MOD Defender 90 from CFB Suffield

[D Andersen]

Hey Everyone, newbie here.

I jumped in and bought one of the CFB Suffield MOD Defender 90's last week. Yikes, what have I done?

The most urgent thing is to get it back to the North Shore. Any advice?

Currently it seems about indifferent cost-wise to get someone to bring it on a trailer/flat bed vs paying for gas on my Dad's camper van / renting a car hauler. I'd like to do the drive, but the weather is a bit unpleasant.

Further posts to come in which I will chronicle the anticipated heartache of trying to get it going and certified.

Dave

[ANDYD]

Hi Dave,

Welcome to the world of Defender ownership....
Is it a non runner? That makes a big difference on how easy the loading would be.

I guess your shipping choices would be Train, shipping container, U haul flat bed trailer or fix her up and drive her home!

I have heard of people who fly one way, rent a U haul truck, load the vehicle into the back (you will need two ramps and it would need to be well chocked and strapped down) and then drive the U haul back on a one way rental.

Let us know how you get on .......

Andy

[D Andersen]

Hi Andy, thanks for the welcome.

It is indeed a non-runner. I've looked at lots of the options. A U-drive truck rental is massively expensive. Maybe I just got a bad/busy day. The train option didn't pan out because they want runners only.

The uShip site has provided some very competitive bids compared to the craigslist and kijiji replies I have had.

I also have an ad on Craigslist hoping to connect with others who have bought the last tranche of offerings from CADC. Anyone here buying one?

[swamijake]

I bought one. I drove out with a flat deck in October. 2 day round trip. You can be at the base at 8 am. They are very professional.

I would hesitate to have someone pick it up. Base paper work might make things difficult for a hired driver.

I'm trying to find a new top for my 110, so if you come across anyone who bought one of the real beatup ones let me know.

registration gets a bit confusing as they have never been registered. You will need to have it inspected before it gets registered. Remember that everything has to work before going to inspection, ie all lights, wipers, defroster, etc.

Also, the serial numbers don't enter into the ICBC system right so you have to apply for a new VIN.

Take a good battery with you as it may just have a flat battery and need the fuel system bled. Way easier to get on the trailer if it runs.

[RamblerRob]

how long do you have to have it picked up? I was reluctant to bid as I thought it needed to be picked up within 5 days and I didn't think I could sort that out.

[swamijake]

Send Tamsin an email. Her contact is on the link for your Defender.

They aren't in a mad rush and won't be too pushy to have it picked up right away.

[D Andersen]

Tamsin said she didn't want them sitting around for three months (which would have been better for an amateur hauler like me) but they are flexible.

Swamijake - I'm not clear on the title transfer thing. It seems the base needs proof of transfer, but ICBC won't register it until the certification is done. Chasing my tail stuff.

I have a hauler hired and things are starting to line up. uShip.com seemed to work well, although you have to monitor the bids constantly as they are made and withdrawn at will. There are lots of guys in Alberta looking for any contracts right now, so maybe a good time to ship. I got wide-ranging quotes, so lots of guys realistic, lots of guys not.

Yeah, all the CFB Suffield owners should be in touch. Its hard to find info for our vehicles - specs, spares, history etc. What's our name going to be? The Sufferin Suffields?

[swamijake]

You don't need anything from ICBC prior to going to the base. You just go and get it with the forms they sent you when you paid. Once you get it back to BC, you need to get it all fixed up and inspected, then you take your inspection and the forms from GCSurplus to an autoplan place and they will write up some transfer papers. They may have a problem with the VIN in which case you will have to request a new vin from ICBC. They will send that to your inspector, and the inspector has to put it on the vehicle.

then you do the transfer at the autoplan agent, you have to pay tax and then you are good to go.

[D Andersen]

Thanks, swamijake, that helps a lot. One of the clauses in the bill of sale says ownership has to transfer before they release the vehicle. By that I assumed they meant the ICBC style title, but that can't happen until its registered. Registration can't happen until the vehicle is certified, and certification can't happen until I get possession and can take it to a shop. Vicious circle.

I searched up the VIN on the various VIN calculators on the net and got a different result from each site. Either the sites have incorrect info/routines, or the MOD's VINs are disruptive. Probably the former, but the latter is more interesting.

OK, gotta go and do some work so I can pay for this folly.

[red90]

In Alberta, all you need is a bill of sale to prove ownership. Any old piece of paper will do... It should have a normal Land Rover VIN.

[D Andersen]

The 90 has had its once-over. The diesel started after a new battery and new fuel. Whew. The frame is in great shape. The diesel is a 2006 factory rebuild. The canvas looks great.

None of electrical works other than for the engine. Rats. Mice. Looks like a new harness/loom is in its future. Also I understand that the Military Lights switch will have to be replaced with a civvy one. I regret the loss of something authentic like that but the military harness is twice the price of the civilian one, so I won't regret that part.

Less dramatic things to be done, but I am sure they will add up: Master cylinder, new tires, some steering components, one seat base. Change all the fluids. Many other things I can't remember right now. Just hand over the credit card.

Anyone have a spare wiring harness to sell?

[swamijake]

you don't need to replace the switch. mine had that and it wasn't an issue for inspection.

[D Andersen]

you don't need to replace the switch. mine had that and it wasn't an issue for inspection.

Ah, Ok. I misunderstood. I suppose I was being warned about absent minded use of the lighting as it is not your standard Off-Running-Headlights settings.

I hope the new civilian wiring harness has the connectors. I have read conflicting info on this. The internet says the harnesses are the same and also wants to charge me double for a military one.

[D Andersen]

Update

The crew at Hesp has fixed and replaced a bunch of stuff. The sticky item is the wiring. The available harnesses are mucho expensive if available at all. Lots of conflicting information out there, even among official manuals.

Lots of cool finds on the internet though. One is the supplementary parts catalogue for the military 110 published in early 1991. For the life of me i can't find the equivalent for the military 90. Anyone have it?

A very unusual find was a 200 something page list of every Landy purchased by the British MOD from 1990 to 2013! Assuming its not a fake list leaked as disinformation. Not really useful to me because the serial number seems to have been stripped from my 90.

[swamijake]

Post Links!

[D Andersen]

How inconsiderate of me.

Here is a handy page
http://www.landroverweb.com/landrover/p ... r-manuals/

I thought it best to wait a while to see if I had any visits from mysterious men with British accents before I posted the MOD list link. So far so good. So here it is:

https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q= ... 53JwGTbFew

I can't seem to get the URL - the google hit goes straight to downloading the pdf. I saw this inside some right-click option - see if it works:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... losure.pdf

[red90]

Here is a coloured and labelled wiring diagram I put together. http://alre.club/Manuals/Defender%20FFR ... iagram.pdf

[D Andersen]

That wiring diagram is pretty cool. Does the 24V side of the circuit cross over into what would be 12V on a non-FFR truck? ie can I just "white-out" the 24V lines?

[red90]

As I understand it the 24v system is completely separate other than a couple of lights on the dash.

[D Andersen]

Update - the list of the vehicles purchased came from a response to an FOI request included in this list:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... ugust-2014

I found two entries on the list that could be mine. They have the same registration number but one of them has "JPT" added as a suffix, as in 19KK54 and 19KK54JPT. Anyone know what the JPT means?

Inconveniently, my 90 is too recent to be included in the Royal Logistics Corps database in order to search its service record, but those older than 1989 could/should be: http://www.rlcarchive.org/VehicleSrch.aspx