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1997 NAS Defender 90 Soft Top #1086
Upgraded soft top install and various repairs
This 1997 NAS (North American Specification) Defender 90 Soft Top has come to us from Southern Maine for some repairs and an upgrade to a Badger soft top. The truck is in great shape and just needs to be brought up to snuff in a few areas. We'll be doing the required routine service items and a few upgrades to help with the functionality and longevity of the Rover.
The truck arrived with just a surrey top on it, so we have added the missing soft top pieces and then topped them off with a new upgraded soft top that you can see above.
We also added a better sealing gutter kit around the doors and had the pieces powder coated black for a nice factory look to the upgraded soft top system.
This image shows that the spare tire carrier parts have been removed and are being zinc and powder coated. They were starting to rust and if you catch these things early all the original parts can just be recoated, instead of getting so rusty that they have to be replaced. The factory coatings are not very good, so getting all that stuff removed and having them zinc and black powder coated will mean longer lasting parts for the Defender.
Under the hood we have just a few items to address to get things up to snuff, so a quick round of routine servicing and sorting out a few past poor upgrades will get this clean engine bay back to where it needs to be.
To make sure this nice 90 does not end up in a fireball on the side of the road we have removed the troublesome factory oil cooler lines and replaced them with a set of ROX stainless steel performance lines. These lines don't run anywhere near the exhaust manifolds so the oil will stay cooler and the chance of an engine oil fire is drastically reduced.
Here you can see the rear of the 90 has been buttoned up. The new windows in the top look great and all the tire carrier and 3rd brake light parts have been re-installed. We also adjust everything so that the tailgate closes correctly and so that nothing rattles or binds and use all stainless steel hardware so that rust won't be a factor.
Along with all the service items and adjustments we have also replaced the damaged running boards with a set of new ones.
Here you can see the completed Defender 90 after its road tests. It is now ready to head back to Southern Maine so that the owner can enjoy it and its new upgrades. Here at ECR it doesn't matter if you have a large job or a smaller project like this one. We are happy to do as much or as little work as you desire to your Defender. If you want expert care for your Defender, don't settle for less.
If you have dreams for your Defender, contact ECR. We'll be happy to make your Defender world class... just like this one.