Rebuilding Someone Elses Loss

[TerryS]

My son (AAXD) has made reference to my 110 project in the past, so I thought I would share my story, and correct some misinformation.

My son and I were visiting a friend in Fort Lauderdale a few years ago, and the three of us decided to take a ride into Miami and check out a few Range Rovers at Roversland. While we there, we had a good look at Lenny's restored 110, which he bought, at an insurance auction. The truck had had an engine fire, which spread to the dash and interior, and they had done a superb job of bringing it back to it's original condition. Unfortunately, they didn't realize the title had been 'branded by the insurance company (their option) "SALVAGE ONLY, NOT REBUILDABLE" Essentially, this meant that the truck could never get another US Title (without export and reimport, usually through Canada)
We ended up buying a nice '93 LWB, and left, still taking about the 110.

A few weeks later, my wife and I were in Tortola and came back to the house to find a message from my friend in FL, saying he had found another burned 110 in a salvage yard, and di I want to bid on it. The title was "SALVAGE, REBUILDABLE" I said 'sure, go for it' and a few weeks later, the 110 was on a truck headed north.
The fire originated from the same cause as the one at Roversland, and the same as eleven others I later came to learn about. The engine oil cooler lines, rubber section, pass within 1 1/2" of the front corner of the right exhaust manifold. In states where heat is pretty much the norm, the original rubber dried out, crack and eventually fails. When it fails facing the mainifold, you have a sudden and very hot fire. Shutting the engine down immediately will usually kill the fire, but some panic and jump out and run, leaving the engine to pump more oil on the manifold and fuel the fire further.
From the pictures, you can see that the fire didn't appear (from the outside) to have done too much damage, but one look at the dash tells you they left the engine running.
The entire interior was covered in soot and a black film, but the front seats, entire dash, all wiring, and everything on the top end of the engine was toast, very burned toast.
The first thing to do was strip the entire vehicle and clean every surface, using a power washer and strong detergent. The whole front end was off, and all damaged engine parts removed and set aside. I learned a long time ago, when doing a rebuild, whether from crash or fire, never throw anything away till you're done.
The front wings were sagging, so new ones were sourced from RDS, along with a used bonnet from Rovers North. An entire used intake system, including harness was sourced, and all new wiring harnesses for dash and chassis were ordered. The one thing I labored over was whether to rebuild it as an NAS 110, with it's ventless bulkhead, and plastic dash, or go with what I felt was more correct for a Land Rover; a D90 Bulkhead, with scuttle vents, and parcel shelf dash. I chose that route, and am ever so glad I did. That also meant giving up the inefficient combination heater/AC evaporator, in favor of a high output Wolf heater. I had the D90 AC system, but it's still sitting in the barn. It just doesn't get that hot for bery long in New England, and the added leg room is a bonus. All you D90 people take note: Behind that cheesy panel where the clock, hazard switch, and cigarette liter are mounted are three 2.12" holes. Here's where my Oil Pressure, clock, and voltmeter live, all VDO black faced to match the guages in the binacle. The hazard, front and rear heated glass switches and rear wiper/washer switch live in a LR panel above the center of the dash.
The rear seats were all salvagable, with reupholstering, but the front seats were beyond hope. I ended up going with Corbeau seats for less than the cost of rebuilding the originals, which I never thought were that comfortable anyway. Another neat alteration was a padded center console (from NAPA) which holds the 10CD Blaupunkt changer, the head unit, two cup holders, and nicer than the pleather covered plywood box from Land Rover. Cost: $90.
A high quality carpet remnant was cut to fit, held down with 3M 77 spray adhesive, up fornt, the remainder were cleaned and reused.
Total time from it's arrival, till passing CT inspection, 8 months. Total cost to rebuild, using all new Genuine, except the bonnet, and intake: $8400. The few items not genuine were only used because they were better.
It's a pretty unique NAS 110, having propper vents, and a D90 style dash, and it has been dramatically uprated along the way; suspension, interior, front and rear (removable) winches, and a slew of other touches.
Apart from getting a 58,000 mile Defender on the road for about $14K, it was an entirely enjoyable project, and I would do another in a moment. I personally don't enjoy rebuilding crashed vehicles, but Defenders are put together in such a way as to be very easily built, dissassembled, and rebuilt again. Fire damaged vehicles can also be a nightmare, but knowing vehicle construction and wiring is my forte, so a Land Rover is a piece of cake.
I have since built a new 4.2 (slightly uprated) and am now considering putting a 300 TDi in, as well as a strip down, new doors (sitting in the barn still in fancy LR packaging) and a complete color change.

Even the people at the local Land Rover dealership, as well as many others never guessed it was a crispy critter, and few have ever picked up on the different dash.

[roverX]

Nice write up Terry. How about some pics of the finished product?

[AAXD]

Helping dad with this rebuild showed me the ins and outs of rover construction and it definately has been a sweet project. I say has been because I don't really think it will ever be "finished" I have tons of pictures of it right here on my laptop but unfortunately it is being uncooperative with posting pictures at the moment. I'm still looking for a complete 109 ambulance to rebuild, using a lot of the knowledge I learned from the 110. Circumstances beyond my control prevent me from getting enough time to do a proper job though. I think a land rover that is constantly evolving is one of the most fun things a person can immerse themselves in. In the five years I have owned rovers, I can say that not one of them stayed the same for more than a month at a time before getting some kind of mod or upgrade. It is thereputic to add some piece of functional kit to a rover and watch it's already unbelievable capabilities get even better. The day this 110 stops evolving will be the day hell freezes over.

[TerryS]

Originally Posted by roverX

Nice write up Terry. How about some pics of the finished product?

If my wife lets me borrow her digital I will post some soon.
Hate to admit it, but I haven't driven it since new years eve, still has an MG-TD fresh engine sitting in the back.

[TerryS]

I forgot to mention, this project was more than 3 years ago, but the truck has performed flawlessly, except for the ailing 3.9 engine, ever since. Getting up close and personal with this truck right from the very start is probably why it has proven to be so reliable. Very few Land Rovers are without the flaws from the factory and doing a rebuild on this scale brings them to the surface where they can be rectified before they fail. It's also pretty easy to see why Defenders are know as potential rust buckets and many of the old practices used in Series truck construction have given way to false economy.
The next rebuild will see galvanizing to the cappings and corner pieces as they used to be.

[Muddy Oval]

Fantastic build! Did you ever title search it to see where it came from pre-bonfire? I've always wondered where mine went- it apparently was last sighted at a dealer in Kentucky after I traded it in on a Saab...
Great job and good thinkin' on the mods-

[Funrover]

Great story...Looks like one hell of a project..Have any pics of current look? That is awsome..Now you have me thinking..

[TerryS]

At first I thought I might wash some of the grunge off before I took some pictures, but those who have had 110s will know what I mean; There is NO vehicle that's a bigger PITA than a NAS110 to wash. These pictures, sucky as they are, were taken today, and it was pretty overcast, so they are sorta washed out looking. It did look better 3 years ago when I redid it, but it deff needs a refresher (like Conniston green, white roof, galvanized cappings)
Steve, yes, I did a title research on it a few years ago. It was bought new, In IL, by Jason Isringhausen, then two other owners (number 3 was the unlucky one, in West Palm, FL)

[AAXD]

I hope you are keeping that awesome XD in the background of the pics clean. Keep in mind it's a loaner.....

[TerryS]

Originally Posted by AAXD

I hope you are keeping that awesome XD in the background of the pics clean. Keep in mind it's a loaner.....

Ever hear the expression "Possesssion is nine tenths of the law" ?

[Series 3 guy]

Terry- What a beautiful nas110!!!! It looks like you have done a fantastic rebuild job. That truly is a rig to be proud of.Truly stunning...thanks for sharing.

[AAXD]

I think you should paint it Conniston Green with a white roof, then do the wolf wheels in alpine white as well, then we'll paint the hardtop on the 88" green and white and have matching trucks. BTW, here's some more pics of the 110 from a few years ago.

[Badger1]

Terry, what a great writeup, and what a great truck you got out of it! Plus a bonus.....the time you got to spend with your son doing the buildup!

[TsiArt]

Wow . This thing is SWEET !!!

I love Defenders . I hope that I could have time to do that , but get the 90 .

I also heard that Some states will title the car with a clean title even if you give them salvage title . So I would need to fix it . Register in one of those states , and as soon I would get the title I would register it in CT with a clean title .

People use this technice to cheat people . They put cars tugether when they where in wrecs that should be crushed , but the put two cars together into one and sell it as it was never damaged . My friend got a Talon like this .

He found out that there is something wrong cause the car was trailing side ways . ( unibody ) . So he lifted the flor and found a shity welding job and the car was longer on one side then the other ( crucket ) . Clean title .

[TerryS]

In CT, If you rebuild a "Salvage, Rebuildable" titled vehicle, you must take it through the DMV Salvage Title Inspection. This is an intensive inspection of every possible part of the vehicle they can inspect, short of dissassembly. You are required to have receipts for every part replaced, and VIN numbers from the vehicles from which any used parts come from. I had a pile of receipts, in order of dates received for every part purchased, over 1" thick stack. They inspectors asked for no less than 15 different receipts, each of which I was able to produce. After over 2 hours, with 2 inspectors going through the paperwork and venhicle, they came to me and told me this was the first vehicles they had inspected they couldn't find something to fail it on, and sent me in for my registration. When any vehicle goes through this inspection successfully, it is given a clean title. This doesn't hide the fact that it has salvage title history, which can be found by anyone who does a CarFAx trace, and it wasn't my intension to ever hide that fact. I do nothing if I can't do first class work, so I'm certainly not intending to ever try and pull the wool over anyones eyes. Yeah, I get tired of this truck, but I suspect AAXD is never going to let me sell it anyway.