What else have you got in the garage?

4.2 V8 40v biturbo - 450 bhp
4.2 V8 40v biturbo - 480 bhp (plus)
Mɐʇʇ
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What else have you got in the garage?

Post by Mɐʇʇ » Sun Feb 05, 2023 8:45 pm

One of Mine
Certainly not a new purchase, I bought it in June 2008. But it has recently been the subject of a bit of attention over the last 12 months.
A 1989 Factory 90 V8 Country Petrol.

I bought it because I previously had a 1981 Series 3 Stage 1 V8 which I got rid of many years ago, and I fancied another one. I'm not a particular Landrover fanatic like many are - but I do like a V8 engine under the bonnet. So I wandered in to Safari Engineering in Yateley and asked dave if he knew anyone with a 90 V8 for sale. It just so happened he did. The blokes nickname was Jesus and he used it as his dog walking car, until the engine had expired (little end failure). Now, a wet dog is a smelly thing, so it took a lot of time and effort, mostly by jetwashing the inside of the car, to eventually get rid of the smell of dog. But the name persists and it is known as "The Dog" in our household.

Over the years, have done many many jobs on it, when I first bought it I replaced the engine, going from a broken 3.5 carb to a 4.0 EFI, which I then later put a megasquirt on. Various welding jobs over the years as and when it needed them (rear crossmember, for example)

A few years back:
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And sometimes I do work on it:
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This time it needed a little more work, so I gave it a fairly decent going over. I wanted to fit rear seats to it, but proper, forward facing ones with 3 point seat belts, not the sideways facing ones only with a lap belt.

On inspection of some of the bodywork in the vicinity of where the seatbelts would mount, I realised some work was needed:
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The lower panel - easy to replace with a stock item from landrover, but that upper bracket is not available, so I had to make one.

First I made a template in CAD:
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And then cut it out in steel:
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I think it came out well:
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Bulkhead Removal

As is often the way, I then started to get carried away, so I then removed the bulkhead, replaced with a bulkhead brace bar, to give a lot more room in the interior and make it easier for the kids to get in and out:
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Body Cappings

And carried on replacing any rust as I found it:
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Brand new cappings:
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It was starting to come together quite well:
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Leaky Sunroof

The sunroofs are well known for leaking, so I decided to remove the sunroof entirely. Even though the roof is a bit old and dented, I still wanted the new panel to sit flush and look tidy:
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A nice sheet of 1.5mm NS4 ready to cut:
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Seemed to go OK:
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And fitted nicely:
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Quite happy with the end result:
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Bulkhead Repairs

At this point, I was looking at the bulkhead. I knew the top corners were a bit rust and I'd put some patches on them a few years back. I decided it was time to do them properly. It was fairly scary how rusty the structures were underneath once I started cutting:
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This took a fair bit of work to make:
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But came out pretty well. I did both sides, naturally:
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The Repaint

As I then suffered a severe bout of scope creep, I decided that as I'd just replaced a bunch of rust with steel, it just wouldn't do to leave them unpainted. But what colour and how to do it. I decided it might be fun to learn to spray a bit. I did learn a bit - the main lesson being, it's well worth paying someone else.

Nevertheless, it came ouf OK, although I intentionally did it in white because that's more forgiving of my errors. All done in cellulose. Would have liked 2-pack, but I don't have the booth or breathing equipment to do it. Felt like I spent forever filling and sanding - and even then, it's not a great job!
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Slowly but surely, things progressed:
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Gradually it started to look like a landrover again:
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Apple Carplay

One thing I like in cars is to have apple carplay, plus I wanted front and rear hitchcams to help me line up a trailer first time. But I don't like the bulky dashboard solutions mosf of them end up with, so instead I found a suiper compact 5" screen carplay unit which I fitted along with some auxiliary switches:
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The slighty curveball here was that the LT85 gear stick is further forwards than the other variants, so I had to modify the gearstick to make it fit:
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Somewhere during all this I replaced the gearbox too with a refurbished LT85 from Ashcrofts.

Rear Seats

Finally I was in a position to start fitting the rear seats, using the exmoor trim Loc N Fold ones. They're really good.
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Cab Heat

I also decided to add another heater to give a bit more winter heat in the cab:
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Oil Cooler

And made some proper brackets for the oil cooler:
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Finally

So with it all back together, here's where we are today. Still on the original chassis, I will replace that one day, and I need to do new roof lining and carpets in the cab. But looking smarter than it was, I think:
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Now, finally, have time to fo a backlog of jobs on the other things.
Mazda serviced, MG TF ready to have a go at an MOT (it's been parked i pfor 2 years) and the RS6 is back up on stands to do the next round of jobs:
* Engine Oil Service (done)
* Gearbox Oil Service (drained).
* New Plugs (to do)
* Replace Upper arms (to do. Dreading the pinch bolt)
* Fit the new carbon air intakes (Yum)
And while up on stands I've noticed the OS inner drivershaft boot has failed, depositing grease everywhere. So new inner joint and boot all on order.
"not a professional engineer, mechanic and mechanist"

steve2003rs6
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Re: What else have you got in the garage?

Post by steve2003rs6 » Sun Feb 05, 2023 9:39 pm

Awesome work Matt.
I envy your skills and dedication.

MGD
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Re: What else have you got in the garage?

Post by MGD » Sun Feb 05, 2023 10:22 pm

Very impressive. How many hours do you think you’ve put into it?
Current:
RS4 B8
BMW M2 Competition
BMW i3S

Previous:
Porsche Boxster S 987.2
Mini Cooper SD
BMW M140i
BMW M135i
BMW Z4 3.0si Roadster
BMW Z3 2.2i

Lander91
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Re: What else have you got in the garage?

Post by Lander91 » Mon Feb 06, 2023 5:47 am

WOW superb effort Matt!!! Love every little detail.
Defenders always put a smile on my face. I've a soft spot ever since I got a serious bout of pins and needles in my legs when I was little while riding in one on a farm. The farmer had put in some seat bases from an Iroquois helicopter cabin, my legs didn't reach the ground so the bar under my knee caused me to loose all sensation so that when I tried to clb out I crumpled and ended up using my forehead against a fence post to stop my fall :lol:

It was Mark Evans' A car is born series on discovery (included a defender build) that got me into cars in the first place. When someone says 4x4 a Defender is what I think.

anthonys2
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Re: What else have you got in the garage?

Post by anthonys2 » Mon Feb 06, 2023 9:09 am

What an amazing restoration job you’ve done on your Defender. Always had a soft spot as my Mum & Dad had a long wheel base one when I was a kid. My 1st venture into LR was a P38 4.6L Vogue awesome vehicle loved the v8 until the engine died!! Currently got a Freelander 2 HSE which I have to say has surprised love the car. But yours is truly amazing and love your skills and dedication

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Shoppinit
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Re: What else have you got in the garage?

Post by Shoppinit » Mon Feb 06, 2023 9:18 am

Love that Defender.

This is my Rangey V8 EFi (flapper) in its natural environment after I took it out for a jolly the other day:

Img_7848.jpg

Such a competent off-roader, even for 70's technology. Some of the terrain I take it on would have a Q7 or X5 crying for its mummy. Engage diff lock and off you go.
Daytona RS6 C5 Avant. Viper'd, Billies, Waggers, MTM box brain, C6 stoppers, xcarlink, R8 coolant cap (woohoo)
///M3 E46 | XC90 (V8, natch) | Passat GTE | RR Classic V8 flapper
"The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at and repair."

Mɐʇʇ
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Re: What else have you got in the garage?

Post by Mɐʇʇ » Mon Feb 06, 2023 11:57 am

Interesting - a LHD one? With mismatched tyres? :bigblink: :thumb:

I alweays really liked those old Rangeys - but the ability to pile junk in the back of the defender (and my 109 V8 before it) always felt more useful to me. And now with some foldable rear seats - the twins love the "high up" view they geat from the rear seats, although I have just ordered a rear step so they can get in from the back. Would still quite fancy a V8 110, but the 90 is just a bit more maneouverable (I''m not going to say nimble) while still having a 3.5 tonne towing weight.

Is it a 4-speed manual in yours - LT95 "santana" gearbox I think? With Fairey overdrive that crunches when you disengage because the synchromesh always wears?
"not a professional engineer, mechanic and mechanist"

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Shoppinit
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Re: What else have you got in the garage?

Post by Shoppinit » Mon Feb 06, 2023 12:08 pm

Yeah, the mismatched tyres really hurt cornering speed and lap times. Fortunately, when I'm up to the hubs in mud, doesn't seem to matter much.

Unusually, mine's a 4 speed auto. But with diff lock and hi/lo ratios. Go figure.
Daytona RS6 C5 Avant. Viper'd, Billies, Waggers, MTM box brain, C6 stoppers, xcarlink, R8 coolant cap (woohoo)
///M3 E46 | XC90 (V8, natch) | Passat GTE | RR Classic V8 flapper
"The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at and repair."

Mɐʇʇ
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Re: What else have you got in the garage?

Post by Mɐʇʇ » Mon Feb 06, 2023 12:18 pm

It's the one thing I wish my defender was - an auto. The softness of the torque converter is nice for very slow speed control & maneouvering, my parents discovery (1993 vintage) was great for maneouvering very heavy trailers round the boatyard. I did consider, since I was replacing the gearbox on mine anyway, doing an auto conversion. But as it's a factory V8, while I don't mind changing many things, I did feel that both sticking with a Rover V8 and the correct gearbox was necessary.
"not a professional engineer, mechanic and mechanist"

anthonys2
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Re: What else have you got in the garage?

Post by anthonys2 » Tue Feb 07, 2023 12:01 am

Shoppinit wrote:
Mon Feb 06, 2023 9:18 am
Love that Defender.

This is my Rangey V8 EFi (flapper) in its natural environment after I took it out for a jolly the other day:


Img_7848.jpg


Such a competent off-roader, even for 70's technology. Some of the terrain I take it on would have a Q7 or X5 crying for its mummy. Engage diff lock and off you go.
WOW these are pretty rare these beauties!! Worth a bit of coin these days :thumbs:

anthonys2
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Re: What else have you got in the garage?

Post by anthonys2 » Tue Feb 07, 2023 12:12 am

IMG_4754.JPG
Something a little different to your lovely Landies, this is my little weekend toy and its been in the family since October 2000!! Gets quite a lot of attention and I still love driving it!

Gregstv
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Re: What else have you got in the garage?

Post by Gregstv » Tue Feb 07, 2023 5:13 am

I have another RS6 in peace's. Might do something with it one day if I don't Rob to many parts.

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Shoppinit
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Re: What else have you got in the garage?

Post by Shoppinit » Tue Feb 07, 2023 9:18 am

Wow. An S2. Haven't seen one of those for ages. Friend of mine had one with an RS2 engine, highly tuned. The turbo boost was a cliff edge and giggles were involuntary.
Daytona RS6 C5 Avant. Viper'd, Billies, Waggers, MTM box brain, C6 stoppers, xcarlink, R8 coolant cap (woohoo)
///M3 E46 | XC90 (V8, natch) | Passat GTE | RR Classic V8 flapper
"The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at and repair."

steve2003rs6
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Re: What else have you got in the garage?

Post by steve2003rs6 » Tue Feb 07, 2023 6:53 pm

Envious.
What’s in my garage
1 Christmas tree
3 boxes baubles and trimmings
A few tools
And lots of gardening stuff.

Mɐʇʇ
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Re: What else have you got in the garage?

Post by Mɐʇʇ » Tue Feb 07, 2023 7:14 pm

anthonys2 wrote:
Tue Feb 07, 2023 12:12 am
IMG_4754.JPG

Something a little different to your lovely Landies, this is my little weekend toy and its been in the family since October 2000!! Gets quite a lot of attention and I still love driving it!
That's lovely. To me, this is "the" real Audi. I think our C5 RS6's are still decent, but very very different cars and worlds apart in terms of being a different company these days.
Back then, IMVHO, it was about quality. Nowadays it is about the appearance of quality.
"not a professional engineer, mechanic and mechanist"

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