Defender Restoration Shop in Chicago

Just drove my friends 95 NAS D90 back to Chicago and he'd like to restore it. There's a fair amount of rust on the chassis and undercarriage, at a minimum needs a new rear cross-member, front bumper, side and rear steps, and paint. Not looking for this to be a show car but wants to deal with the rust and get it looking pretty well sorted. Any suggestions on people to work with in the Chicago market? He's in the western suburbs if that matters.
 

mgreenspan

Founding Member
Shipping a vehicle is pretty cheap in the grand scheme of a vehicle restoration, so I wouldn’t limit yourself to just Chicago.
Agreed. I’d feel much more comfortable going with a specific shop I knew of that did quality work than a more “convenient” shop.
 

DanH

New member
Brit Custom in LaGrange Kentucky is a midwest shop I might look into, impressed with what they did for me....
 

blueboy

Well-known member
Shipping a vehicle is pretty cheap in the grand scheme of a vehicle restoration, so I wouldn’t limit yourself to just Chicago.
This for sure!!
And in the long run going to a reputable shop usually less expensive.
Hopefully the owner doesn’t want it finished in a week. 😁
 
FYI, I’m not a big fan of Highgate Motors in Barrington. Pretty sure they used old parts on some minor work I had done on my D90 a few years ago. Attention to detail was also lacking. I never found a good rover shop around Chicago unfortunately
 
Thanks for the replies, doesn't seem to be a good answer for the Chicago market so I'll look elsewhere. Came across Bishop and Rook in MN, I like their philosophy. Anybody have any feedback about them or their work?
 

Capt_Rudolf

New member
Callsign: KE0RMB
Thanks for the replies, doesn't seem to be a good answer for the Chicago market so I'll look elsewhere. Came across Bishop and Rook in MN, I like their philosophy. Anybody have any feedback about them or their work?
I'm getting close to take delivery of a '95 110 from Bishop & Rook, so I sure hope they are an upstanding outfit! I am actually in the Minneapolis, MN area as well so I have been down there chatting with Mike several times. Sure seems like a good guy who runs an honest shop/import business. I'll report back once it is in-hand!
 
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jymmiejamz

Founding Member
Callsign: KN4JHI
The name bishop and rook makes me fearful because it sounds like hipster shave cream or a haberdashery…
I bet their social media game is on point though. I have a theory that quality of work is inversely proportional to number of Instagram followers. For reference, Arkonik has 64k followers on Instagram while ECR only has 1k
 
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