Front Section

The donor vehicle wings were very battered. A much better pair were found at a show. Here, I am dismantling one of them.

 

The outer wing split from the inner.

 

This is one of the inner wings that came with the replacements.

 

The replacement wings came with chequerplate. It is to be reused since it was better than the ones on the donor vehicle.

 

Another view.

 

All lined up with front panel offered up too.

 

The holes were drilled for the arches.

The front cage top section was trial fitted and the holes marked on the front wings ready for cutting.

 

The inner wings cleaned up ready for paint.

 

The inner wings are galvanised so are difficult to paint. I decided to spray them in stonechip first. This can be painted over, but needs to be allowed to dry thoroughly first.

 

After white primer and top coat, the inner wings are fitted loosely in place.

 

The first wing top loosely mounted. All parts must be only loosley assembled. Then the bolts can be tightened once all parts are mounted.

 

The wiring harness can be hung before the outer wings are put on.

 

A general view of the front with the tops on.

 

The NAS lights fitted.

 

I used plastic Wipac headlamp buckets.

 

Outer wings painted.

 

The bonnet slam panel was from the donor car. Cleaned and painted.

 

This is the front panel that came with the 'new' wings.

 

The front panel fitted.

 

The power steering reservoir. This is from the donor vehicle.

 

I had picked up a new rad early in the project.

 

The heater intake and washer bottle were covered in overspray from a previous paint. This was cleaned up with Scotchbrite pads.

 

This is the X-Eng fan switch. It allows twin fans to switch on at different temperatures.

 

The Defender plastic headlamp panels are tricky to use neatly with NAS lights. I prefer the Series 3 style ones anyway!

 

After mounting the bumper (much grinding and filing... and a few choice words!) we mounted and wired the front spot lights. These are Hella FF200's. Not cheap, but an excellent beam pattern.
The old grille was broken, so I found a new old stock genuine replacement.

 

We used waterproof plugs like this wherever it seemed sensible.

 

Even after modifying the tubular shock towers, the caps wouldn't fit! So I gave up with them and bought these rather tasty ones from Douglas Motors. You can see they are much narrower at the top to give clearance.

 

These slotted in with plenty of clearance. The caps now fit too!

 

The twin fan frame was fabricated from aluminium angle. Turned out quite neat. The winch solenoid has also been mounted off this at the top right.

 

Cutting the hole to take the winch controller socket.

 

I cut off the old spade terminals and used a multi way plug. Then bound the cables.

 

The socket fitted to the front wing.

 

I cut the old arch extensions to leave the inner section.

 

Using spire nuts and hex head 'Acme' thread screws, the remains of the extensions were fitted to cover the gap between the inner arch and the outer wing.

 

I had our local fabricators make up a stainless steel snorkel using the RH wing top vent hole. I used a Southdown snorkel top, not fitted in this picture. The tubing is still over length ready to cut to size.

 

This is the joiner tube to get across the engine bay from the snorkel to the filter housing.

 

The axle/gearbox breather manifold fitted and plumbed in.

 

It connects to a stainless steel tube running up the roll cage to a billet alloy cap.