Looked at a 90 today but rusty?

If you see my last thread/post I was looking at a 1984 90.

I finally got round to having a look at it today although I can't say I'm surprised it's advertised for £1,200.00

There's rust which appears tothe rear near side chassis and also att he front end (chassis) on the off side. The owner stated it may need some welding although a friend has suggested it may be a better and cheaper option to replace the entire chassis? - can't see how this could be correct.

Bottom line is that it only has 4 months MOT left and given the chassis rust and slight rust to the bulkhead I'm wondering whether it's worth offering say £600.00 as a project and then seeing if I can get it welded?

There's also a small oil leak from the diff and also off the rocker.

Is this more trouble (and most importantly costly) than it's worth?

Thanks.

Have yu seen the price of defenders?? Sorry to say it but UNLESS the seller is a moron there's no way you'll get it for less than a grand. Assuming it's a TD I'd be more worried about the engine than the chassis, unless the chassis is seriously rotten. Welding it up is fairly straightforwards.. [smile] We need Piccies before making further Assumptions[/smile]

probably a NA ? - still worth a grand

Sean said:

probably a NA ? - still worth a grand

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Soory ya right thought it said 86 :doh:

Cheers but what's the best option - welding or replacing chassis?

think someone could do with spending a few days reading

It would have to need a LOT of welding to be at the point where it's more cost effective to swap the chassis. Swapping the chassis is expensive to buy (especially new) and to carry out if you can't do it yourself, because everything pretty much has to be unbolted and refitted.

Having said that, it's quite possibly MORE cost effective in the long term.

Rust can be deceiving, I've tackled many a job where a small 3" hole has turned into a cut out upwards of 4 times that size in at attempt to find good metal to weld to.

You really do get what you pay for with Defenders, and the most cost effective reality for you, if you can't weld yourself, may be to keep on looking and saving and trying to find a ~£2k example that needs less immediate attention.

You'll still probably want to double that again though if you want one with no issues atall.

search button is your friend

i looked for a defender, sold my disco for £2150, thought il pay a little on top and get one... looked at £2k-2500 ones, sheds to be fair !!!! one was matte black rough, 88 i think, complettly rotten bulkhead,all window seals perished, leaks everywhere, although an ok chassis and 200tdi... i thought 2k for that f**k off !!! ....IT SOLD !!

another, £2300 non tdi,crappy really and nothign youd be proud of or pleased to own for the ££, rusty, that sold

i ended up with a £5000 budget for one, and still couldnt find a nice one within reasonable distance

in the end i bought a p38 for £2250 and saved 2.5k of the budget

defender market is a tough ol game to enter, dont get much for your money

had a funny chat with a fella looking at my 90 along the lines of "how much did ya pay for your Landy pal-3 an half i said-not bad that he says...3.5 GRAND i says-he looks aghast walked back off to his Audi...

I paid £1100 for an 89 so far its cost me £700 to get it through the mot and a further £300 on the engine to get it to run smoothly. and i havent started on the body work yet.
so i would say save as much as you can and get a good one unless you can fix it yourself or have very deep pockets.

polsta said:

defender market is a tough ol game to enter, dont get much for your money

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On the contrary, I think you get a lot for your money.

Just depends how and what you consider is value for money.

Polsta I think you've hit the nail on the head.
I think it helps to consider them a hobby rather than a car. Makes it easier to pay the relentless garage bills.

I've recently been looking to replace my discovery with something a bit more rugged (less temperamental). I started to look at the defender market and was shocked to see rust infested, hideous, old sheds going for 2K plus!
I think it's a testament to them though, that a basic mid eighties td can still hold it's value 25 years later, during a recession, and even when there's no (immediate), shortage of them. From the amount of series landys about on the roads still, it's fair to say that even the early defenders should give you another 40 years of usage.

Anyway, I gave in and bought a series in the end, and hopefully that will keep me happy in every way, with the added character (headaches), that comes with driving a classic.