Howdy,
Any suggestions, please, regarding what I should do to keep a 2004 Defender 110 TD5 in the best shape after it's been laid up for 8+ years?
Long story - After owning a Discovery 2 TD5 ES for 5 years, I decided I needed to find something without 7 leather seats and ACE that wouldn't need new air springs every 2 years or rust out from under me. So, in 2009, I bought a 2004 110 Hardtop in a last minute E-bay bid for just over £5,000. A bargain. 120K on the clock and a good runner but slow and noisy as hell after the Disco.
9 months of Defender ownership later, fate saw fit to give me a challenge - a massive stroke in 2010 that half-paralysed,part-blinded me and gave me Epilepsy. The DVLA took my licence away, the Discovery had to go and the Defender, on axle stands in a detached garage while I painted the chassis, has been sat there ever since. I had to move away after my marriage failed, so its only a memory now.
I'm mostly not paralysed any more, haven't had a seizure for 5 years and I have 93% vision. I still have to persuade the DVLA to let me drive again but my goal/dream is to get behind the wheel again, preferably in something big, slow and noisy as hell with 3 seats.
My current thinking is to start preparing the car next year, then push for a licence in 2020 when I can afford an auto conversion. I'd changed all the oils in everything before my stroke but will probably do them all again before it drives anywhere. The chassis was half-painted; the interior of the front doors had been waxoyled.
With luck on my side, it can get back on the road in 2 years. Is there anything I should perhaps do to give me the best chance of it still working? It's been suggested that I spray diesel into the cylinder heads via the glow plugs, change the oil and hand crank it. The battery will be stone dead so I'd better take it out.
Any other suggestions, please?
My thoughts were:
1. check the ECU for oil;
2. drain the tank.
3. finish painting the chassis.
It had a new fuel filter while on the stands and the radiator and intercooler were off while I was taking the EGR off.
Thank you for any suggestions!
Damian (the One Armed Landy Man)
