Land Rover Defender Interior Trim: Recreating Factory-Standard Restoration Parts

Finding high-quality Land Rover Defender interior trim has become a significant challenge for owners and restorers. If you’ve tried to order any genuine trim parts from Land Rover recently, you’ll know that Land Rover’s inventory of classic Defender parts is seemingly down to a few dusty boxes of random items in the corner of a warehouse in Solihull.

With obsolete trim components getting harder and harder to find, MUD has started to recreate some popular trim items we knew would always be in demand.

The Challenge: Obsolete Classic Defender Interior Parts

As older Defenders become more desirable and collectable, originality is increasingly something owners and restorers are looking for rather than something that’s been covered in badly applied diamond stitch orange leather.

However, the second-hand market for Defender window trims and interior panels is often a graveyard of cracked, sun-damaged plastic. To solve this, we embarked on a 12-year project to recreate the most in-demand trim pieces using modern manufacturing techniques.

 So, we set to work…

Essential Defender Interior Trim Components

Window Trim Surrounds 

The side window surrounds are the most visible part of a Station Wagon interior. We used 3D laser scanning technology to faithfully replicate the profile of the original Defender Station Wagon window trim panels to ensure an accurate fit.

B-Pillar & Cant Rail Finishers

The B-Pillar Trim conceals the bare metal area of the B-Pillar where the upper seat-belt attachment is located for the front seats in the Defender 110 Station Wagon. It’s a high-wear area, often damaged by seatbelts or cargo. 

The Cant Rail Trim uses no fixings. Instead, it tucks behind the B-Pillar trim and the Rear Window trim and is then secured in place with the grab-handle that screws into the gutter above the second row door.

Our B-Pillar trims and Cant Rails are designed to mirror the original profile but with improved durability.

Rear Quarter & Interior Side Trim Panels

The rear corners of the Defender are notorious for being "forgotten" by the factory. Our internal window trim kits include the rear quarter window surrounds, providing a seamless finish from the B-pillar to the rear door.

Easy Installation

Each kit comes with a comprehensive fitting kit that accurately mimics the original Land Rover trim fittings and fixings for the inward facing tip-up seats, so you’ve got everything you need to install the panels. All of the metalwork contained within our kits has been custom-made exclusively for MUD and are designed to replicate the original Land Rover Defender trim fixings. Most of these parts are typically not items that you have ever been able to buy separately from Land Rover.

Since we’ve gone to the effort of remanufacturing all of the original fixings, it made sense for us to sell just the fitting kit on its own for anyone looking to fit some tired panels you’ve bought from eBay.

After a month or so of design tweaking, and trial fitting and 12-months after kicking off the project we could sign off the product and instruct the manufacturer fire up their moulder.

MUD Station Wagon window trim panels are not rigid fibreglass panels covered in a trim material. We’ve selected a thermoformed polypropylene sheet capped with a textured soft-touch finish to mirror the look, feel and colour of the original panels. Each kit comes with a comprehensive fitting kit so you’ve got everything you need to install the panels. Since we’ve gone to the effort of remanufacturing all of the original fixings, it made sense for us to sell just the fitting kit on its own for anyone looking to fit some tired panels you’ve bought from eBay.