Land Rover Defender 90 200tdi RHD Soft Top

1991 Land Rover Defender Description

• Odometer reading as of this posting is 98,604 miles. The truck comes with the hoop set and canvas top. It has a clean WA title.
• I am not a truck flipper who imported this to make money, nor do I do this for a living. I imported this truck in September 2017 after buying it in the UK while living in Italy. I intended to keep it, but life happens. We're selling everything and buying a sailboat.
• There is a full-sized matching spare that comes with the truck but it is not currently mounted. I had it on a swing arm on the back, but didn't like it. My personal opinion is that it is too much weight hanging off the back end and the Defender was not designed with that set up. You can mount the tire on the hood or in the bed. I'll leave that up to the buyer. If I were to keep this truck, I would mount in the bed and cover it with an Exmoor Trim wheel cover/storage bag. There are plenty of options to do that and you can find the cover here: (https://www.exmoortrim.co.uk/canvas-wheel-cover-storage-bag.html). I personally do not like the tire mounted on the bonnet (hood). It really reduces visibility and makes opening the hood unnecessarily difficult.
• I installed a new Revotec electric fan to replace the original, shrouded viscous fan. I still have both the shroud and viscous fan if you want to go back to original. The shroud made it difficult to get at the belts or alternator. The Revotec has an electronic thermostat and is much more efficient.
• The engine was producing visible exhaust from the time I purchased it and it was getting worse as time wore on. Over the Thanksgiving break last fall I completed a top-end rebuilt to re-baseline the engine. Since I wasn't the original owner, I didn't have confidence that the engine had received proper care over the course of its life and given that it was approaching 100K miles it was a good time to replace some key components like the water pump and thermostat, pop test the injectors, and pressure test the cooling system. You can read the complete list of work performed below, but aside from a puff at startup, the truck doesn't emit visible diesel exhaust at all.
• You will notice the door color is not a match for the rest of the truck. A previous owner added these doors, which are Series III models. The reason he did this is because the top half unbolts, as you can see from the pictures, and the truck can strip down to windshield and roll bar. If you want to paint them that is up to you, but I don't think it detracts from the quality of this truck. If you are buying a Defender because it is shiny and well-painted, you will be disappointed, or you will spend too much. Lots of people are putting a coat of paint on these things and jacking the price despite never touching the engine or other key components.

• April 2019: Replaced both door seals and both air vent seals (below windscreen)
• March 2019: Replaced the original plastic binnacle (instrument panel) and binnacle mount with Raptor Engineering steel binnacle and mounting bracket. Changed the plastic switch cover by the driver's right knee with a steel Raptor replacement plate. New windshield wiper motor cover on passenger side of dash. The Raptor dash is a significant upgrade to the original plastic parts installed by the factory.
• February 2019: Mounted Hella 500 driving lights and installed a lower radiator hose pre-heater. Installed new fog lamp paddle switch on the steering column and wired Hella driving lights to it. The paddle switch normally used for the rear fog light, but I had the fog light re-wired to be an additional reverse lamp and swapped the red lens for a clear one - my preference. Installed new Revotec electric fan to replace original viscous fan and shroud. This affords better cooling performance and gives much easier access to the belts and alternator. Replaced radiator fill port plug.
• February 2019: Completely flushed and changed coolant as part of pre-heater installation. Changed engine oil, transmission oil, gearbox oil, and both crankcase oils (97,700mi). Oil changes weren't due until 100K miles but I wanted to check the health of the engine after the top end rebuilt described below. All fluids were in great shape - no metal shavings or contaminants.
• November 2018: Complete top end rebuild - new cylinder head with new valves, new head gasket, new water pump and gasket, new thermostat and gasket, new glow plugs, new belts. Replaced fuel filter. Pop tested all four injectors. Replaced banjo bolts on fuel return lines coming off the injectors. New crush washers for injectors. Cleaned exhaust manifold and turbo. Cleaned PCV filter. Replaced air filter. Helicoiled the bolt threads on the aluminum thermostat housing.
• October 2018: Replaced original heater matrix with new, larger Allisport aluminum matrix. Replaced all seals and gaskets for heater box. Cleaned heater motor and repainted heater box. Replaced both heater hoses.
• October 2018: Installed new Exmoor Trim canvas hood with side windows. Old hood was shrunken, no longer waterproof, and falling apart.
• April 2018: Completely replaced exhaust components starting from the turbo and ending at the rear of the truck. Replaced rear propeller shaft and U-joints with new OEM Land Rover parts.
• January 2018: Installed new Wolfe 16" wheels and replaced all five tires with five new General Grabber AT2s. Installed new after market Hella headlights to replace the original bowl system that was nearly impossible to work on if a light bulb blew.
• Oct 2017: Installed new Exmoor sound deadening matting, put new heat shield on the underside of the bonnet (hood), put trim panels on the insides of both doors, added door opening limiters, replaced the stick shift and transfer case knobs, and added a cubby box to replace the middle seat.