Glad to hear the Defender will be getting a makeover 👍

I know we all have different priorities when it comes to choosing a vehicle but in the pickup scene my opinion is the Isuzu has a lot of plus points! It is 300kg lighter so doesnt go over the Light commercial vehicle weight limit which restricts most pickups to additional speed limits, it also is the only diesel pick up to meet Euro 6 without the expense and complications of Adblue (no congestion charges) and the icing on the cake is way better economy!

Old diesel fuel injection mechanic here. I'm sure it will be fine, as long as you nurse it, wrap it up warmly at nights and don't use foul language anywhere near it; I'm sure it will last... a while at least.😁 I used to do a lot of field service here in South Africa and you can imagine what the roads etc were like on the mines. We switched to Ford, and then switched back to Toyota pretty quickly, but that was a long time ago and I'm sure things are different now with these modern vehicles... Good luck and love the videos; takes me back it does.

My 2020 Defender First Edition is Pangea Green which several people have commented positively on. Three trucks ago I bought a Defender 110 Black limited edition which got loads of favourable comments. Bodywork in gloss black with external roll bar in matt silver.

for the defender .. i've always liked the camel trophy trucks .. think the colour was Sand Glow ( or something similar but just as poncy ) ... and i've been looking for a decent drawer system for ages ( see a lot of nice ones but they are always US or Aus based & i CBA with import grief )

2.2, 3.2 engines have the exact same engine problem. You're best off having the oil pump replaced for the geared version and getting the egr cooler redirected and the egr deleted. I learnt the hard way🤙

I Passed a 70 plate Ford Ranger the other day in my 30 year old tdi defender whilst crossing the Avonmouth bridge.. I was doing 60mph in the inside lane while the ranger was stopped in the middle lane with hazards on and a very worried looking driver! Our company has 3 defenders and 1 ranger and the ranger has had add blue pump problems, light on dash and both front shocks replaced after they started leaking 2 weeks after warranty!

I've had defenders and discoveries on and off for the last 20 years, I've just recently gotten a Ford Ranger after losing my rag having to constantly repair my older vehicles, honestly can't regret my decision, its comfortable and still basic enough not to piss me off with fancy gizmos and gimmicks, if I can suggest a colour, the old British Racing Green is the only choice for a landy

I am from the states. It is a good truck. Keep up the Maintenance and it will run good for a long time.

The same green as Harry Metcalfe (Harrys garage ) Jaguar xjc V12 ... If i remember correctly is a take on an Aston martin colour. Is gorgeous and would look fabulous on a defender.

I had a 2013 2.2 ranger, ran it past 108,000. In that time the oil pump failed (common fault on 2.2 apparently) and it broke a front suspension spring. That was it. Saved the engine by switching off as soon as red light appeared. If they all run like that you’ll be onto a winner.

I’m planning to do my Rangie Classic in Vauxhall Emerald green. It’s stunning. They might make shite cars but they can mix a nice green

I keep thinking modern pick up trucks and SUVs always look like they have had an airline shoved up somewhere to inflate them.

It turns out we’ve done the exact same thing just I did it a year prior. I had a Range Rover 4.2SC thought it’d be the sensible thing to move it on when a nice 67 plate ranger identical colour spec the lot as yours.. even down to being manual. I was exactly the same as you chuffed with the improvement on old pick ups, seemed to have everything the Range Rover had. Anyway got sick of changing gear and it just doesn’t do what a Range Rover does.. so a year on I’ve gone back to a Range Rover 😂😂

I guess the good thing is that Fenders still command high resale prices. Good news when LR owners have finally had enough of them and move to an up to date vehicle.

Glad your keeping the Defender.. really looking forward to watching the restoration. I would love a Defender but can't afford one just yet. The Defenders do look nice in 'Copper leaf red' which is a Land Rover colour. Not sure if they did it on that year 🤔 The Ranger looks like a good tool..nice colour that one. I have to agree with buying and selling cars etc..there is always someone who wants to bend you over and rip you off..🤷 Great Video Matt.. looking forward to the next 👍

The Navara 2.3dci twin turbo surprised me at how nice it drove after a succession of Toyota Lo-Lux and Isuzu D-Max leaf sprung space hoppers. I drive a Ranger for work with the Biturbo motor, and its decent.....although, you saying you hate manuals, the 10 speed Ford auto hunts about like a Jack Russel after some baby rats.........would be nice to hear how you get on with it!

Have a few Land Rovers and never thought about what colour they were on the panels only the Chassis if it's red. My current Land Rover has a top coat of military Green in gloss with exposed multi colour layers where it's been chipped off. and a Blue chassis.

Love a resto, I'll be watching that!

Big landcruser will be 👌🏻 Garry metcalfs jag green will be perfect on a defender. Get the ranger properly chipped makes it drive way better all round. Flatten the Range Rover.

Cool truck, don't know much about them though. Colour wise have a look at Suzuki Quasar grey, in certain light conditions it's got a definite green tinge and in others it a hint of bronze.

i think land rover aintree metallic green would look pretty nice, came on the disco 4's. and make sure you get a full set of optimill security hinges for your doors and bonnet along with and immobiliser and tracker!

Good job, just finishing our td5 to cummins conversion on a new galvanised chassis.

I bought one 2 weeks ago. Same spec, 2012 plate. Bloody loved it. Then the poxy vane type oil pump I'd read so much about failed within the first week and grenaded the turbo and engine. Now I'm sad. And broke.

I have a defender 2.4 110 in Keswick green, good colour everyone complements it and it is a standard vehicle right down to the steel wheels!

The Toyota Hilux is so good ISIS bought hundreds of them, and the handy thing is they are completely untraceable, they leave no paper trail that can be traced back to the purchaser.

Burnt orange - The same as the original limited run Range Rover Sport Supercharged - look nice with black accents that.

The ruby reds are the colour for me 👍🥰

Wrap the defender in a camouflage, blend in well with the tanks 👍

I Like your straight talking honesty , Defender’s look 👀 good to me dressed in ruby red metallic. 😊

replaced my 2002 defender with 190,000 miles but rotten chassis with a low milage shogun warrior 4 years ago ,has been a very wise decision ,the shogun does everything and more the defender could

I’m doing a restoration on my Land Rover so hopefully you do some videos of yours as I’m bleddy clueless lol

I have to admit as an American, I do love chrome.

good luck with the new truck. just got myself a 2018 navara a few weeks ago. enjoying it so far, got a leaking intercooler pipe already to sort out haha. thats modern pickups for ya!

Sounds like a plan. Did a good 7 hours yesterday in landcruiser with horse trailer ( only loaded return trip) can't fault it. Looking forward to defender project. Series 2 in garage, just needs chassis and bulkhead and everything. Happy to nick ideas. 🤣

Heritage Green. A Chap that my Daughter helps groom one of His Horses has one that has been made to look like the Heritage Edition of the Land Rover. Looks really nice in the pale green.

Another issue which seems to happen at random mileage intervals on a small number of Ranger is injector failure causing pistons to split. Nothing you can do about this and its not worth worrying about, because it will probably never happen to any particular single unit and there’s nothing you can do about it anyhow.

I was going to suggest ford vision blue. Rioja red with black grills , arches and roof.

Mate of mine runs a garage that has the contract to service and repair a big companies pickup fleet. They have a big fleet of Toyota, Nissan,Ford and Isuzu. He reckons that the Isuzu is by far and away the best of the bunch.

Draw system from Truckman the Decked system, excellent and tough.

For the landy what about going for a Tomb Raider style replica? I can't remember what they called it but I think they look cool. Definitely would watch what you do with the ranger, we have a 2017 Navara and apart from the NOX sensors being a pain (usually spraying some GT85 on them keeps them happy 😂) it's great.

Love it. Just starting to restore my old defender 110

Porsche jet green 👍👍 My brother has a ranger, it looks like its been banger racing but mechanically its been brilliant

Used one of those Rangers as a site truck for a while. It's ok but was a bit soft in body and drivetrain. Electronic issues with sensors can stop it dead

My friend had nothing but problems with his . Only just got it back after 6 months due to electrical faults.

Nardo grey...a VW/Audi colour. As a tribute to the Amacock! OMG, a Ranger Danger. I thought only Aussie Tradies were dumb enuf to buy Rangers!! Nice to see you back!!

Will be very interesting on how the revamp of the fender goes... As per colours, my fav has always been Bonnati Grey, probably a bit grey for you.... or Stornoway Grey... Im currently running a D3 but its just silver., its turned into the croft workhorse at the moment...

The 75th Anniversary Defender colours are really nice.

I've a 2013 2.2 Limited and tbh I haven't had that many issues with it, I occasionally drag a 14ft For with an old tractor on and it plays with it.

With proper maintenance the 3.2 5 cylinder is a very good engine.

I am one of the ones who are pleased that you intend rebuilding the Land Rover TD5; now that aside for the moment, the Ford Ranger should be OK and get you by until the 'Rover' in ready again. So, in my opinion, no, you haven't stuffed it! Colour choice for me, would be either Crimson Red or BRG.

American here! Pickup trucks have 2 doors here, so no worries about "looking American",at least... Cheers

I think youve done the right thing... would love to see videos of your improvements..make it look awesome

My ranger is identical to yours. It's the 2.2 and the best thing I done with mjne is remap it for towing. Day and night difference

Can’t wait to see the defender videos and the de Americanise vids of the ranger 😂

Always loved the heritage green defenders , good luck with ranger 👍🏼

i have the 2 litre bi turbo and ranger and i pull 3.5 ton + on a weekly basis and it out tows my disco 4 which was very surprising !

Glad the old girl is sticking around. I don't care for defenders but I understand folks who do. We've got the Ranger at work and to be fair to them, they're the most reliable thing we've got.

I painted my v8 90 Kent Green, a mid/dark metallic green from the LR colour chart. I liked it because it wasn’t too ‘in your face’ and reasonably low key but still smart and classy. IT’s down to personal taste…..

The Defenders were the original 4 X 4 Mat - I wouldn't touch anything else; used them in the army - everything bolts on, but as you assert, the chassis' do take a hammering. Pleased to hear your LWB is getting a makeover. I wouldn't touch Ford with a bargepole, but I suppose as a temporary, it'll do. For colour options on a respray, maybe go with a decent dark blue ?

Looking forward to seeing the Landy project.

Had a 3.2 wildtrak and the engine was toast at 73k. Did another 5k and the flywheel flex plate cracked. Ford dealer stepped away from it, said it was just one of those things, our tech checked it when we swapped the engine, blah blah. Have now got the 2.2 Wildtrak, doesn’t sound as nice as the 3.2 but it pulls like a train, tows a 3.5 ton plant trailer no bother. Previously had a navarra, not a fan

Alright Mate, Good to hear you keep that tractor. The Ranger will do. Looking forward for videos on the Defender. Go for black as colour. Cheers

Great that you are doing a defender rebuild you could look at Atlantic Green or Bronze Green for colours with an alaska white roof if you wanted to make it stand out more add some metallic to the Bronze Green

Definitely show us the videos of what you'll do to that ranger....I'd love to see the works

It tows 3.5 ton no problem at all. What you will find is that this engine has a very poor start-off torque and pulling off from a stop and idle engine speed is painful. This is especially the case with the manual and you may need to pull away with a trailer, facing uphill, in low range. You can’t change from low to high on the go, unlike the Land Rover. The automatic doesn’t need to start off in low, because of the torque convertor multiplying effect. Leaf springs can break and I’ve just fitted a fourth replacement for broken springs. If the milage is approaching 60k and it hasn’t been done, whip the sump off and change the oil pump, which is prone to failure with catastrophic results. Mine has now done 80k miles of farm work and towing 12ft by 6 IW triple axle cow box. Over the years it had those springs, a leaking fuel cooler above the rear axle, an EGR valve [under warranty], a DPF fuel vaporiser [replaced with non genuine which has lasted as long as the original did so far] and just last week with the spring, a top intercooler rubber pipe leak. Maintenance includes engine oil every year [usually about 10,000 miles], two rear axle oil changes and an automatic gearbox oil change at 60k miles plus the usual stuff. Not needed any components or repairs apart from a battery about four years ago and brake discs and pads same time as the engine oil pump change. Discs were warped. I’ve a Grenadier on order for later this year but the Ranger will remain.

Yes, give us videos of all the tings.

Have a look at Aston Martin Minotaur green that would look smart, such an underrated colour, Audi Goodwood green is also smart

Gear mate does some great draws, bit on the pricey side but far better quality than anything else I've had before 👍

Land Rover Tonga Green is one of the best colours imo

Have a 2014 3.2 Ranger Auto which has just clocked 60k and it hasn't had any issues. Biggest thing is to keep the oil changed frequently. I do mine ever 10k or 12 months. The crap engines are the new 2l BiTurbo. Most I've spoken to with them say they're smoother than the 3.2 but they're wet belt timed and prone to breaking prematurely. Mate of mine just had one rebuilt, some people are suggesting get the belts swapped every 30k which I think Is ridiculous but cheaper than repairing one after its gone. The 2.2 in this one is basically the Mk7 transit engine. Bit limp off the line but they're pretty solid, again keep the oil fresh. The nice thing with rangers is the comfort. I've been in some proper hard pickups and these are the nicest. Only thing better is an F150 but they're silly money.

Defender rebuild :D nice! Quaif centre diff and lockers? Gwyn Lewis propshafts and steering guard? (We gave our some stick and it saved the sumo bar track rod)

Got to be Gun Metal Grey for the Defender I’d say , but I’ve got a Zafira that deserves to go under a tank so what do I know 😁

FORD Fix Or Repair Daily Enjoy Should have gone for a Disco 4 Commercial, I did amazing vehicle.

If you are towing anything heavy, don't let the clutch slip at all - it's a weak link in some Rangers, and there are some parts in the transmissions that are very light duty too. Paint colour - how about WW2 German Army grey - it will make Mr Hewes' job rangefinding with the British made tanks easier!

Bit late here, just found the channel, but I would paint it gloss Deep Bronze Green like the original army landys.

Buckingham blue is a good colour for a Land Rover nice video not sure about the car had lots of failures both engine and gearbox on the Ford ranger always put me off.

Definitely go with British Racing Green, it’s the best!

Atlantic Green with a pearl clear coat, classic with a twist.

The lad I bought my 110td5 replaced it with a Ford wildtrak 3.2 auto. I drove both vehicles with 3.5t on the back and the defender pulled better 🤣 granted the Ford is more comfy. Look forward to seeing the rebuild… if anyone fancy’s chucking a new chassis at me I wouldn’t argue 😁🤣.

I hope you video the strip down of the Land Rover. Best wishes for the project. 🎉 I'd consider one of the Land Rover Blue colors metallic with a purple/indego pearl. The boys in retro powder cars would give great advice. You do know that the VW Amroke and Ford Ranger are the same vehicle. 😂

Toyota hilux are like a Chinese welding helmut without the lens haha Al see thee

New to the channel. Love a good northern fella. Sorted decisions and looking forward to more, but please don't wreck the RR. I'll have her to go along with my other 2.❤😊

Alu Cab is a South African company that does canopies roof top tents and brilliant draw systems that are available all around the world. Good luck. Ps are you going to galvanise the new defender chassis?

I've got a king cab np300, it's reasonable, if I had a few extra quid I'd probably give one of the newer D -max's a go

Beware the roller shutter it'll bite yer arse in the freezing weather, you'll think you have a slab of marble in -5c

Sorry I’m American and hate chrome myself. As for a color, if you want to stay in the green hue I’m really liking Ford Eruption Green which is a newer color. Not sure they do, but both Roush and RTR make Ranger stuff but not sure if they do euro spec stuff. I’m pretty sure Mountune makes Ranger stuff as well.

If your having the ig Wheels and Tyres on it there's a firm does the big Arch extensions looks Tough as Hell Thought about a Canopy on the Rear Bed , some different shapes

Nothing like the ick of plastic chrome, don’t blame ya for that and I’m in montana

Alright Mat? Good to see a video again 👍🏻. Would definitely like to see more videos on the ranger. All the best

I did my defender 110 during lockdown. It’s ended up being an every day driver as my sprinter is a heap of shit and I can’t find a van I want to replace it with.

My first ranger 2013 new shape ……gearbox went …….turbo went……new engine …..then got a 2016 ……crashed that ……then 2018 warrior …..no problems ……I’ll see thee

Jaguar racing red would look the bollox!! 😊

Sorry that you stuck with a Ford. Glad Defender is getting a long overdue TLC . Think you should consider painting it pink!!

Just a set of better wheels and tyres will make any ranger look 100x better. Maybe a light bar on roof and front bullbar?

Defender colour. What about Queen Elizabeth dark green she had on her 110 with the unpainted exposed rivets. Painted wheel arches and paint matched steel wheels. A444RYV

A Defender is always worth restoring back to decent condition. But I have to tell you the Clio engine Mr Hewes has for you may be short of a manifold. And other bits ... 😂😂

An end to a means. Hope you're all good. All the best mate

Emerald green from the new defender range is kinda nice.

Yeha you're back. Good stuff mate we missed your SOH.