Info on my 1995 Land Rover 110 Defender

[Chrisbaker1981]

Hi everyone - Greetings!

I just purchased a 1995 Land Rover 110 Defender Hardtop.
3 door version.

I have wanted one my whole life, and when I saw one with less than 200000 k's on the clock I just had to indulge myself and get it.

Anyway, I bought it on Thursday evening, and immediately took it out into Barrington Tops 4 wheel driving for the last few days. It was AWESOME....and it ate up every bump, and 4x4 track in site. I am thrilled!

What I want to know is this.

- What small modifications can I make to try and sound proof it a little bit?
- Any ideas to good forums/galleries of modified campers. I would like the ability to sleep in the back so am keen to see some mods.
- what kind of problems can I expect with this car?
- there is a small oil leak which I have noticed, but nothing too major. Is this common?
- the back door has a plate to put the spare wheel on (currently inside the cabin - can this hold the weight of the spare wheel adequately, or should I buy one of those arms that sits on the back of the car to hold the Spare.
Any good wreckers in the Sydney area where I can salvage other parts to add to my defender?
- What year models can I use to get pare parts off if I run into problems.

Excuse me for all the questions...but I am in love with this thing, and want to make it amazing - without spending too much money, or ruining the natural pedigree of the car.

Thanks

Chris

[steane]

Hi Chris, welcome to aulro.

Nice to see another hardtop, there aren't many around and yours looks nice and original.

Mine was very noisy until I filled all of the holes drilled in the rear tub and covered it all with some clark rubber 10mm sound deadening and marine carpet. Made a huge difference. Others on here have gone further. Have a look through some of the build threads for ideas. Im not sticking any sound deadening to the bulkhead as I don't want to be worrying about it rusting underneath. Doesn't seem too noisy to me anyway.

One small oil leak...you are doing well. They leak oil from various places, so just work out where it is from and if critical fix it otherwise just keep an eye on it. Don't look too hard or you run the risk of finding more leaks.

I ditched the old POS rear wheel holder and went with a Rijidij dual wheel carrier that takes the weight off the door. The doors crack over time from the weight of the wheel.

I can't help you with the camper question, or wreckerd in sydney, hopefully some other members can though.

I've nearly completed a hardtop 300tdi rebuild so if you have any questions as you go along feel free to ask.

They are a lot of fun and the hardtop makes the ultimate tourer. No room for brats and plenty of room for your gear

[Chrisbaker1981]

Thanks for that info! That's great. Do you have any pics of the rubber you installed. So you laid carpet over it?

What year is your Landy? Have you had many issues?

[Bush65]

For info on soundproofing, try this link

Should make a good basis for camping/touring.

There is a lot of info for what you want on this site, just have to spend the time searching and reading.

The search button at top of page, The Good Oil, Project and Tutorials, and Members Rides threads are good places to start.

[steane]

Thanks for that info! That's great. Do you have any pics of the rubber you installed. So you laid carpet over it?

What year is your Landy? Have you had many issues?

No pics of the rubber, but its a foil backed closed cell type of product. Clark Rubber sell it.

I glued the rubber to the floor and sides of the tub and then glued the carpet over the top of the rubber. It looks good and seems to be hard wearing, certainly reduced the noise significantly.

Mine is an August 94 build. LOTS wrong with it when I bought it, I've replaced or rebuilt almost everything on it. Make sure you keep yours well maintained, mine wasn't, and they need to be loved. They ain't Commodores...thankfully.

[Chrisbaker1981]

Great info and thanks for the links....

[frantic]

Welcome, have a look at mulgo/ expedition centre for a LOTof great ideas. Land vehicle spares at silver dale may have a few wrecks along with all 4x4 at kotara, newcastle.Grahame cooper , Davis and TRS all do servicing among others.
Go and look at both the build threads and the defender pics/thread, also look at some of the U.K sites for some parts and mods, paddocks, Ashcroft, Devon, etc

[Westie]

What I want to know is this.

- What small modifications can I make to try and sound proof it a little bit?
- Any ideas to good forums/galleries of modified campers. I would like the ability to sleep in the back so am keen to see some mods.
- what kind of problems can I expect with this car?
- there is a small oil leak which I have noticed, but nothing too major. Is this common?
- the back door has a plate to put the spare wheel on (currently inside the cabin - can this hold the weight of the spare wheel adequately, or should I buy one of those arms that sits on the back of the car to hold the Spare.
Any good wreckers in the Sydney area where I can salvage other parts to add to my defender?
- What year models can I use to get pare parts off if I run into problems.

Excuse me for all the questions...but I am in love with this thing, and want to make it amazing - without spending too much money, or ruining the natural pedigree of the car.

Thanks

Chris

Hi Chris,
I drove a hardtop from the UK down to South Africa in the early 90s, and then shipped it back here. Had to get rid of it as brats etc arrived and replaced it with a Station Wagon, but I still miss it! Your questions:
- soundproofing.. no small answer! If you don't have roof lining in the back, putting some in will make a difference. I used cork bathroom floor tiles with a view to reducing overnight condensation as we were sleeping inside (seemed a good idea at the time) and it also made things quieter, but there is plenty of soundproofing stuff on the market.

- problems? none if you keep it well maintained & stay 'connected' with the vehicle (sounds, smells, noticing when bits drop off), but the LR is NOT a low maintenance vehicle. It's really worthwhile finding a reliable mechanic who loves the car as much as you do. But first as a LR owner you will need to redefine 'problem' to 'as yet unresolved challenge'!

- oil leaks? depends where they're from, but on the whole, learn to live with them.

- DEFINITELY get a rear wheel carrier if you're planning to tour off the bitumen. Corrugations will eat the rear door and spit it out if you don't. Heaps of choice out there - but I suggest that you get one that transfers 100% of the weight to the chassis, i.e. doesn't have any connection at all to the body work.

- Sorry, can't advise on wreckers in Sydney. Triumph Rover Spares in SA have a good set up.

- Compatibility of parts vary enormously from year to year. Find out your LR's VIN, engine number & axle numbers when you're asking for mechanical parts. If you're very keen you can download a copy of the parts manual from the web and ask by part number.

- on campers: as already mentioned Mulgo has a Defender conversion and there is heaps of info on the web.

Mulgo Pop Top for Land Rover Defender | Mulgo Expedition Vehicles

My advice, for what it's worth, would be to keep things relatively simple, relatively standard, and as light as possible. For the trip across Africa (12 months sleeping in the car) we put in curtains (which helped with dust too) and added plywood boards across the wheel arches. We put heavy stuff we wouldn't need much under the boards (recovery gear & 60,000km worth of service parts & oils, emergency food etc.) and a foam mattress on top of the boards. Food etc was in plastic boxes stacked on the sides & held with bungy cord, ditto water containers. 8 jerry cans for fuel were on the roof rack when empty, and inside when full. Spares were in boxes on the roof rack. After 4 months I built shelves inside to lift up the food boxes so we had a bit more shoulder room when lying down. But it was all comparatively light - and the only problem we had on the whole trip was a blown indicator globe.

Essentially you have a vehicle that will take you pretty much anywhere as it is - so any mods are icing on the cake.

Have fun!!

Westie

[Westie]

- what kind of problems can I expect with this car?

Hi Chris,

Found this that possibly answers one of your questions:

The TDi pages - information on 200 and 300 TDi - by Glencoyne Engineering