1991 Land Rover Defender 90

We purchased the car in June, 2000. The car is in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and is used primarily for off roading.

It is a 1991 Land Rover Defender 90. The vehicle was originally owned by the British armed forces and used at CFB Wainwright in Canada until 1995. It was sold after an accident and rebuilt to UK civilian specification.

200TDI engine, 2.5 liter direct injection, turbocharged and intercooled diesel.
LT77 5 speed manual with lower 1st and 2nd per Military specs, Suffix G.

Current Modifications (as installed)

2 “cigarette lighter” style 12V power outlets with lighted bezels mounted on center instrument cluster right wall.
Interco TrXus M/T tires in 235/85R16 (32x9x16) size mounted on silver Modular steel wheels (16x7 with 4.25” BS). Specifications.
GPS mount for Garmin Nuvi 5000 with standard Garmin automotive mount and glue on base.
Headlight switch, dash light dimmer and interior light switch from a 1986 Buick Skyhawk. This was to get rid of the military light switch so that center panel can be freed for other uses.
Converted from truck cab to hard top.
Insulated the lower cargo area. Used polystyrene insulation board and 1/2" GIS fir plywood.
Installed side facing bench seats in the cargo area, grey velour with grey vinyl trim. Seat belts are from Andover Automotive, grey, 60".
5 pound Fire extinguisher.
Telefsdal Norse Brand V-bar chains for the rear with cam tighteners.
Firestik No Ground Plane Side Mount Antenna, 4 foot, black.
Changed rear spring with ones from my 1991 Discovery, NTC5527, 210 lb/in, 408mm. Gave about a 1" lift with the same spring rate.
Added backup lights. I used 2: PAR36 rubber housed tractor lamps. Do-Ray brand.
Genuine hand throttle.
Installed insulation for the roof. Consisting of 1/2" of closed cell foam (blue sleeping pad) followed by 1/2" of perforated vinyl backed open cell foam. Should give an R-value of around 3.5.
Single internal roll bar mounted just behind bulkhead. The main bar is made from 2"STD ASTM A-53 Gr.A ERW pipe with 1"STD bracing. It is mounted to the corners of the seat boxes and to the top of the bulkhead. The 2" Pipe continues under the seat boxes and ties into the main chassis cross member with a 3" angle.
Indoor/Outdoor thermometer with Voltmeter. Sold by Target in the US. Has Max/Min for temperature, frost alert and low/high voltage alerts with switch for seeing each battery.
Contura III rocker switches. Current have reverse lights on the left and air pump on the right. There is room for 6 switches, which I'll add as needed. Photo of the center panel.
Sankey Trailer
York air compressor, model 210 (long stroke) liberated from an early 80's Jeep Wagoneer. Manufacturer’s Website. Quick disconnect located in the cab below the hand throttle. Small, home made tank mounted in the engine bay with a pressure switch and pressure relief.
Tachometer, VDO Vision Series, 2-1/16", 4000 rpm, model 333-156.
Dual Batteries. Motomaster (Canadian Tire) Nautilus Deep Cycle Battery, product# 10-3490-0. This is a rebadged Exide Orbital Deep Cycle. They are wired in with a traditional isolator in a non-traditional way in the regular battery compartment. The compartment was insulated. A small trickle charger is wired in to keep the batteries charged when the 90 sits.
Warn 8274 winch. Custom winch cradle mounted to strengthened bumper and all galvanized. Wiring is with 2/0 welding cable directly to the batteries. Rope is 3/8" x 125' of Amsteel Blue.
Added center front seat. Used an ex-MOD 110 outer seat frame and sliders narrowed to fit a middle seat.
Detroit Locker to the rear axle.
QT Service differential guards front and rear.
Defender version 200TDI and all ancillaries.
Boost gauge. VDO Vision, 15 psig, 52 mm.
Exhaust Gas Temperature (EGT) gauge. Newport i32 process controller, model i3233-DC. This unit features a single thermocouple input, DC power and dual 3 Amp SPDT digital outputs. The display numbers change from green to amber to red depending on the alarm level. Mine is set to be green when cool enough to shutdown, amber when warm (normal) and red when too hot for the engine. The “red” level alarm activates a buzzer to warn of excessive temperature. The unit also stores peak and valley readings which can be reset at any time. The temperature probe is a 1/8”, ungrounded, OMEGAclad, type K thermocouple with standard quick connect mounted pre turbo from cylinder #1.
Radio!!! Sony CDXGT610U CD/MP3 Receiver with front USB port mounted in a Poly-Planar WC-70 enclosure in black. Poly-Planar MA905 waterproof marine speakers in black.
VDO Fuel Level Gauge, model 301-105, 52mm, 240 to 33 Ohm range (works with the stock sender).
Old Man Emu shocks, medium duty, N46 rear, N45F front.
Power steering. Basically stock using a new Adwest Lightweight, 4 bolt PS box and the pump that came with the engine. The reservoir has been mounted in a different location just in front of the brake fluid reservoir in order to keep the piping runs shorter than the stock design.
Fumoto oil drain valve for the engine. ½” NPT with hose nipple.
250 Watt glue-on pad heater for the engine oil sump.
15” Leather Mountney steering wheel.
VDO Vision metric water temperature gauge model 310-010-002K with VDO sender model 323-026 (5/8”-18 UNF) with a 98C high temperature switch. I’ll wire the switch into a buzzer and light in the future. Gauge day picture, gauge night picture.
“Taurus” 2 speed fan narrowed to fit the radiator and mounted from the stock mounts. Sealed on the sides with weather stripping. Controlled by a Flew-a-Lite model 31163 variable speed fan controller. The controller adjusts fan speed from 60 to 100% to control the engine temperature. The temperature probe is hard mounted into the line between the thermostat and the radiator. The control point is adjustable and there are contacts to force the fan off or prevent it from turning on.
Radio Shack TRC-485 CB radio. This is a rebadged Albrecht 485.
Southdown snorkel.
Stanadyne FM100 fuel filter head with a 2 micron filter.
VDO Vision 120 mph speedometer calibrated to kmh.
Hella e-code headlamps with Hella 80/100 bullbs. Wired in with relays.
Hella Superhorn (low pitch version) wired in with a relay.
Webasto Thermotop C, 5 kW diesel fired coolant heater. Manually switched in the cab plus a wireless relay for remote starting. I used a Logisys RM02.
Sleeved tie rods with 1” SCHD 80 pipe.
1.222:1 Transfer case from a Disco 1.
285/75/16 (34x11.5) Interco SSR mounted on silver Modular steel wheels (16x7 with 4.25” BS). Picture

Planned Modifications (in no specific order)

Heavy duty axles shafts.
Front ARB or TruTrac
Better seats.
VNT Turbo.
Second fuel tank.
Larger alternator.

Click Here To See Some Pictures

Updated 2009/08/12