Worth keeping?

I recently got my first Landy which on first inspection seemed in pretty decent condition (excluding a few debts of course, but what do you expect?)

After getting it up on a ramp and giving it a through once over, I think I've found all the work that needs doing, which is as follows:
- Front diff seals leaking (but not enough to fail an MOT)
- Floor needs work, it was replaced by previous owner but the new floor was bolted on top of the old one, so the old floors are still rusting away underneath.
- Underside was waxoiled (or the equivalent) but not cleaned very well before hand, so it could do with coming off and the underside being cleaned, then re-oiled.
- Doors are a little rusty on the bottoms, about 2-3 inches worth could do with being replaced.

That's about the strength of the problems, the engine and gearbox have been checked by a mechanic friend who freely admits he's not done a lot with Landy's but as far as he can see they're in decent nick. No leaks or excessive wear.

I got it for a decent price, so I think I could make my costs back (insurance, tax etc) if I were to sell it.

I'd just like to know people's opinions on if it would be worth keeping it and getting some work done/doing some work. I'm not bad with a set of tools, but I've never really done any welding, so I'd need some help with that.

Why wouldnt it be worth keeping?

Sounds pretty much what you would expect from an old landy, things wear out after 20-30 years.
More detail, like age and engine, and a few pics, would be useful!

If you really want good opinions, post some pics of the troublespots on the chassis, like rear legs, outriggers, and rear upper xmember. Bulkhead and door pillars too.

Just keep it going with running repairs, its easy to fall in to the trap of a rebuild when you will spend months and loads of cash when you could just drive it and fix each bit only when required.
Did you buy it to use or restore?

I bought it to use, mainly for shooting in winter.
Basically I don't want to have to spend more money repairing it if it would be better for me to sell it, keep the repair money and pool my cash to buy would cost to buy one in better condition.

It's a 1993 200tdi, lt77 gearbox (so that'll need some work at some point in the future, but for now it's pretty good).

If these have uploaded right off my phone the pictures should be as follows:
1) Rear leg left
2) Rear leg right
3) Outrigger right
4) Outrigger left
5) Crossmember
6) Crossmember
(Pretty sure this has been replaced, so shouldn't be a problem)
7) Driver footwell
8) Passenger footwell
9) Rust patch on the bulkhead (passenger side)
10) Bulkhead (drivers side)
11) top side of front leg left. You can see under the waxoil it's a little rusty but I don't think anything too bad
12) Driver door
13) Driver door
14) Passenger door (pretty terrible pic, but it's much the same as the Drivers)
15) Behind seats
16) Underside of drivers floor. When it was repaired previously the previous owner just bolted the new floor over the old one, so that could do with being properly repaired at some point.

I've seen much worse on newer models, so on balance I'd say it's a keeper

The bulkhead looks the worst, can be sorted with plating/repair parts and a competent welder. I'd crawl around underneath with a hammer and keep tapping any chassis parts looking for soft spots - particularly where the trailing and radius arm mounts live.

The random under seal coverage may only be covering surface rust if your blessed

YRM do very accurate footwell panels if you need to replace.

Happy Tinkering!

winchman said:

Just keep it going with running repairs, its easy to fall in to the trap of a rebuild when you will spend months and loads of cash when you could just drive it and fix each bit only when required.

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Good advice. Drive it, fix it if it breaks down or as needed for MOT. Once you take it off the road and start messing around, it is just costing you money for no benefit.

Emolloy93 said:

Basically I don't want to have to spend more money repairing it if it would be better for me to sell it, keep the repair money and pool my cash to buy would cost to buy one in better condition.

It's a 1993 200tdi, lt77 gearbox (so that'll need some work at some point in the future, but for now it's pretty good).

.

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That is quite a sought after model. Late enough for reasonable performance, too early for loads of gubbins. One of those in immaculate condition might cost a lot, if you could find one.

Pics dont look too bad, bulkhead needs repair. Try and get a steam cleaner and remove that junk waxoyl job, it isnt helping, just making it difficult to see what you have got.
As above,test all over with a small hammer, you will probably find a few small areas need plating. When done, rub down and get some decent paint on the chassis.
Doesnt look too much there would be very expensive if you dont mind doing the donkey work yourself.

You will need new doors, or at the very least new door frames. Series doors are much cheaper than Defender ones.

slomofo said:

I've seen much worse on newer models, so on balance I'd say it's a keeper

The bulkhead looks the worst, can be sorted with plating/repair parts and a competent welder. I'd crawl around underneath with a hammer and keep tapping any chassis parts looking for soft spots - particularly where the trailing and radius arm mounts live.

The random under seal coverage may only be covering surface rust if your blessed

YRM do very accurate footwell panels if you need to replace.

Happy Tinkering!

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Shockingly true that some of the newer one rust for fun. All good advice, especially about the arm mount points.

Turboman said:

Good advice. Drive it, fix it if it breaks down or as needed for MOT. Once you take it off the road and start messing around, it is just costing you money for no benefit.

That is quite a sought after model. Late enough for reasonable performance, too early for loads of gubbins. One of those in immaculate condition might cost a lot, if you could find one.

Pics dont look too bad, bulkhead needs repair. Try and get a steam cleaner and remove that junk waxoyl job, it isnt helping, just making it difficult to see what you have got.
As above,test all over with a small hammer, you will probably find a few small areas need plating. When done, rub down and get some decent paint on the chassis.
Doesnt look too much there would be very expensive if you dont mind doing the donkey work yourself.

You will need new doors, or at the very least new door frames. Series doors are much cheaper than Defender ones.

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Again, agree, no electronic carp to give you grief, but a decent honest tool hidden under that pretty shoddy "underseal" job.
IMHO, that needs to come off ASAP - its only holding water and crud against good metal !!

The bulkhead is the main issue, but not too bad to fix. You did want to learn to weld, didn't you ???

And you already know the issue of plating over rotten stuff, and what a bad idea it is

Thanks for all the advice guys.

I'm planning on keeping her so now it's just a case of getting everything that needs doing done.

First on the list is getting that underside coating off, giving it a clean and getting a new one on.
Then probably the rust patch in the bulkhead.
The diff seals can probably wait until the next MOT, a mechanic friend of mine who had a look at it said he wouldn't fail it ATM but who knows in 8 months.
New doors will be whenever the money comes around, I can live with a little wind and spray for a while. I don't personally see much point repairing them if I'm planning on getting a new set.

Check the level in the diffs, and make sure it is using EP90 mineral oil, not thin synthetic gear oil. You might find the leaking stops. Sometimes the front diff oil rises due to swivel oil leaking past a faulty seal.

Turboman said:

Check the level in the diffs, and make sure it is using EP90 mineral oil, not thin synthetic gear oil. You might find the leaking stops. Sometimes the front diff oil rises due to swivel oil leaking past a faulty seal.

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This is good advice, especially regarding the seals within the front axles... Ask me how I know

Emolloy93 said:

I'd just like to know people's opinions on if it would be worth keeping it and getting some work done/doing some work. I'm not bad with a set of tools, but I've never really done any welding, so I'd need some help with that.

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My replacement bulkhead went to the blasters this morning.
When its back, ill weld up what needs doing, and then it will go for hot dip galvanising.
Then paint.

Then ill swap it out for the one that's on the vehical at present.

The truck is off the road at present, as the mot has expired, but that's just because i did not get on to the body work soon enough (i purchased it with engine issues, but theyre sorted now)

If the mot had not expired, i could be doing all the work to the replacement bulkhead whilst the truck was still on the road.

Im saying all this as you may like to consider doing the same? I think its going to be pretty difficult to do a good repair on your bulkhead whilst its still in place (and you have all the dash etc. stuck on the back of it) so you could just bodge it through the next mots or, as above, acquire a replacement, work on that, whilst youre still driving about, and then swap them over.

Im not sure as i saw any photos of the sills?