Typical.... I had a plan

Well for months now I've had feelers out looking for a series 3 1970-1973 with a knackered chassis/bulkhead and engine or as close to that as I could get. The later plan was to use a defender 300TDi chassis with a disco engine and defender drivetrain, steering and electrics with the series body after I found out the disco engine wouldn't fit the chassis.......

Then tonight I've been offered a series 3..... It's a little over my budget for a dilapidated one but then I get the full gen. It's a 1971 that was rebuilt 4 years ago onto a new (not galv) chassis with the bulkhead stripped and rebuilt then everything was sorted and dropped back onto the chassis. It's got 4 months tax and MOT (I know the tax will start again). I don't know about the rest of the condition but realistically it can't be that bad as who would do that to the chassis and bulkhead whilst adding knackered doors/interior etc. But at the price I've got to get it.

How much is it worth? It's mine for £1200 and I can literally just drive it away. Then thats a car for my wife and I'm still looking for a project

cowasaki said:

Well for months now I've had feelers out looking for a series 3 1970-1973 with a knackered chassis/bulkhead and engine or as close to that as I could get. The plan was to use a defender 300TDi chassis with a disco engine and drivetrain, steering and electrics with the series body.......

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There aren't many who admit to planning to make a ringer on here...

ajb403 said:

There aren't many who admit to planning to make a ringer on here...

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All the bits will be legal. I might lose the reg year but hey ho......

ajb403 said:

There aren't many who admit to planning to make a ringer on here...

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its only a ringer if he goes with the old id and tries for tax free status.

i didnt see that in the op.

Bit odd to specify 1970-73 then.

ajb403 said:

Bit odd to specify 1970-73 then.

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My feelers were put out for a 70-73 because of the tax status because I have a series 3 galv chassis in the barn. Since then the plan changed due to having the 300TDi engine etc which wouldn't fit on the galv chassis. BUT as I said the feelers were already out there hence being offered this one. Maybe I should have explained all that earlier but the post was about the series 3......

Back to the question...

£1,200 sounds pretty good if it looks the part and the engine/drivetrain are OK. If it's got rough edges you have plenty in hand to cover them and turn it into a £3k+ car.

boguing said:

Back to the question...

£1,200 sounds pretty good if it looks the part and the engine/drivetrain are OK. If it's got rough edges you have plenty in hand to cover them and turn it into a £3k+ car.

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Thanks... Insurance is under £10 per month and free tax so it's a fantastic

"its only a ringer if he goes with the old id and tries for tax free status."

Nothing to do with tax free status.

What he describes in the op wouldnt have enough points to be on any of the constituant vehicles ids - at best it would be on the discos id but should have an iva.

top drive said:

"its only a ringer if he goes with the old id and tries for tax free status."

Nothing to do with tax free status.

What he describes in the op wouldnt have enough points to be on any of the constituant vehicles ids - at best it would be on the discos id but should have an iva.

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Surely it would simply be a body change for the 300tdi id. And an attempt at fraud for the series id. Id is attached to the chassis so if he changed the body for series panels it is fine to keep the newer I'd of the the 300. Well that's how I see it anyway [emoji5]

The chassis is a new replacement defender one so no allocated ID. The disco is basically giving up it's engine/transfer box. The axles could literally be off a defender or disco and have no ID. The driveshafts are new and so will be the suspension. The bulkhead is off a 300TDi or if the series one is ok off that. The entire body and interior is from the series. I'm not trying to fraudulently do anything at all hence my comment "hey ho" about the tax. In fact the vast majority of it will be the series. So effectively it's more a chassis and engine upgrade. Knowing that it wouldn't get free tax means it'll now be any series 3 (inc post 73) if I now do it at all.

The ORIGINAL plan and hence the mention of 1970-1973 was to use a new series 3 chassis that is in the barn so it would have been a like for like swap so in that case it WOULD have kept it's ID as it would have been a repair like any other chassis swap.

Oh and as for ID once complete I would simply ask the DVLA what they wanted me to do.......

EDIT: I am aware of one recently where the chassis, engine, transfer box, axles and one prop came from a disco. The chassis was modified and a new prop added then a rare series body dropped on. DVLA agreed to the series ID based on the rare vehicle being dead without the change and the old chassis being scrapped. If it gets built I'll give it whatever ID they want. If that's the discos' ID then no problem, if the series that great and if it's a Q plate then so be it.

All that just to save road tax? Hope the one that's bought is kept original.

cowasaki said:

My feelers were put out for a 70-73 because of the tax status because I have a series 3 galv chassis in the barn. Since then the plan changed due to having the 300TDi engine etc which wouldn't fit on the galv chassis. BUT as I said the feelers were already out there hence being offered this one. Maybe I should have explained all that earlier but the post was about the series 3......

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Surely the obvious answer is, sell the 300Tdi engine and with the proceeds buy a 200Tdi engine, which is an easy swap. The 300 really offers nothing in terms of advantages over the 200.

cowasaki said:

The chassis is a new replacement defender one so no allocated ID.

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You do realise there is a 5" difference in wheelbase between an 88 and a Defender?

One does not simply speak to the dvla you do know this right ?

300bhp/ton said:

You do realise there is a 5" difference in wheelbase between an 88 and a Defender?

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Some modding might be required It's irrelevant for now though.

John S said:

All that just to save road tax? Hope the one that's bought is kept original.

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It was never to save the tax. As I said earlier it's a minor point and it's more likely I'll pick up a later one anyway IF I ever do that now.


The series3 will be kept completely original other than a pair of the correct period really nice spot lights that I will be fitting as they don't look right on the Defender anyway. Electrics is my bag so I might well upgrade the wiring as I'm led to believe that it's a bit shonky on the series3 Other than that I'll be keeping it standard and in as nice a condition as I can.

top drive said:

One does not simply speak to the dvla you do know this right ?

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You can ring their IVA help line on 0300 123 9000 Monday to Friday - 7.30am until 6.00pm

Also I work with people from VOSA who I can pick the brains of.

The hybrid car, if I go ahead with it, would be an M1 IVA car as per their manual. They will decide if it is of a particular year, Q plate or whatever.

cowasaki said:

It was never to save the tax.

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You do know that 1974 stuff is tax free now, and 1975 will be tax free next April, then 1976 from April 2017 and so on, right?

TooMany2cvs said:

You do know that 1974 stuff is tax free now, and 1975 will be tax free next April, then 1976 from April 2017 and so on, right?

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Not necessarily right..... When the original date was set it was supposed to roll on but they didn't roll it every year which is why it is now 32 years when originally I think it was either 20 or 25 so at least 7 years haven't rolled on maybe 12.