Expedition advice.

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Lots of advice, some of which works for some people, but not all.
My personal response to the question would be dependant on knowledge of your mechanical abilities (can you fix a simple breakdown), your attitude to risk and your attitude to travelling in a group. In addition, are you planning on living in or on the vehicle or using it for finding interesting ways of getting between hotels?
FWIW, we (wife + me) have done a number of trips in our 110s and what we have/do works for us. You can't beat going solo if you can handle the potential for having to cope with everything on your own. No wasting time doing things others can't resist or not doing the things on your personal wishlist because the rest of the group aren't interested in, say, photographing the sunset/locals/flowers. If things go wrong - and they will, coz it's a Landrover - there's huge satisfaction in dealing with it and succeeding where others might stay in bed or call the AA.
We too have a blog that has recorded our thoughts and doings but I think it'd be in the "too much information" category at the moment since you're still at the "thinking about it" stage. Our bottom line for the point you're at? Buy a 110 Tdi with a solid history (and chassis :)) and don't do anything to it until you've had it a while and worked out what you want it to do. That way you might not do what we did and redesign it 5 times!:(. But like I said, opinions differ....
Have fun! Maybe see you in Morocco one day.
 
I would not do any modifications until you have driven it for a while to know what you want/need. I went to Morocco for the first time with a friend last September. It is not as remote as people make out. We were both in tdi 110's that were basically standard. The only mods were things like extra lights etc. everything mechanical was standard.
Both vehicles managed without an issue, managed the 1500 mile drive to south Spain quite happily down the motorways, and then managed the dessert tracks as well. Having now done it I would not consider Morocco to be a "true" over landing destination anymore. What I mean by that is the you do not need a fully kitted vehicle for solo expedition in the wilderness for weeks on end, it is no longer the under-developed country it was years ago, You are never too far from civilisation.

I would quite happily drive around Morocco in nearly any well maintained 4x4. The locals do it in old hatchbacks and other travelers are in brand new factor spec 4x4's. If i was going to be pressing down further into Africa then it would be different and more consideration would need to be taken. We spent nearly 12months planning researching and preparing for it, and nearly all the information we found was out of date. A lot of the preparation we did was unnecessary, there were things we were very worried about not having done or not having with us, that our research had recommended, which turned out to be completely irreverent.

I am not recommending a fool hardy approach and if you plan on larger more remote expedition then a basic standard tdi 110 would be my recommendation, but for Scotland and Morocco any well maintained land rover will be more than capable.
 
Agree with wot he ^ said, but with two provisos: 1. that if you'll be a solo vehicle, some carefully-researched spares and knowledge of how to use them would do no harm. A standard vehicle is perfectly capable.
and 2. As for what you consider "remote", that's very subjective but our experience is that it's quite difficult to get too far from people, even in Western Sahara off piste. And they always seem to have a brother within phone range who can "fix anything" (for a price). However it is possible - we've been to places where nobody has passed by for 4 days - and if you break down under those conditions you might need to be a bit creative to sort yourself out.
 
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Also to chime in, when I first went to Morocco in my 300tdi 90 I bolted every mod imaginable onto it. Now I am older and (a little bit) wiser, this year I am going back in a 2.2 puma 130 and the only mods I will be making are better seats and a better stereo :) a standard defender is a immensely capable machine - spend your money on getting the best one you possibly can, rather than mods.

Also worth checking out the course from these guys if like me you're not great with a spanner - https://www.bushmechanics.co.uk/- I'll be going on the next one they do hopefully.
 
Cheers guys, now have a 110 Td5, I've rebuilt the starter motor, changed the air and fuel filters and will do the oil etc. when it warms up a bit!
 
I have a disco 300tdi and travel a lot..
uk, Europe, morrocco and beyond..
Cheap and easy to repair, parts everywhere and very comfortable..
 
I have spent the last 8 years in Africa with my 300 tdi and so far have been to 26 countries, have carried a few basic spares and everything have managed to find parts for the 300 tdi. Had I had a TD5 I think i would have had a few problems as there are loads of 300's but not many TD5's.
As mentioned before on this thread, Morocco is pretty easy going and you need not prepare the Landrover too much unless you plan to camp out in the desert. Most of the travelling I do is in the off the beaten track and I bush camp in the middle of nowhere 8 times out of 10 and have never had a problem. In fact I have had more hassle in towns than in the bush!
I often travel alone when the wife cant make :) and people are always very friendly. Enjoy your trip, I love Morocco, have been there about 10 times and been all over and would recommend as a good starting point.
 
I have spent the last 8 years in Africa with my 300 tdi and so far have been to 26 countries, have carried a few basic spares and everything have managed to find parts for the 300 tdi. Had I had a TD5 I think i would have had a few problems as there are loads of 300's but not many TD5's.
As mentioned before on this thread, Morocco is pretty easy going and you need not prepare the Landrover too much unless you plan to camp out in the desert. Most of the travelling I do is in the off the beaten track and I bush camp in the middle of nowhere 8 times out of 10 and have never had a problem. In fact I have had more hassle in towns than in the bush!
I often travel alone when the wife cant make :) and people are always very friendly. Enjoy your trip, I love Morocco, have been there about 10 times and been all over and would recommend as a good starting point.
I wish I had as much bottle as you. :)
 
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