Land Rover Defender Workshop

WE ALL know that Defender is the car of the moment. Once the world learned that production of the iconic model was ending, it suddenly became fashionable. It's all got very silly. Happily, there are plenty of us who see Defender not as a must-have fashion accessory but as the world's most versatile vehicle. And this magbook is for you. A magbook is a bit like a Defender. A Defender isn't really a car, nor is it a van, nor is it a tractor. But it can do the job of all three. A magbook is in magazine format, but bigger, and it's printed on heavier, glossier paper – just like a book. It's built to last – just like a Defender. And that's important, because the practical information in…

LET’S REWIND to 1966. How did the Foleys SV story begin? My dad Peter Foley bought a Series I in 1966 when living in Tottenham, North London. He couldn’t sell it and so he broke it into parts and tripled his money. He then bought another one and did the same. Things just sort of grew from there, he also had a shop selling Land Rover spares in Enfield. He later went on to bigger things and larger contracts, such as supplying 20 Land Rovers to Shell. He called them the good old days, as there were only three or four people in the country doing the same sort of thing at that time. Today just about every town in the UK has a Land Rover garage though there aren’t…

ED EVANS TOOLS REQUIRED: General Workshop tools TIME: 2 hours COST: N/A DIFFICULTY RATING: 2/5 CONTACT: Steve Grant at the Britpart workshop A 61-PLATE 2.2-litre TDCi Defender should be in reasonable fettle, given that it’s only four years old and has covered lower than average miles. But life on the farm has been hard for this truck cab 90. It’s freshly retired from its job as a farm truck, and comes with a mud-loaded chassis, a well-worn interior, and beaten up front panels. Mechanically, it has survived the ordeal but, in it’s present state as a battered workhorse, it’s still on the road to decline. Only a transformation into a special vehicle is likely to change this Defender’s life expectancy, and that’s exactly what’s going to happen. Britpart MD, Paul…

ED EVANS TOOLS REQUIRED: General workshop tools, thin cutting discs for the angle grinder, spot weld drill bit. TIME: 3 hours COST: £138 DIFFICULTY RATING: 3/5 CONTACT: Steve Grant at the Britpart workshop THERE ARE THREE big advantages to fitting a Bulkhead Removal Kit: it increases the interior space, allows great access rearward between the two front seats, and also allows the front seats to move further back to increase the front seat legroom. Removing the roof is a precursor to installing this kit, allowing the necessary access for us to cut out the bulkhead from behind the front seats and to then replace the strength in the body by fitting the tubular frame. This isn’t a job to be taken lightly, and not only because the roof needs to…

ED EVANS TOOLS REQUIRED: General workshop tools, pop-riveter, sealant applicator TIME: 4 hours COST: Auction Prices DIFFICULTY RATING: 3/5 CONTACT: Steve Grant at the Britpart workshop WORK SAFELY: We advise wearing gloves to protect against exposed and cut body panel edges and other surfaces. Take care with body posture when lifting weighty body sections, and seek assistance. OUR FARM TRUCK conversion into a bespoke County Station Wagon begins to take on a new appearance now with the addition of a secondhand full-length black hard top which has been sourced from an internet sale. The roof side panels have already been resprayed to match the Defender’s original body colour, but the roof panel will be left in its original and contrasting black livery. Other damaged body panels have been repainted, together…

ED EVANS TOOLS REQUIRED: General Workshop tools TIME: 4 hours COST: N/A DIFFICULTY RATING: 3/5 CONTACT: Steve Grant at the Britpart workshop THE PLAN FOR this stage of the project is to fit the rear tail door, which involved more alterations to the original truck cab type rear body tub, as well as all the extra door fitting jobs that a conversion from pick-up truck to station wagon entails. The new tail door has already been sprayed black to match the roof panel, and the new hinges are bolted to it. Now we’re ready to drill the body to accept the door hinges and begin the assembly. When the door is hung, we’ll add the latch and striker, the central locking mechanism, rear wiper motor, the new window glass and…