series as a daily??

hi there,
iv been after a landy for ages now, but just cant quite get enough money together for the defender 2/300tdi i really want! but i have seen a series 3 109 with a 200tdi disco engine conversion for sale which i can afford. it had no tax of mot, but i am handy with a welder and tools so should be fine.

however, i will be using it as my daily, i do about 30 miles (15 each way) to work, mostly on motorways. will the mpg be ridiculous? i drive slow all the time so il only be doing about 60.

any opinions appreciated!
cheers
karl

On standard gearing you'll be lucky to reach 60. Better with an overdrive. It'll be very noisy, uncomfortable and will try your patience with bits that break of fall off. Other than that it'll be fine. I use my td engined 109 every day, wouldn't want to go a long way in it though.

hmmm.. im not too fussed about bits falling off, they will bolt or weld back on! might it be worth getting hold of a r380 or lt77 or which ever gearbox it is that is standard on a 200tdi? bolt some defender seats in? are they cold in the winter?

the series 3 used to be a bit nippy in winter till i flushed the heater matrix out and got me heater controll valve freed up on a standard 2 1/4 petrol and used to do bout 60 miles a day at first things did used to drop off but once i got into the habbit of giving it the once over evry sunday morning it was fine (till my gf at the time sold it out from underneith me while i was away ) wich that relationship lasted only 5 minutes after i came home and found out

get a disco and pretend it's a defender.
travel in comfort and it's almost the same mechanicals underneath.
when it dies it liberates a really good engine for the next project.

Series are great but they're very agricultural, and by the time you've modded one enough to make it a good on-roader, it's (a) no longer a series and (b) spent anough to buy a defender in the first place.

just my personal opinion. I have a disco and a series.

what a nice gf she was!! straight for the bin! haha

well a disco would be the perfect option really, it will just cost me an EXTRA 700 quid for the rest of the year in insurance! i pay 1200 on my current car, and if i got a defender they would give me 200 quid back!

which bit are the bits most common for falling off?
cheers!

Have been using a 109 for a year, series 2a petrol! gas conversion, diesel would be a LOT cheaper, but it's such a pleasure to drive, it's worth it's weight in gold. it's a continual project, and there is a lot to keep on top of. As far as being cold in the winter goes, if you go out, you put on warm clothes, you leave those warm clothes on when you are in the series, the heater will stop your feet from freezing to the pedals, and when you get out of the series, you have already got your warm clothes on, ready for the 'outside'....!

a diesel one would be cheaper than gas!? haha not the warmest of things then?

is it bolty bits that fall off? or weldy bits?

well i run my series as my everyday car and yes i am mad as my two **** about landys are TD 90 and 100 tdi but nothing like a series takes the boring out of driving
you every reach 60 on a series cog box unless you got a heavy trailer and the clutch in going down a hill <--- never again
things rattle before they fall of and its bolt on bits than normally fall over,
mines a series two, but once you get her warm its not cold inside however i have a truck cab,

i've not had any bolty or weldy bits fall of my S2, but I did do most of the bits myself.

Sure to say that a series is agricultural and fitting a TDI adds mpg (35+) economy, but re-inforces the agricultural nature of the body.

I do love my series 2, but wouldn't want it as a daily driver, even though it would probably be OK with it, now I've got it more sorted.
A good series is overengineered for long reliable life, as long as you've got a good chassis.

I think a disco is your motor -from what you've said though.

Mark

if you use do use it daily you gota remember to check things look for use bolts and other such things, other wise the bits wont fall off just the landy fall apart! <--- speak from experience on that one!

i just cant justify spending a grand on a ****ty disco, then paying 700 more for insurance. if i put 300 more in i could have a defender and cheap insurance!


haha it does sound like series are continuous projects.. they sound quite fun and interesting tho.

before you fit a disco engine and box, check the boring legislation stuff first, there are rules about such things, you might loose the registration.
If its just the motor and box then you'll be ok.
Smithy was right you might be better with summat else, if you've only got the cash to run an escort then maybe you should, boring as it may be.

bear in mind that a proper series 2/2a (ie pre-'71) has the advantage of free historic road tax, but will not have things like syncromesh on all the gears, you can't just flash the headlights at will (well, until you get acquanted with turning the lights on, stamping twice on the high/low button then turning them off again), the demister won't, security is more about which essential part you take off and carry around with you when you leave it, and anything much more than about 50MPH is quite hard work.

Series 3 is more driveable with a syncro box and standardish stalk controls, but no faster (without an overdrive which is expensive and fairly essential).

Both incredibly cheap for parts and will put a big grin on your face ... until you drive off and squint into the vibrating mirrors at the growing lake of oil on your drive.

I love them but wouldn't use one daily.

Used my S3 for going to work in for years - Only about 4 miles each way but it kept it exercised. Comfy and fun - especially with the top off in summer (with good waterproof clothing).The petrol would happily do 65 - 70 on the straight (until the steering got badly worn) without overdrive but it's noisy and thirsty - 45 to 50 is comfortable and gets about 20mpg but 60 isn't a problem as long as you leave plenty of braking room. You just have to drive it like a vehicle designed mostly in the 60s.
Looking forward to having it back on the road but I don't have a big enough garage so everything's being done outside - too bloody cold at the moment.

Karlos28 said:

what a nice gf she was!! straight for the bin! haha

well a disco would be the perfect option really, it will just cost me an EXTRA 700 quid for the rest of the year in insurance! i pay 1200 on my current car, and if i got a defender they would give me 200 quid back!

which bit are the bits most common for falling off?
cheers!

Click to expand...

the things that fell off mine in the first few months after id bought it were the mirrors ( previous owner had fooked them up with two inadequate self tapping screws ) and cost me a new pair the headlight bowls off the inside of the wings ( were a twot to replace neatly due to corroded screws ) front grille came off due to plastic tabs being snapped by previous owner (held on with string wich rotted) exhaust rear hanger was a cnut for self removeing ( fixed that with some galv steel strap in the end ) bottom of cubby box under passenger seat rotted through and shat the bottle jack out on the main road (exactly where is anyones guess) door stop straps were buggers fer snapping but sorted that with a 2" wide laether belt i had in the wardrobe and the starter solenoid fell off the inner wing due to rotten rivvets coz of the battery acid leaking onto it but other than these little niggles waws a good cheap daily runner

certainly tought me a lot bout vehicle maintenance

haha! thats quite a list! all quite easy stuff tho, at least its not a gearbox or cylinder head every 3 thou miles.

i see the point about getting something i can afford.. wait till next year. i couldnt stand having a **** car i dont like tho.. it would actually drive me mad.. il go and beg my bank. the cnuts, wont let me get credit coz i havnt got credit!!?

A series is for life , not just for christmas... haha! It's more like a pet, than a car.. when it's 42 years old, and still road legal, cheap to insure, free road tax, you can live with the need to check up on, and fiddle around with bits and pieces, as long as you don't mind getting your hands dirty! all the best with your decision.

Don't mind any of that at all! It's what I enjoy! As ling as loads of money isn't involved!

Is an s3 still tax expempt? What age do you have to pay tax?

Cheers guys!

mine drips a bit, needs the oil checked at least every month or so, is noisy and a little bit temperamental, the brakes are decent as I have twin leading shoes on 11" drums

as for speed I got it up to 65mph without an overdrive, but that was on a LONG straight bit with a slight downward incline, 60 is easy enough to reach if you have a nice long straight.

I normally cruise at between 50 and 55 though


I must say, the 2.25 petrol has never let me down, it has always started first time


the handbrake gave me some problems though, someone put both nuts on top of the lever, causing it to not disengage, which in turn made the gearbox feel like it was destroyed.