 | Home > My Defender > Me and my new 90HT XS |
 
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| RoddyK05 Member Since: 08 Apr 2015 Location: Inverclyde Posts: 633   
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Nice one, hope you have a lot of fun with it. I see Britpart boxes among your purchases, are you sure you want to do that to a brand new motor? I have had little success with that brand and prefer to stick to genuine or OEM at least. That said, it's your motor and you do what you want with it - I'm sure it will give you many years of service.
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12th Mar 2016 10:00pm |
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| m33ufo Member Since: 19 Jan 2008 Location: Cardiff Posts: 1150 
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She's a beauty!
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12th Mar 2016 10:05pm |
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| jbk Member Since: 22 Nov 2015 Location: Hertfordshire Posts: 181  
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So, first things first, let's get this thing properly sealed so to stop any nasty rot having a chance of getting going. A full on underseal, window sealing, inner arch stone proofing, etc etc, job was booked with Zagato and it was to be driven in the dry down to Surry for the work. After a further delay of pick up due to wet weather the first dry day in March it was picked up and driven south for it;s first fettling. Here's a few 'upskirt' naked shots prior to any sealing
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 Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Hmm, minty huh, but oh how we all know it just wouldn't last and the rot would start all too soon. Unfortunately there was a 30mile wet drive to be had after the rustproofing work and before I could get some pics of the underside so the pics I got aren't that fresh, but it;s still pretty clean down there. Here's some post pics: Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge So a good amount of sealing carried out, unfortunately lacking on the important inside chassis, crossmember, outrigger etc pics, but it looks fairly well covered internally from what I can see. Still a few areas not fully covered, some of the brake assembly, some pan to pan and pan to chassis bolts not sealed and soen areas with overspray that i'd like to tidy. So I've bought some further Dinitrol product, as you can see from my parts pics, and will be getting her up on a ramp, getting covered up and spending a day doing a bit more dealing before she sees any proper weather. |
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12th Mar 2016 10:09pm |
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| familymad Member Since: 13 Dec 2011 Location: Bucks Posts: 3467  
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Lovely machine 1951 80" S1 2.0
1995 110 300TDI 1995 90 300TDI |
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12th Mar 2016 10:25pm |
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| jbk Member Since: 22 Nov 2015 Location: Hertfordshire Posts: 181
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So now she's been dealt with underneath time to deal with her on the top side. I like a bit of detailing myself and have done various paint correction jobs on various cars over the years, a really satisfying process I find and just great to know a car is in excellent condition and well sealed so that it can be driven and enjoyed. I realise some may feel that this kind of prep and finish on a defender flies in the face of the whole purpose of the car, and I do question my sanity sometimes, but I enjoy it, I tend to do it with all of my cars and it just makes using them all the more enjoyable for me. So I booked a day of a detailers time for he and I to get to work getting the car properly prepared for real life. The car was iron and tar decontaminated, snow foam washed and dried with high pile towel followed by airline:
Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge We then had a good old study of all areas of the bodywork to establish what issues were where and work out the plan of action of how to correct and perfect it all. The car had no swirl marks except for on each of the arches, which was great news, a result of not letting anyone wash the car from factory, no doubt had they have done so she'd be covered. The only issues were general 'Random deep scratching', deep in the relative terms of a detailer really means very fine laquer scratches of just a few microns, but under thr right light they show. these were more obvious around areas which had had traffic, wing tops had a bit, we could see where it looked like things had perhaps been hung from the roof gutters through the production line, some areas around door handles etc and one particularly heavy area where the detailer had gone up to the car when dirty in the PDI centre and said 'oh it's alright she's perfectly clean under here' and gone up with a palm to the van panel side and rubbed the grime into and off off the paint in an attempt to some how demonstrate that dirt can be removed from paint!! 
The other ares which needed attention was each of the plastic arch trims, these were really in quite poor condition, with some deeper scratching from traffic but some poor paint finish on edges and general poorly polished finish. Interestingly we found polish in between the joints of wing to body and could see areas where a) the arch trims had been polished previously in factory and b) some areas of flat sanding which had not been polished back up properly. Rather strange we were thinking that perhaps this is a part which gets pre painted and sits on a shelf stored poorly next to other trim parts thus gets finish damage, then they stick them on and try to brite them up to fit with the rest of the freshly painted body. Anyway, these were to get some special attention from us to get them into fine fettle. Here's a few after wash, pre correction polish, pics, but unfortunately poor pics + iphone doesn't really reveal any of the correction needed. A few masking shots too getting all edges and plastics protected from rotary pad edges and overheating etc: Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Ok, now to get stuck into the real work, two of us one rotary one dual action polisher, 3m blue waffle finishing pads and a light cut high quality finishing polish to ensure we removed as few microns as possible whilst removing all defects: Click image to enlarge Unfortunately due to a) your mind getting being in the zone of polishing and not photographing that polishing and b) time getting on and the job evolving into a two stage polish in many areas not just a one stage polish (meaning we used a slightly harder compound and the heavier hitting dual action polisher, then the finishing polish on a rotary), there weren't too many pics of us in the middle of the process, but here's a few at least: Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Well by this stage we'd been on the car since 8am and it was already 3.30/4pm with time fast flying by and us not yet having finished the paint correction. The defender is actually an incredibly complex car to do paint correction on. In the end many pad size combinations has to be used, some hand polishing had to be used and carious other tricks to get into the many crevice'ie panels, t be careful of hot spots on rivet heads, to be careful of the corrugated roof runs etc etc. But after perhaps 8 hours or polishing the job was complete perhaps to 85% and it was time to seal her up. A pre wax cleaner was used all over the car, then a generous coating of a high quality synthetic wax was used. again unfortunately time was getting so ahead of us at this stage that there were no pics of this first coat of wax and in application. However the finished article after full 1st synthetic wax coat and buff was as below: Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge As well as the paintwork correction and sealing all rubbers and plastics were fed and sealed, all glass cleaned and polished and all wheels synthetic waxed. Phhheeww, that was one long day, a grand total of 21 man hours put into the car, and that was only day 1! Poor photos do not do the car justice here I'm afraid. Thumbs up and thanks to Adam for the help. |
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12th Mar 2016 10:57pm |
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| familymad Member Since: 13 Dec 2011 Location: Bucks Posts: 3467
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Wow, have never even waxed a Defender I have owned. This is real commitment ! 1951 80" S1 2.0
1995 110 300TDI 1995 90 300TDI |
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12th Mar 2016 11:05pm |
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| jbk Member Since: 22 Nov 2015 Location: Hertfordshire Posts: 181
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Well after the mammoth day1 of detailing I get her out of the unit for our drive home, it's pelting it down, it;s about 2 degrees and everywhere is covered with road salt
 What a welcome!! I get home and go to get something out of the load bay and I'm welcomed by this: 
Click image to enlarge A nasty little leak through a rivet in the rear tub floor Oh dear, defender2.net tells me I'm far from alone and not to worry. Car booked in for a return trip to dealers service centre to get her fixed and sealed. Oh the joy of warranty work management. Car now at time of writing back at dealer to get sorted, update to follow as to how this goes. Pleased I didn;t get rear carpet fitted yet though, and worried about the front cab under carpet area. Before i soundproof the car I'll remove front carpet and make sure to drive in the rain to check for leaks. |
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12th Mar 2016 11:08pm |
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| jbk Member Since: 22 Nov 2015 Location: Hertfordshire Posts: 181
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Well, one coat of wax is not enough on a car to seal it for very long and especially after all of that polishing work she deserves more product, plus she's now filthy courtesy of that orrible wet drive back home last night, so onto detail day#2 starting with a wash and delicate dry before two more coats of a high quality natural carnuba wax polish, Zymol Concourse to be precise and to show off a bit, this stuff is real high quality gear, lovely to apply and really gives the deepest of finishes possible. This 2nd and 3rd wax application covers all areas including door shuts, engine bay and every external area including alloy wheels.
A pretty labour heavy 30 odd hours now put into detailing this car, did not anticipate doing this much work, intended on one day only, but as with most detailing projects on your own car it just takes you over for a bit and you can't stop till your absolutely happy that its as good as it deserves. Here some final pics for you to enjoy, whilst I retreat to question my sanity embarking on such a project on a Land Rover!!   
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12th Mar 2016 11:21pm |
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| jbk Member Since: 22 Nov 2015 Location: Hertfordshire Posts: 181
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Now off to go and drive the thing and enjoy it on the road for a bit.
Out in Hertfordshire and Surrey most waved. In central London for the first time last week, passed two 90s on the Holloway road and not a single wave Perhaps because my car wasn't dirty enough! |
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12th Mar 2016 11:24pm |
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| Pickles Member Since: 26 May 2013 Location: Melbourne Posts: 3755  
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Nice Defender, but good luck with the black, you must be a glutton for punishment!
But, like you, I was very worried about "Dealer Buffing", so before Gracie went through the pre delivery process, I requested that no buff be used, just a very light hand polish, which is what she got! So Gracie's keswick is pretty good, I ain't as fastidious as you, I just like to keep her nice, she's kept in a garage, & so she gets a nice wax/polish on her birthday. We don't have the same weather conditions as you guys, but we have the blazing hot sun here which can do serious damage over time to paint & trim, so garaging is a big plus. Enjoy, Pickles. |
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13th Mar 2016 1:14am |
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| Rosso_NI Member Since: 09 May 2014 Location: NI Posts: 275 
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Very smart black is hard to beat (used to have a Black 90 myself) good luck with keeping it clean
Enjoy 1993 Defender 110 Ex Military soft top, with a long wishlist already |
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13th Mar 2016 9:57am |
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| jk84 Member Since: 17 Feb 2015 Location: Wherever my Defender takes me... Posts: 720 
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jbk, she looks absolutely stunning! And being pampered big time
 The dual finish alloys look a treat with the black, lovely contrast. Don't forget to drive her around a bit too MY15 Aintree 110 SW - for sale - https://www.defender2.net/forum/topic82781.html
MY16 Santorini 90 HT - sold |
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14th Mar 2016 11:10am |
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| jbk Member Since: 22 Nov 2015 Location: Hertfordshire Posts: 181
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Hey all, thanks for the compliments, pleased to be a fellow Defender appreciator and owner. I'm out in the Alps at the moment, sadly i did not drive the Defender down here, and I've seen no less than two new Heritages, one non heritage Keswick 90 a number of others of various colours. Gutted to be here sans Defender.
Yeah Roddy they're the LED rear number plate light and the side indicator lights that are the Britpart boxes. Are they pretty poor quality parts do you think? If so I'll get searching for something superior. I couldn't seem to find these parts from Wipac. Yeah, black, special when clean, but gonna be a pain to keep it that way. Hoping that at least the height of this car and lack of high speed will mean that stone chips shouldn't be a regular problem, thinking about paint protection film for the front end. |
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16th Mar 2016 9:56pm |
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| warren Member Since: 14 Oct 2009 Location: East Lancs. Posts: 903 
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One of the things I miss most about having mine is spending way too long waxing and polishing it.... Found it quite therapeutic!
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17th Mar 2016 4:20pm |
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