Land Rover Repair: D90 restoration

Question
I recently inherited a 1995 D90 that was parked for years coated in road salt (very sad).  Anyway, it's drivable, but I was told the frame is rusted almost through in spots and the suspension parts are in bad shape.  Advice was to not go off-road and drive slow on the highway.
I know there is probably a huge range in cost, but is there a ballpark for a frame replacement/restoration that I should start saving for?   Also, can the job be done in phases or must it be all stuff at one time?
Trying to figure out where to begin.
Thanks -

Answer
We do frame replacement and frame-off restoration here at Robison Service.  You can buy a frame and the basic parts for the swap for about $6,000.  The labor to do the swap could start at 100 hours and go up from there.  If the truck has a lot of rust, you may well need to a lot of repair before you swap the parts.  That's how jobs go from repair to restoration.  A full restoration of a D90 is going to cost somewhat more that $100k.  So that is your range, from parts and do it yourself labor, to the cost of a fully restored truck.

If the frame is not that bad you might replace just the rear, which could be a $10k job, maybe less.  But I have no idea if that is possible without seeing the vehicle.  People truck Series trucks and Defenders to us for work like this; there are very few specialists with experience in the USA

You remarked that 6 to 100k is a broad range, and you are right.  But that is the reality of the situation.  At one end you have the bare minimum of parts for a home hobbyist repair.  At the other end you have the kind of restoration that ends up on a car magazine cover.

You ask why people would do a restoration for more than the car is worth . . . they feel it's worthwhile, just as the guy who sought out professional restorations of 57 Chevies and 65 Barracudas did 10 years ago.  Now those 100k restorations are 200k at auction.  We see a steady trickle of people wanting to do work of this quality, and the truth is, that's what it costs whether it's a Defender, or a Bronco, or whatever.  Any restoration where you have 1500+ hours of labor and a pils of parts is going to be costly.

If you are curious I have quite a few stories on the Robison Service blog that illustrate the difference between repair and restoration and why you choose one or the other