Back to the Defender 110 Section
1993 Defender 110 Station Wagon
Upgrades and Service
This Defender 110 has come to us directly from the point of purchase, a Rover dealership in FL. Its final destination will be its new owner in CO, but first it gets a quick stop over, and a mild make over, here at ECR. The first step was to do an evaluation of the low mileage 110 (under 30K miles). It is in very nice condition, but as with any 110 (as they are all getting on in years) it needs a few things sorted and some things upgraded.
The first step to making this nice 110 an even better 110, is to go through and do a complete service from front to back. That means filters, fluids and tune up parts. Above you can see that we are installing new tune up parts and are getting things ready for the new owner. Most of this 110 is original, and a lot of that is good, some of it is bad. Originality is great in most cases, but original 12 year old brake fluid and such is not. So all those aspects of the 110 will be made ready to go into daily service, as the new owner plans to drive the 110, not garage it.
We will also be doing some upgrades that all 110s need, no matter what the miles. Here you can see the RH footwell area of the 110. The goofy cardboard trim has already fallen out. To cure this for good we won't be stuffing another cardboard trim in, we'll be installing a set of ECR ROX footwell trims. These are heavy duty alloy units that will stand up to foot traffic, but they look stock. For details on our footwell trims go here.
Another upgrade that all 110 need are new side door hinges. The factory hinges wear badly and are always covered in a nice film of rust. To cure that we have installed a new set of the upgraded design hinges and primed and painted them with PPG products for a long rust free life. To cure even more rust bleeds we have also installed them with stainless steel hardware. This will stop the typical ugly rust bleeds and make the 110 look great. For more information on the upgraded hinges go here.
One of the larger upgrades in store for this 110 is the addition of a new R380 5 speed gearbox. The original LT77 had a 5th gear issue (grind!), so the new R380 will cure that fault, and it is also a better, smoother shifting gearbox as well. Above you can see that we have removed the old LT77 gearbox (RH) and removed the transfer case from it. The transfer case is then installed on the new R380 gearbox (LH) and once all the linkage is hooked up it will go back into the 110 to provide years of service.
The upgrades continue with a full set of ECR ROX steering guards. Here you can see that we have fabricated a new ECR ROX tie rod guard and a HD drag link. These pieces will now be media blasted to white metal then primed and painted black before they are installed in the 110 to offer full protection of the steering gear when off roading. These are the same pieces we use on our own Defenders and we know they work correctly as we have tested them on everything, everywhere in North America. ECR ROX products carry a lifetime guarantee, we believe in them that strongly. How'bout the parts on your Defender? Lifetime guarantee?? We didn't think so.
This image shows the ECR ROX tie rod guard in place. The guard protects the tie rods full width, and fully surrounds it for complete protection. If you so desire, you can even jack up the entire vehicle by the ROX tie rod guard itself. It is that tough. The unit is primed and painted in PPG epoxy primers and paint for long life and the ability to touch it up if you grind it over some rocks (and we hope you do!)
Here you can see we have installed the front differential guard, a very weak link in the Rover front axle, and you can also see our HD drag link that has now been primed, painted and installed. These items, combined with the upcoming front bumper and winch will give this 110 great basic off road ability, and the protection of all the weak links, so that even on tough trails the 110 will not pretzel any steering gear, like a stock one would. For more information about getting your Rover set up with what ECR considers the off road basics, check out this page: Off Road 101.
To get the 110 up out of the weeds we have installed a Stage 1 suspension. This consists of new springs all around, new Bilstien shocks for good on and off road manners and a rear shock drop kit. The drop kit is required to maintain all the travel in the rear suspension, without it the stock length shocks would limit the axle droop. The green arrow above points to our rear shock drop kit installed on this 110.
Another part of the ECR Stage 1 suspension is a set of heavy duty trailing arms from Safari Gard. These units will stand up to rock and trail abuse and they also serve another function. As you lift your Rover the trailing arm bushing will pivot. Lift your 110 a lot and it will pre-load this bushing as the rear axle moves away from the frame. The more the bushing is pre-loaded, the less it will be able to give and flex, and it was intended to give and flex. This can cause poor on road manners and limit axle articulation off road. The angled rear trailing arm keeps the shaft entering the bushing at the correct angle (see green arrow) so that the 110 retains good on road manners and all its available travel off road. A lot of shops just drop springs in your Rover and call it good to go, but if you want trail proven results that are tested in our own Defenders before we'd ever sell it to you, contact ECR for what works, what is hype and will best fit your uses and budget.
Outside the 110 is going back together. The new hinges have all been installed with the stainless hardware and all the doors have been lined up to open and close correctly.
Inside the 110 we have buttoned up the install of the new R380 5 speed right down to the new shift knob with the correct shift pattern on it. Now that all the service work and routine maintenance items have been completed we will move on to adding the custom items, like the new MTR tires, a new front bumper, winch and the customers custom communication system install.
Another option for this 110 is going to be a set of ECR ROX sliders. A set of our sliders will keep the lower body from harm while off roading and give the 110 a great look as well. Here you can see we have removed the factory sills and we have started to fabricate the sliders.
This image shows the ECR ROX sliders for this 110, ready to head for media blasting, then to our paint shop. The sliders will protect the 110's sills from off road obstacles and they also offer a great point to jack up the side of the Rover with a Hi-Lift jack. The green arrows point to the Hi-Lift points we install on our sliders. These allow easy use of a Hi-Lift and make it so the jack won't "kick out" to the side, the blocks prevent it from doing so. This makes changing tires on the trail easier and safer.
Inside the 110 we have added the customers communication system, a neat unit that allows for a lot of flexible radio communication, CB and otherwise. This trick unit has a remote mounted face, so while the main unit is tucked safely in the cubby box, the display and controls are mounted on the dash for easy access.
To get ready for the new SG bumper, skid plate and winch set up, we have removed the cheesy factory brush bar and bumper. We then relocated the horns and installed our turn signal conversion kit that keeps all 4 marker lights, but adds the turn signals to the bottom set of lights, for a stock, yet trick look, and with our set up the flashers "blink" at the correct rate. You can also see we have added a set of Good-Year MTRs to better match the 110s new stance now that it has an upgraded suspension.
While the front grill is apart we have replaced the seized AC condenser fans and made everything ready for the new winch and bumper. This 110 is now starting to look like a 110 should.
To set things up for the customers communication system we have installed one antenna at the front of the 110. We fabricated a bracket that allows the antenna to have the line of sight it needs, look uniform (in the middle of the 110) and we didn't drill an extra holes in the 110. We try to have all of our auxiliary equipment brackets and fasteners use factory locations. This means the value of your 110 is kept up. Nothing drops the value of a rare vehicle faster then drilling holes through your roof.
At the rear of the 110 we have added a Hella twin lamp work/ reverse light. This light is controlled by our factory looking dash switch that allows you to turn on the light for loading and unloading gear, turn the light off completely, or have it come on and off when you select reverse gear, for added light when backing up at night. Here again you can see we have fabricated another bracket, and painted it Alpine White to match the 110. This bracket also utilizes a factory bolt. We drill no holes in your Defender to mount these items.
On the other side of the 110 you can see we have added stainless steel bolts for the rear door hinges and installed our CB antenna mount, also painted to match the Defender. The mount uses the factory holes, and wire runs are clean and functional. The placement of the CB antenna allows for excellent signal reception, but also keeps the antennas base low and out of harms way from branches on the trial.
Here you can see the ECR ROX sliders have been epoxy primed and painted in Satin Black and installed on the 110. These units are tough as nails and not only give you the ability to jack up the 110 from the side with a Hi-Lift, they also protect your doors and bodywork from getting wrecked by off road obstacles.
Back inside the 110 we have installed the main unit for the communication system in the cubby box. This will keep it out of harms way and still allow for full use of the cubby box. The units remote display unit can be seen in an image above.
Also inside the 110 we are finishing up the wiring additions and repairing a few broken switches so that everything is 100% for the customer. In all our wiring we use factory color codes for easy future repairs and switch gear that looks at home in your Defender, not like someone added a bunch of cheap-o switches.
Here you can see we have added the new Safari Gard front bumper and skid plate. Installed in the bumper is a Warn 9000 winch, a pair of ECR ROX recovery points. We also added 3 Hella 4000 driving lights to turn night into day. To keep the front end look clean we have remote mounted the winch control box in the engine bay, and installed the winch remote control plug between the parking lights on the LH side of the 110. This keeps the look clean and it also keeps the winch remote control cable away from the cable and the winch drum. If you have ever seen anyone accidentally wind up their winch remote in their winch you'll know this is a welcome addition for ease of operation and safety.
Back at the rear of the 110 we have buttoned things up with a cargo area floor mat and a Hi-Lift jack mount on the rear door.
Under the hood everything is now complete and the engine bay is clean and ready for fun. We wish Land Rover dealers would prepare their used Defenders like this, so that customers can immediately have fun with their new Rovers, but sadly they don't, as it would cost them money. The window sticker on the side of this 110 from the dealer says it all "AS IS". We don't think that is the way things should be, so now this 110 is fully prepared to the customers specifications, all the issues have been sorted and when it arrives in CO the customer can go hit the trail and have fun in his ECR prepared 110. That is the way it should be.
Inside the 110 is also now finished up. Everything is repaired to work correctly and it looks good too. We have added switches for the driving lights and the work/reverse light, but can you tell our switch gear from the factory pieces? Long lasting, clean and functional is what ECR is all about.
Another item that has been updated in the 110 is the footwell trims. Originally made from cardboard these pieces that trim over the EFI computer and wiring fell off in days. Our panel is made of alloy and coated to look original, but it will stand up to muddy boots and abuse, like it should have from the factory.
Here you can see the finished interior, with the customers communication system all set up and ready to go.
Here you can see the completed 110, ready to be transported to the new owner in Colorado. It has had everything from a front to back service, a new R380 5 speed, Stage I suspension, a ton of ECR ROX equipment to make it work off road, new tires and much much more. This 110 is now ready to go no matter it you want to head off across country or lead a trail ride for your local off road club.
Large job, small job we can handle it all. Even if you don't have a 110 and want one that we have gone through and made right for you, we can do that too. If you have Defender needs of any kind contact ECR and we'll make your Defender dreams come true, just like we did for this Colorado customer.
ECR