Defender D90 Rat Rod

[valheru]

Originally Posted by robbark34

Looking good dude

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Thank you

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[valheru]

The rock sliders/electronics tray on D-Rat are done.

I added a few “reinforcements” to the design, these should prevent the sheet metal from caving in upon impacts with rocks and damaging the electronics that will be mounted on top.

The build:

















The final product:












I had originally planned for this RC to be lighter than Big Blue (D90 Winch Challenge Pickup) that I made last year, which tips the scale at 14.5 lbs, but D-Rat may end up close, if not heavier...

I’ll let the elements I want to build dictate the final weight instead of building to the desired weight and compromise on the design!

Also, a happy coincidence, the center hole of the donor patio post mounting bracket ended up making a perfect recess for side recovery points.



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[valheru]

Busy day yesterday, therefore I only had time to add one L shaped bracket per rock slider in order to mount the battery tray, which in turn acts like a cross-brace for the sliders.









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[Mopar man]

Just went through your whole thread and what a great build your fab work is top notch. Definitely one of the coolest Defenders on this forum. Nice work.

[HumboldtEF]

I really like your method for doing the curved section of the sliders in segments then welding it together. I always fret about how to bend these kind of pieces all at once getting all of the curves in just the right spot which is really hard.

I'm also curious what you did to grind down and smooth out these sections? They look immaculate!

I'm really impressed with all of the metal work, very professional.

[valheru]

Originally Posted by Mopar man

Just went through your whole thread and what a great build your fab work is top notch. Definitely one of the coolest Defenders on this forum. Nice work.

Originally Posted by HumboldtEF

I really like your method for doing the curved section of the sliders in segments then welding it together. I always fret about how to bend these kind of pieces all at once getting all of the curves in just the right spot which is really hard.

I'm also curious what you did to grind down and smooth out these sections? They look immaculate!

I'm really impressed with all of the metal work, very professional.

Thank you both for the nice compliments, it's greatly appreciated.

I use a bench grinder and a Dremel tool with a leaf carbide burr to roughly clean the welds, then I move to different Nicholson files; flat 2nd and bastard cuts, to round chainsaw blade and a variety of jewelers/swiss files.

I spend about 60% of my build time hand filing to the final shape and the rest is the balance of the fabrication; from bending, to welding to cleaning the welds with power tools.



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[valheru]

I decided to add a slider to the rear bumper to prevent hook ups when sliding off of rocks.

The build:











The final product:








With the chassis/body:







This truck build is getting massive… If Big Blue was able to drag/roll rocks 6” in diameter… D-Rat might just might be able to shatter them with the amount of rock proofing I’ve built on it so far!!!



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[MrSquiggles]

Originally Posted by valheru

Good progress was made this evening on project D-Rat, the rear bumper was envisioned, designed, fabricated and is now ready for paint once I decide on a color.



It is an all steel construction with the mounting tabs made of 1/8” x 1/2” flat bar and everything else being 1/4” round stock.



Every pieces are cut then precisely sanded and adjusted to their required final length and angle before MIG welded, than painstakingly filed by hand to the final shape.



The build:











































The final product:





















With the chassis/body:















Eventually I will bite the bullet and buy myself a nice TIG that can do both steel and aluminum, hence cutting down quite a bit of post-welding processing due to the TIG scalpel like precision.







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Holy freholies! That is one awesome "bumper", nicely done Sir.

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[valheru]

Originally Posted by MrSquiggles

Holy freholies! That is one awesome "bumper", nicely done Sir.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

Thank you

D

[valheru]

I finished the front body mount on project D-Rat and started work on the interior.





First on the list are the seats; I removed the headrest and a portion of the back of the stock rubber seats to fit against the rear bulkhead, but my driver was too tall to take his place with the lowered roofline.





Therefore, I made him a bomber style seat and I modified the stock seat base to go with, now he has just enough headroom to not get concussions while out on the trails.












Such a happy looking camper!





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[valheru]

I spent most the evening figuring out what to do with the dash on project D-Rat.

After much searching on the net for inspiration and instead of going the full custom route as I had originally planned, I decided to keep the stock dash, but to flavor it to my liking.

Even Bowler, the famous UK defender performance shop, which makes the Wildcat and the Tomcat versions of the D90, also re-use the stock dash.







In between stints of dash pondering, I modified the first bomber seat I already fabricated and made a duplicate for the passenger side.











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[MrSquiggles]

Oh my, this is really coming along nicely!

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[valheru]

Originally Posted by MrSquiggles

Oh my, this is really coming along nicely!

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

[valheru]

The interior of project D-Rat is starting to take shape.

Things are moving along nicely, but slower than what I would like.

Then again, figuring the templates to match the contour of the dash and floor is a slow process.

The stock arm rest was relocated further back and trimmed to the rear bulkhead, the sides of the new center console are done, I closed off the top portion and started the scale details.











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[TurboSohcRyan]

Top freaking notch work! I look forward to future updates.

[Browneye]

You're 3-d printing the interior details? Tons of detail, very real looking.

[valheru]

Originally Posted by TurboSohcRyan

Top freaking notch work! I look forward to future updates.

Originally Posted by Browneye

You're 3-d printing the interior details? Tons of detail, very real looking.

No 3D printed parts here, I am using the stock dash that comes with the Team Raffee D90 hard body (see photo below) and I am modifying it with the use of styrene sheets.





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[Jonnie Fraz]

Amazing well documented build! Admittedly when I first saw the inspiration I felt it was not for me, but you are doing it so well I love this build. Keep up the great work!

[valheru]

Originally Posted by Jonnie Fraz

Amazing well documented build! Admittedly when I first saw the inspiration I felt it was not for me, but you are doing it so well I love this build. Keep up the great work!

Thank you very much.



A now, for something different...


The new center console on project D-Rat is done.

I modified and relocated the e-brake, the switch panel is finished and installed, the arm rest was capped off, the radio unit was removed and replaced with a storage DIN.










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[valheru]

These last 2 evenings were very productive on project D-Rat.

A “go fast” accelerator pedal was added and the driver instantly decides to throw caution to the wind and throttle out!







A harness bar was made to mount the shoulder straps of the 4-points harnesses.







A rally Terratrip computer was installed on the co-drivers side.







The owner got a bit weird and scavenged a dashboard hula doll… she’s a young Polly Pocket aspiring one day to be an actress.









Deadpool grew his face back, again, after being transformed into a bracelet skull bead.





And someone decided to replicate one of Deadpool’s katanas... because... Deadpool.







D-Rat lost both front fenders in a freak saw accident!






And the firewall is getting some well-deserved trimming and attention.






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P.S. I have some new 2007 Land Rover D90 Puma front fenders for sale; never winter driven, no corrosion or body damage. No shipping. Local pickup only. $1000 O.B.O.