The image above shows one of our most talked about creations, the Beach Runner Defender 110, or BR110 as it is known here at ECR. It is a 5 door, full soft top, 9 passenger Defender 110 that is at home on the sand or on the highway. It gained magazine exposure and has been one of the most common topics of conversation with those who call ECR. Think of it as a NAS Defender 90 with more seating room for you growing family or all your friends and gear at the beach. This custom ECR 110 has inspired a number of copy cats by other places, but the real "Beach Runners" are only built in one place, right here at ECR. The ECR Beach Runner comes with all the usual tricks, full time four wheel drive so that it can get you to and from your adventures with ease, a galvanized frame so that you'll still be able to enjoy the vehicle even decades down the line and much more. Beach Runner #5 is going to be really cool. Not only will it be a true BR110, but it will be Willow Green with a Pursuit 4.6 V8 and it will even have an on board air compressor.
The starting point for BR110 is this top notch condition Defender 90 that has come to us from far outside the rust belt (TX). The 90 has low miles and is in great shape. It has no rust of corrosion to worry about during the build up and all the parts that we need to create the new Beach Runner are in near perfect condition. The first step is to strip the entire donor vehicle down and get everything evaluated and ready for the next step in the process. This image shows the 90 being readied and stripped down to made ready for the new galvanized 110 chassis.
A little while later the new galvanized frame has been brought in and is getting set up as the basis for the BR110 build. You'll notice that not only do we have a galvanized frame, but things like shock towers and other steel parts are all galvanized as well for a truck that will stand up to beach use, after-all it is a "Beach Runner". Once the rolling chassis is complete we will start to install the new stainless steel fuel and brake lines and then start setting up the new Pursuit 4.6 EFI V8 that will be going in this BR110.
The bulkhead, or firewall, on this BR110 is in great shape, but because this is a color change to Willow Green it means that everything comes off the bulkhead so that we can paint the entire bulkhead. There are no corners cut in an ECR color change paint job. We paint the vehicle just like the factory did and every area is coated in new paint and primer, there is no old white paint hiding underneath existing equipment.
Here you can see the bulkhead has been fully stripped and then media blasted back to white metal. This assures a 100% rust free starting point. The next step for the bulkhead is for it to be galvanized in a new process that assures paint will stick to it long term. We see lots of trucks come through ECR for service that were built by other shops, and the paint is all peeling off the galvanized pieces. Those shops who do not know how to go about the process will always have paint peeling issues, no matter how much or what type of paints they use. It is a very specific process with a chain of events that must be adhered to in order to make paint stick to galvanizing, and we have it down.
The T supports will also be going through this process so that the steel main body structure on this BR110 will be completely rust resistant.
Other parts that can be galvanized are already back from being coated. The battery box is now galvanized so that it is rust resistant, as is the tool locker. The tool locker is already modified, prior to galvanizing, to house the upcoming Oasis on board air system, so this will be our most rust resistant Beach Runner ever.
Once the bulkhead and T supports come back from the galvanizing process we will get them coated in the new Willow Green paint and then start body assembly on the BR110.
In the past we used to locate used 110 tubs in order to make the rear body for the BR110s, but with very limited availability in the US and corrosion being a big factor in the used units, we no longer do that. We now make our own that are stronger and better constructed. Above you can see an ECR constructed rear tub for this BR110. The fender sides are factory pieces and we blend them with a heavier gauge alloy floor and support braces. The cross supports, normally mild steel, are now galvanized so that corrosion is not an issue.
We have even made all the correct tooling on order to reproduce a completely correct factory fitting rear body tub. All the depressions for the hardware speed nuts are there in our rear tub as are all the correct rivets and spot welds. It is a factory tub, only better, and we don't have to search high and low for a used junky tub anymore.
The tubs fit perfectly as we take care when building them, unlike the factory guys. You can see above the tub drops right on and fits perfectly with the new T supports and unlike some factory pieces it is true and square.
This images shows BR110 #5 in the body mock up phase. We take this extra step to ensure that the body lines will be perfect. Perfect body lines not only look good, but they are the reason why the doors open and close easier on ECR 110s than ones from other shops.
Here you can see the body loosely together to check everything, and you can see that the T supports and the bulkhead have come back from the galvanized and are coated in the unique process that will allow paint to stick to them long term. Now that the body lines have been checked and all the required holes drilled, the body will be taken apart so that the inside of all the new holes can be painted for superior corrosion protection.
Once the pieces are apart they are off to the paint shop for epoxy primer and paint, yes, even underneath. Once the primer is done on the tub it will be sent out to the Rhino-Liner and then when it returns, the exterior show surfaces will be painted in the customers choice of Willow Green.
This image shows the galvanized bulkhead primed and painted in Willow Green. Next up it will be installed on the new galvanized frame and the systems will start to be hooked up.
The heart of BR110 #5 will be a new Pursuit 4.6, shown above. The engine is a 280 hp version of the stock 4.6 that gets it added performance from good old fashion hot rod techniques. Ported and polished heads and intake. Larger injectors, better camshaft, an updated EFI computer and more. Add in a performance stainless steel ROX exhaust and you'll feel real grunt when your right foot goes down.
Here you can see the Pursuit 4.6 being built up. The Jet-Hot coated exhaust manifolds are in place and the shorter velocity stacks have been installed in the enlarged and polished intake. Soon we will hook the engine up to the ZF automatic and start getting the systems hooked up.
This image shows the frame now set up as a rolling chassis. The stainless steel fuel and brake lines have been installed and the gearbox and transfer case have been dropped into place. The upgraded shocks and 110 springs are in place and you can see the new BFG wider tires in the background. these are mounted on Boost alloy wheels that along with the Willow Green paint will give a great custom look to this Beach Runner when it is completed.
The stainless steel brake pipes and the wiring is now going into place. All the additional wiring for the high end audio/video system is run at this time as well, to keep the install looking clean and tidy.
This image shows things a little further along. The rims and tires are installed and small jobs have been completed, like the install of the rear step/tow bumper and lots of other small details to get ready to start installing the body.
Here you can see the doors have been epoxy primed and are ready for primer. The front doors are the originals form the donor and the rears are parts that we fabricated here at ECR. They are basically copies of the early 110 split doors, but as those are no longer available new, we fabricate the doors here in house. These doors will now be loaded into the bake booth and coated in numerous coats of Willow green base coat, and then clear coats on top of that.
Stay tuned as the Beach Runner 110-5 comes together!
If you'd like your own BR110, or if you need repairs done to your existing Defender, contact ECR, we'll be glad to help. We are the USA's premiere Defender source. The BR110s we build prove that hands down.
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