Restomod

Land Rover Defender 130 — LS3 Restomod

A frame-off Defender 130 build with a GM LS3 V8, custom chassis work, and a matte orange finish — machined, fabricated, painted, and assembled in-house.

Frame-off build
GM LS3 V8 swap
Custom chassis fabrication
Matte orange refinish
Custom interior

The build

How it came together

The truck came apart to a bare frame before any build decisions were finalized. Stripping the chassis first exposed the condition of the structure and set the plan for mounting, driveline packaging, and suspension geometry.

The LS3 driveline was mocked into the bare chassis so mounts, crossmember clearance, exhaust routing, and cooling could be fabricated around real measurements rather than estimates. Machined brackets and adapters were made in-house as the layout settled.

With the driveline located, the chassis was finished and the body was prepared for refinishing. The matte orange exterior was applied in our booth, and the interior was patterned and stitched to match the truck's utilitarian character with a finished cabin.

Final assembly returned to the same crew that disassembled the vehicle: driveline, wiring, glass, trim, and interior installed together so fitment and function were checked as a whole.