 | Home > My Defender > Green Machine's 2005 Td5 90 CSW |
 
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| bm52 Member Since: 04 Apr 2010 Location: Kent Posts: 2189   
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This will be interesting after this teaser start
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6th Nov 2016 10:16pm |
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| L110CDL Member Since: 31 Oct 2015 Location: Devon Posts: 10502 
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Agree with you there
 1996 Golf Blue 300Tdi 110 Pick up. Keeper.
Clayton. |
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6th Nov 2016 10:31pm |
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| Green Machine Member Since: 19 Nov 2010 Location: North Yorkshire Posts: 1226 
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Like so many other forum members, I grew up around Land Rovers. My Dad had 2 white 110's, both purchased from new, the first a 1987 'G' Reg. 110 CSW Turbo Diesel, the second a 1997 'P' Reg. 110 CSW 300 Tdi. The family farm also ran a 90 HT as the general farm 'hack', so Land Rovers were an integral part of family life. Needless to say, I was desperate that my first car would be a Land Rover, but insurance and various other practicalities meant I had to wait a few years.
So, in 2010 at the age of 22 I began to look properly for a nice 90. I knew I wanted a Td5 and I knew I wanted a factory station wagon. The search probably took the best part of 6 months, but eventually the ad. popped up on AutoTrader and I immediately knew this was the one. It was 5 years old, but looked pretty much immaculate so contact was made and the viewing arranged. Unfortunately it was located near Shrewsbury, close to the Welsh border, so some gentle arm-twisting was required to convince Dad to trek across the country with me from Scarborough to go and have a look at it. A couple of pics from the original advert: 
It was exactly as it appeared in the pictures, with a HPI verified 18,000 miles from new and had clearly led a pretty easy life. The story from the guy selling it (who was a part-time dealer) was that it had been owned by a local 'old boy' who used it in the winter time and also on occasional shoots and the low mileage seemed to support this. It had clearly been well looked-after as it was extremely clean underneath with the original factory stickers to the side of the chassis rail still present. The deal was done and we returned a week or so later (this time by train) to collect it and drive it back across the country to its new home. That first journey was a little bit of an eye-opener. I had never driven a Defender long-distance (although I had been a long-distance back-seat passenger often enough) and I was slightly surprised by its limited top-speed and its thirst! It was the first vehicle I had ever driven where you could see the fuel gauge slowly creeping downwards. Nonetheless, it was extremely exciting and after a couple of fuel stops (and a couple of brief doubts!) we arrived back home. Click image to enlarge (Dad's Shogun in the background - he had since defected from Land Rover to something more comfortable) Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge So that is how it all began. 2005 Td5 | 90 Station Wagon | Tonga Green |
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6th Nov 2016 10:39pm |
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| L110CDL Member Since: 31 Oct 2015 Location: Devon Posts: 10502
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A big thank you for starting this thread up Green Machine, it looks like a great find and by the pics it looks like new
A great first intro as well 1996 Golf Blue 300Tdi 110 Pick up. Keeper.
Clayton. |
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6th Nov 2016 10:47pm |
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| Green Machine Member Since: 19 Nov 2010 Location: North Yorkshire Posts: 1226
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Dad was undertaking a fairly major dry stone walling job for a good part of the year on the family farm, so I took to heading over there to visit whenever the opportunity presented itself. It provided an excuse for a drive out in the countryside and also to do some (admittedly very tame) off-roading upon arrival at the destination. I hadn't done anything to it yet apart from transfer my private plate, which made it a bit more 'mine'. A couple of pics from one of those visits:
Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge I had noticed when I bought it a paint blister on the rear offside capping. One day when washing it the blister flaked off, revealing the rather large rust patch beneath: Click image to enlarge I also took the spare wheel off to clean and discovered that the spare wheel carrier was starting to look a bit rough, as was the rear crossmember. Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge I bit the bullet and booked it in with a local paint shop for blasting back and respraying of the rust patch on the capping along with the front bumper, mudflap brackets, rear crossmember and spare wheel carrier (all the usual black bits). It looked a lot better afterwards (apart from the rust staining on the rear quarter panel, which took some polishing to get rid of): Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Looking back through the photos now, there was obviously a lot of cleaning and polishing took place in that first year! Something which (I am, to some degree, ashamed to say) has dwindled in more recent years! A couple of examples: Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge I have to say, it was really nice honest looking truck back then! (Not that it is all that much different now). I remember taking it for its first service in my ownership to a local LR independent specialist. He was very complimentary about it upon going to collect it, and commented in particular about how honest it was and what a pleasure it was to work on a clean vehicle where things came undone easily. He looked after it for a few years until I moved house and he was a bit too far away to continue taking it to him. 2005 Td5 | 90 Station Wagon | Tonga Green |
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6th Nov 2016 11:05pm |
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| Green Machine Member Since: 19 Nov 2010 Location: North Yorkshire Posts: 1226
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So mid-way through the first year of ownership, the first change was made. Like so many others, I wanted to 'personalise' it a bit and being young wanted it to look a bit more modern. Heavily influenced by what Twisted were doing at the time, I decided on a KBX grill and headlight surrounds in Brunel Grey, along with matching wing top and side intake vents. I deliberated about putting a standard LR Brunel grill on it to make it look like an XS, but these were still expensive at the time (for genuine ones) and I didn't want to respray my original grill incase I wanted to revert it to standard at some point. So in the end decided on the KBX. This was accompanied by a pair of Wipac Crystal headlights with Osram Nightbreaker Plus bulbs, which turned out to be a really good cost-effective modification and I have only recently upgraded again to LED headlights. I remember thinking that the KBX bits were very expensive (I think totalled around £500 at the time), but it was the look I wanted.
Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge I also added a black and silver 'Range Rover' badge to the rear quarter, to match the new one I had put on the grill. Click image to enlarge I was pleased as punch with these changes, and thought myself very lucky to own such a great-looking Land Rover. Subsequently of course I have realised (mainly through this forum) that there are others who own even greater-looking Land Rovers, and I have done my best to try to keep up with them! 2005 Td5 | 90 Station Wagon | Tonga Green |
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6th Nov 2016 11:23pm |
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| bm52 Member Since: 04 Apr 2010 Location: Kent Posts: 2189
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Very interesing
In some pics it looks Havana, or is it a grey? |
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6th Nov 2016 11:40pm |
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| L110CDL Member Since: 31 Oct 2015 Location: Devon Posts: 10502
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Spot on
1996 Golf Blue 300Tdi 110 Pick up. Keeper.
Clayton. |
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6th Nov 2016 11:41pm |
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| Green Machine Member Since: 19 Nov 2010 Location: North Yorkshire Posts: 1226
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Thanks for the positive comments. Have stopped for tonight, but will do the next instalments soon!
@bm52 It's Tonga Green. It does change colour a bit depending on light, it looks quite bronze in strong sunlight. 2005 Td5 | 90 Station Wagon | Tonga Green |
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6th Nov 2016 11:48pm |
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| bm52 Member Since: 04 Apr 2010 Location: Kent Posts: 2189
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My 110 is Havana and it seems to look like a different colour several times a day depending on the light
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6th Nov 2016 11:49pm |
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| Bev Member Since: 03 Apr 2013 Location: Perthshire Posts: 266  
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It looks awesome, seeing this one again reminds me of how much I miss my own Tonga green 90. Can't believe I sold that one. Yours still looks very original and the modifications look really subtle, which I like
More photos please 2002 Td5 | 90 County Station Wagon | Oslo Blue
2006 Td5 | 90 County Station Wagon | Tonga Green (Gone ) 2002 Td5 | 90 County Station Wagon | Zambezi Silver (Gone) |
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7th Nov 2016 12:01pm |
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| Green Machine Member Since: 19 Nov 2010 Location: North Yorkshire Posts: 1226
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After the changes to the front end, I didn't do too much else to it that year (as I had emptied the piggy bank!), so it got a set of Bosch Aero wiper blades (which are still on it now and working fine 5 years later):
Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge And then it got a full Dinitrol treatment just before winter set in. This turned out to be a bit of a disappointment, as it later transpired that the guy who did the rust-proofing hadn't done a brilliant job, especially when he charged £450 for the pleasure. But the chassis is still in pretty good condition, so I think it certainly helped to keep the worst of the rust at bay for a few years (it has been treated again since). Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge 2005 Td5 | 90 Station Wagon | Tonga Green |
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9th Nov 2016 6:45pm |
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| Green Machine Member Since: 19 Nov 2010 Location: North Yorkshire Posts: 1226
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2012 got off to a frosty start (as is often the case in January!):
Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge And the disappointment of the rust-proofing treatment began to make itself evident. This was just two months after it had been done, so not showing much promise for long-term rust protection! The front radius arm pictured was the worst area, but it was clear that the job just hadn't been done that thoroughly. The coating to the main chassis rails was a lot better than this. Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Some more cleaning: Click image to enlarge Discovery of some rather nasty floor pan screws (replaced with stainless): Click image to enlarge Which was followed by total rear mudflap failure, and subsequent replacement: Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge I used some off-cuts from the bottom of the old flaps to make some re-inforcement pieces that sit between the metal brackets and the new mudflaps to try to prevent the 'cutting' action of the bottom edge of the bracket. It seems to have worked quite successfully and these replacements are still fully intact now (although the fronts recently fell off and had to be replaced!) A photo with the workhorse 90 on the family farm: Click image to enlarge The farm 90 is a 2002 Td5 HT and was purchased ex-demo from a local dealer. It was in the showroom liveried up with the 'Born Free' foundation livery and a roof tent and rack on it, hence the paw prints. My Gran asked the salesman if they could keep the paw prints (because she found them amusing) and it still has the paw prints on it to this day. And accolades received from delivery drivers: Click image to enlarge 2005 Td5 | 90 Station Wagon | Tonga Green |
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9th Nov 2016 6:59pm |
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| Green Machine Member Since: 19 Nov 2010 Location: North Yorkshire Posts: 1226
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It started with the purchase of a set of 5 new take-off boost alloys. Mine were starting to look a little rough around the edges, and these came up locally at a good price. They were collected and then given a couple of coats of wax before tyre fitting:
Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge And then the most important bit - the tyres! I had been wanting to put BF Goodrich All Terrains on the 90 ever since I bought it, but I just couldn't justify (or afford!) buying a full set of tyres when the ones on it were perfectly serviceable. But in the end I gave in and I just had to get the BFG ATs to get the look I wanted. Buying the second set of rims made the switch a lot simpler and also meant that I had a nice new set of wheels to take the new tyres. Change-over day: Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge As part of the same day's operations, I also fitted a set of rock and tree sliders and the two changes together really transformed the look. From this: Click image to enlarge To this: Click image to enlarge This was a really exciting day because it now finally looked the way I had always wanted it to. Having spent many years as a teenager looking through Land Rover magazines, browsing forums etc. etc. I had gradually built up a picture of how I would want my Land Rover to look when I finally got one, and this was now getting very close to that. This was the final small addition in 2012: Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge And then the year went out in much the same way as it had come in! Click image to enlarge 2005 Td5 | 90 Station Wagon | Tonga Green |
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9th Nov 2016 10:04pm |
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