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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.
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.
