2006 Defender built for off-grid travel

Kas Salar, the owner of this stunning 2006 Td5-powered Land Rover Defender, is mad keen about his fishing. I don’t just mean he likes a flick on the weekend, he dreams about catching kingfish or marlin and bases his trips around where fish will be biting at certain times of the year.

He’s actually in the process of packing for a trip to Fraser Island as we speak, with boat in tow, living out of this Defender for a week at Sandy Cape.

The vehicle, and accessories need to be reliable for such a mission, with everything from the engine to the 12V system being tested, Kas knows this full well and has put together a remarkable package to ensure he’ll have a good time.

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“My initial love for four-wheel driving was ignited when I was about 19 and I would borrow my dad’s bone stock Suzuki Sierra, fill the car with all my mates and go camping at Stockton Beach,” Kas tells us. “These trips are still some of my fondest memories camping and I think that says something for how basic a 4x4 and camping set-up you can have and still have a great time”.

A few blown clutches and lots of snatch recoveries later and Kas decided it was time to buy his own 4x4. “Growing up with the Sierra I became fond of boxy short-wheel-base 4x4s and decided a Jeep Wrangler JK (2012 Rubicon short-wheel-base purchased brand-new in 2013) was the obvious next step for me.”

There was another LWB Wrangler as well, which Kas went to town on, fitting 37-inch tyres and hitting every rock crawling track he could find. However, the urge to build a touring vehicle more suitable for longer fishing trips was keeping him awake at night. So how did he end up with a Defender?

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“I met Brendan at Adventure Merchants and got chatting about the different fit-out options for whatever build I ended up with,” Kas tells us. “I noticed all the Land Rovers they had around the place and started getting interested. The Defender has that same boxy shape I had with the Jeeps and even back with my dad’s Sierra and they had this somewhat timeless classic look to them. A few weeks of looking and I had made up my mind the Defender 110 was going to be my first tourer”.

And what a tourer he has created, including a full respray in Audi Nardo Grey and interior fit-out complete with slide-out kitchen and bed (Kas says he’s had enough of sleeping in a swag). Let’s take a closer look at this absolutely wicked Defender.

Interior modifications

Land Rover Defender seats are, how do we say it delicately … crap. When Kas bought the Landie it already had a Recaro seat fitted to the driver’s side, so he decided to bolt one to the passenger side as well, not before having them retrimmed in black leather with grey stitching. These seats have small upper bolsters and have a period correct look about them compared to a lot of other aftermarket seats.

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The centre console and dash have also been trimmed in the same leather and stitching as the seats to match, as well as the headliner and carpet which have been trimmed in black. Two stages of Car Builders sound deadening and insulation has its job cut out for trying to keep heat and sound levels down, something Kas says was very worth the effort in a noisy vehicle like a Defender.

Beefed-up driveline

It is common knowledge that when you bolt on larger tyres, such as these 35-inch Maxxis RAZR muddies to a Defender and plan on wheeling it hard, things are going to break.

Kas’s Defender has received the works burger with the lot when it comes to driveline upgrades, in a quest for reliability when pushing bigger rubber and more power. Starting with a heavy-duty clutch, with solid-mass flywheel and the addition of a clutch booster to assist with pedal feel.

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A heavy-duty Tom Woods double Cardan heavy-duty driveshaft was installed, before the MaxiDrive catalogue was thrown the Landies way. Both front and rear differentials are locked with MaxiDrive vacuum lockers, which have proved their worth time-and-time again.

The front end also receives MaxiDrive HD 23/24 axles (Kas says this is the strongest spline combination), a MaxiDrive County CV Conversion Kit with MaxiDrive HD Drive Flanges and County/Perentie CVs which are said to be the strongest CV joint made by Land Rover.

The rear end is beefed up with heavy-duty chromoly axle shafts, and MaxiDrive heavy-duty drive flanges. So far, this combination has held up well to the off-road conditions Kas enjoys conquering as often as possible.

Power upgrades

The 5-cylinder Td5 engine in stock form is no powerhouse, but it produces torque for days. Kas purposefully selected a Td5-powered Defender, as from his research they don’t mind making a bit more power with the right upgrades – how’s 200hp sound to you?

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To achieve this power increase, the factory ECU was remapped, followed by the fitment of an upgraded hybrid turbo from Turbo Technics. Next up, a Td5 Alive boost control box, larger air-flow meter and intercooler were bolted on, as well as a Taipan 3-inch free-flowing exhaust with Vortex muffler to lower EGTs and provide a nice note.

An ARB turbo timer has been wired in also, to allow for the turbo to cool down after long runs on the beach, or highway. Kas is rapt with the new-found performance of the Td5-powered Defender, and it’s not hard to see why.

Electrics

Kas has to keep his fridges running, not just to keep the beers chilled, which is important, but not as important as knowing his fresh bait and even fresher caught fish are kept in perfect condition.

He’s running a 100amp/h Enerdrive lithium battery to power his accessories, and a European-style starter battery with a lower profile to allow both batteries to fit under the seat as per the factory design. A dual-battery bracket has been installed to mount these batteries, as well as a Redarc 1225 DCDC charger.

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Kas’s 12V system is controlled by a flash looking CZone Central Output Interface and a 7-inch touchscreen display as well as a Mastervolt MasterShunt 500. The system can be paired with an iPad, making for easy control and monitoring of everything electrical.

Solar is so important to allow Kas to live off-grid and stay out there catching fish for as long as possible, so he’s mounted a 120W flexible panel on the roof with a custom bracket.

“The best thing about the solar panel is its low profile,” says Kas. “You can’t even tell it’s even there.”

If the 120W panel isn’t enough, or he feels like parking in the shade, a second Anderson plug has been mounted under the front licence plate which allows for a solar blanket to also be plugged in to the 12V system.

Touring set-up

Simple is good when it comes to suspension in a touring four-wheel drive, Kas has kept things simple by running a mild 2-inch lift, with Aussie Ryder shocks that have recently been re-valved to better cope with weight.

Terrafirma front radius arms and rear cranked radius arms have been chosen for increased strength and improved suspension geometry, and for additional wheel travel spring retainers and dislocation cones to allow for maximum droop thanks to longer shock absorbers.

Kas also had the chassis reinforced with steel plates, giving peace of mind when loaded up on corrugated roads. This lift provides enough clearance for the Maxxis RAZR mud terrains, in a 315x76R16 size, which has been engineered, thus fully road legal.

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The Defender carries a total of 165L fuel, made up of one long-range 125L tank bolted in stock-tank position, and a 40L auxiliary tank mounted in the rear right quarter. Both fill from a standard fill point, with the long-range tank filling first and once full, fuel then flows in to the smaller tank.

Water storage is super important for Kas, so he’s had multiple options installed in to the Defender.

“There are two separate water tanks in the rig, one is in the left rear quarter panel and fills from a filler next to the gull-wing on that side; there is a tap on the rear bumper. This is gravity fed and mainly used for washing hands, washing fishing equipment and washing dishes.

“The other tank is part of the custom fit-out Adventure Merchants have done on the car. It sits under the slide-out kitchen and takes up the footwell space behind the front seats bringing it up to level with the rest of the floor. This tank is 60 litres and is run by a 12V pump. The only visible part of the system is an outlet to plug a hose in to and a switch on the right-side rear passenger side,” Kas tells us.