It’s Alive!

The seat base and front floors are in, and the Defender side steps have been blasted, read leaded, painted and refitted. The steps are essential due to the increased height of the Land Rover – there’s no way that Helena would be able to get in and out, and even I’d struggle without them. The sills were covered in a full width, full length strip of 3mm neoprene, as were all the floor panel mounting flanges on the bulkhead and gearbox tunnel cover, to ensure draught free and rattle-less fitting. It should also help prevent bi-metallic corrosion. The front seatbelts (early Defender) are fitted too.
The Wright Off Road mat parts covering the seatbase and the bulkhead areas are in – I just need to cut the overdrive lever hole in the gearbox tunnel section of the main mat before fitting that too. Once it’s in, I’ll refit the handbrake lever.

The left side mudshield under the front wing is completely fitted with the addition of the top section of the original mudshield to close the apperture at the front.

I’ve mostly been working on the electrical system for the last few days, completing the front lighting (including the relays for the dipped beam, main beam and bull bar spots). One of the spots has a blown bulb, but otherwise all is well. The aim was to get as much of the frontal wiring done as possible to allow me to start the engine. I still need to fit the horn and windscreen washer assembly (I have a Defender station wagon unit with two integral pumps for front and rear screens to be bolted between the SIII and Defender grille panels, just infront of the batteries). Then I’ll just need to wire up the accessories inside.

I got the engine running to test the fuel system. I have two leaks so far – a split pipe on the engine return line just before the union with the front/rear tank selector valve, and another from the stripped threads on a union on the other return line valve. It should be a fairly simple job to fix both.

After finishing work for the night, I was able to drive the Land Rover under its own power for the first time in 30 months back onto its parking space. It wasn’t far (just as well, given the fuel leak and lack of seats), but it was a milestone.

Here are some pictures of how it’s looking. It needs a wash and a few panels still need polishing, the grille fitting and the spare wheels refurbishing and fitting, but you’ll get the idea. It’s the first time I’ve been able to see the front end from a decent perspective, and I’m really pleased with the look. I included a picture of the rear matting in daylight – it look a lot better than with flash photography.