (it's been in bits for the last 5 years) or a 130.

I'd been watching a 130 on Ebay and decide to take a blind punt if it didn't get too expensive.
I missed the end of the auction, and later that day found it had sold for less than I was prepared to pay
A few days later, I found out a good friend had won it and for the next year or so, I kept reminding him he stole it from me and he wouldn't have the time for it .........

This was it being delivered to him

You can just make out the word Ambulance on the side - an insight to it's history.

Fast forward to Feb 2016 and he was moving house and decided he wouldn't have time for it ..... so, a few 'phone calls and the deal was done.
In March 2016, I collected it (L200 build spoiler):

Yes, that's a Wolf Ambulance in the background.

More to follow.

 

[nickburt]

So, fast forward to .............. the next day 12th March 2016.

Time spent taking a look at what I've bought .... and some of it's history starts to emerge.

 

[nickburt]

Remember the earlier picture that you could just make out the word ambulance on the side, well, delve into the switch panel and wiring and some of the history starts to unfold. It had horns, interior flood lights, hydraulics (hydraulic post for flood lights through the roof) and blue lights and sirens - very badly put together.

It was originally built as a 110 (the chassis number confirms this). It was then stretched to 127 by Landrover SVO and converted to a fire tender by Pilcher Greene.
Back in the day, many vehicle manufacturers and coach builders developed "special vehicles" by stretching or cutting and shutting and Landrover were no exception, with the off shoot SVO division. Look closely at any early 127 (130) Defender and you'll find a 17" insert in the chassis. I wasn't until the TD5 that they built a 127 chassis.

Some internet research reveals it's early history:

According to the SVO plate, the conversion was done in 1997, some 11 years after it was first built. I haven't found out yet, if the stretch to 127 was done in the factory in 1986, or later by SVO in 1997. I suspect the latter. I have some friends who work at JLR and LRE, but tracking the build history is proving difficult.

According to a fire tender website, it was more than likely to have been a V8 and had to carry around a ton of water in the back, which made it slow and awkward to drive, so probably didn't remain in service for long - likely that the conversion to an ambulance came quite quickly.
The chassis number contradicts this and indicates it was factory fitted with a 2.5 NA diesel. So maybe it was converted to a V8 when SVO did the conversion in 1997. Cut off and re-positioned engine mounts possibly support this theory. (It's now running a 300TDi with an R380 gearbox and Salisbury rear axle).

When I bought it, it had 71,016 miles on the clock, with an MOT history to support that being genuine.
Together with the fact the chassis has never been welded and is in excellent condition, suggests it probably spent a lot of it time standing in a fire or ambulance station clean and dry. Although the bulkhead has seen better days.

 

[nickburt]

OK, so remember the bit about all the extra lights, horns etc... etc...

Well, it became quickly apparent that not only was most of not going to be needed (obvious really), but also that most of it was quite dangerous.

So, we ripped the lot out........

Remember a picture similar to this?:

Well, all that surplus, unwanted wiring quickly became this:

About ten minutes after the above pictures were taken, we discovered that perhaps a bit too much had been removed and the 130 wouldn't start ...... fairly quickly sorted, one of the switches removed was an emergency kill switch....... hey ho. Back up and running again and on with some more rip out and more or less get it back to the absolute bare minimum needed for the 300TDi to run and for all things such as lights, indicators, horn etc... all to work.

Hmmm ....... slight problem with that - it has no lights, indicators or horn. Oh well, let's fit some ....

Dash and instruments back in and indicators working. Voltages checked at the headlights end of the loom (bare wires as some clown had removed the headlights by cutting through the loom at each light) and all ready for new head lights (by now on order).
At this stage, we had another non starting moment, which turn out to be the fuel stop solenoid on the fuel pump - poorly crimped connection had fallen apart.

Anyway, a pretty successful week since purchase and a huge shopping list developing and being ordered.

I was working away from home during all this, so only had Saturdays and Sundays to work on it, and a deadline challenge had been thrown at me ....... get it built in time to go to Ireland in August - we were now almost in April and only two days a week to work on it.

 

[Motohead1]

Love this. Question on the 300TDi. Im only familiar with the Bosch pump from the 300tdi as its almost a direct bbolt on to turn a VW ALH TDi into a full manual. I have one of these bosch pumps sitting in the garage just in case I wanted to dump the electronics on my ALH. Anyway all that to say. Can you turn the power up on a 300TDi significantly? Or is the upgrade to swap in a more modern diesel?

 

[nickburt]

You can tweak a 300 TDI pump and get quite a bit more from it. But as with any engine tuning, it's all about compromise to get the closest you can to what you think you want.
I've been looking into this for some time now and have decided to take the following steps:

1. Establish current settings, including boost pressures and exhaust gas temperatures under different conditions - a base line if you like.
2. Tweak the pump a bit at a time using the standard pump - boost pin adjustments etc... to see how far I can go without spending any money and to establish if I need any more.
3. Add a boost pin and set up to get optimum performance - maximum torque vs boost pressure vs exhaust gas temeperatures
4. Add a Boos ring and ......... ditto 3 above.
5. Maybe do 3 and 4 the other way round ???
6. Maybe do 3 and 4 at the same time - but see comments below.

Take it out and run under various different conditions/loads etc... after each change and understand what that change has achieved.

I know this sounds like a long winded way of doing it, but being an engineer that's used to tuning, tweaking and, more importantly, fault finding, I like to do one thing at a time as much as possible, so that I can understand what the result, or consequences, of a change are. but that's just me .....

Personally, I'll be looking to maximise torque (not necessarily power) without causing any problems. Exhaust gas temperature and cylinder head temperatures (while keeping boost sensible) being the two most critical to keep it reliable, and with a bit of luck, reasonably economical (I can currently get 30 mpg (UK mpg !!!) out of it even when fully loaded (weighing in at around 3,500 kg).

I've seen too many who just slap a boost pin and ring in, turn it up for maximum acceleration and then suffer all the consequences - black smokey exhaust, too much boost, overheating and turbo failures.
One guy I know fitted a pin, ring and a hybrid turbo all at once. The thing is now almost un-driveable, smokes like hell, overheats and all attempts to stop it overheating result in a deadly lack of power/torque. The problem he now has is that he can't figure out which mod (or combination of mods) is causing the issues. AND, he won't listen and go back to standard and start again, one thing at a time and understand how that change affects engine performance and, in his case, reliability.
Gently, gently catchy monkey.

Anyway, I've linked and attached a few bits and pieces that might help you make the right choices for your particular requirements.
Boost Ring, with video.
Boost Pin, with video and take note of his warning: "Be aware of copies which are not made with the same tolerance or incorrect grade of steel. " I've seen pins that are only a few hundred miles old with some quite bad scoring and wear marks on them.
Dividing Creek Imports, similar comments and notes to the document attached.

 

[nickburt]

................. Or is the upgrade to swap in a more modern diesel?

Sorry, didn't really answer this Q in my last post.
Yes, you could upgrade to a more modern diesel, but you have to ask the eternal Defender question - which engine is best for Overland use?
200 & 300 TDi engines require no electronics, just a power supply to the fuel stop solenoid valve. Neither do the older 2.5 NA engines - but they don't have a turbo either.
Later engines - TD5 onwards, need ECUs to run them and look after all sorts of control. The later the engine, the more ECU control and probably more usable power and torque. Puma 2.2 & 2/4 engine etc... (less reliable these days).
So, ..... while later engines may be more refined and perhaps economical, the 200/300 TDi engines have the least (read non existent) electronics and benefit from a turbo.
Both are bomb proof if maintained and respected.
In a Defender, it's 200 or 300 every time for me - 300 being a bit more refined and powerful, but, the 200 is more forgiving in terms of reliability under duress.
Both will burn pretty much any fuel that resembles diesel, the earlier pump and injectors used in the 200 more so.
If you're after out and out power without worrying about fuel consumption and not too bothered about low rev torque, go for the Rover (Buick) V8 petrol.

With you VW ALH conversion, stick the manual Bosch pump on it and have a play with a boost pin and ring - I think you might be surprised.

 

[nickburt]

Hmmmm ..... 5 years ago ............. time to continue the story. This truck has come a long, long way since.

Photos above were taken in February and March 2016.

April 2016:
Lights fully sorted, some soundproofing added and the headlining tidied up (for now!) and a bonnet change.

 

[AggieOE]

Man I'm glad I never saw this thread in 2017 because that would have been a cliffhanger. So how's it looking now?!

 

[nickburt]

Man I'm glad I never saw this thread in 2017 because that would have been a cliffhanger. So how's it looking now?!

I know - and I will catch up with it ....... watch this space

Spoiler: spoiler

 

[nickburt]

May to August 2016
Rebuild of the dashboard and Raptor engineering dash pods with gauges and switches fitted.
MOT passed on 12th May, 2 months after collecting it.
Clutch, front brakes rebuild, roof rack, rear brakes and an inverter followed by a clutch master cylinder three days before heading off for our first trip away to Ireland for a couple of weeks in August 2016

 

[New Adventures!]

May to August 2016
Rebuild of the dashboard and Raptor engineering dash pods with gauges and switches fitted.
MOT passed on 12th May, 2 months after collecting it.
Clutch, front brakes rebuild, roof rack, rear brakes and an inverter followed by a clutch master cylinder three days before heading off for our first trip away to Ireland for a couple of weeks in August 2016

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Labor of love! Looks awesome and one of a kind!

 

[nickburt]

Labor of love! Looks awesome and one of a kind!

Indeed, watch this space, there's a lot more to come.

 

[nickburt]

Following the trip to Ireland in August of 2016, a few things needed sorting.
Mainly, suspension upgrade - springs - standard 130 height front and rear, but with "helper" rears - smaller springs mounted within the rears. Some poly bushes, rear anti roll bar added, and some new tyres.

 

[nickburt]

2017 didn't see a lot of work done on the truck, just used it and did a few tweaks.

 

[AggieOE]

Dash looks great! There is something so cool about all the exposed screws and bolts in these kinds of vehicles.

 

[nickburt]

A few photos of it during a couple of trips in 2017 to the WW1 areas of the Somme and WW2 D Day in Normandie.

 

[nickburt]

2018 was another year of not much work done on the truck due to a whole number of things, including building a house extension.

Gearbox and transfer boxes replaced with Ashcroft recon units and a leaking hub seal sorted.

 

[nickburt]

Forward to 2019 and again, not a lot done.
Being what's known as a "Hi Cap" rear, the rear crossmember isn't right at the back of the chassis, it's where it would normally be on a 110, so a few inches tucked under the rear. I wanted to put a rear swing away spare wheel carrier on and stiffen the rear up for towing, so we added a second rear crossmember where it would normally be on a standard rear tub.

 

[nickburt]

Onwards now, into 2020. What a year.

During 2019 and the early part of 2020 we were planning a 4 week trip in Scandinavia in the Summer. A run from the UK, across to Holland, up through Germany, ferry to Finland, drive up to Nordkapp, then have a leisurely drive South along the Norwegian coast, back through Sweden, Denmark and Germany back to the UK.

So the back end of 2019 and early 2020 saw the start of some work preparing the 130 for the "2020 Road Trip".

The main things we needed to do was to give the truck a good once over and service to give it the best chance of covering 4 or 5000 miles without any (??), or too many, problems and to sort out auxiliary power and a few gadgets a gizmos. Being an engineer, this, of course, grew arms and legs .... "because I can" !!! More of that to follow.

One of the issues I had was a rusty bulkhead that let nearly as much water in as it kept out! So one job was to strip the dash, do some repairs and rebuild the dahs with some extra goodies added along the way.

Once the dash was stripped, it became painfully apparent, the extent of the repairs was much more than first anticipated - I should have known better ..... but hey, onwards an upwards and some temporary repairs done, with a view to a replacement bulkhead sometime in the future.