First Landy Advice and Help Required!

Hi All,

I am currently looking to buy my first Landy (A Defender 90 around 1987 ish). Where is the best place to buy as autotrader has absolutely nothing!
I have around £1000 to £1500 to spend so I dont mind if its a bit worn as ive got the time for some TLC!

Maybe some of you may have an old landy 90 that would benefit from a new home? Im in Hampshire but am prepared to travel far and wide to find one.

Thanks for any help you may have,

Henry

Good look if you find any let me know ill have em.
Your are at least £ 1000.00 short un less you dont mind buying one with a shot chassis and bulk head. Be carefull you dont end up buying a nicked un

Hi Henry,

Don't make the mistake I did, I bought a Land Rover 90 1984 5 years ago, and didn't know what I was getting into.

I had bought the worst vehicle ever, it had a completely rotten chassis, and bulkhead. Tought me a lesson or two. Had to strip the thing down to the bare chassis and weld lots of new metal in just to get it past its MOT. Took many weekends with an Arc welder and some waste sheet metal (i managed to get free from a metal company in their bins).

If you find one for that price, do a hot spanner test all over the chassis to check for serious corrosion. If your screwdriver or whatever goes straight through the chassis, then you have got some work ahead of you.

Good luck.

Rich

Ebay. Don't set your heart on one because you won't get it so be prepared to have to bid on hundreds of different ones to win one. I got mine from ebay.

A 1000 to 1500 quid 90 will very likely be a pile of ****e. That's not to say that one costing twice as much won't be a pile of ****e. If you find a good one for 1500 quid remember the "too good to be true" rule, if it looks too good to be true it probably is.

Oh Dear!

Thanks for all the advice guys, kinda not the answer I needed!

Well, Ive got the time to do various bits, replacing worn parts etc, but unfortunately not the experience to do chassis/bulkhead welding etc...

What if I up my budget to £2k?

Henry

I paid £2k for mine and was pretty lucky, but i was willing to double that over a period of time fixing bits and spending time with it.

Don't let it put you off, i could've just left it alone and happily used it till it needed stuff doing, but that's not why i bought one.

Check my ' Ongoing work ' thread for a list of bits i'm doing to her.

For 2K you'll get an early TD-engined Ninety. Just make sure you give the chassis a good going over - don't be afraid to give it a good smack with a big screwdriver. Check the rear cross-member closely - mine "appeared" okay when I bought my 1988 Ninety, but failed it's MOT six months later. That was down to me not knowing what I should be looking for

Ebay,auto trader and landrover mags are a good place to look but for that sort of money be very carefull what you buy. Take someone with you that knows what they are looking at as nice looking landy can take your eye off a rotten chassis.
A mate of mine turned up with a real nice looking 200tdi by the time he left mine he was nearly in tears, not a 200 tdi engine, rotten chassis(fillered and undersealed), doors knackered, ****ed wheel bearings and the passenger window was held in with mastic. Its all sorted now but he spent the same again making it how it should have been when he bought it.

SHEDJIM said:

Ebay,auto trader and landrover mags are a good place to look but for that sort of money be very carefull what you buy. Take someone with you that knows what they are looking at as nice looking landy can take your eye off a rotten chassis.
A mate of mine turned up with a real nice looking 200tdi by the time he left mine he was nearly in tears, not a 200 tdi engine, rotten chassis(fillered and undersealed), doors knackered, ****ed wheel bearings and the passenger window was held in with mastic. Its all sorted now but he spent the same again making it how it should have been when he bought it.

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Has your hangover gone yet? Nice seeing ya on Saturday

Sirus said:

Has your hangover gone yet? Nice seeing ya on Saturday

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Yup, hangover all gone but I was glad when it was raining this morning, drank far to much all weekend and had to get taxi to tesco's for more beer saturday evening. Got me roll cage home tied to my mates van roof. Good to see you saturday anorl even though it was all a bit hazey

PaulWilde said:

I paid £2k for mine and was pretty lucky, but i was willing to double that over a period of time fixing bits and spending time with it.

Don't let it put you off, i could've just left it alone and happily used it till it needed stuff doing, but that's not why i bought one.

Check my ' Ongoing work ' thread for a list of bits i'm doing to her.

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Cheers Paul, good advice. You don't happen to know of any going for sale at the moment do you? As I said previously I'm happy to sort out pretty much anything but welding chassis etc is a bit over my head!

Henry

Hi, There are plenty of half decent cheap landies to be had but it's a case of being in the right palce at the right time. I got a reasonable 110 last month for just over a grand, no tax or mot and dangerous tyres, I've already spent £500 on it and will probably spend another grand just tidying it up to my likeing. If you've never had a landy before you are in for a shock, you must be in the mindset that you are buying a tool with an engine, a primative, old fasioned tool at that. Once you get it right you will get the bug.

Landrover...simply the best

Right,

Change of plan! Following all of your advice I went to see one yesterday, £1500 and yes, it was full of rust, not quite sure how it had an MOT but never mind!

SO

Im now think of a Disco, what do I look out for?! Found a couple for around £1500 and they look in a tidy condition.

Answers on a postcard!

Henry

Check fer rusty anywhere between the front and rear bumper

nathan5346 said:

Check fer rusty anywhere between the front and rear bumper

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Don't forget between the roof n tires anorl

You'll get more for your money with a disco tbh, plenty around under the 2k mark with little to do to them.

As for Defenders, you may be lucky, but tbh welding isn't as daunting as it looks, practice and take your time with it.

Hi i have just got my first land rover 90 200 tdi (not a disco engine) i got it from a friend its on a h plate has had a new rear cross member and clutch and i paid 2k for it so there are some out there i had to paint the doors but thats not the end of the world so just take your time and find a good one. some thing will turn up

landysmith said:

Right,

Change of plan! Following all of your advice I went to see one yesterday, £1500 and yes, it was full of rust, not quite sure how it had an MOT but never mind!

SO

Im now think of a Disco, what do I look out for?! Found a couple for around £1500 and they look in a tidy condition.

Answers on a postcard!

Henry

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Remortgage the house and buy a newish one, I gave up with my disco, it rusted so fast I did'nt think I'd make it home from a trip to Wales. Wet feet, passengers in rear , wet arses if it rained, back door drops and drags on boot floor, front wings get custom air holes, (think REd Bull F1 patented this for the new racing car). Plus they still go wrong and are not as easy to work on.

i wouldnt buy another disco, 2 many places that rust, inner wings, boot floor, cills, b posts, footwells. Stick to getting a defender, just get 1 with a good chassis and bulkhead, there is some out there lol. ull be over the moon with it, dont settle for second best. everytime i drive my defender it puts a smile on my face

Disco is the same problem... rust everywhere... chassi, rear floor, front inner arches, rear arches, sills..... loads!!!

I had a disco, and now I have a 90, i spent 3 months welding my disco (only working now and again in the evening though)...and I find the 90 a lot easier to work on than the disco, even for welding is easier as its all like mechano and easy to take apart...

If you really are on a short budget and definately want a land rover, you must (if you want to save money) learn how to weld.

When I bought my disco I had absolutely no experience in welding with a MIG, bought a cheap one of ebay, bits of metal and started learning.. its not dificult as long as you have the time to do it, and in the long run you'll save loads of money by welding it yourself.