Help with my first defender purchase

Hey everyone,

Excited to join the community and start learning. Looking to purchase my first defender. I am British, living in the US.

Stumbled across a 1991 ex military Land Rover defender 90 (winterised) with only 35,000 miles and a rebuilt 200tdi engine (2018 install).

My biggest concern with purchasing defenders in the US is rust and corrosion. I feel comfortable with engine issues but rust and corrosion is currently out of my skill level.

Apparently there is no significant corrosion on the body but there is some rust in the footwell and I noticed these spots around the rear cross member….is this surface rust or more significant?

Any help/advice would be great! I am happy to take on some work but wanted to see if this was a deal breaker and just result in much more significant problems down the road. If it’s patchable keeping the structural integrity intact then I will feel pretty good about it.

Hi and welcome!

The areas you’ve highlighted don’t look too bad and should be easy to repair by cutting back to decent metal and welding in new. However, the rust is almost always worse than you fist think so be prepared for more. Also, the chassis rusts from the inside too, so there will probably be more.

As opposed to it being a deal breaker, use it as the basis to negotiate the price down and keep some funds in reserve for repairing it. The footwell is also a known rust area, but repair panels are easily available from YRM.

Let us know how you get on.

Hello and welcome to LZ

Hi and welcome
As said, if there's some then there's likely more. Go round the chassis with something solid like a screwdriver and give it a good poke, if it's soft or doesn't sound true then more investigation is required.
Some folks, including folks on here, won't let you near with a poking tool, but you need to think why not? If it's a good solid motor then you're not going to do any damage, you won't even scratch it
Edit: has it had a new rear crossmember?

kermit_rr said:

Hi and welcome
As said, if there's some then there's likely more. Go round the chassis with something solid like a screwdriver and give it a good poke, if it's soft or doesn't sound true then more investigation is required.
Some folks, including folks on here, won't let you near with a poking tool, but you need to think why not? If it's a good solid motor then you're not going to do any damage, you won't even scratch it
Edit: has it had a new rear crossmember?

Click to expand...

This is great, thank you! I am inspecting the vehicle early next week so I’ll keep reading up on the spots to check and let you guys know how I get on.

I was a little unsure about the ex military model but from what I have read, they are very similar and as long as you do your due diligence, can be a great type of defender to pick up. I’m hoping with low mileage, he has just been sitting around in a covered garage for most of his life ha

My wife hates the original green color ha but I want to make sure the engine and chassis are solid before I even think about paint.

I don’t believe a new rear cross member has been installed since it’s life began in the US 5 years ago. It would have been done in the UK.

Knappster said:

Hi and welcome!

The areas you’ve highlighted don’t look too bad and should be easy to repair by cutting back to decent metal and welding in new. However, the rust is almost always worse than you fist think so be prepared for more. Also, the chassis rusts from the inside too, so there will probably be more.

As opposed to it being a deal breaker, use it as the basis to negotiate the price down and keep some funds in reserve for repairing it. The footwell is also a known rust area, but repair panels are easily available from YRM.

Let us know how you get on.

Click to expand...

This is super helpful, thank you!
Getting it inspected early next week so I will let you know. Cautiously very excited…

Welcome.

Its all been said ^^^.
But to add with the rot in the footwells be very diligent of bulk head condition too.

As you say colour don't matter at this point.

Good luck.

J

Christ

thats fuckall

Rich.

Knappster said:

Hi and welcome!

The areas you’ve highlighted don’t look too bad and should be easy to repair by cutting back to decent metal and welding in new. However, the rust is almost always worse than you fist think so be prepared for more. Also, the chassis rusts from the inside too, so there will probably be more.

As opposed to it being a deal breaker, use it as the basis to negotiate the price down and keep some funds in reserve for repairing it. The footwell is also a known rust area, but repair panels are easily available from YRM.

Let us know how you get on.

Click to expand...

Hey again,
So the inspection is scheduled for tomorrow. I have seen videos of the engine running etc but The seller informed me today that the oil light does not turn off….however there are no oil leaks, the oil level is good, car runs great etc etc

doesn’t really fill me with the warm and fuzzies….I’m concerned there is something with the oil pump and it’s a pressure issue. I really don’t want to get myself into a ticking time bomb. I feel like unless the inspector can diagnose a quick fix I am at a cross roads….walk away from the vehicle or it’s a big negotiating point. From what I’ve read, it might need a new engine if the problem is left untreated.

Do you have any pearls of advice on this issue?
Thanks!

kermit_rr said:

Hi and welcome
As said, if there's some then there's likely more. Go round the chassis with something solid like a screwdriver and give it a good poke, if it's soft or doesn't sound true then more investigation is required.
Some folks, including folks on here, won't let you near with a poking tool, but you need to think why not? If it's a good solid motor then you're not going to do any damage, you won't even scratch it
Edit: has it had a new rear crossmember?

Click to expand...

Hey again,
So the inspection is scheduled for tomorrow. I have seen videos of the engine running etc but The seller informed me today that the oil light does not turn off….however there are no oil leaks, the oil level is good, car runs great etc etc

doesn’t really fill me with the warm and fuzzies….I’m concerned there is something with the oil pump and it’s a pressure issue. I really don’t want to get myself into a ticking time bomb. I feel like unless the inspector can diagnose a quick fix I am at a cross roads….walk away from the vehicle or it’s a big negotiating point. From what I’ve read, it might need a new engine if the problem is left untreated.

Do you have any pearls of advice on this issue?
Thanks!

Oil light and 200 tdi could be a big concern, the camshaft bearings move and dump all the oil pressure back into the sump, full strip to bare block for repair.

So now you know why he is selling it, both the engine and the chassis could be fecked!

Ask yourself why the seller left it until now to tell you about oil light issue?

Welcome to the forum

How did you get on? Was the chassis made of roses chocolate tins?