Build Thread FL450's Build

[FL450]

Selling my 1993 NAS Land Rover Defender #99 has got to be one of the greatest regrets I may have ever had. What an icon that car was.

As fantastic as that truck was to build, it seemed no level of meticulous restoration could achieve the reliability, safety, and comfort we come to expect in a modern vehicle. On one of the many days the Defender looked at me the wrong way, a customer of mine made me an insane offer and I let it go.

So off I went to replace it with something more modern. Surely something out there exists that could be better right?

They were all great...but let's be honest...they will never have the heritage or nostalgia of the 110. Will the Grenadier be just another one like the rest?

 

[FL450]

View attachment IMG_0076.jpeg
Something tells me this one is different.

I ordered my Grenadier almost 14 months ago. After almost giving up hope I finally got a call that it was ready for delivery. A new dealership in the Bay Area had formed and I guess my car was part of the original seed stock. At around $93,000 sticker price, the Trialmaster was fully loaded but still missing many of its apparently dealer installed options. It took about 3-4 days to get the rest of the gear in stock but the dealer did a great job installing the factory options and my truck was finally ready for delivery.

Finally it came home.

 

[FL450]

Now for the build stuff. Normally I'm usually inclined to a modest 30mm lift but the Grenadier didn't seem to need it. I changed the rubber for 285/70 R17s in the Toyo R/Ts. I actually really like the stance as it is and there is plenty of clearance. Even loaded down it has a logical stance.

My plan is the following:

• 285/70 R17 Toyo R/Ts
• OWL Outdoor Rosen Sun Shades
• OWL Outdoor ARB Twin Compressor
• GP Factors Rear Cubby Table System
• Diabolical Rear Drawer System
• S2 Baja Lights on Rack
• Grenadier Stock Light Bar on stock Rhino Rack
• OWL Outdoor LP4 Baja Design Aux Light Replacements
• 67Designs Gear Accessory Rail
• ICOM 5100 HAM Radio
• Compactenna 2m x 70cm HAM Radio Antenna and front bumper mag mount
• Dometic Fridge and Slide to mount on top of Diabolical Drawer System

 

[FL450]

I started with the 67Designs 20 mm ball mount system. The little trim piece around the screen easily pops off so I modified the mount with counter sunk hardware and drilled into the trim piece for a more solid hold. I'm disappointed 67D didn't plan this like this originally. Either way with a little modification it works and you end up only having the drill the top trim piece which can be replaced easily if needed.

At the same time, I installed the ICOM 5100. It's my favorite HAM radio for remote applications. I installed the antenna on the front bumper via a very strong magnet with gasket. The ground plane isn't too bad actually...and supports my needs well.

 

[FL450]

Next came the drawers...an easy evening install and very well built. I like that it's one large drawer with dividers. It also levels out with the seats folded forward which makes for a nice flat platform.

Also the GPFactors rear drawer is fortunately compatible. This is a very nice piece of kit.

 

[FL450]

Installed the OWL Outdoor Sun Shades and the ARB Twin Compressor. Again super well made. Rosen makes very high quality sun shades that are optically tested. I'm a corporate jet pilot and have similar style shades in the PC24. Really nice equipment for a vehicle and nice to look through.

 

[FL450]

Now the lights... The dealer installed the factory light bar which took one of the 4 awesome roof accessory plugs. I was able to only use 2 more for the side and rear lights. Leaving one more for possibly a StarLink in the future.

The Rhino Rack offers lots of great locations to mount lights. There is even a cool rail on the bottom of the rack at the rear which made mounting below the roof line easy.

As for the LP4s I mounted them using OWLs really cool AUX light replacement kit. I used the factory wiring to trigger a relay since they draw a lot more amps. I did use EXT1 to run the day time running lights which are just cool.

 

[FL450]

Got the Dissent Offroad sliders installed today. They are perfect for this truck.