About Auto Care: Land Rover Defender restoration at Robison Service

Here at Robison Service, winter time is restoration time for many of our clients and their cars. We take projects in the fall with the hope that we'l scoot them out the door - finished - by the time spring weather arrives, a few months from now.

Here's a glimpse into some of our activities in the Land Rover world

This is an engine from a 1994 Defender that's undergoing a frame-off restoration. After ensuring the core was good, and no rebuild was needed, we've stripped this motor to the long block and removed all the discolored and salt spotted aluminum.

We bead blasted everything, and finished the aluminum in a clear ceramic that looks like fresh aluminum, but it won't fade or discolor. We finished all the black in semi-gloss powder, and changed the gaskets, hoses, and ancillary parts . . .

We did the same thing on the axles, stripping them to the casings, which were cleaned and powder coated. Land Rover left a lot of this metal bare when the vehicles were new, but we finish it all.

Here's Joe Brick, assembling away . . .

This Defender got a new cross member and we remade the tubular rear bumper. The old parts were totally destroyed by rust

Here's the frame-off restoration that I mentioned above. We've just installed the drivetrain, and built up the axles and hubs. A set of wheels and it's ready to roll!

This Series truck is here for wiring repairs, and eradication of rodents . . . .

Here we are mocking up a new set of jump seats for a Nantucket beach Defender . . ..

Here are the newly built brakes and hubs. The actual hub was bare metal originally, and we finished it in flat black ceramic for looks and corrosion resistance

Here's a rebuilt and refinished swivel . . .

We've had a lot of trouble with steel fuel lines rotting away. These stainless lines are a bear to bend and fit, but they'll never rot!

Here's Joe working on a wiring harness - something that's a lot easier to do when there's no truck in your way

How do we keep track of what's tight and what's loose? We mark all the fasteners with paint once they are torqued. Then an inspector can look under the car and pick out unpainted bolts.