Advice on a series 3...

I sold my old 90 'White Elephant' just over a year ago. The guy I sold it to is currently rebuilding it, and at the same time liberating a disco 200tdi engine out of his 1981 109 truck cab. The series has a knackered chassis (and soon no engine) but otherwise is all there and sound enough, including freewheeling front hubs. Body has a few knocks and dents but nothing unexpected on a working truck.

He's offered me the rest of the truck for £750. My thinking is that I'd probably go back to petrol with it anyway, and do a rebuild (not necessarily a restoration) onto a galvanised chassis. Probably a few sensible upgrades to wiring etc while it's apart. Then it can be my general "potter around and do things" sort of vehicle and something Landy-based to fiddle with.

Worth a punt? I know the guy quite well and I can poke around the truck if there's anything to look for before making a decision.

The bulkhead is the next big thing to consider, they are expensive if you need a new/recon one.

Bulkhead appears to be in pretty good condition- certainly better than the 7-years newer one in my old 90. No carpets so you can see the footwells which look fine.

Mechanical things can always be fixed or swapped out, it's the chassis and bulkhead that are the important things to consider. Bear in mind, it will cost you a lot more than you think by the time you've done. I nearly fell through the floor when I totted up what my 109 cost me.

750 feels a bit much for the amount of work and cost of a re-chassis imo.

Rubins4 said:

750 feels a bit much for the amount of work and cost of a re-chassis imo.

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If there is "no" chassis and no engine I would agree. I would expect a complete vehicle which needed a re-chassis for £750, especially a 109, which are cheaper than an 88.

Extreedoc said:

I nearly fell through the floor when I totted up what my 109 cost me.

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I've just done the same after my rebuild/rechassis, would you mind saying how much it adds up to, out of interest?

I've done £6k on a re-chassis, axles rebuilt, new footwells, new wheels & tyres, new clutch system, new brakes, new rear floor & supports, rebuilt props. Engine serviced but otherwise untouched, gearbox untouched, bodywork unrestored. Nearly all cost in puts, very small labour costs.

was the 90 a petrol?

how about including the engine from that in the deal if it was

90 was a diesel turbo originally. Rebuilt, that could be good for a 109 and easy enough to swap. Ideally though I want to avoid diesel as I think petrol will be better long term. What I really want is a 2.5 petrol to put in it.

Rubins4 said:

I've just done the same after my rebuild/rechassis, would you mind saying how much it adds up to, out of interest?

I've done £6k on a re-chassis, axles rebuilt, new footwells, new wheels & tyres, new clutch system, new brakes, new rear floor & supports, rebuilt props. Engine serviced but otherwise untouched, gearbox untouched, bodywork unrestored. Nearly all cost in puts, very small labour costs.

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You have not had it long enough if you have only spend 6k on it! I refuse to add up how much eithe rof mine have cost me but I know it is a long, long way north of 6. But I Have had the 110 for 10 years now and the series should not need anything else other than routine maintenance moving forward.

Ive spent well over twelve pounds on mine and thats it. If it costs me any more its going

Rubins4 said:

I've just done the same after my rebuild/rechassis, would you mind saying how much it adds up to, out of interest?

I've done £6k on a re-chassis, axles rebuilt, new footwells, new wheels & tyres, new clutch system, new brakes, new rear floor & supports, rebuilt props. Engine serviced but otherwise untouched, gearbox untouched, bodywork unrestored. Nearly all cost in puts, very small labour costs.

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I can answer that by referring you to this post which I started in 2010... Bear in mind this figure doesn't sound so bad now in 2018 but there wasn't a new galv chassis nor any other very expensive part. This was just parts, no labour. Most expensive single item was a 200 Di engine which cost me about £340. Later I added a new Roverdrive and since that, a twin tank, twin fuel system and a re-build on the gearbox plus many other improvements. I reckon I've spent in the region of £7000 in total up to date. Those costs creep up unnoticed. There is still much to do...
https://www.lrukforums.com/threads/...omething-comforting-guys.118380/#post-1164315

Extreedoc said:

I can answer that by referring you to this post which I started in 2010... Bear in mind this figure doesn't sound so bad now in 2018 but there wasn't a new galv chassis nor any other very expensive part. This was just parts, no labour. Most expensive single item was a 200 Di engine which cost me about £340. Later I added a new Roverdrive and since that, a twin tank, twin fuel system and a re-build on the gearbox plus many other improvements. I reckon I've spent in the region of £7000 in total up to date. Those costs creep up unnoticed. There is still much to do...
https://www.lrukforums.com/threads/...omething-comforting-guys.118380/#post-1164315

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7k still does not sound like much. I have on the 110 (parts only):
4k for the chassis swap,
1k for gearboxes,
1k for engine,
1k for winch,
1k for two sets of wheels and tyres

And that is just the big ticket items when you add in accessories, galvanising, maintenance parts etc. there could easily be another 10k for that. I don't want to actually know what I have spent on it It would make me feel bad. It is bad enough that I have spent over 20k in fuel (fuelly logged) for it in the last 6 years.

dag019 said:

7k still does not sound like much. I have on the 110 (parts only):
4k for the chassis swap,
1k for gearboxes,
1k for engine,
1k for winch,
1k for two sets of wheels and tyres

And that is just the big ticket items when you add in accessories, galvanising, maintenance parts etc. there could easily be another 10k for that. I don't want to actually know what I have spent on it It would make me feel bad. It is bad enough that I have spent over 20k in fuel (fuelly logged) for it in the last 6 years.

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Not to you maybe, but to me...???!!! That is much more than I've ever spent on all the motors I've ever owned added together and I'm nearly 65, there's been a few motors...

Extreedoc said:

Not to you maybe, but to me...???!!! That is much more than I've ever spent on all the motors I've ever owned added together and I'm nearly 65, there's been a few motors...

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Don't get me wrong, I am not suggesting it is not a lot of money, it just does not sound much in terms of land rover rebuild/restoration which as we all know are notoriously expensive!. I bought both of mine while I was still a student, my 110 for £1800 and my series for £1600. But since owning them I have much much more than the initial purchase costs on each of them. But I am also in the position now where they are both finished, so spending should reduce to just routine maintenance and running costs rather than restoration and modification costs.

dag019 said:

Don't get me wrong, I am not suggesting it is not a lot of money, it just does not sound much in terms of land rover rebuild/restoration which as we all know are notoriously expensive!. I bought both of mine while I was still a student, my 110 for £1800 and my series for £1600. But since owning them I have much much more than the initial purchase costs on each of them. But I am also in the position now where they are both finished, so spending should reduce to just routine maintenance and running costs rather than restoration and modification costs.

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Don't worry, I'm not offended, I knew exactly what you were getting at.

There's a Youtube video on 'why do mechanics always run around in old motors?' It goes all around the houses but I can tell you why - it's because we can... we are in a position to buy them cheap and fix them cheap and keep them going for little money, for longer than the average poor schmuck, because the schmuck has to pay a garage to keep his car going.

And it still cost me that much to do mine! Add in labour charges on top and I don't like to think how much it would have cost. The point being that if you can't mechanic your own Land Rover, you'd better have deep pockets.

Extreedoc said:

Don't worry, I'm not offended, I knew exactly what you were getting at.

There's a Youtube video on 'why do mechanics always run around in old motors?' It goes all around the houses but I can tell you why - it's because we can... we are in a position to buy them cheap and fix them cheap and keep them going for little money, for longer than the average poor schmuck, because the schmuck has to pay a garage to keep his car going.

And it still cost me that much to do mine! Add in labour charges on top and I don't like to think how much it would have cost. The point being that if you can't mechanic your own Land Rover, you'd better have deep pockets.

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I quite agree. Not sure when I last paid for labour on one of them rather than doing it myself. But one thing is for sure if i had been I would have needed an second mortgage.
And it is definitely because we can, although it becomes inconvenient when the rest of the family decide to do the same thing because YOU can.

dag019 said:

...although it becomes inconvenient when the rest of the family decide to do the same thing because YOU can.

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I'm with you there dag, I have been servicing my son's cars ever since he could drive but now he's got a Peugeot 207 and I refuse to work on it, the tin and plastic heap of crap... so he's had to join the schmucks and pay garage costs. Now he is finding out how much money I've saved him over the years.

Might be able to do a bit of bartering, hopefully exchanging the redundant 19j from the 90 for a petrol. Don't want to have to start hacking a new chassis about to get anything more exotic to fit. Need to have a proper poke around the 109 to see what's what but it's sounding like it may be a viable project.

Extreedoc said:

so he's had to join the schmucks and pay garage costs

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might encourage him to start doing it himself, that's how both I and my eldest started (and I am sure a lot of others too)