The start of the process. Sitting the Tuffy rear storage drawer in the stripped and cleaned rear area.

Once all the parts fabrication and fit testing was done, all parts were removed for powder coating and the interior of the Defender was Rhino lined.

A new rigid structure was made in order to attach the new storage system.

The rear door came stock from the factory as a side swing type. The problem with it was that the attachment point for the hinges was weak, and the doors often sagged over time. Such was the case with ours. For us, a side swing door wasn't advantageous for the re-design of the back of the Defender, so we converted the door to a drop down tailgate.

We wanted a flat deck over the entire rear compartment, but the Tuffy drawer wasn't quite flush with the fender boxes. This required lifting them up a bit so a new one piece floor could be installed all the way across the back.

The original floor was uneven, so we set the Tuffy drawer on 3/8" shims before securing to the floor with through bolts.

The heavy vertical aluminum angle will support the tailgate braces and the locking mechanism.

To make the new floor rigid, we added additional flat bar pieces to both shim the floor to the right height, and to provide the attachment points for the 1/8" aluminum deck.

Although the aluminum flat bar is much heavier than what was needed, we had to use it for dimensional purposes.

The deck that covers the Tuffy drawer box will extend forward of the drawer. This provided a place underneath to put the additional batteries, as well as the air compressor.

The deck, like all the other pieces, was powder coated for adhesion. Then Rhino lining covered the sanded powder coat.

The deck has a lift out section at the front to provide access to the batteries and compressor.

An aluminum angle across the front, just behind the seats supported the forward end of the cantilevered deck.

The area under the deck, and in front of the Tuffy drawer ended up being quite generous in size.

The holes were drilled into the cross angle to provide cargo securing points.

After the Rhino lining was completed.

The area under the side ledge angles provided a service chase behind the truck boxes after they were installed.

The Rhino lining was done carefully to provide a level surface, and to give us a tight fit for the lift out battery cover.

The fold down tailgate provides a nice work surface.

New attachment points on the tailgate provide the anchor for the cable supports. These supports were made from sailboat rigging components.

All the dimensions worked out to allow everything to operate symbiotically.

Since the tailgate would end up behind a lockable swing arm tire mount, we didn't have to worry about locking latches. So we just kept it simple

New tail light protection was added, as well the corner bumperettes that replaced the original bumper.

The edge of the box sill was painted to match the new powder coated cargo securing angles.

Here is the wiring for the 110 volt inverter, along with a line to the back of the truck for a future rear winch, and jumper cable connectors.

Once the interior was finished, the Rhino lined truck storage boxes were installed. They provided a place to mount the inverter.

The truck boxes both have locks on them. A necessity because of the soft top. We did build security grills for the side windows later on, which can be seen here.

The space between the truck boxes was configured so that an ARB fridge/freezer could be installed.

The Tuffy drawer was used for tools, and some spare parts.

The rear compartment was reconfigured after several years to provide a larger open cargo space. The green tape is covering two airline tracks for cargo securing.

A shelf was installed using the roll bar braces as a support, and that shelf provided a place for attaching the inverter once the truck boxes were removed, as well as a CB radio and oxygen tank for first aid.

The finished re-configured cargo area.