| Author |
Message |
    
Patrick Hartigan (Patrick)
| | Posted on Friday, July 12, 2002 - 11:57 am: | 
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Not that I'm going to do it, BUT I was wondering about the frame shape and how the body is mounted. is it at all possible to take a rolling disco chasis and place a 90/110 body or even a series body onto it? I'm just looking at the possibility. know anyone that's done anything like this? suggestions? |
andy
| | Posted on Friday, July 12, 2002 - 12:28 pm: |
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Hi Patrick,
you already gave the answer. it is not that simple, because:¨
A Defender 90 has 90 inch wheelspace.
A Defender 110 has 110 inch wheelspace
And the Discovery has 100 inch wheelspace.
So you see whatever you choose it is too long or too short.
But possible is everything, I even have seen a Discovery with the Front of a Defender. |
RVR OVR (Tom)
| | Posted on Friday, July 12, 2002 - 12:36 pm: |
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Check pirate4x4.com. Somebody fitted a series body on a RR Classic.
It is the blue "series" look at the various threads for pics.
Tom |
Patrick Hartigan (Patrick)
| | Posted on Friday, July 12, 2002 - 01:02 pm: |
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i hadn't measured the wheelbase to see which would fit best. maybe a defender 100 would be a nice hybrid. does the standard RR have a 100 wheelbase? |
Kyle
| | Posted on Friday, July 12, 2002 - 01:34 pm: |
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Anything is possible. How savy are you when it comes to the wrench?
Kyle |
hendrik
| | Posted on Friday, July 12, 2002 - 01:35 pm: |
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(the 90" actually has a wheelbase of 92.x -was it 92.3?- inch).
None of the body mounting points will fit.
Basically it is a question of welding on new bulkhead outriggers, rear crossmember, outrigger for the bulkhead behind the seats, brackets to support the load bed and brackets to bolt the front mask/radiator to. Done quite a few times according to the articles and pictures of the Land Rover magazines. Alternatively people cut 12" out of the middle section from a Range Rover chassis to put on a Series 88" body (A 109" body should be dropped on a 110" chassis without chopping. Most difficult part is to get the the body parts correctly aligned. Much measuring needed and the bulkhead is the point to start from.(Haven´t done it, but am collecting parts to start on a similar project).
And yes it would definitely be a nice hybrid. There was a batch produced for the swiss army. But Rover decided that a third production line of the Defender (next to 90 and 110) was not cost effective or sth. at that time.
All Discos and all Rangies have the 100" w/b. Except for the LSE/air suspension 4.2V8 Classics from (I think) 1992 to 1995. The LongWheelBase model has 108" (Like the MKII Range I´ve been told).
Hendrik |
Rob Davison (Pokerob)
| | Posted on Friday, July 12, 2002 - 02:03 pm: |
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i sawe a defender 100 hybrid on a RR frame at a brlr club a few yearsage
rtd |
Patrick Hartigan (Patrick)
| | Posted on Friday, July 12, 2002 - 02:27 pm: |
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I had another thought - Being a former J**P owner, I saw a lot of fiberglass body kits that will completely replace the metal body. Does anyone fabricate LR parts or are we at the mercy of the junk yard specials?
Kyle, when it comes to the wrench, I've done my share of simple maintenance, but I wouldn't say I'm proficient. I would take a body off the frame, but not the engine out of the body. know what I mean?
This is all speculative anyway, I don't have the cash on hand to do such a project. If I did, I'd buy this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/ebayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1842969691&r=0&t=0 |
Shane
| | Posted on Friday, July 12, 2002 - 02:44 pm: |
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here in the US this is an expensive route, unless you use series parts or get real lucky.
I'm building a D100 right now. As stated above it is alot of work. More than it's worth. It would be much cheaper to build a D90 or D110 or any other factory made length if time has any $$ value to you.
If you are looking for a cheap way to build a beater off road machine than that is a different story and if you're a hack or can work like one you can do a body swap in just a few days.
otherwise you are better off fining a cheap D90. |
Patrick Hartigan (Patrick)
| | Posted on Friday, July 12, 2002 - 03:03 pm: |
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Shane - any estimate on the cost? Pictures would be great. I'd love to see what you've done. I'm sure the rest of us would too. |
Kyle
| | Posted on Friday, July 12, 2002 - 03:48 pm: |
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Actually you should be able to do that swap fairly easy... But what I gotta know is. If ys got the defender , where the hell did the frame go ???
Kyle |
Shane (Shane)
| | Posted on Friday, July 12, 2002 - 05:13 pm: |
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Here's a pic of it's current state.
I'm in the process of fitting the roof and sides.
This side panel has been cut down and is basically finished.
This isn't exactly a basic D100 either as it has/will have the following mods:
disco frame modified for defender body
integrated frame sliders
gusseted sway bar brackets
heim joint rear trailing links
rear and side fuel tanks(SS)
fuel tank skid plates.
Galvanized frame
300tdi engine, running on vegetable oil with the rear fuel(veg) tank being heated via a coolant loop.
and more..... |
Patrick Hartigan (Patrick)
| | Posted on Monday, July 15, 2002 - 08:50 am: |
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Shane,
Please keep us all in the loop. I know I'm looking forward to future updates. What I want to know - as I'm sure Kyle does too - is WHERE did you get the body parts? |
Leslie N. Bright (Leslie)
| | Posted on Monday, July 15, 2002 - 09:15 am: |
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Kyle,
If you check around in the UK, there are a lot of Defender body take-offs available... even brand new, complete Defender bodies.....
But, they're usually NOT cheap, because they know that some daft American will pay bloody well too much for it so that they can build a "Series"....lol...
Patrick,
You can shorten or lengthen any of the chassis to fit any of the bodies, but, moreso than even the problem with body-mountings, is the the wheelwells... Take an 88's body and put it on a Defender 90 frame, or a 109's body onto a 110 frame, and the wheelwells don't match the location of where the axles are sitting.... Of course, you can relocate the axles, too, but, at some point you start to realize.... "Series body on Series frame, Defender body on Defender frame...".....
But I have to admit, a 100" hybrid is pretty dang good off-road. And, if you're wanting a project, then you've got something to keep you busy!
IMHO, FWIW......
-L |
Patrick Hartigan (Patrick)
| | Posted on Monday, July 15, 2002 - 11:18 am: |
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http://www.famousfour.co.uk/2h90110.htm
There's a site that specializes in re-claimed parts. The prices are pretty good too! |
Shane
| | Posted on Monday, July 15, 2002 - 03:34 pm: |
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I got the body parts all around. Primarily in the US. The small parts are the ones that are hard to get and hwere if you want to do this on the cheap side or custom would/could make the project easier.
I'm sourcing all the dash bits and small parts from a source in the UK. It's just a matter of contacting them and finding one with the parts you need. |
Norm
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 16, 2002 - 05:27 am: |
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Why not just get a good coil-sprung Series rolling chassis and put a new Rover v8 drivetrain in it? This seems to be the easiest and most common way to get the Series/Defender "look" with an updated drivetrain -- unless you also have to have power leather seats, dual a/c, cruise control, cd player, airbags, etc., etc. -- in which case, why not just buy yourself a Mercedes G-500 and save yourself the time and headaches? |
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