Back to the Defender 90 Section
1994 NAS Defender 90 Soft top
Off road upgrades, Service and more
This well kept 60,000 mile Defender 90 was recently sold by ECR. The new buyer wanted a few changes and upgrades to make it his own. The first thing that needs to go is that cheesy factory brush bar. We will be replacing that with a new front bumper and skid plate. We will also be installing a new set of BFG Mud Terrains and doing some minor service items that the D90 needs to be ready to go.
Here you can see that we have stripped down the front end to make it ready for the updates. The 1994 D90s and the 1993 D110s had the turn signals located in the bumper (as seen in the first image). When you install an updated front bumper you need to add our turn signal conversion kit that turns the lower parking light into the turn signal. This keeps the D90 looking clean and factory and the parts used are the correct ones so your turn signals still flash at the correct rate. At this stage we also need to do a full tune up and service to the vehicle and check for any issues.
This image shows the bumper and new Warn 9000 winch in place and being wired up. As you can see the turn signal conversion kit has been installed and looks and works just like factory lighting. We have also installed a host of smaller options like seat covers, new floor mats, wing top guards and much more. In this image you can also see the new BFG tires have been mounted and installed.
A small job that makes a big difference in a 1994 Defender 90 is to add
a locking tailgate latch. The 1994 D90s did not have an exterior lock from
the factory, so to lock the tailgate you had to crawl through the interior
to lock and unlock the rear gate. Fortunately we have a jig that sets up
the hole for the 1995 style look system in exactly the right place, so
we simply install a later style latch with a lock. We then match the lock
cylinder to the other 2 doors so that one key does everything and poof...
you get ease of use and a total cure to something a lot of 1994 D90 owners
don't like. No longer will you have to crawl over the seats in this D90
to lock and unlock the tailgate. It is all easily done from the outside
just like on the 1995 and 1997 D90s.
This image shows the front end of the D90 ready to go. The bumper and winch
are in place, with a new skid plate, two ECR ROX recovery points, and our
turn signal conversion kit that all adds up to a great looking front end
for this Defender 90. Compare this front end to the first image. Big difference.
This D90 was sold with the fiberglass hardtop, and a soft top as well, so it has both tops, but when the soft top is installed the inside of a D90 is not very secure. To give the customer some secure storage for when the soft top is being used, or for when no top at all is on, we installed Tuffy Boxes on the L and R fender tops. These boxed are bolted to the Rover and lock securely. They also have a speaker opening so we updated the rear speaker from the factory paper cone units to a set of JBL speakers that are built into the boxes. The tops of the boxes also are the perfect height for an arm rest for the rear seat passengers.
Because the D90 has the optional shoulder belts for the rear seat we needed
to move the Tuffy boxes forward to be in the correct location to make everything
work, but we also needed to cover up all the wires and seat belt reels
that are normally covered up by the factory plastic speaker enclosures.
To do this we fabricated some alloy trim panels that give the boxes a clean
factory installed look and painted them in the body color of the Defender.
This keeps items from falling down behind the boxes and keeps the wiring
connections safe and secure, and it looks much better than a huge gaps
between the box and the rear end of the body tub. Painted to match people
will now ask, "What factory option is that?"
Here you can see the Defender set up and ready to head to VA to the new
owner. We have fully serviced the 90 to made it ready to enjoy without
hassles for the new owner, and we have also guided him on some off road
upgrades that will help him get into four wheeling, and make his new Rover
look great. We are sure this D90 will be back for more tricks as the new
owner finds out just how much fun it can be hit the trail with friends
and family. ECR can handle any Defender needs, from simple upgrades and
repairs like on this 90, to supplying you with a clean and trouble free
used Defender, as we did for this customer. Let us know if we can help
you with any of your Defender needs, from mild to wild we are the only
one stop Defender shop you need.
ECR