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1993 NAS Defender 110 #239/500 Service and Upgrades
This 1993 NAS Defender 110 has come to us from Nantucket for some repairs and upgrades to make it ready for summer fun. The 110 has very low miles, but the harsh island environment means that some rust items need to be addressed, and the age of the 110 means that there are a number of other things that also need to be fixed up. As with any Defender that arrives at ECR for the first time, we have completed a top to bottom evaluation of the 110 and then gone over that list with the customer in order to formulate a game plan. The plan for this 110 is for it to be a nice clean driver, but without doing a restoration, and we will be adding some nice upgrades to the Wagon as well.
The first step is to get the 110 back up to snuff mechanically, and that means getting rid of the all the old barn-yard style repairs and replacing what needs to be replaced with correct Land Rover parts. We will also be doing routine maint. items like a full fluid flush and all new filters. Once these Rovers get back to the island there is no such thing as professional Land Rover service, so they have to be ready to go, without issues. Here you can see we have started to get the engine systems back into shape with new tune up parts.
The salt air has taken a toll on the parts of the 110 and the AC condenser fans were so rusted that they no longer turned. The housings were all also rusted away, so we have removed these items and will replace them with new parts and use all stainless steel hardware to install them so that they are easy to service down the road.
Inside the 110 there are a number of small items to get back into shape, from broken plastic trinkets to worn out seat belts. We will also be installing some new heavy duty floor mats that are form fit as well as removing the rust from the T supports and updating the lower door seals to the later spec. versions (the versions that do not hold debris or rip off when you get in and out of the vehicle).
In the rear we have removed the out dated stereo equipment and are starting in on making the seal and rust prevention changes. Cell phone technology has come a long way, because this 110 had about 10 pounds of boxes and cables to make the cell phone work and they even drilled a hole through the roof for the antenna. The stereo installers made swiss cheese out of the body for running wires as well.
Lots of wires... This is about 1/2 the wires removed from the 110. Boxes everywhere for the old school sound system. The Rover will be getting a new sound system that will mean only a few wires because today's head units have nearly everything built in. The is no longer any need for external control boxes. We'll be setting up the 110 with a nice basic Alpine system that will give the customer 4 speakers and even an iPod connection and it will all look like it belongs in the 110, like the factory put it there... without the need for the mess you see above.
As with any older 110, the headliners have sagged, so we have removed them and will be installing the new updated units shortly. We'll also be doing upgraded hinges and stainless hardware for a 110 that looks much better on the outside and inside. Nothing makes a 110 look worse than rusty old hinges bleeding rust down the doors.
Along with the standard repairs to get the 110 into shape we have also installed some upgrades to make sure it stays that way. Here you can see we have removed the factory oil cooler lines that are known to cause engines fires like this, and installed a set of ROX oil lines that are made from performance lines and fittings to eliminate the factory lines completely.
We have also added some small, yet functional, dress up items on the 110 like these wing top guards that not only cover up dings and dents on the fender tops, but look good and make the fender tops much stronger in case someone wants to stand on them to access items on the roof.
To allow this 110 to air down the tires for beach use we are installing an Oasis air compressor. These units are tough as nails and fill tires just as fast as our huge shop compressor. We fabricate a special drop box under the passenger seat that tucks the unit nicely away, but still allows for easy access.
Here you can see the new drop box has been primed and painted and installed into the 110 and the Oasis system has been installed into it.
Operating the system is easy, you just remove the seat base and activate the compressor via the on off switch and plug in the included air line. This way when you air down your tires running on the sand you can quickly and easily fill the tires back up to street pressures. That way you don't have to wait in line at the local air pump, or drive on under inflated tires. Beware though, the customers we have installed these systems into their rigs say they get stuck at the beach filling up all their buddy's tires! Its that fast and durable.
In case the 110 does get stuck, or needs to help out another beach goer, we have added a new winch bumper and installed a Warn 9000 winch. We also installed 2 ROX recovery points and a lower skid plate and then topped it all off 3 Hella 4000 lights so that the 110 can turn night into day at the flip of a switch.
The front winch set up on a 110 is pretty tight due to the 110s extended nose piece, so to make things easy, and safe, we relocate the winch control plug in to the side of the radiator cover. This keeps the winch control wire away from the cable and also makes it much easier to plug in.
Here you can see the new interior trims have been installed to freshen up the interior of the Defender. The upgraded headliners have the new style interior light above the driver and passenger so that you could actually read a map inside the car...
and they also have a rear interior light so you can see in the cargo area. Unlike the factory set up, we wire the system so that the interior lights come on if you open the back door as well. The factory set up only worked if you opened the driver or passenger doors, not much good if you are trying to load your luggage in the back.
This image shows the upgraded door hinges that have been epoxy primed and painted in Alpine White. These are installed with all stainless steel hardware so that everything looks good now, and will stay that way, unlike the original parts.
As we have said before, nothing makes a 110 look better than getting rid of all those rusty hinges.
Rust in the T support sill area is another issue on 110s. Here you can see we have removed all the rust and primed and painted the area. We then top is off with our stainless steel trim pieces and upgraded door seals for a much better look and a lot more rust resistance.
Here you can see we have removed the weak cardboard kick panel from the vehicle and installed our ROX footwell trim that is made of alloy and then coated with bed liner. It looks almost stock, but unlike the stock cardboard it won't sag if it gets wet and it won't collapse if your muddy boots hit it, and the new heavy duty floor mats will handle the mud as well.
Under the hood we have finished the service work and tune up items and the 110s mechanical systems are now ready to go.
Now that the 110 is ready to go mechanically, we can turn to some of the items that make it more fun to be in. To that end we have removed the old sound system (see images above) and installed a tasteful, yet adequate, Alpine sound system. We have installed 2 pairs of 6" Alpine speakers, 1 set in the doors and 1 set in the rear. These look bone stock, but offer far better sound than the original paper cone 4" speakers these trucks had from the factory.
The new Alpine CD head unit is also set up for an iPod and the iPod hooks up directly and then is controlled by the head unit, while your iPod rests in the coin tray of the cubby box.
To make this 110 as beach ready as we can, without going nuts, we have added a set of new BFG A/Ts that are a little wider than stock so that they can have good flotation on the sand when air'd down.
We also added a set of Badger seat covers so that the seats can stand up to beach use and sand won't get into the fabric on the stock seats.
The seat covers do all the seats in the 9 passenger 110 and not only make it look better, but they work better as well.
In the rear of the 110 we not only added the seat covers but a rugged rubber mat that will help keep the sand and debris out of the carpets and make it all easy to sweep out of the Defender. We added rubber mats throughout the 110 to help make it beach ready.
Here you can see the complete NAS 110. We have completed a number of road tests and made some minor adjustments in order to make sure it is ready for summer fun. We fully test everything before you get your Defender home, that way we know everything is done correctly. The next step is that the 110 will be loaded on the transport truck and headed off to the ferry terminal. The Wagon has now been fully serviced and has a number of upgrades added that will make it even more fun, and more capable, for the owners.
If you have needs for your Defender, from routine service to wild modifications, contact ECR. We'll be happy to help get your Defender back into shape.