07x08 - Land Rover Defender

[bunniefuu]

Welcome to Wheeler Dealers,
the show that helps cars in need.

We take classics that
have been cast aside

and we put them back
on the road to recovery.

Now I buy the motors.

And I get busy with the
spanners and make sure

that they're ship shape,
or at least car shape.

And then we sell them on for a profit.

Well that's the idea.

Now this time we're on the hunt for
a true go anywhere motoring legend.

This has to be one of
Britain's best love, motors.

As British as a bowler hat but
a lot more practical, the Land

Rover has been a car of choice
for generations of country folk.

It's an off-road icon capable of
tackling the rough with the smooth.

It's carved a unique
place in automotive history.

You can choose between a workhorse
diesel or a torquey V8 petrol engine.

Couple that with the amazing ground
clearance and heavy duty construction,

and you've got a car capable of
tackling the toughest conditions.

But these days the spec'd up
Landy is in demand on city streets too.

Where it's cheeky good looks and
chunky allies have attracted a big

urban fan base of drivers who've
never even set a wheel off-road.

I'm after a short-haul based
Land Rover just like this one.

Though for my budget I reckon we'll
be probably looking at a 1980s car.

I've already begun to hit
the Internet search engines

hard and it's not long
before I start to reel a few in.

Right, I've found one. It's a Defender 90.
It's advertised on a 4x4 sight.

Unfortunately the MOT has expired and
it needs a bit of work to get a new one.

But I can't tell from the pictures
just how bad the car is but I can

tell you it's in blue which is a nice
colour so it can be worth a punt.

It's on for three grand
which is cheap and amazingly

another one pops up too
in the same price bracket.

Okay, here's a good one.
It's a Land Rover Defender. It's

advertised in Bolton and it's
three and a half thousand pounds.

It says it's got a recently installed V8
engine. Good chassis and it's good to go.

Looks alright in the pictures.
At a price like that what's not to like?

So it's straight on the blower to
get the gen on our potential Landys.

Okay mate, speak to you soon. Bye.

Now the first Landy sounds
really good and it's close to here.

The second one, the only problem is the
guy who's selling it, he lives in Bolton.

I think I'm going to have to put some
miles in and go and see some cars.

First up is the motor without an MOT.

Now this Land Rover I'm going to
see is up for three thousand pounds

so at that money I'm not expecting
it to win any beauty competitions.

You know sometimes coming to see
cars can be so disappointing because

when I spoke to the owner of this
little Land Rover Defender behind me

they said come down, have a
look, it just needs a bit of titivation.

Titivation? This thing needs a miracle.
It's as rotten as a pear.

It's falling apart, could you imagine? If
I took that back to show Ed it'd go nuts.

And they're expecting me to buy this?
Not a chance.

It's a trip to Bolton for me then as
I go in search of car number two.

Now the next Landy I'm going to
see is three and a half grand which is

pretty cheap and that's a tough price
bracket to go and find a decent V8.

The good news is the engine in this one has
recently been done so it's pretty tempting.

However, like I always say,
you shouldn't assume anything

until you've got there
and given it a decent look.

What a cracking day to come
and see a car. There she is,

standard Land Rover 90,
duck egg blue, lovely colour.

Well, let's hope it doesn't let
me down this one. Hello there.

Hello there. I'm Mike.
Hello Mike, I'm Jan, nice to meet you.

Jan, lovely to talk to
you again. I spoke to

you on the phone about
this little Land Rover.

You did. Great, I didn't
realise Jan, you sold so many.

I've been trading in Land
Rovers for near 20 years now.

What can you tell me about this little one?

This was formerly a


converted to a V8 otherwise
it's absolutely standard.

Well I'm looking for
a car that's got very

little to do to it, the
body work looks okay.

There's a little bit of rust at
the bottom of the door Jan.

Electrolytic corrosion right?

I think electrolytic corrosion
is a posh word for rust.

I think you're right.

Okay, what's the chassis like?

Very good, very solid for
a 21 year old Land Rover.

Looks alright doesn't it?

Right inside, wow look at that.
It's nice and simple isn't it?

Nice and straight though isn't it?

It is.

I think so.

What's it like up front?
Let's have a look inside. Oh dear.

Luxury.

It isn't really is it?

No.

No, I always get worried
when seat covers are on the

seats, no doubt they're hiding
something nasty underneath.

Oh dear.

And you're not disappointed are you?

I'm not disappointed.
Let's have a look under the body.

I like this checker plate
on it, adds a bit of sparkle.

Now that's it then, the
conversion Rover 3.5 litre V8.

It also looks as if
there's no evidence of

any oil leaks or anything
underneath this one.

No there's no oil
leaks on it at all, in fact

talking of oil, if you
have a look on the tip suit.

Look how clean that is.

That's clean isn't it?

Hey that's fantastic,
you can almost lick it.

All I want to do really
now is see if it runs alright

and take it for a good
test drive, is that ok?

Yeah sure, go away for ten minutes,
have some fun and drink some petrol.

Top work?

Ok.

There's something about
an old Land Rover, they're

not comfy, quiet, easy
to drive or high tech.

What they are though
is fun and I absolutely

love them and people out there
love them and that's very important.

When you get behind
the wheel of one of these,

you enter a whole
different world of motoring.

Now my first impressions are that this
motor has got some of that old Landy magic

and Jan promised the engine was sweet
and I've got to tell you, it's a cr*cker.

It's got that lovely V8
verbal and plenty of grunt.

So all in all there's not
much to worry about.

The paintwork's a bit tired, the interior's
tatty but that can all be replaced.

This is a car that does exactly what it
says on the tin, it's rough around the edges

and it's showing it's
age but I reckon we can

give this whole farm
vehicle a bit of a facelift.

Right I've made my mind up, I'm having it.

Now Jan's advertised this
for three and a half grand

and I reckon what were
the other bits that need doing

to it?
I think it's worth about three grand.

Now I know that's a
bit of a kick in the pants

for him but three grand
is where I want to be.

Well what can I say?
Jan that was interesting.

Did you enjoy that?

Well sort of, yeah I
mean it drives just like

you'd expect the little
Land Rover 2 drive.

I'm just a little bit worried about
the amount of work there is to do.

It's a bit more than I expected, what with
the interior and a little bit of paintwork.

Now you've advertised it
for three and a half grand.

If you can make the figures
work, I could be your man.

What's the best you can do for me?

Three two.

Three thousand two hundred pounds?

Three thousand two hundred.

Come on you can do better than that.

Three thousand two hundred.

It needs a new life and I
can give it that new life.

Let's do it a little bit better.

What do you say on three grand?

There you go.

Come on.

Three grand, cash.

Three grand, let's go.

I bought myself a Land Rover.

Well done.

Top work.

Now I bet you're thinking, what on earth
am I doing buying a nail of a Land Rover?

Where's the profit in that?

Well trust me, I've got a great plan.

And when you and Ed
hear it, you're going to be as

enthusiastic as I am about
this drab old Defender.

Welcome back.

I bought an old Defender from Op North.

The place where a rusty
paintwork, a ripped up interior

and farmer's Van looks can
be bought for three grand.

There's something about an old Land Rover.

They're not comfy, quiet,
easy to drive or high tech.

What they are though is fun.

No, I haven't lost the plot.

I bought this Land
Rover with a plan in mind.

And I strongly believe there is
money in this old mud plugger.

Me and Ed just have to dig it out.

Now I think three grand for this
Land Rover is pretty good money.

I'll tell you what, I'm double excited.

What I'm not ecstatic about
though is the journey back to base.

Because the cruising speed of
this Landy is about 50 miles an hour.

And by my reckoning,
it's going to take six hours.

That means I'm in here for the long haul.

Now this long journey
back has given me a load

of time to think about
what to do with the Landy.

What I should do is convince Ed that
we need to give this a modern facelift.

And that way we can attract a city slicker.

I mean, give it a modern paint
job and put some bright stuff on it.

That way we could end up
getting up to six grand for it.

You heard me right, six grand.

That's double what we paid for it.

So you've bought us a
standard looking Land Rover.

I have bought us an honest
little weenie Land Rover.

Because I know how much you like them.

That's a bit more exciting really.

Well you can turn this
one into an exciting wagon

because you've got a
good basis to start with.

I guess I'm going straight
away for the interior.

I've noticed the seat covers on it.

Well, no, the seat covers are there
to hide a nice interior underneath.

I bet they're actually broken.

You see that, the seats are ruined.

One of the first things I
thought we'd do anyway

was to rip out the
interior and change it.

Okay, well what about the
rest of the stuff in the interior?

Well, the only thing to worry about is a
hooter and wind wipers and they work fine.

Okay, cool stuff.

Right, chill out.

Under the bonnet.

Now you're probably expecting to find
that two and a half litre turbo diesel.

Well it did sound a bit
more special than that.

Feast your eyes on this bad boy.

Look at that, you see a Rover V8.

Nice little petrol engine there.

How does it drive?

Well it drives lovely.

It's got the right sound.

It's got good torque.

It's not very fast.

Well has it got a high lift cam on it?

No.

Well that's a nice easy
thing we could do actually.

It's going to add about 20 horsepower.

It's going to make the
engine run a bit better.

Well it's a bit more zingy.

It's kind of a nice thing to do.

Wow, so that means we get
an engine that not only looks

the part, it sounds the
part and it goes the part.

The only problem is
with that is it's not going

to be wrapped up in
this old farmer's vehicle.

Well that is the thing, it is
a bit of an old tractor isn't it?

Yeah, I was thinking maybe what
we could do is try and get the outside

to look more like the engine
and turn it into a Chelsea tractor.

I like your thinking.

Okay, so what we're going to
do is sort out all this horrible old

plastic, sort out the bumper,
need to sort out the wheels as well.

Yeah, the wheels need changing.

Yeah but leave that to me
because that's my department.

But then I would imagine
you're going to have

to do something with
the paintwork anyway.

It does need a bit of a lift.
If we're going to go for this

sort of city look it needs to
be quite a good transformation.

So I guess I'll think about
that for a bit if that's alright.

Well I'm sure you'll
come up with something.

I've got one other idea and I
was thinking what about putting a

big window in the side of it,
give it a bit more air, either side.

That would make a
massive difference actually.

So just to summarise what you want me to do is
sort out the interior, sort out the exterior, do

the window, new wheels, do a bit of work on the
engine, just kind of transform the entire vehicle.

There's not a lot to do I know but
listen to me Ed, I know that if we

get this right we can earn some big
bucks and there's a reason for that.

Okay.

You look at this right, this
is the latest Land Rover

brochure and they're still
fundamentally selling the same car.

It does look a little
nicer than ours to be fair.

It does look a little bit
nicer but that's 25 grand.

Now if we can give our one
a 20 year facelift and bring

it up to date we'll be able
to double the value of it.

Alright but it is a huge amount of work
as always so I guess I'd better crack on.

Let's get it in the workshop.

I love the low lazy
verbal of a Rover V8 but

that's the thing, it is
a bit of a lazy verbal.

This engine has so much
potential waiting to be eked out.

After all it is the very same
V8 that you see in all kinds

of motorsport settings
from hill climbs to drag races.

So to get a bit more
power out of this engine

we're going to have
to go deep inside it.

The plan is to change the
camshaft, the part which spins

deep inside the engine and
forces the valves open and shut,

controlling the flow of the fuel air mixture
in and the exhaust out of the engine.

By fitting a high lift cam I can
change the way those valves

are opened and shut and
improve the engine performance.

A standard V8 would pump
out around 170 horsepower.

We could get up to 190
horsepower with the new cam.

One of the parts I'm going to
be taking off the engine is the

distributor and it's critical that
I get it back in the right position

in relation to the
rotation of the crankshaft

otherwise the engine
won't run properly.

So I'm going to do first of
all just setting the crank to top

dead centre and then what I can
do is take off the distributor cap

and then use a bit of correction fluid
to Mark where the rotor arm is pointing

and that way when I
take it out and put it

back in again I can
get it perfectly aligned.

Setting the crank at top
dead centre and then marking

the position of the rotor
arm in the distributor

will ensure that the ignition
timing is set properly.

This sets the exact moment
when the spark will occur

during each cylinder's
compression or combustion stroke,

which in turn affects
everything from fuel economy to

engine performance and
longevity. It's vital stuff.

With the carburetor and manifold
out of the way and with the valley

gasket removed I can finally
see what all this has been about.

Down in the depths there of the valley in
the middle of the V you've got a camshaft.

Now that is what I want to change and
it's a very important part of the engine.

Now if you look down
here you can see these

kind of lumps on this
metal stick if you like.

Those are the lobes.
Those lobes push on the

cam follows which in
turn push on the push rods.

They then push on the rocker
arms and they in turn push on

the valves opening and closing
them at exactly the right time.

Now to tell you any more I
need to get that camshaft out.

This is a V8 with two valves
per cylinder so of course

there are 16 push rods, 8
on each bank of the engine.

I'm carefully placing them
in this piece of cardboard so

I remember where to locate
them when I rebuild the engine.

Then I'm gently removing
the hydraulic valve lifters to

stop them fouling on the
camshaft when it's drawn out.

Well there we go this is
our cast iron camshaft.

Now obviously we're doing this because we're
going to try and increase the performance

of our engine but actually we're going to
get a bit more power than we first thought.

Because if you look at some of these
lobes you can see they're actually a

little bit worn and in fact there's a
bit of pitting on some of them as well.

Which means they're being
worn down and that means you're

not going to get as much
lift or duration on the valves.

Of course it means you're
going to be losing a bit of power so

it's doubly good that we're
going to be doing our conversion.

I picked up a new high lift camshaft
on the Internet for just 127 pounds.

On the bench you can clearly see
the difference in the metal lobes.

The new one has more
defined peaks, the lobes

on the old one look
rounder and smoother.

These peaks are what gives
the high lift I keep talking about.

That's where the better
performance comes from.

Our brand new cam, our Viper
Huracan which already sounds much more

exciting and powerful is actually
designed very much for this job.

It's got perhaps 20 brake horsepower
more than a standard cam but the main

thing is the power is right where
you need it in that bottom end grunt.

As you've probably worked
out this really is a full on job.

You could tackle it at home but I
would suggest you leave yourself

plenty of time because I've got


If you can manage it though
it would save you around


from an off-road specialist.

This is a great top tip when you're
reassembling engine parts just like this.

As I'm putting the camshaft
into the engine I'm actually

smearing all of those surfaces
with an engine braking additive.

Basically it's like a real super gloopy kind
of oil and that way it coats all of those

metal bearing surfaces and that way when of
course you spin the car up for the first time

you sort of just graunch loads of
fresh metal together it's actually going

to slip around nicely and bed in
and brake in just the way it should do.

The hydraulic valve lifters take a lot of
punishment so while the engine is stripped

down I'm replacing them too, lubing
them up before I slide them snugly home.

Then the push rods go back in.

It's getting exciting now, we're getting really
close. The next thing I need to do, just for

peace of mind, I'm just going to rotate the engine,
spin it over two times, two rotations by hand

and if there's anything untoward, anything
clashes or gorges together I'm going to be

able to feel it and it saves any embarrassment
later on when I turn it over with the key.

Turning the crank manually means I
can check that the engine is back together

correctly, the cam timing is right and
that the valves aren't hitting the pistons.

It's like watching an
engine run in slow motion.

It's good.

There's a real
satisfaction to being able to

pull an engine apart
and then build it back up.

I've lost count of the amount I've
worked on and concentration is always key

because if you do make a mistake it can
be costly and time consuming to put right.

But I'm not having any
problems so far with this V8.

It's great to work on and
a really great power plant.

At last, everything is done. So now
I get to turn the key and if I've done

everything right, when I do turn
that key it's going to fire into life.

And if it does, I need to keep it running
for about half an hour and vary the

revs between say 1500 and 2500 rpm and
that way it's going to help bed the cam in.

Let's just hope Mike appreciates that boost
in power. This has been one big oily job.

Hey! Well that sounds pretty sweet.
So now I've just got to sit here.

Now I need to get our Land Rover looking good
and I could spend all afternoon on the Internet

trying to find the parts but sometimes face to face
negotiation will get you the deal that you need.

So I'm on my way to go and see a Land
Rover specialist that sounds interesting.

Are you Julia?

I am Mike. Hi, how do you do?

I'm very well. Yeah, great to meet you.
What a firm. What a place.

Yeah, it's great.

What's the first thing I can do to my car
to give it that more youthful appearance?

Something really easy to do is
change the headlamps around.

Okay, so we can just change
these and change the grill as well?

Yeah, absolutely. Really
easy to do. You can

put a new grill on for
less than 20 pounds.

And another thing that I've
noticed is on the more younger

ones they have clear lenses
on the front. Is that possible?

Yep. The only thing you've got to
remember is if you change it to a clear

lens is you've just got to pop the
orange bulbs in. Make sure it's compliant.

Okay. Now the shop window
dressing for any car, I always say,

are the wheels on it. At the
moment I've got those steel wheels.

Can I get away with just painting
those silver? Would people accept that?

To be honest, to get the best money for
the car and appeal to the most amount of

people, your best bet is to put some nice
alloy wheels on and some big chunky tires.

These are brand new but we could do
you a set of really good used alloy wheels

completely refurbished, some good
tires on for about 400 pounds for the set.

And that'll make a huge difference.

Oh, that will make a big
difference. That's fantastic. Is there

anything I can do to our dashboard,
maybe change the steering wheel?

Changing the steering wheel will make a big
difference. You can do that for less than 40

pounds and that'll make a huge difference,
really make the car look more modern inside.

Julia, you're making the right noises.

Great.

Right, so wheels, tires,
grills, lights, steering

wheel. How much is
it all going to cost me?

That all comes to 470, Mike.



What did you say? 400 pound cash.

How about 420?

It's good you come
down but let's say 400 quid

cash. I'll be your best
customer today, I promise.

I'll tell you what, mate, I love that
shirt. 400 quid and they're yours.


wants a shirt off me back.

I tell you, I can really
see this lady coming

together. I've got the
whole vision thing going on.

Ed's improved the engine and I've got the
stuff to turn it into a right head Turner.

So join us to see this old
defender come fighting back.

OK, here's the deal. I shell
out three grand for this tired


grand on upgrading the V8 engine,

new paint job and shiny
alloy wheels to turn this

farmyard chugger into a
desirable Chelsea tractor.

Then we sell it on for around six
grand and pocket the difference.

But no self-respecting
city slicker is going

to drive around in this
hardback cab like this.

So Ed's next job is to tackle that.
Let there be light!

The solid sides of our Land
Rover's hard top body make

this thing just look
too agricultural for my

liking and the interior
is particularly dingy.

To let the light into our Land Rover, I'm
going to fit some big windows in the rear.

But before I can cut
some holes, I've got to

remove these internal
strengthening uprights.

They're held in place with rivets that I'm
drilling out with a high-speed steel bit.

With the reinforcement
out of the way, I can

now concentrate on
trying to Mark out the panel.

Now the idea is, I'm actually
going to do most of my work

from the outside of the
vehicle, it would be a lot easier.

But what I want to make sure is that
I've got my centres on this side correct.

I'm just going to use a bit of masking
tape to Mark out where that's going to go.

I'll drill a hole through
and then I'll do the rest

of the marking out from
the other side of the vehicle.

This masking tape is roughly
where the hole for the window will go.

The rear window is usually equidistant
between the front and back of the rear cab.

So now I'm measuring
and marking my centre point.

I've already measured up the windows
I'm fitting and now I'm transferring those

measurements to the masking tape to
Mark the edges of the hole for the window.

So now what I need to do, I'm
going to use a really tiny drill bit.

So that's going to drill
through the centre and

perhaps even through
these two markings here.

And then I can measure
from the other side and

make sure everything's
going to be just the same.

Okay, now I've got my drill
marks established, I'm drawing

up an external template
using masking tape once again.

So now I've got the
masking tape in position, I'm

just using a pen to find
those holes I drilled before.

I'm just going to use a
nice big straight edge

to draw on exactly
where I want our datum.

And the reason I'm
using masking tape is of

course then, if I was
to get it slightly wrong,

I'd always rip it off at the start again.

Now I have cut holes in bodywork
before and I've not yet made a big mistake.

I'm anxious to keep that record intact,
always measure twice and cut just the once.

The observant among you probably
realised that the windows have rounded

edges, so I've found something with
the same radius, a roll of masking tape.

And I'll just use that as a template
on each side of the defender.

Might as well keep it simple.

Now for these corners
which I'm going to cut

first, I'm actually going
to be using a Jigsaw.

Before I can use the Jigsaw I need
to make sure I can get the blade in,

so I'm just going to drill a hole at
the beginning of each of those cuts.

And bear in mind of course, because of
this kind of lumpy edge here, what I need

to do is go that way with the cut rather
than trying to go around and hit that.

So it just means I can
just make a nice little easy

start, it doesn't have to
be too close to the line.

It's Jigsaw time.
No going back after this. We're off.

After I've done the
corners, I change to a 1mm

cutting disc to create
nice straight lines.

Ok, well now I have a hole.
The next thing I need to do

is just clean these edges
because they're nice and sharp.

So I've just got this
very clever little tool.

This tool de-birds the edges.
That's removing lots of sharp

and nasty swarf which the
cutting blade's left behind.

Right, well with everything de-burred,
it's probably quite a good time just

to see if I've actually cut the flight
size hole or offer up the new window.

Look at that. Perfect fit.

So I'm happy I've got the window
in place and now what I'm doing, I'm

using a slightly oversized drill
bit to the rivets I actually need.

I'm just using that and these holes
are already here just to give me a centre.

Just get a little bit of a Mark.

I'm just marking them all out.

Next thing to do is to
secure the window with

rivets which means
drilling holes. Lots of them.

I've got the holes in the
right place and the body

works so the next step is to
put the window in for good.

Now before I can do that I want to
just run a bead of silicon all the way

around the outside so it seals nicely
and stops any rain getting inside the car.

The window sits on its bead of
silicon. Once I'm happy the window

is aligned correctly I insert a
few rivets to hold it in position.

Three jaws inside the head of
the pop rivet tool are closed around

the rivet's shaft and drawn back as
the handles are squeezed together.

The steel shaft is attached to the tip of the
rivet and so crushes the rest of the softer

aluminium outer part towards the rivet's flange
thereby clamping the window to the bodywork.

The steel shaft is stretched until it
breaks at a pre-weakened point inside

the head of the rivet which leaves
a strong but neat mechanical fixing.

Well now the window's riveted in it is looking nearly
factory and to that end if you notice here the catch is at

the top of the window just like the more modern vehicles
so we're getting on that way to this 20 years younger look.

And just to finish it off what I
need to do is add this little bit of

rubber strip which is going to cover
up all these little shiny pop rivets.

Now that is looking pretty good but of
course I need to do the other side now.

How are you doing? Not
too bad. Good to see you.

Right the old Landy. What
have you been up to then?

Well I've been very busy in the depths
of the engine down there sorted out a new

aftermarket camshaft which will give us


Wow so now we've got a camshaft that
actually does the job that it sets out to

do and that engine not only does it
sound great it's going to perform great.

It's going to perform
fantastically. I think the punters

are going to love that. What
else have you been up to?

Well actually look it's much
much brighter in the back there.

Very good. That's given it a
whole new appeal. We're going

to attract a completely different
audience than previously.

So I suppose all we're waiting
for now is a nice new paint job.

Well exactly that's the next job. I've got
to prep the whole thing ready for paint.

Well once it comes back from the
paint shop I've gone out and done

some shopping for you and I've
gone and got you some lovely parts.

First of all I've got you
these new headlamps around.

These are later ones
with little vents in them.

Oh yeah okay cool. Got some
clear lenses to go on there as well.

Lovely lovely. Got you a new grill.

Oh look at that. How good is that?
That's going to look great.

You can spray these silver as
well if you want to do or you might

leave them the old matte
black. I'll leave that bit up to you.

Thank you. Okay.

And I also did us a cracking
deal on a nice tidy set of alloy

wheels, tyres and they
weren't bad actually. Really nice.

They need a little bit of titivating
but you'll do it and it'll look cracking.

So it is going to look transformed.

I can't wait.

Okay it's body work
time. Remember that rusty

front door? Well it's
the first thing to go.

I'm not going to even try and mend it.
I'm going straight for a replacement part.

There are so many second hand parts
available for a Land Rover. It's fantastic.

This door costs just
£165 and the best bit

is all of these bits
are just so easy to fit.

Couple of bolts and it's in place.

And it's not just the front
door I need to swap over.

The rear door was too far
gone to economically save.

So that's another second
hand part I've ordered.

Trouble is it's from a very basic model
so we'll need to transfer the wiper motor

and heated rear windscreen from our
old one after the car has been resprayed.

We're going to give our Defender
a fresh lick of paint but before I can

do that we need to take off
everything that's going to get in the way.

Now I've already removed
that crispy old front grille

because of course Mike
has got us a replacement.

He's also got us a
replacement front light bezel.

After all if we want our Landy to look
years younger this face needs a lift.

The aftermarket checker plate was
fitted with screws and is easy to remove.

I've got plans for that. I think I'll get
it powder coated in nice satin black.

With the car stripped finally I can rub
down the Burma bright body panels.

This is a special alloy
which has been used

on Land Rovers since
the car's launch in 1948.

I can use my orbital
disc sander on them but

I'm being quite careful
not to damage them.

Now as always before I take
a car off to the paint shop just

making sure that the rest of
the paint's got a really lovely key.

Well that's all the prep work
I need to do so now I've got

to send this off to the paint
shop for that lick of paint.

This is an important day. The biggest thing
holding back our Land Rover is the paint.

It's the kind of car you want to
take down a muddy Lane just

to cover up that horrible
old tired and faded blue paint.

But not anymore because
today we're going to

drag our ancient mud
plugger back to the present.

What we're going to do is we're
going to paint it with a fantastic gunmetal

grey colour that comes straight out of
the 2010 Land Rover colour catalogue.

It's going to look fantastic.

This paint is water based so
it's more environmentally friendly.

It's now used more and more because
of concerns about the level of volatile

organic compounds or VOCs that old
solvent based paints emitted into the air.

Jay here will give it several
coats of base colour and lacquer.

Straight away you can see the
years of our 80s motor just drop off.

Oh wow. I can already see how
much our Land Rover has been

transformed but the next time I
see it it'll be back in the workshop.

It's going to have its wheel arches
on, the roof will be on and the doors.

It looks good now. It's going to
look even better then. I can't wait.

Oh wow. Our Land Rover looks


We've got the wings back on, the
bonnet and the roof. It's looking very

together and they've painted on the
interior as well which looks very nice.

Oh look at that.

We've got the front trim
for our Landy in a lovely

kind of bright wheel
silver looking very good.

It's going to really lift
the front of the car as well.

Finally I'm beginning to see
this transformation come to life.

I'm stunned by this paint job. It really
has turned a mud pugger into a city gent.

Okay so the wheels still look dodgy and the
interior needs work but join us soon as we

sort out these and 100 other jobs and then try
to sell this lovely Landy on for top money.

Here on Wheel of Dealers we love a
challenge and it doesn't get much tougher

than turning this old farm wagon
into a car fit for fashionable streets.

Ed's giving the engine a bit
more clout by bolting on a new

camshaft and the cosmetic
work on the car is also underway.

Just look at it. It's back from
the paint shop and looking

amazing. The finishing line is in
sight. Come on Ed, you can do it.

It's good to see that our
Rover has returned but

really that just means a
whole load more work for me.

I'm going to start on the
front end transforming our

old county spec car into a
more modern looking Defender.

Our old bumper was bent and rusty so I
bought a new one for £80. Bolt on chic.

The grille is the face of the
car and this new silver one really

is bang up to date and it just
screws into place nice and easy.

To make our vehicle look even more modern we're going
to be fitting brand new clear lenses all round and of

course that means the indicators then have to be fitted
with orange bulbs because otherwise it wouldn't be legal.

But of course, as always,
Mike has come to the rescue.

I've had the old checker
plate powder coated in black.

Total cost £80. Pop
Rovitz hold it all in place.

Well the exterior of our Land
Rover is now looking pretty

magnificent but there is one
modern touch that is missing.

On the more recent
Defenders across here on the

front of the bonnet there
are the Land Rover letters.

Now we have struggled to get hold of
some of the original metal badges but we

have managed to get a really good
sticker on an auction site for just £8.49.

So I'm just going to
apply that there and I think

that really will be a
fantastic finishing touch.

I'm well happy with that.

The inside of the cabin is letting
the side down though so those split

seat bottoms are replaced with
new clip in £30 parts. My kind of job.

Any urban cowboy should be
happy to drive this V8 through the

mean city streets but the
view ahead isn't that appealing.

This is a really old
steering wheel and luckily

Mike has got us his
rather natty replacement.

Remove the plastic trim.
No airbags or car horn

here. You get direct
access to the steering wheel.

Undo one nut and the wheel is free.

Fitting the new one
requires a bit more effort.

I'm attaching a central boss
so that the aftermarket steering

wheel can mount onto it
with six cross headed screws.

This centre plate completes the picture.

Well that is much better
so I'm done in here.

Something I've been dying to
do ever since Mike turned up with

our Land Rover is get rid of
these nasty old steel wheels.

I want something far less
agricultural. I want something

more fitting on a Chelsea
tractor. I need alloys.

Now Mike got a great deal on these bad boys but
before I can fit them I need to fit this special

spacer because of a difference in offset and before
I can fit that I need to get rid of the old wheels.

The spacer conversion is simple. It's held
on by the original studs that come out of

the hub and then it has its own studs to
which I'm going to bolt the alloy wheels.

Well I was skeptical when this old
beast turned up at the workshop but you

know what I think we've actually done
it. We've managed to defy the years.

Our Defender now drives
better, the cab is lighter and more

airy. In fact the whole thing
seems fresher and more appealing.

I'd even go as far as to say I would
consider having this on my drive.

From farmyard to city streets our old
Defender has been on quite a journey but

the results mean our fresh-faced, smacked
up Land Rover will find a ready market.

When I tracked down this duck egg
blue mud plugger I had an open mind

about what we could do but a plan
quickly formed and Ed was keen to dig in.

The engine was the first
thing to be upgraded with a

high lift cam, increasing on
the road performance by 10%.

Next the rear cab, more
use to sheepdogs than

pashminas, was given
a new set of windows.

The duller's dishwater paint job was
replaced with an urban sheet g*n metal grey.

And Ed spent hours and
hours bolting on the bling

that means this car can
live with the best of them.

How much did it all cost?
Well we'd rather push the boat out.

Luckily we bought the Land
Rover cheap but with a full respray

and all those current spec goodies
we did burn through the pounds.

Almost 5,700 of them.
Ouch! Is there enough left

in this deal to make a
profit? Fingers crossed.

Ed? Wow! Look at the Landy!
What a difference! Look at the big grill

and the Land Rover sticker and
this new fresh modern paint job.

Ed it's absolutely awesome.
It looks so much younger

than when I dropped it off.
Can't you do the same for me?

Of course I can. I'll give you
a nice new fresh paint job,

maybe bang on some alloy
wheels, you'll be good as new.

Don't forget my trunnions. I
can see you've worked your

magic. And cutting in those
rear windows, look at that.

That's going to give a whole
different look and feel to this old Landy.

Well don't forget the new
camera shaft of course because

now it's got a bit more
performance and it's more driveable.

So it goes better, it looks
better. I reckon it's about

time me and you give this a
proper test. Are you up for it?

Always.

I'm so pleased you haven't
brought us to some muddy

off-road circuit for the test
drive of our Land Rover.

Why's that? Well first of all
when we're bouncing around an

off-road course like that with
you driving I get really car sick.

That's just the way it is.

The other thing is, I'm
just really proud of our Land

Rover. I think it so deserves
something much more classy.

Well you can't get much more classy than
this can you? The famous Henley Entemps,

home to many a Chelsea tractor and
our old motor feels right at home here.

And this vehicle definitely says goodbye
farmyard, hello, upmarket to driveway.

Although this vehicle still retains
its brilliant off-road ability, I've got

a funny feeling it's going to spend
most of its life out on the tarmac now.

Talking of tarmac, how does that
new uprated cam feel on the road?

It feels right. You know
what, when I first drove this car

a while back it was a bit
ropey but now it's not bad is it?

It's got good torque
through all the gears and

it's definitely a monster
out on these streets.

What I really want to know is are we going
to turn a profit on this one Mr. Brewer?

Well that's going to be a little bit tough
because we've spent quite a bit of money.

That's all money well spent.
Money well spent is and I will promise

you we will earn a profit. It won't
be as big as you expect though.

I reckon we should advertise
this car for six and a half grand.

Okay well that does seem fair
but I'm going to be sad to see it go.

Me too.

I posted a classified ad on the web and
the phone, well it didn't ring for ages.

I started to worry that I
got the price point wrong

with this motor but
then finally I had a bite.

Could I get a deal done?

First on the phone was this guy behind me.
He's called Martin.

He was desperate to
come and sit and he's come

a long way from Halifax
in the north of England.

I reckon it could be just a case of
closing him down. Fingers crossed.

So then Martin, what do you think?

Fantastic. I really like it.

Well there's been a lot of work gone into
it to get it to look like it does today.

And that work needs
rewarding I think. I've advertised

it for six and a half grand.
So where do you want to be?

Would you take six grand cash?

It's a little bit, I mean
it's a fair bit but can

you do a bit better than
that? Say six two fifty?

I'd be pushing it really.
I've got money in my pocket now.

And you bought the cash with you?

Cash with me today.
Six grand's my final offer really.

Well the sun is shining.

It certainly is.

You've caught me in a good mood
and I need to buy some more cards.

Fold out your hand. You've
got yourself a bargain. Top work.

Thank you very much. Cheers.

So we only made £323
in profit. Perhaps I did get

carried away buying top
notch parts for this Land Rover.

But when you see it here with
its glint in paintwork, do you know

what? I wouldn't change a
thing. It really is the best of British.

Well I'm a happy boy. I've got some
cash in the back pocket and we've

taken an old farm vehicle and
turned it into something truly amazing.

If you want to see more faded
classics getting turned around

for the better, then join us
again soon on Wheeler Dealers.

Salah!