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1995 NAS Defender 90 Soft Top
Repairs and Upgrades
This low mile '95 Defender 90 was recently sold by ECR. The new owners wanted it spruced up a bit and to change up the look around. The 90 was in need of a cosmetic overhaul, but with less than 40K original miles and a clean 2 owner, fully known history, it was a great car to start with. After a full evaluation we formulated a game plan with the new owner and went to work.
We removed the rusty looking bits and sent the Rover out to the detailer. It came back looking great and ready for a round of upgrades and normal wear repairs. The laundry list included swapping the gears out from the 4.70s that were installed for off road use, back to 3.54 ring and pinions for better road manners. The ARB lockers were retained so that the 90 can have true 4 wheel drive when called for.
Up front we installed a new ARB bumper and utilized the existing winch. We also installed a set of Hella 4000 driving lights and swapped the front tires around for a better look (notice in the first picture the truck has 2 blackwalls and 2 raised white letter tires). Under the hood a few minor leaks were addressed and a set of ROX oil cooler lines were installed to make sure no engine oil fires will occur.
The old top was removed and the rusty door hinges were tossed as you can see here. We also removed the seats and repaired the bases so the "click" and wobble so typical of Defender seats would be eliminated. European side steps on new factory sills replaced the rock sliders and the rear cargo area was stripped out and made ready for Rhino-Lining.
Here you can see the rear cargo area has been Rhino-Lined and is ready to go.
A little further along in the process the 90 is starting to look like a much different rig. The fluids and filters have now all been changed and all the needed repairs were taken care of so even though this 90 is more than a decade old, the new owner can drive with confidence knowing that all the services are up to snuff.
The new style door hinges, that have been installed with a complete new stainless steel hardware kit, look great and will stay looking great, unlike the commonly rusted original style hinges and all the doors and latches have been set up to work correctly.
Inside the 90 we installed a new Alpine head unit and an iPod interface, along with 4 new speakers so that the 90 can have nice sound anywhere it goes. That nice sound will have to compete with the great throaty sound out of the new ROX 304 stainless steel exhaust system and Y pipe we installed so that this Defender will never need another exhaust system.
In the rear of the 90 we added 4 jump seats with seat belts and seat covers so that the new owners can carry cargo (with the seats up) or 4 passengers for short hops (with the seats down).
We also removed the rear step/tow bumper and epoxy primed and repainted the rear crossmember so that it not only looks better, but will last longer.
We finished off the rear of the 90 with a set of ROX LED tail lights so that the owner will never have to worry about the dead tail lights that are so common with the stock 95-97 Defender 90 lamps.
Another upgrade that makes a world of difference is the new top. The new gutter kit, shown by the green arrows, makes a nice seal around the door and gets rid of the majority of the leaks and air gaps that make soft top 90s so miserable. We also powder coated the gutter kit pieces black for a nice finished look.
The front seats of the 90 were also treated to new seat covers, another great addition.
Here you can see the new top installed along with all the other changes that make this 90 look so much different. Now we'll take it out for road tests to make sure everything is 100% ready for the customer.
Here you can see the finished 90 ready for delivery, a far cry from the look of the truck we started with. The Defender now has almost all of the best upgrades we offer, it has low miles and is fully serviced and sorted so that the owner won't be dealing with any issues for a good long time, and that is a good thing because this 90 lives on an island and needs to be rock steady for its new owners and we have made it just that.
If you have needs for your Defender, from routine service to wild modifications, contact ECR. We'll be happy to help make your Defender everything you want it to be.
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