So I have had a few posts on here over the last few months. I got my first Defender in March and have spent every penny (and sometimes more) I have left over at the end of the month fixing and improving it.
My girlfriend already hates this forum as I am on it all the time looking for answers as I am learning on the job. So sorry if I say stupid things below.
I am currently awaiting a pair of 2nd row doors and rear upper panels (the rear windows) to arrive from the UK and then I am stripping the car down and putting it back together with the help of a few talented Kenyans I have been introduced to. I will post the progress on this thread.
Cars here are ridiculously expensive so a crappy land rover will fetch at least 1.2 Million KSH about £10,000. I bought mine, after having a full mechanical, off the government, it had been left to rot in the rain for two years (canvas safari roof) so the insides where rotting and stunk I tried to looked beyond this as I wanted a 110 so much! The log book said that it was once a V8 but had had a 300tdi put in two years ago - This had a genuine 91,000 KM on it. Asking price was 1.2 Million but I halved it after 2 months of haggling and got the car for about 630k or 5 grand. I knew it needed lots of work but looked forward to doing it after I spent the last year rebuilding a Triumph Spitfire with my brother from a shell.
First things first I got the car home and removed the crap seats and the tacky Maasai covers. The rear middle seat was welded onto a bodged bracket, we call this Jua kali it means the 'hot sun' in Swahili but literally translate as a sh*t job. Its a good phrase to describe the work that has been previously done on my car.
I called in the cavalry and got the seat removed no need for goggles!!
The dog approved of my purchase...
My girlfriend and I then spent the rest of the day removing all the surface rust from where all the rain has been sitting in the boot it was a harder job than we thought. Finally we finished and that was the last time she showed any interest in the car also!
My girlfriend already hates this forum as I am on it all the time looking for answers as I am learning on the job. So sorry if I say stupid things below.
I am currently awaiting a pair of 2nd row doors and rear upper panels (the rear windows) to arrive from the UK and then I am stripping the car down and putting it back together with the help of a few talented Kenyans I have been introduced to. I will post the progress on this thread.
Cars here are ridiculously expensive so a crappy land rover will fetch at least 1.2 Million KSH about £10,000. I bought mine, after having a full mechanical, off the government, it had been left to rot in the rain for two years (canvas safari roof) so the insides where rotting and stunk I tried to looked beyond this as I wanted a 110 so much! The log book said that it was once a V8 but had had a 300tdi put in two years ago - This had a genuine 91,000 KM on it. Asking price was 1.2 Million but I halved it after 2 months of haggling and got the car for about 630k or 5 grand. I knew it needed lots of work but looked forward to doing it after I spent the last year rebuilding a Triumph Spitfire with my brother from a shell.
First things first I got the car home and removed the crap seats and the tacky Maasai covers. The rear middle seat was welded onto a bodged bracket, we call this Jua kali it means the 'hot sun' in Swahili but literally translate as a sh*t job. Its a good phrase to describe the work that has been previously done on my car.
I called in the cavalry and got the seat removed no need for goggles!!
The dog approved of my purchase...
My girlfriend and I then spent the rest of the day removing all the surface rust from where all the rain has been sitting in the boot it was a harder job than we thought. Finally we finished and that was the last time she showed any interest in the car also!
