No willing mechanics!

Hi, I have a 1988 3.5l V8 110 & it needs some work doing for the MOT. I've tried but everything is too tight or its electrical (I know absolutely nothing about electrics)
My other half is working too much to help & just wants me to get rid of it!!!
My problem is every garage I've called either won't do it because its an "old Defender", have waiting list of months or want to charge me for looking at what needs doing when I already know! Oh & "they don't do welding!"
Does anybody know of a good, not extortionately priced mechanic in the Bungay area of Norfolk, UK? .

How about Richard Hall at Glencoyne Engineering (Banham)?
Never experienced him first hand but he certainly writes (LRM) like a decent and honest person and is LR through and through.

Have you googled mobile welders for your area?

The problem with old cars, and especially old land rovers, is once you start you never know what any repair job is going to turn into, so most garages are going to be once bitten twice shy attitude!

Glencoyne would be your best bet in Norfolk. Expect them to be busy though.

Tell your other half to put his big boy pants on and stop being so wet.

Col

P.s all of those excuses are why a lot of us now fix our own vehicles. Fire away with questions, the forum may help you to fix your Landy for you!

bluedog333 said:

P.s all of those excuses are why a lot of us now fix our own vehicles. Fire away with questions, the forum may help you to fix your Landy for you!

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a vicious circle as many garages have “home mechanics” coming to them which makes the job take longer fixing previous cock ups!

I rarely take any car to a mechanic as I find, especially on the older vehicles, I spend more time fixing the professionals cock ups as they don't know to repair them.
Sometimes this is so bad as to be dangerous especially when you are dealing with older technology that needs some knowledge and skill to set up, not just swopping parts out!

bluedog333 said:

P.s all of those excuses are why a lot of us now fix our own vehicles. Fire away with questions, the forum may help you to fix your Landy for you!

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I think it is more the pros are so expensive, that if people want to run cars beyond their budget then they have no choice but to diy.

I have always said if I could not spanner, I would be driving a fiesta/micra etc.

Get an impact gun for the tight stuff!

lynall said:

I think it is more the pros are so expensive, that if people want to run cars beyond their budget then they have no choice but to diy.

I have always said if I could not spanner, I would be driving a fiesta/micra etc.

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This is true. When I got my Landy 9 years ago I didn’t really have much of a clue about mechanics, other than tinkering with mowers. After my second visit to the garage and £100 worse off for a UJ swap, I thought ‘f’ck this’! and since then I’ve done everything myself. The cost is a major factor, time without my vehicle is critical too as it is my daily driver for work, I also like the satisfaction gained from fixing and learning ones own motor!
I was ‘forced’ to doing the head gasket on the 200tdi a couple of weeks back, never done one before, but the garages were all busy and wanted the Landy left for up to a week. Price estimates were £750+ ! Fook that! Glad I did it.

kim cattermole said:

Hi, I have a 1988 3.5l V8 110 & it needs some work doing for the MOT. I've tried but everything is too tight or its electrical (I know absolutely nothing about electrics)
My other half is working too much to help & just wants me to get rid of it!!!
My problem is every garage I've called either won't do it because its an "old Defender", have waiting list of months or want to charge me for looking at what needs doing when I already know! Oh & "they don't do welding!"
Does anybody know of a good, not extortionately priced mechanic in the Bungay area of Norfolk, UK? .

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As suggested, ^^^^^^^^^^, ring Richard at Glencoyne, number is on the website. But don't expect it to happen in a hurry, he is always very busy.

I don't know anything about Bungay, but could PM you the number of a garage near Fakenham. They are known to me personally, and don't mind working on old stuff.
They are a nice family, and good at mechanical stuff, but also very busy, lead time is likely to be in the order of several weeks, and you may need to leave the vehicle there if the job is large. They have secure storage.

Usual garage prices, but labour tends to be reasonable as they are quite quick, and only charge for the time they are actually working on the vehicle.

Thanks guys for all your help, the "big boys pants" made me lol.
Like a few of you said I agree, its much better to do it yourself but not always an option x

kim cattermole said:

Thanks guys for all your help, the "big boys pants" made me lol.
Like a few of you said I agree, its much better to do it yourself but not always an option x

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Hi Kim you're welcome to come over ours, there's enough flat ground to park up and work on a 110 but it's not covered. We have quite a few tools but no welding stuff here. @Turboman is very good with LRs, we've had quite a few between us but just have the one now. We're just over 30 miles from you, PM me if you fancy coming over for help with basic stuff and a chat I do suggest booking in at Glencoyne too.

Thank you so much for the offer, thats very kind. Space isn't really an issue tbh & the landy isn't moving anywhere until we've put a new alternator on him.
I had a look at all the obvious things on the lights yesterday, fuse etc with no luck. They only stopped working when somebody bashed my numberplate light off in a supermarket. I thought putting a new 1 on would solve the problem but it didn't. I seem to have a yellow & red wire back there that goes nowhere & i have no idea what it was/is there for? Lol
I believe everything is original btw as when I bought him he'd been sitting in a heated garage, only covering 5000 miles in the previous 17 years!
I have found a local mobile mechanic who should be getting back to me in the next couple of days.
Fingers crossed as I need the landy to tow our camping trailer on the 17th July so I can take my kids camping!

Electrics will be an earth or it’s sulking because of the bump

Yeah, he sulks a lot!

kim cattermole said:

Yeah, he sulks a lot!

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The One Ten, your husband, or both?

Lol I was actually talking about the landy....
I know you may think I'm a bit dim but just looking at the rear lights again, I have a red, a green & a black wire coming from the rear, ns light. The black 1 isn't connected to anything & even i know it should be! But to where? I've looked at wiring diagrams & they mean nothing to me! I also have a red & yellow wire coming up thats not connected. Help please

kim cattermole said:

Lol I was actually talking about the landy....
I know you may think I'm a bit dim but just looking at the rear lights again, I have a red, a green & a black wire coming from the rear, ns light. The black 1 isn't connected to anything & even i know it should be! But to where? I've looked at wiring diagrams & they mean nothing to me! I also have a red & yellow wire coming up thats not connected. Help please

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The three wires will be a live for the rear light, a live for the brake light, and an earth.
I don't have access to a wiring diagram at the moment, but guessing the black one is an earth. It needs to be connected to the chassis, with a good electrical connection. Tight fastening and plenty of copperslip. It should be fairly obvious where it was connected before if you clean the area up a bit.