Hello - need help choosing a resto project

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crustie

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My 13 year old son is a huge land rover fan and wants a 130 as his first car.
he was diagnosed with cancer in October so i have promised him that once he gets the all clear i would buy him a 130 that he can restore in time for his 17th birthday.
A friend of mine is arranging a tool box and some tools and we will have access to a workshop at weekends.
just dont know where to start in terms of what i should be looking for and what the relitive merits / costs of the various 130 models and ages are.
any help would be greatly received.
cheers.
 
Firstly sorry about the news my heart goes out to you.

You need to find out what your son means by a 130? I assume he means the 130 rapier used by the royal artillery? They are huge!! Would he not be better off with a 90 or 110? The 130 off road capability was deemed unacceptable to the army hence why they were replaced with pinz gauers.

I put a picture on of an old army one is this the sort of landy you are looking for? Most people buy these to make caravans for overlanding. This means a good one carries a high price. THere are other types right up to brand new ones you don't have to get an old one if you know where to look.

Think seriously before you buy a wreak intending to do it up but they take hours of care and attention. You might be better buing something decent and modifying it?

Just some thoughts.

Dave
 

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i will echo all that has been said. to be honest, a 130 is bloody huge. it really isnt an ideal first car. very difficult to maneuvre, and as has been said due to the sheer size their off road performance isnt as good as other land rovers.

get him to take a look around, i have a 110 station wagon (and i am in all likelihood only a couple of years older than your son) and in my opinion at least it looks great. as with any land rover, you can buy one totally stock original, and then modify it to suit yourself. i would say perhaps that is the best option for him! once he has some experience driving landys perhaps he can look at getting a 127/130 as a second vehicle.

yes i did say second vehicle. landys are like pringles. once you start you really cant stop. i have 3 at the moment.

and as Bevvy said if you dont get a wreck you could drive it to off road pay and plays, and then he can drive it there and have some fun before he turns 17. if he likes the off roading aspect a 130 certainly will disappoint him though, as they arent exactly maneuvreable. they would also have difficulty going down certain greenlanes, and not to mention parking the bugger would be nigh on impossible in any normal parking space!
 
welcome Crustie sorry for your son, get him an old 90 to play with, plenty around, parts readily available and plenty of help.
 
Hi Dave
thanks for the reply, he has reconsidered based on all the advice and is now very excited about getting a 90 and being able to drive it before his 17th.
I am sure we will be asking many more questions as we bought a magazine this week and were overwhelmed by the amount of options and styles that you can choose.
Chris
 
Thanks for all the advice, we are now going for a 90 and are having great fun trying to work out what level of equipment we should go for and so on.
We got a cab to the hospital on monday and within minutes were given a magazinge by the cab driver who was a landy nut and really got my son excited about the possibilities and also has given us details of a few pay and play sites locally.
I am sure more questions will follow.
 
Well done mate good show! Yea I take it you plan to drive it to the off road site and let him have a drive and trhen you drive it back. Thats probably the best way.

Now before going and spending an absolute fortune on parts get the standard 90, some cheap off road tyres and use it as LR and god intended. You will be pleasantly suprised how much fun you can have in a normal 90 with some mud tyres fitted. THe trouble is the more kit you buy the more you spend and the further you have to push it to test yourself.

Baseline stuff not in any particular order for pay and play would be:

jackable sills, snorkel, steering guard, some decent towing eyes and tyres. Have a good towing strop for when you get stuck. That will probably do you to be honest then once you got some experience you can go mad like my attachment. Woohoo get the winching going on.
 

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We got some positive news from his consultant at the end of Jan and while we still have a way to go, I am pleased to announce that I have upheld my end of the bargain and he is now the proud owner of a tidy 89reg 90 3.5V8 pretty much stock apart from some good mud tyres.
Have joined the local club and plan to head out today for our first attempt at green laning......
thanks for all of your help, we definately got a better vehicle because of it..:)
 
Hi Guys, a quick update, my son fought like a trooper and is now in remission and is strong enough to start using the 90.
I wondered if all the gearboxes on the V8's sound like spanners in a washing machine when sitting in neutral or have i got a big bill coming.
Also what is the correct gearbox oil?
Going to get muddy on sunday.
Thanks again for all your advice and wishes
Chris
 
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