Good buy?

Hey all, hunting for my first ever Landy here and I was offered this station wagon for £1200, however it's over 150 miles away, is it a good buy? What questions should I be asking? I will be getting sent more pics this weekend coming and it appears to be exactly what I'm after, station wagon, diesel, tax exempt and cheap to insure! I have been told that it drove to its storage location however it now doesn't drive due to suspected clutch master cylinder problems. Any advice appreciated cheers Gav

Looks like a project to me, mine looked similar condition, (series 3) and has been a big project, not that I'm driving it though. Maybe i could learn something here as that doesn't look like a 2.25 diesel, or at least the common one, has it a different engine or am i being stupid! I would find out as much as you possibly can, ins and outs of everything. Mine wasn't quite as old as that one, but a tax exempt SWB S3 in a similar looking condition for £200, chassis and bulkhead are the main things you're gonna wanna be confident with buying so find out about those,
I'd love to know what that engine is, Ryan

I forgot to mention I have been told that there's only one patch of rot on the chassis, although I understand it spreads, no idea on the engine however I would be replacing it with a tdi though hopefully haha, I believe it MAY be a Perkins diesel?

I work in a garage so most work on it should be fairly straightforward apart from welding as I hadn't bought a welder... Yet! I am looking for a project that can be driven, a rolling restoration if you will.

It's a S2a. It's in very original spec, tropical roof, fwh and original rear windows. It's got a replacement drivers door top. The bottom of the main and rear bulkheads are rotten. That would indicate the bulkhead bottom fixing's and possibly the door supports are also shot. These can be replaced but unless your a good welder you'll need someone to do that work. Highly likely that there will be rot elsewhere on the bulkhead, in the foot wells. If the rot has reached as high as the pedal fixings the bulkhead is done for. Also likely to be rot on the chassis most likely the rear crossmember and the outriggers. It's never worth £1,200. I'd not pay more than £500. It needs about £2,000 spent. The brakes have no servo. Not sure it's wise to put a TDI engine in. The gearbox is very basic non syncromesh. All in that's a huge project.

It should polish up well for a few bob but if the bulkhead and chassis needs work start the overtime now. Dont pay more than five or six hundred quid for it.

Thanks for the advice guys, is there another box that would go straight in and be suitable for a 200tdi? I have asked for pictures of any rust so will upload them at the weekend if I receive them.
Also what is a fwh?

Nothing wrong with bolting a Series box on the back of a 200tdi though you might pop halfshafts if you like booting it. An overdrive or later diffs to give the gears longer legs is a good idea. Nothing else is a straight forward fit.

Taking the turbo off isn't a bad option in a Series, have a look here... http://www.glencoyne.co.uk/200di.htm

I do like the roof on a series county - Go on rescue it, money and rust are just excuses

If it's what you really want i would say try talking him down a bit as the worst he can say is no, they aren't getting any more common so even if you pay a bit over the odds she will still be a good investment if you plan to keep her long term.

certainly worth taking on if the seller is reasonable about price.

for what he is asking there doesn't want to be much needed to get it moving.

bobs estimate is pretty spot on imho I would want the seller to drop a bit. have a good look at the chassis and bulkhead 150 miles is a long way to go but I wouldn't take it on without a good look

They are a good useful motor, had several. But that is a roughish example, I would be looking sub 1k too, and only then if you want a fairish project. It will take quite a bit of work to bring that back to useful motoring.

I think the engine is a Perkins, could be a 4/192 or suchlike. Probaly a very good engine, slow but economical. Aftermarket engines are very common on those, a lot of them were fitted with 6cyl petrol as stock, and converted for fuel economy. The sixes are a really nice drive, although not liked by all.

Yeah were gonna say read up on 200tdi's without the Turbo, or '200di', would be my choice if the 2.25 ever dies

fwh. Free Wheel Hubs at an optional extra that allows the front drive train to be disengaged from the drive flange / wheel. When disengaged it stops the drive train turning with movement when not in 4 wheel drive. Saves wear n tear, better fuel economy, handling and speed. You engage them when you want 4 wheel drive.
As Turboman says it could have had a 6 cylinder petrol as the original engine. The 6 cylinder needs a deeper engine recess on the bulkhead. That's useful for upgrading. It'd be good to see any photos on chassis and interior.

John S said:

fwh. Free Wheel Hubs at an optional extra that allows the front drive train to be disengaged from the drive flange / wheel. When disengaged it stops the drive train turning with movement when not in 4 wheel drive. Saves wear n tear, better fuel economy, handling and speed. You engage them when you want 4 wheel drive.
As Turboman says it could have had a 6 cylinder petrol as the original engine. The 6 cylinder needs a deeper engine recess on the bulkhead. That's useful for upgrading. It'd be good to see any photos on chassis and interior.

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That is right, the six cylinders had a slightly bigger cutout around the bellhousing, little bit more room for the longer engine.

My six cylinder had a brake servo, it wasnt behind the master cylinder, it was an inline one mounted on its own bracket, and with the brake line passing through it.
Not sure if it was standard on 6cyl, or an option.

That vehicle doesnt appear to have the bracket for the servo.

If that is a 4/192, and it runs well, I reckon I would prefer it over any landrover engine! My Perkins engined lwb was a beauty

I converted a six pot with a Perkins fitted to a 200 Di.

It was a bit of a mare. Engine mounts needed moving about 4"and bell housing wouldn't mate up to the 200.

Ended up sourcing another 4 pot Series box. I'm not sure if the bell housing issue is the same on all 6 pots or because it was a 1 ton.

I think the six pot housing is different, the good thing is that it will bolt straight on to a series 1 2.0l engine apparently, so one could get full synchro easily that way if the 6 pot box was full synchro of course. no idea if you would have to modify props or anything

blue beasty said:

I converted a six pot with a Perkins fitted to a 200 Di.

It was a bit of a mare. Engine mounts needed moving about 4"and bell housing wouldn't mate up to the 200.

Ended up sourcing another 4 pot Series box. I'm not sure if the bell housing issue is the same on all 6 pots or because it was a 1 ton.

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Why? You changed a good gear timed diesel for a dieselised engine driven by a plastic belt!

Turboman said:

Why? You changed a good gear timed diesel for a dieselised engine driven by a plastic belt!

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I changed a broken engine for one that worked

blue beasty said:

I changed a broken engine for one that worked

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Relieved! Had to be that or insanity!

Whilst it is a project vehicle that needs time and money thrown at it, it is also a nice project and a very desirable Land Rover. LWB station wagons 2A's fetch decent money and even in project form I think it's worth £1,000. In good running order it would fetch a few thousand pounds.

Maybe £500 was project territory 3-4 years ago but no longer it seems. All this said, I don't think that will be a rolling restoration without quite a few hours put into it.