My defender 90 300tdi has a major engine problem (I think the LR specialist who looked at it said it was either HG, or possibly piston rings or piston seals or something? I cant remember now. Plus it's overheating which looks to be due to the radiator needing some welding?) and is basicially going to cost upward of £1k to fix. Being a 145k engine and the gearbox being crunchy in 2nd/3rd I was planning to cut my losses, sell as is and start a new tubular body buggy project based on either a suzuki sj or a discovery chassis. I've had an offer of £1750 for the defender as is but having just fitted new wheel arch extensions, heavy duty winch bumper, roll cages, shiny stainless parts etc and spent over £500 having it resprayed it seems a bit of a shame, not to mention a waste of money!
Now my bmw daily driver appears to have developed a water leak somewhere (i.e. HG is probably going or gone) so I am now considering fixing up the defender and running it until I'm ready to start the project and using the defender chassis and running gear as the base. Am I right in thinking a 90 chassis would be lighter than a disco being about 7" shorter? And are there any differences between the engines and gearboxes other than mountings etc?
To use the defender though I would ideally want a reconditioned engine and r380 box, or the current engine/box reconditioning, as I dont fancy fixing up a 145k engine and box for over £1k only to have something else go wrong. So what I'm asking is, where is the best place to buy a recon'd engine and/or gearbox, and what sort of prices should I expect for fitting? I've had a quote of around £500 to fit a recon engine but I would have to supply it myself. Or am I better getting my current engine removed, rebuilt and refitted?
I've seen recon'd engines on ebay from Landy Ltd for £995 with a 1yr unlimited mileage warranty and the ad says he will fit for £250 plus parts (I presume the parts will just be the engine at £995 = £1245 fitted). Has anyone used them before? Seems quite cheap which makes me slightly wary. Also says he can replace the ancilleries for £50 + parts, would this be worth doing? I've enquired as to how much the acilleries would cost but not heard back yet.
There is also an r380 reconditioned box on ebay for £395, does this seem reasonable? Again with 12 month guarantee, this is on an exchange basis so they take my old box.
Any idea on prices/experiences/recommendations from people who have had something similar done would be much appreciated
or if anyone on here has done this type of work before and would like to provide a quote for all or part of the work (within a couple of hours of shrewsbury, west midlands) that would be great.
I would also be looking at tuning the 300tdi (fuel pump tweak, egr blank, bigger IC, air filter at least, possibly further depending on cost and whether it affects reliability) when I start turning it into a project car so would it be worth doing these at the same time too?
Sorry for so many questions, i've been having a rough time with car troubles recently and am totally confused as to what to do, just trying to weigh up all my options!
Now my bmw daily driver appears to have developed a water leak somewhere (i.e. HG is probably going or gone) so I am now considering fixing up the defender and running it until I'm ready to start the project and using the defender chassis and running gear as the base. Am I right in thinking a 90 chassis would be lighter than a disco being about 7" shorter? And are there any differences between the engines and gearboxes other than mountings etc?
To use the defender though I would ideally want a reconditioned engine and r380 box, or the current engine/box reconditioning, as I dont fancy fixing up a 145k engine and box for over £1k only to have something else go wrong. So what I'm asking is, where is the best place to buy a recon'd engine and/or gearbox, and what sort of prices should I expect for fitting? I've had a quote of around £500 to fit a recon engine but I would have to supply it myself. Or am I better getting my current engine removed, rebuilt and refitted?
I've seen recon'd engines on ebay from Landy Ltd for £995 with a 1yr unlimited mileage warranty and the ad says he will fit for £250 plus parts (I presume the parts will just be the engine at £995 = £1245 fitted). Has anyone used them before? Seems quite cheap which makes me slightly wary. Also says he can replace the ancilleries for £50 + parts, would this be worth doing? I've enquired as to how much the acilleries would cost but not heard back yet.
There is also an r380 reconditioned box on ebay for £395, does this seem reasonable? Again with 12 month guarantee, this is on an exchange basis so they take my old box.
Any idea on prices/experiences/recommendations from people who have had something similar done would be much appreciated
I would also be looking at tuning the 300tdi (fuel pump tweak, egr blank, bigger IC, air filter at least, possibly further depending on cost and whether it affects reliability) when I start turning it into a project car so would it be worth doing these at the same time too?
Sorry for so many questions, i've been having a rough time with car troubles recently and am totally confused as to what to do, just trying to weigh up all my options!
..good luck
