introduction from and advice for newbie

hello everyone,
sorry - before posting elsewhere it would have been better to introduce myself... so here goes.

When some men reach a delicate age some buy fast motorbikes. I want a defender

I am looking to buy my first landrover - I want a defender as they are, to me, the classic style. Trouble is it needs to do almost everything for a while - including towing a couple of horses (not mine. Long story...) I am prepared to do a bit of work as my knowledge grows but will have to leave the hard stuff to the experts.

I am looking hard at a td5 defender 90 that has the wrong info on the DVLA websight. the car is built on an old chassis number but on the surface looks like a softop defender 90. it soulds ok and runs ok as far as I can tell from a quick look. Any obvious things to look for? Please tell me now before I make an idiot of myself.

I am having trouble in getting insurance from my usual company 'cos they canot find it on the database.
old chassis number from 1959, first registered 1988. td5 body and stuff from later, maybe same age as the engine (2002).

how can I make sure i am not buying a pup? the DVLA reckon it is fitted with a petrol engine?!?!
Apart from walk away - what would the group advise?

thanks
j.

scrimp said:

hello everyone,
sorry - before posting elsewhere it would have been better to introduce myself... so here goes.

When some men reach a delicate age some buy fast motorbikes. I want a defender

I am looking to buy my first landrover - I want a defender as they are, to me, the classic style. Trouble is it needs to do almost everything for a while - including towing a couple of horses (not mine. Long story...) I am prepared to do a bit of work as my knowledge grows but will have to leave the hard stuff to the experts.

I am looking hard at a td5 defender 90 that has the wrong info on the DVLA websight. the car is built on an old chassis number but on the surface looks like a softop defender 90. it soulds ok and runs ok as far as I can tell from a quick look. Any obvious things to look for? Please tell me now before I make an idiot of myself.

I am having trouble in getting insurance from my usual company 'cos they canot find it on the database.
old chassis number from 1959, first registered 1988. td5 body and stuff from later, maybe same age as the engine (2002).

how can I make sure i am not buying a pup? the DVLA reckon it is fitted with a petrol engine?!?!
Apart from walk away - what would the group advise?

thanks
j.

Click to expand...

Personally if your going to rule out walking away there is nothing else I can advise.






Pray perhaps

:welcome2:

Bromsgrove Defender said:

Personally if your going to rule out walking away there is nothing else I can advise.
Pray perhaps

:welcome2:

Click to expand...

Ah thanks Bomsgrove Defender
that bad eh? so, i guess walking away would be the best advice then.
I am sure the Good Lord has a soft spot for (potential) Landrover owners but i don't think I should tempt too much.

j.

Sounds like it is an old Landrover on a new body but what suspension does it have? Coil or Leaf Springs, the older ones has leaf springs so if it has coil ones it is probably a newer Landy on an old number. Buyer beware, try paying for an AA check. Good luck and let us know....photo's, we love photos here!

Yup that bad

td5 defender 90 that has the wrong info on the DVLA website.

the car is built on an old chassis number but on the surface looks like a softop defender 90

I am having trouble in getting insurance from my usual company 'cos they canot find it on the database.

old chassis number from 1959, first registered 1988. td5 body and stuff from later, maybe same age as the engine (2002).

the DVLA reckon it is fitted with a petrol engine?!?!

If you were buying it purely as an off road vehicle then fine.......kind of but anyone of the above highlighted bit's should be setting alarm bells off.

Do a search for things to look for when buying.

Print it off and take it with you next time you see a vehicle that takes your fancy........also take someone with you who knows what to look for.
And if that person doesn't turn up with a blanket or something else to lay down and or kneel on tell em to bugger off and find somone else who really does know what they're lookin for.

hi
is it local?
i am in near Bromsgrove.

ciderman said:

hi
is it local?
i am in near Bromsgrove.

Click to expand...

That really needs editting





I've no idea where Scrimp is?

Hmmmm. Thanks Chaps.... I am down in chepstow - I can see what you mean about alarm bells though.
I will see if i can find someone who rekons they know about landrovers and take 'em with me before I part with my cow for a bag of beans....

thanks again.

hello,
after a long break I am back.... this time I am complete with a defender 110 300tdi. What a beast!
Trouble is that there are a few things that need doing to it.... yeh, yeh yeh.... I know, what did I expect?
So I will be trawling the posts for all the tips and advice to get me up to speed with all things Landrover.

Cheers....

Sounds like you've found yourself in a similar position to me.

You want one.
You know what type you want.
You've got a general idea you need to do a bit more than kick the tyres.
But you know there may be trouble lurking.
Sound about right?

One of the Land Rover's endless charms (for me) is that most of the bits are simple enough to work on yourself and they can be made to run and run. As a result, you get the kind of Heinz 57 mix-and-match you've encountered. I bought a 1988 County that already had a 200TDi engine donated to it.

To cut a long story short, even with some remote assistance by phone from an expert when I did the inspection and test drive, I ended up deciding to re-chassis the beast.

It wasn't rotted to pieces - but a proper inspection and clean up after I bought it showed it was developing some problems in areas you don't want them (suspension mounts, fuel tank and that hard-to-reach-and-impossible-to-weld-spot where side member ducks under the rear cross-member) - and it had already had one new rear-section grafted on at some point. Nothing imminently dangerous - but it wasn't 'proper'.

These are things you're unlikely to reveal from a roadside check unless you take an experienced mechanic who knows exactly where to poke about and is willing to crawl around and get dirty. And that's before any of the idiosyncrasies you might encounter in the engine/transmission.

End result, I bought a perfectly road-worthy and legal 90. I then spent about the same amount getting it properly serviced (cambelt, all the fluids, new prop-shaft, one wheel bearing) and, having revealed it's true state, fitting a new chassis, suspension all round, fuel tank and brake lines.

Moral of the story? If you're prepared to take a risk on your own expertise and research - crack on. My story suggests you might need to "double down" on your purchase price to sort out some problems.

If you'd prefer to avoid problems and find something sound and ready to go - always get an expert to inspect it before you part with any cash.

Good luck....