Tabla de contenidos para Land Rover Defender Workshop en Land Rover Defender Workshop

WE ALL know that Defender is the car of the moment. Once the world learned that production of the iconic model was ending, it suddenly became fashionable. It's all got very silly. Happily, there are plenty of us who see Defender not as a must-have fashion accessory but as the world's most versatile vehicle. And this magbook is for you. A magbook is a bit like a Defender. A Defender isn't really a car, nor is it a van, nor is it a tractor. But it can do the job of all three. A magbook is in magazine format, but bigger, and it's printed on heavier, glossier paper – just like a book. It's built to last – just like a Defender. And that's important, because the practical information in…

ED EVANS TOOLS REQUIRED: General workshop tools, thin cutting discs for the angle grinder, spot weld drill bit. TIME: 3 hours COST: £138 DIFFICULTY RATING: 3/5 CONTACT: Steve Grant at the Britpart workshop THERE ARE THREE big advantages to fitting a Bulkhead Removal Kit: it increases the interior space, allows great access rearward between the two front seats, and also allows the front seats to move further back to increase the front seat legroom. Removing the roof is a precursor to installing this kit, allowing the necessary access for us to cut out the bulkhead from behind the front seats and to then replace the strength in the body by fitting the tubular frame. This isn’t a job to be taken lightly, and not only because the roof needs to…

ED PART 5 EVANS TOOLS REQUIRED: General Workshop tools TIME: 10 hours COST: See panel DIFFICULTY RATING: 3/5 CONTACT: Steve Grant at the Britpart workshop IT’S THE WAY DEFENDERS are built. They’re so easy to take apart, to add things on to, and to personalise with extra equipment that it’s relatively simple to transform the most battered example into an outstanding and unique vehicle. Of course, a wad of money comes into the plan. But for the sake of two or three grand’s worth of accessories and upgraded components (excluding this vehicle’s Corbeau seats), plus the cost of a respray, a very average Defender can be moved towards the realms of new vehicles, and its value dragged up there accordingly. Build up a vehicle like this, and you’re likely to…

TREVOR CUTHBERT TOOLS REQUIRED: Spanners, socket wrenches, hole saw, drill, hacksaw, rivet gun TIME: 1 day COST: From 700+ Costs: Canvas hood £250, Seat belt bar £300, Header rail £96, Hoop set and hardware £350 DIFFICULTY RATING: 2/5 CONTACT: All Wheel Trim: Tel: 01993 776800 www.allwheeltrim.co.uk MY FRIEND Steve Wright’s Ninety pick-up wasn’t right for his needs. Passenger carrying capacity was the issue, but a hard top or Station Wagon conversion was not the answer. So we looked at the cost of a full soft top conversion, to which rear seats could be added. I contacted Kim Johnson at All Wheel Trim to see what parts we would need. Although I had some of the components in my store from an old 110 soft top, I knew that All Wheel…

TOOLS REQUIRED: PU adhesive/sealant tube and applicator gun. Black, grey or white, as appropriate, Duct (Gaffer) tape, Door seals as required specific to your Land Rover’s VIN , White spirit, scraper, craft knife, Small hammer and simple hand tools, Hot air gun/hair dryer TIME: Up to 2 hours COST: From £40 DIFFICULTY RATING: 2/5 WET INTERIORS are often regarded as normal with Defender bodywork. It need not be so however, and great improvements can be made for relatively little expenditure of money and time. I can’t guarantee a perfectly dry interior, but we can have a good go at achieving one. There are two types of leaks: those coming in when the vehicle is stationary and those on the move. We are dealing with curing the stationary leaks here. In…

TREVOR CUTHBERT TOOLS REQUIRED: 17mm, 19mm, 24mm, 30mm Socket wrenches and/or spanners. Pry bar, axle stands with trolley jack (or ramp and transmission jack). Copper mallet, pliers, Stillson wrench TIME: Half day COST: From 70+ Costs: Bearmach +2” coil springs rear £70 pair Pro Comp ES900o dampers rear £89 pair DIFFICULTY RATING: 3/5 CONTACT: Bearmach www.bearmach.com Super Pro www.superpro.eu.com BLRC www.blrcvehiclespecialist.co.uk Tel: 028 9751 1763 DEFENDER suspension comprises the usual coil spring and a damper (shock absorber) at each wheel. At the front, the damper is mounted between the chassis and the axle, within the coil spring. The rear damper is just forward of the spring and angled forward at the top. A used Land Rover’s suspension can be quite tired, having covered over 100,000 miles on the original springs,…

DAVE BARKER TOOLS REQUIRED: Jack and axle stands; hub nut socket (52 mm); 13, 14 and 17 mm double hex spanners; 8, 17, 19, 27 mm spanners and sockets; circlip pliers; pry bar and general workshop tools TIME: 5 hours COST: £110 DIFFICULTY RATING: 4/5 CONTACT: Maddison 4x4, Water House Farm, Station Road, Topcliffe near Thirsk, YO7 3SG. Tel: 01845 587407. Web: www.maddison4x4.com THE SWIVEL assembly on a Defender can require overhauling or replacing due to wear that can be caused by a number of reasons. The exposed part of the swivel assembly (the ball) can wear, corrode and pit with age, damaging its oil seal. That allows swivel grease (or oil) to leak out, or water and dirt to get in, all of which damages the upper and lower…

TREVOR CUTHBERT TOOLS REQUIRED: Standard workshop tools, Engine crane or lifting gear, angle grinder with metal cutting discs TIME: Two days COST: up to £1254 DIFFICULTY RATING: 4/5 CONTACT: Trevor Cuthbert Land Rovers, tel: 07890 868929, info@trevorcuthbert.com. Richards Chassis Ltd, tel: 01709 577477. BLRC, tel: 02897 519736, www.blrcvehiclespecialist.co.uk. THE OWNER OF the pristine lowmileage 300Tdi Defender 90 had ordered a heavy-duty galvanised replacement chassis from me to replace the original frame which was showing signs of its age. It would certainly need a new rear crossmember soon. In part one of this series in last month’s LRM, I inspected the vehicle, looking for potential problems before working through all of the disconnections and finally lifting the body off as one complete assembly using the two-post vehicle lift. In this issue,…

TREVOR CUTHBERT TOOLS REQUIRED: Standard workshop tools, Hub box spanner or socket, 52mm deep impact socket, Bolt Grip nut remover sockets, starter set or full set TIME: Three hours COST: DIY, no cost to dismantle DIFFICULTY RATING: 2/5 THE INTRODUCTION of the Discovery and later Defender models brought improved axles. Gone was the rear drum-braked axle in favour of disc brakes front and rear, and the differentials (and therefore the half shafts) on later Discovery 1 and 300Tdi Defender 90 became 24-spline instead of the earlier 10-spline versions. However, some improvements came to the last production of the previous model as new parts and tooling came on stream. A good example is the last of the 200 Tdi Defender 90 models which benefited from rear disc brakes and 24-spline differentials.…

DAVE BARKER TOOLS REQUIRED: This is not a DIY job, simply because specialised equipment is required TIME: 2 hours COST: from £30. Parts and costs: From around £30 per pair, plus new pads. Cost depends on the vehicle and size of the discs being skimmed. DIFFICULTY RATING: 5/5 CONTACT: Station Auto Services, who carried out the work shown here. Contact them at Unit 6, Carlton Minottt Business Park, Carlton Miniott, Thirsk YO7 4NE. Tel: 01845 524934. Email:stationautoservice@tiscali. co.uk LESS THAN 5000 miles ago I replaced all the brakes on my Defender. As well as fitting new discs and pads, I also replaced the calipers. Recently, however, the Defender started to suffer from juddering when braking. The problem was diagnosed as a warped disc, or more than one. But, with no…

ED EVANS TOOLS REQUIRED: General workshop tools, soldering iron, wire cutters/strippers, multi-meter optional, Torx 30 driver TIME: 2-3 hours COST: £475 DIFFICULTY RATING: 3/5 WITH SO MANY TDCi Defenders comfortably plugging long distances on main roads and motorways, it’s surprising that they weren’t all factory fitted with cruise control, considering it’s been available on every other model since the mid-nineties. Cruise is not just a luxury to take some of the stress out of driving, it’s also a practical tool that can help you avoid speeding tickets without continually checking the speedometer needle, and it can be easily adjusted and reset to whatever speed is preferred, or to whatever speed limit is encountered. Yes, £475 plus your time seems a high cost, but a couple of fines, a speed awareness…

TREVOR CUTHBERT TOOLS REQUIRED: General Workshop Tools TIME: 1 day COST: £118.80 DIFFICULTY RATING: 5/5 WORK SAFELY Wear protective gloves Take great care when working under a raised vehicle Ensure the chassis and components are stable and secured before working Always wear eye protection when drilling or working overhead ELECTROLYTIC CORROSION can do a lot of damage to your Land Rover. One common area to rot is around the seat belt mounting points at the front of the rear body tub in commercial Defender 90s and 110s. The brackets are made of steel and bolted through the body to the chassis, so the aluminium structure of the body is sandwiched between the steel chassis and seatbelt mounting brackets. Add moisture, and you have perfect conditions for electrolytic corrosion. In a…

IT SOMETIMES SEEMS as though everybody wants a Defender. What was once seen by the general motoring public as a rather agricultural workhorse is now in huge demand. Defender’s transformation fromo niche vehicle to must-have fashion accessory began less than a decade ago and intensified as production of the iconic model neared its end in early 2016. But the huge demand has seen values rise, with even battle-scarred veterans of 20 or 30 years old fetching surprisingly high prices. This has certainly seen a shift in attitudes among Land Rover fans. Is it our imagination or are there fewer Defenders out there on the off-road courses and rough tracks? It seems some folk are less inclined to abuse their Defenders and are keeping them for “best” while using a cheaper…

I WELL REMEMBER my first sight and sound of a Td5 Defender. The changes on the outside were minor - three small vents each side of the front panel, between the sidelights and indicators - but the sound was very different. Noticeable by its absence was the familiar clatter of the 300Tdi engine. The Td5 is an altogether more sophisticated beast. Has the workhorse suddenly become a thoroughbred? And, more important, what should you look for if you are thinking of buying one? Although it offered more power and torque for the same 2.5-litre displacement, the five-cylinder Td5 was not universally welcomed. The legendary 300Tdi was a popular engine and would always be a hard act to follow. And us Land Rover enthusiasts are a notoriously conservative lot. By and…

LET’S REWIND to 1966. How did the Foleys SV story begin? My dad Peter Foley bought a Series I in 1966 when living in Tottenham, North London. He couldn’t sell it and so he broke it into parts and tripled his money. He then bought another one and did the same. Things just sort of grew from there, he also had a shop selling Land Rover spares in Enfield. He later went on to bigger things and larger contracts, such as supplying 20 Land Rovers to Shell. He called them the good old days, as there were only three or four people in the country doing the same sort of thing at that time. Today just about every town in the UK has a Land Rover garage though there aren’t…

ED EVANS TOOLS REQUIRED: General workshop tools, pop-riveter, sealant applicator TIME: 4 hours COST: Auction Prices DIFFICULTY RATING: 3/5 CONTACT: Steve Grant at the Britpart workshop WORK SAFELY: We advise wearing gloves to protect against exposed and cut body panel edges and other surfaces. Take care with body posture when lifting weighty body sections, and seek assistance. OUR FARM TRUCK conversion into a bespoke County Station Wagon begins to take on a new appearance now with the addition of a secondhand full-length black hard top which has been sourced from an internet sale. The roof side panels have already been resprayed to match the Defender’s original body colour, but the roof panel will be left in its original and contrasting black livery. Other damaged body panels have been repainted, together…

PRICE: £23.84 SCREWDRIVER SET This quality 23-piece set from Kamasa includes three flat screwdrivers (2 mm x 50 mm, 2.5 mm x 50 mm and 8 mm x 150 mm); two Phillips head screwdrivers (Ph1 x 75 mm and Ph2 x 100 mm); one magnetic bit driver plus ten assorted bits (PzDrive Pz0, Pz1, Pz2, 2 x Star T15, T20 and Hex 3 mm, 4 mm, 5 mm, 5.5 mm, 6 mm); plus an insulated VDE screwdriver for electrical work. Also included is a set of six 50 mm long precision screwdrivers for intricate work. We liked the soft grip handles and the virtually unbreakable chrome vanadium steel shafts and bits. kamasa.co.uk PRICE: £1285 REAR BUMPER The GOBI-X HD Rear Bumper with wheel carrier option (one or two) is the…

DEFENDERS ARE amazingly DIY-friendly and, with a good workshop manual and reasonable facilities, most maintenance and all service jobs can be carried out in a home garage or workshop. Even if you entrust this work to a professional garage, your Defender still needs to be housed, and we always need tinkering space. All jobs, from tinkering to transmission removal, are so much more enjoyable in a practical workspace where tools can be easily found and stored and floor space and workbenches are uncluttered. Good use of space, and general organisation of tools and facilities goes a long way to making your workshop or garage a safe place to be, and that’s especially important in a home workshop where family members might wander in to see how you’re getting on. The…

TOOLS REQUIRED: Water hose and variable nozzle, Torch TIME: Up to two hours COST: Time only DIFFICULTY RATING: 1/5 SO FAR IN this series, we’ve looked at how rain water gets inside a Defender while it’s parked up, and how to cure those leaks. But the speed and energy that comes with driving the Defender introduces opportunities for even more leaks. Most of these leaks are localised to the bulkhead area and, unfortunately, most water ingress ends up joining the front seat occupants. But with a little bit of money, a few hours spent and some inexpensive tools, most of these leaks can be fixed. Water usually gets in when underway in a horizontal direction. The falling rain will try to enter the structure, rather than make its way around…

ED EVANS TOOLS REQUIRED: Parts: Rear crossmember 110 Td5 ‘long leg’, Britpart number DA4374 TIME: 6 hours COST: £260 DIFFICULTY RATING: 4/5 THE REAR CROSSMEMBER is the most commonly replaced section of a Defender chassis. A bad one lets down the whole vehicle visually, but the loss of strength in this rear section usually means an MoT fail, even for minor corrosion. Structurally, it is a critical rigid link between the two main longitudinal sections. It’s also the main structure supporting the towing brackets, so it undergoes a lot of push-pull and twisting stress even with a relatively light trailer attached to the vehicle. It’s rarely worth patching the rear crossmember because when corrosion shows itself in one area, you can be sure other parts of the crossmember are on…

DAVE BARKER TOOLS REQUIRED: General workshop tools, 13 mm, 14 mm, 15 mm, 16 mm spanners and sockets, pry bar, a funnel and clean container to drain fuel into TIME: 1-2 hours COST: £90 DIFFICULTY RATING: 1/5 CONTACT: The work was carried out by Maddison 4x4, Water House Farm, Station Road, Topcliffe near Thirsk, YO7 3SG. Tel: 01845 587407 www.maddison4x4.com THE OWNER OF this 1994 300Tdi Defender 90 with over 110,000 miles on the clock, spotted a wet patch of diesel on the bottom of the fuel tank. A closer inspection found a large section of badly flaking and very corroded metal around the centre seam of the tank, from where diesel had been seeping out, but only when the tank was more than half full. One temporary option was…

TREVOR CUTHBERT TOOLS REQUIRED: Standard workshop tools, Engine crane or lifting gear, angle grinder with metal cutting discs TIME: Two days COST: up to £1254 DIFFICULTY RATING: 4/5 CONTACT: Trevor Cuthbert Land Rovers, tel: 07890 868929, info@trevorcuthbert.com. Richards Chassis Ltd, tel: 01709 577477. BLRC, tel: 02897 519736, www.blrcvehiclespecialist.co.uk. THE BUSINESS of replacing a chassis in a Defender 90 is relatively straightforward using the correct tools, lifting equipment, a methodical approach and common sense for when things become a little tricky. So far in this build, the job has progressed as reasonable and smoothly as expected – helped by the fact that the Land Rover is a well-maintained example with recent work carried out, such as the replacement of the suspension bushes and the A-frame ball joint. I have a similar…

TREVOR CUTHBERT TOOLS REQUIRED: Standard workshop tools, hub box spanner or socket TIME: Three hours COST: Costs: brake discs and pads kit £36, stub axles kit £48, brake callipers £60, bolts and gaskets £12, gasket sealer £2, axle oil £9, brake pipes, fitting and hose £12, galvanised spring-seat kit £22 DIFFICULTY RATING: 2/5 MY SPARE Defender 90 rear axle had been stripped to replace a badly corroded axle casing. The trailing arm and spring cup brackets on the casing were too rusted to do their job; likewise new brackets couldn’t be welded on. A new axle casing costs over £2500 from Land Rover, but good used ones can be found online from £150. Luckily, I had a good used one in storage. The previous owner had shotblasted the casing and…

MY DEFENDER 90 Td5 is a wellmaintained hard top. The body tub cappings and the rear corner cappings are painted steel components. Eventually during production, these were no longer supplied in galvanised form, except for pick-up models where the cappings were constantly exposed and vulnerable. All of the early Ninety and One Ten models had galvanised cappings which were left unpainted, imparting a characteristic Land Rover appearance that was carried on from the Series III before it – and dates back to the Series I. The cessation of galvanised body and corner cappings was possibly a cost-cutting exercise, although it could be argued that it happened so that body-coloured paint would stick properly in the age of ever-increasing colour co-ordinating. Whatever the reason, painted body cappings and corner cappings usually…

ED EVANS TOOLS REQUIRED: Socket spanners, rings and open-enders. Trolley jack, axle stands, wheel chocks. TIME: Allow half a day COST: up to £100 for fluids, filters and consumables DIFFICULTY RATING: 2/5 CONTACT: THANKS to Steve Buck of James French 4x4 ( jamesfrench.com) for advice, and to Steve Grant and Britpart for providing the vehicle and facilities. DURING ITS LONG evolution, Defender underwent only subtle development, with the most significant changes being the introduction of the Ford-derived (Puma) engine in 2007 and its accompanying six-speed gearbox. From a servicing aspect, the 2.4TDCi Defender has similar requirements to the early models, and especially to the relatively- advanced Td5 version whose service needs were covered in detail in the previous (August) issue of LRM Technical. That service guide therefore, also provides the…

TREVOR CUTHBERT TOOLS REQUIRED: General workshop tools, riviting tool TIME: 4 hours COST: £92 DIFFICULTY RATING: 2/5 THE UNDER seat battery compartment – or battery box, as it is often referred to – is one of those exposed steel parts of a Land Rover that can become seriously rusty over the years to the point of being unsafe. Holes can form in the structure so that the battery can be seen from underneath, and corrosion around the clamp location can mean battery clamp becomes ineffective without good steel to hold onto. When this happens, remedial action needs to be taken to keep the battery safe and secure, or there is a risk of spilling dangerous battery acid or creating an electrical short and possible fire. Battery containment and secure fixing…

ED EVANS TOOLS REQUIRED: General workshop tools, special tools as mentioned in captions TIME: 1 hour COST: £223.80 DIFFICULTY RATING: 2/5 THIS EARLY 2.2-litre (2012) TDCi Defender has a notably heavy clutch pedal which, to some extent, spoils the driving experience. Here at Britpart, there is a fleet of all types of Land Rovers which are used to test and develop the company’s aftermarket parts, so it was a simple matter to compare the clutch pedal effort with other TDCi Defenders. When we checked one of the earliest 2.4-litre TDCi models we noticed it had a much lighter clutch pedal than our 2012 model. Then, on checking a 2014 TDCi, we found the clutch pedal even lighter than the old 2.4 version. Clutch parts have been re-designed during the life…

IF YOU NEED A reminder of just how long the Defender has been around, you need to go back to 1984 when the One Ten was unveiled to the world. That, and the short wheelbase Ninety that was introduced a few months later, changed Land Rovers for ever. Out went the leaf springs that had been the trademark of Land Rovers since 1948 and in came coils. The Ninety and One Ten models were a quantum leap forward for Solihull. Although some would argue they were merely an updating of the 88 and 109-inch Series III models, the changes made paved the way for the Defender models to follow for the next 30 years In fact they are Defenders, in all but name. The Defender model-name was introduced in 1990…

ED EVANS TOOLS REQUIRED: General Workshop tools TIME: 2 hours COST: N/A DIFFICULTY RATING: 2/5 CONTACT: Steve Grant at the Britpart workshop A 61-PLATE 2.2-litre TDCi Defender should be in reasonable fettle, given that it’s only four years old and has covered lower than average miles. But life on the farm has been hard for this truck cab 90. It’s freshly retired from its job as a farm truck, and comes with a mud-loaded chassis, a well-worn interior, and beaten up front panels. Mechanically, it has survived the ordeal but, in it’s present state as a battered workhorse, it’s still on the road to decline. Only a transformation into a special vehicle is likely to change this Defender’s life expectancy, and that’s exactly what’s going to happen. Britpart MD, Paul…

ED EVANS TOOLS REQUIRED: General Workshop tools TIME: 4 hours COST: N/A DIFFICULTY RATING: 3/5 CONTACT: Steve Grant at the Britpart workshop THE PLAN FOR this stage of the project is to fit the rear tail door, which involved more alterations to the original truck cab type rear body tub, as well as all the extra door fitting jobs that a conversion from pick-up truck to station wagon entails. The new tail door has already been sprayed black to match the roof panel, and the new hinges are bolted to it. Now we’re ready to drill the body to accept the door hinges and begin the assembly. When the door is hung, we’ll add the latch and striker, the central locking mechanism, rear wiper motor, the new window glass and…

ED EVANS TOOLS REQUIRED: Socket spanners, rings and open-enders. Oil filter wrench. Trolley jack, axle stands, wheel chocks. TIME: Allow half a day COST: £100 for fluids, filters and consumables DIFFICULTY RATING: 2/5 DEFENDER IS one of the easiest Land Rovers to service, and all models are a practical DIY proposition, given a reasonable tool kit and safe lifting and support facilities. Before starting a DIY service, it’s worth buying the Land Rover official workshop manual which details the procedures, items to be checked, and the lubricant and fluid specifications. The manual is written for trained and experienced mechanics, so our feature guide tells you the information that isn’t in the manual – the trade tips and tricks gained from experience and intimate knowledge of the vehicles. Armed with this…

TOOLS REQUIRED: Water hose and variable nozzle, torch, trim removal tools TIME: 1-3 hours COST: Time only DIFFICULTY RATING: 1/5 DEFENDER BODYWORK is renowned for suffering water ingress. It need not be like that though, and it is possible to get them dry inside without a lot of expense, once you’ve found out where the water is coming in. Utility Land Rovers suffer leaks because of the way they are designed and built, and partly due to the way they’re used. On Series Land Rovers, little attention was paid to the passage of water over the body, and the modern Defender suffers from this design aspect that it inherited. Any of the metal roofs can leak, and it is ironic that a soft top in good condition is usually the…

TOOLS REQUIRED: General workshop tools, Scrapers, sealant and applicator gun TIME: Up to 2 hours COST: up to £100 DIFFICULTY RATING: 1/5 WHILST GETTING INTO a damp Defender is one thing, having water pour on to you whilst driving is quite another. The distraction is probably dangerous and certainly unnecessary and quite easy to fix. Last month we looked at how water gets into the Defender while it’s stationary. This month, we see how to prevent ingress under way. The bulkhead needs careful attention because it is the main vertical area that presents itself to falling water as the Land Rover is moving forward. A rain drop may be falling at 20mph, but the Defender is hitting it at three or four times that speed, and the combined energies mean…

ED EVANS TOOLS REQUIRED: Parts: Rear crossmember 110 Td5 ‘long leg’, Britpart number DA4374 TIME: 6 hours COST: £260 DIFFICULTY RATING: 4/5 IN THE LAST PART we took a close look around the Defender’s crumbling rear crossmember, then set about removing it, ready to install a new repair section. It’s a sizeable job for several reasons: • The main chassis side rails are usually corroded just forward of the rear crossmember, so these sections also need to be replaced because otherwise, there would be no good metal to weld on to. For this reason, we’re fitting a rear crossmember with integral extension legs which replace the rusted rear ends of the main chassis sections. • The main wiring harness to the rear of the vehicle passes inside the main right…

TREVOR CUTHBERT TOOLS REQUIRED: Standard workshop tools. Lifting gear or two-post ramp. Suitable cross beam TIME: Up to 2 days COST: up to £1254 DIFFICULTY RATING: 4/5 CONTACT: Trevor Cuthbert Land Rovers 07890 868929, info@trevorcuthbert.com Richards Chassis Ltd 01709 577477, www.richardschassis. co.uk A DERRY MAN asked if I could deliver a new Defender 90 chassis from Richards Chassis in Doncaster and replace the chassis on his 300Tdi, I visited the owner to assess the work. I was quite surprised to find a pristine, low-mileage Defender which didn’t look like it needed a new chassis any time soon. But owner, Mervyn, had bought the Land Rover as his very own retirement present, and wanted to preserve it for many years of fishing and shooting ahead. A new chassis would be the…

TREVOR CUTHBERT TOOLS REQUIRED: 13mm spanners and socket wrench Drill with 8mm bit Trolley jack or transmission jack TIME: 1 hour COST: £125 fuel tank guard DIFFICULTY RATING: 2/5 CONTACT: BLRC Tel: 02897 511763 MY FRIEND Matthew Spoerri owns a Defender 90 that is used mainly for weekend fun with local offroad clubs, such as the Northern Ireland Land Rover Club. He keeps it well maintained and constantly strives to make it as capable as possible and well protected against breakdown. This is because over the years we have had occasion to do in-field repairs or – worse – recover one of our Land Rovers home on the back of the trailer. This winter, Matt wanted to carry out some maintenance and improvements to the Defender, and the first of…

ED EVANS TOOLS REQUIRED: General workshop tools TIME: 1 hour COST: £25-30 DIFFICULTY RATING: 2/5 DEFENDER DOORS often don’t shut in the way the door of a normal car or later Land Rover would be expected to. But before blaming a faulty latch, there are a few other points to check which can all affect whether the door shuts flush with the bodywork or fails to latch onto the striker in the door frame, or even latches onto the striker too tightly. Check the condition of the door frame’s rubber seal for kinks, distortion, swelling or breaks. If the seal is protruding at one point, examine the metal flange that the seal sits on, straightening any damage using pliers or a mallet and wood block. Test for play in the…

There’s something very welcoming about an open garage door – especially when there’s a Defender inside, with its bonnet open. Who can resist a peek into the inner workings of our favourite Land Rover? We can’t think of anything better than working on the vehicle that is so often described as a giant Meccano kit. And that’s what this magbook is all about. The workshop (and Defender 90) pictured here belongs to Ed Evans, who explains how to create your own perfect Land Rover service bay, starting on page 60. Ed is also technical editor of Land Rover Monthly, so make sure you don’t miss his inimitable advice, in every single issue.…

STORY SO FAR: Our Td5 Defender was bought with a known warped cylinder head, and the aim was to fit a new head and drive away. But not everything goes to plan. After removing the head and confirming its terminal warp, we discovered that the engine block, too, had been damaged by the vehicle being driven in this condition by its previous owner. The complete engine had been reduced to scrap, and all because overheating signs caused by a failed coolant pump had been ignored. That means that now it’s time to bite the bullet and source a complete replacement engine... CONTACT: SKAN 4X4 Much Wenlock, Shropshire, TF13 6DD Tel: 01952 727298 skan4x4.com IT’S EASY TO FIND a replacement Td5 engine because the models that used them are so common.…

ED EVANS TOOLS REQUIRED: Tools: general workshop tools, vehicle lift, transmission jack, circlip pliers, trim clip removal tool, special tools as mentioned in the captions. TIME: 1 day COST: Time only DIFFICULTY RATING: 5/5 REMOVAL OF THE Defender TDCi transmission assembly on the earlier 2.4-litre TDCi is a fairly straightforward job, with only the complication of the wiring for a few more sensors to deal with. In fact, the TDCi’s six-speed gearbox is slimmer than the previous five-speed unit fitted to the Td5 Defender, helping making its removal a simpler job than on the earlier vehicle. But that isn’t the case on this later 2.2-litre TDCi. Sure, we’re still dealing with the same six-speed gearbox and transfer box casing, and the engine, chassis and engine bay is physically similar, but…

ALISDAIR CUSICK TOOLS REQUIRED: Tools: 8 mm socket, 13 mm socket and ratchet, hose pliers, brake cleaner, sealant TIME: 30 mins COST: £32 DIFFICULTY RATING: 1/5 IN MY VIEW, the Td5 is the nicest diesel engine fitted to a Defender. Torquey, quiet and, with a lovely characterful tickover beat, it is a super match to the vehicle. Rather than the odd number of cylinders, the Td5’s real showpiece is the injection system. Instead of the then popular common rail system, where fuel is fed to all injectors at a constant high pressure along the whole fuel rail, the Td5 injectors contain their own pump plunger to pressurise the fuel in each injector unit separately. The Defender was the first passenger vehicle to use the technology, until then it had been…

BY THE TURN of the century, ever-tighter European emissions rules had made the Td5 engine obsolete and a newer, cleaner power unit was required for the evergreen Defender. So Land Rover’s owners Ford stuck their own diesel lump under the bonnet. That was in 2007 and it coincided with a series of changes made to the Defender that year. A much-improved heater and new dashboard layout were welcome, although the loss of the front ventilation flaps below the windscreen to accommodate the new features was painful for diehards like me. Those flaps had been with us for more than half a century and losing them was like losing a close friend. New safety legislation outlawed the old inward-facing rear seats, so forward-facing rear seats in the station wagons reduced the…