Land Rover Defender 110

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Imported a 1992 Land Rover 110 from Spain in August 2018. The truck was a beater and was used on a farm to transport workers across the countryside. After selling a 94 NAS 90 last summer I am using the profit to reinvest in a 110 overland build for my family of 5 + dog. Currently located in Virginia, but anticipate a move to the west coast this summer. I plan to use this thread to document the build.
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This is the truck the day I picked it up in the port of Baltimore.

 

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ROUGH body
Interior was shot
Frame was in good shape as expected from the dry climate of Spain. It was also preserved in a 1/2” of dried mud.

 

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Unfortunately the pan hard rod bushing was completely gone. I tried driving out of the port without realizing it. Within a block of driving at 35 I thought life was over. It had the worst death wobble ever. Towed it home and discovered the missing bush after thorough inspection. Here’s a shot of it on the street where USAA picked it up. My overlander made it one block!

 

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Mechanically the truck was pretty sound. 200TDI was running like a top - no issues. Fired right up, transmission shifted smooth and the Transfer case engaged as expected. Front brakes took new calipers, pads and rotors. New BFG KM2s 255/85 r16s on steel rims were added. Bled the brakes and put in all new DOT4. Drained power steering fluid and bled the system. Initial inspection seemed only body work and interior work needed. Time to rip out the interior.
Rear bench out. Decided to go with a Puma 2nd row bench for better comfort for the kiddos and integrated shoulder seat belt for middle seat. Picked up one from the Netherlands. Ordered the brackets from Rovers North. What I didnt know is the truck didn’t have rear shoulder mounted seat belts. Better yet it had no seat belts and had to order those too.

 

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Went to a buddy who had a new a puma rear tub laying around and made some measurements as my older tub would need to be modified.

 

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New front axle seals needed and bearings.

 

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About this time I added new Old Man Emu springs and Bilstein shocks, galvanized shock tower and steering dampener from Great Basin Rovers. Also swapped out the old pan hard bar for an adjustable due to lift and had truck aligned. Purchased Bearmach bushings for suspension components, but without a garage or drill presss I’ll get to them as workspace and tools are available.

 

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Biggest splurge yet. Bought Scheel Mann seats with heat and lumbar. Now I have to put them together with German instruction. Great.

 

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Found a local, retired body man willing to work with me on the project. I’m not looking for concours quality...here we go.

 

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Have had a Defender 90 previously I realize how much the aluminum body is a heat sink. Also wanted to strip the interior down and do something to lessen the sound and heat from drive train. I decided on Lizard Skin’s sound deaden and ceramic products.
Even had him throw a coat on the underside of the hood.

 

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Sorry this is a Land Rover build, I had him spray some on the underside of the bonnet not the hood.

 

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The initial color I picked out was Wimbledon White. It was just too white so I made a change. Was looking for something more creamy and a vintage color but not necessarily Land Rover color. I settled on Chrysler’s Cool Vanilla and am so glad I did. It’s perfect for the color I had in mind for this build. This is the Wimbledon White.

 

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Puma bench and brackets going in

 

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New flares going on

 

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Grabbed a used ARB front bumper on Defender Source.