Swiss 110-Before and After

[Francois]

Well, after waiting a few years to get my 110 shipped to the US, I finaly got it. Bought it from a guy in Switzerland while I was stationed in Germany, back in 2007. I picked up the truck last March and started working on it immediately. Here is what it looked like.... enjoy the colors!!

Francois.

[bjf]

Love the colors

Rust?

Plans for it?

[Francois]

Barry,
The original color was orange, as the truck started out as a city/public works vehicle for the city of Zurich. Then someone bought it and decided to paint some stripes on it. This probably explained why no one was buying it...
As far as rust, The doors were not too bad. Footwells were shot. The frame was very solid, I thought, until I removed the front crossmember...(more to follow)
In 4 months of work, I have completely stripped and rebuilt the 110 in my one car garage (on post military housing). I will post pictures of the work as I get them converted so that they are not too large to upload on here.

As of today, I am almost finished with it, expecting to start driving it when my seats return from the upholstery shop.

[Francois]

Here is a picture of the rear door. Someone stole my spare during shipping...Nice.

[Francois]

Chassis to blast and powdercoat. A few pics of the facility where the frame was blasted and painted, and back in the garage for reassembly.

[JBinAlabama]

NICE!
So when you powder coat, do it fill the insides of the frame also?
I understand that its drawn to the steel.

VERY NICE! you now have a CLEAN SLATE

[evilfij]

I would fill the inside of the frame with waxoyl now as they rust inside out. Looks like you are doing a proper job of things! I hope you plan to keep the orange paint as it is really a nice color with the white roof.

[Francois]

Here is a shot of the tight working space in the garage. Also a couple of the firewall shots. Had a local welding shop cut, bend and weld some brand new, heavy duty steel to replace both footwells.

[Francois]

Stripping paint + new footwells installed in the firewall.
Repaired Firewall and new Tposts (from Stephen) getting a few coats of primer.

[Miller]

So you're the guy Stephen was telling me about. Congrats, man. I am moving to Rucker in a week, and I'm bringing my 110 with me. It was a Swiss 110 in a former life, too!

[Francois]

Yeah Stephen mentioned your name as well. I`m probably going to leave Rucker soon (been here long enough). Hope to see you when you get there.

[Francois]

More pictures. Chassis reassembly and paint stripping on the tub.

[sonoronos]

Francois, what method are you using to strip paint from the aluminum body?

I need to do the same on my truck.

[Francois]

Ed,
I used this gel-like chemical called aircraft remover, and also this other kind called tal-strip from mar-hyde(3m). You can get a one gallon can for about 30 bucks at your local car part store(like advance). It took 2 or 3 cans to do the whole thing. I used a 2 inch paint brush to apply about one SQ foot at a time. Leave it sit and you`ll see it bubble. I used a 1 1/2 inch flexible putty knife to gently scrape the area. Repeat if theres paint left on it.
Be sure to wear gloves and proper clothing/protection B/C this stuff burns. Also dont go cheap and buy the paint stripper from home improvement stores... not near as effective....(so I`ve heard..:)
As you scrape, collect the spent paint/stripper in a bucket and dispose at your local hazmat place.
When you are done with a panel/section, used a pressure washer and some aluminum brite to remove any contaminants left over (or it will ruin your paintjob).
Stripping paint takes a long time (took me 3 weeks) but its worth it in the end, as you avoid overheating your metal with prolonged sanding etc...
Francois

[Francois]

With a Swiss 110, I had to go with a Swiss-themed paint... Zermatt Silver.

[sonoronos]

Thank you, Francois!!

[nathanwind]

Francois:

Impressed you're pulling this off in the space allotted...makes me contemplate bumping up my chassis swap plan on the Series in my garage! Good luck, great thread so far.

[Francois]

Jason,
The only thing I used to do the heavy work is an engine crane. I was able to slide the chassis onto a trailer to take it to blasting. Everything else was done by hand. Work space was tight and I did use part of my dinning room as a parts storage overflow for painted pieces...

[Francois]

Rear door.

[Francois]

Headliner in Light gray tweed. better than the old shaggy carpet.

[Francois]

Rear seats and seatbelts installed.

[Francois]

Picture or the interior and custom front seat installed...:)

[airbornrover]

Nice custom work.:)

[diesel_jim]

Liking that seat.... is it a Recaro?


Looking good on the rebuild though, nice.

Are you going to keep the V8 in it?

[Francois]

Jamie, Yes I am keeping the V8 for now. It starts right up, has good compression all around. I ended up doing some minor maintenance on the powertrain while I had it out: Plugs and wires, misc seals and gaskets, new clutch and a good cleaning. I would like to eventually drop a diesel in it, but I`ll wait a couple more years for that.

[Francois]

Seats

[ersatzknarf]

Wow ! Those look very comfy. May I ask the details, please ?

[rijosho]

Are those RRC seats?

[evilfij]

Are those RRC seats?

I hope the driver is not over 6ft tall.

;)

[Francois]

Yep. Range rover seats. not much higher than the original seats but way more comfortable. They came with the truck and I had a local upholstery shop re-cover them. Its gray and black tweed. The gray tweed is the same as the headliner. Here is a shot of the old seats and the new rear seat.

[Francois]

Finished product, after 4 months of work.

[ipgregory]

Nice work, looks great.

[ArmyRover]

I wish my efforts produced such a nice looking result after 4 months

[nathanwind]

Finished product, after 4 months of work.

Wow Francois...unbelievable result, nice work! It took me 4 months just to get around to putting on my stainless hardware kit...

[ersatzknarf]

Amazing ! Great job ! ! !

Finished product, after 4 months of work.

[rrc.swb]

WOW! I'm green full of envy... :)

I can only do a radiator in four month. (True story)... LMAO

Great lucking truck... Enjoy it!!! :toast

------ Follow up post added August 1st, 2011 01:18 PM ------

Picture or the interior and custom front seat installed...:)I love the Recaro seats. :grin

[]-[ @ n $]

That is a great looking 110!

[Ray Bone]

Wow.....

[Francois]

Took a few more pictures this afternoon. Glad to be driving it around but do I wish I had A/C...

[airbornrover]

A/C is overrated:)

[JBinAlabama]

Great looking truck! It's hot in Bama this week for sure

[nathanwind]

Took a few more pictures this afternoon. Glad to be driving it around but do I wish I had A/C...

Francois:

Where did you get that "Defender 110" rear decal?

[Francois]

"Where did you get that "Defender 110" rear decal? "

A guy out of Great Britain had them on ebay. his ebay store is Green Oval Landrover. I think it cost around 25 bucks shipped. Nice pieces.

[cgalpin]

Very impressive, both in terms of the speed you did it, and the end product!

[Francois]

Spotted # 694 not too long ago.