# Land Rover 90



## Richard Dowling (3 Feb 2015)

Hi All,

Out of interest, does anyone have (or have had) a Land Rover Defender 90 (or 110 I guess). Im considering jacking in my current car thats sporty and runs like a dream but is full of fault prone electronics in place of a good old reliable Landy. Id quite like a car that I can tinker with etc Always wanted the Land Rover so why not!

Is there anything I should be aware of or looking for when viewing a second hand one?


----------



## OllieNZ (7 Feb 2015)

What sort of age defender are you looking at? Alot of the newer ones (td5 engine on) will still have the fault prone electrics (the joys of common rail diesel engines)  so you'd be after something older with mechanical injection. I've not owned a landy and being from down under am a Toyota man at heart so probably never will. I hope you own a good toolkit and a mechanically skilled because you'll spend plenty of time working on it. One of my mates owned a series 2 soft top and a three door disco 1 and he always seemed to be fixing them, despite them being well looked after my lj70 cruiser in contrast was abused and constantly thrashed offroad and the only issue I had with that was it cooking itself after running without coolant for 3 weeks. 
One of the main things to look out for with the defender is rust. The chassis and suspension attachments rot something chronic so take a small ball pien hammer with you to give anything rusty a tap and if you get a thunk rather than a clear ringing sound, stop looking and run away fast.


----------



## stu_ (8 Feb 2015)

The only thing i can add;is careful how you drive it....

 https://www.flickr.com/people/87853640@N06/

(i was taking this pic)


----------



## kirk (8 Feb 2015)

That just the Sahara mobility convertion stu.


----------



## ukjay (13 Feb 2015)

Richard Dowling said:


> Hi All,
> 
> Out of interest, does anyone have (or have had) a Land Rover Defender 90 (or 110 I guess). Im considering jacking in my current car thats sporty and runs like a dream but is full of fault prone electronics in place of a good old reliable Landy. Id quite like a car that I can tinker with etc Always wanted the Land Rover so why not!
> 
> Is there anything I should be aware of or looking for when viewing a second hand one?



Hi Richard

I have a 300 Tdi Defender 90 as project car, and it was a nightmare trying to get one with a good unmolested chassis. Although I love them for their practicality and go anywhere ability (within reason), these vehicles have a very badly designed chassis, as it is made of fairly light gauge steel (2mm roughly), which due to the amount of holes, angles in the design - they trap mud and grime both inside the chassis rails and outside. Outriggers, Rear Cross Member, Rear 1/4 chassis, cross member bolting position to inner side rails of the chassis (near gearbox and transfer box) are areas that rot out - so do not be surprised if you see a new 1/4 chassis fitted etc.

The other main point to consider, is the chassis number, engine number etc - as I was not comfortable with miss matched vehicle, as these vehicles are very easy to steal / strip down, thus there are many sold that are stolen or have got stolen parts fitted, so it is buyer beware for a lot of these cars.

Also, don't be surprised if you see a lot of welded patches - it is due to the life these vehicles get, so just check the level of the welding etc. A new Galvanised chassis will cost you around £1100, so not excessive, but you need to factor in getting it fitted if you are not very handy with tools.

As an aside - these vehicles are very easy to work on (the older ones pre electrickery) - and replacement parts are very cheap too.

Kind regards

Jay

PS - as LR are stopping making them now, the old vehicles will appreciate in value - so could be a good investment if you get the right one.


----------



## Richard Dowling (13 Feb 2015)

Thankyou all for the responses.

In terms of age, I was looking at early 2000's. Mainly due to price as I no longer do much mileage in my own vehicle I don't warrant an expensive one. You could say I don't warrant a land rover at all lol

My heart would love to buy one that is as old as me, 1988 ish but i know that would probably cost me in maintenance more than a newer one.

I will keep my eyes open and armed with your advice hopefully I may find a good one (after having viewed a hundred by the sounds of things)

Thanks again


----------



## OllieNZ (14 Feb 2015)

Richard Dowling said:


> Thankyou all for the responses.
> 
> In terms of age, I was looking at early 2000's. Mainly due to price as I no longer do much mileage in my own vehicle I don't warrant an expensive one. You could say I don't warrant a land rover at all lol
> 
> ...


 If your trying to get away from the electrics a 300Tdi would seem to be your best bet, the td5 and later will need diagnostic equipment to deal with faults although it seems the td5 is considered pretty reliable. Unfortunately electronics are the bane of any modern car and to get away from them the newest diesel engines you'll be looking at are mid to late nineties. I know you've probably got got your heart set on a defender but a short wheel base Nissan patrol or Toyota landcruiser may also be worth looking into.


----------



## dan4x4 (7 Apr 2015)

Hi Richard, what car do you currently have? I went from a fast car to a Shogun a couple years back, Ive owned to but I prefer my fast cars. I love having a 4x4 but the difficulty for me was finding places to take it. I also paid a lot of money for it which in hind sight was stupid because with the older less expensive ones you give less of blahblahblahblah about damaging them and have way more fun.

I ended up going back to fast cars, got sick when people came bombing past me and I couldn't chase. I ended up buying a economical run about after selling the shogun then got my hands on a 3.2 vr6 audi TT below. It was an immaculate car, sounded amazing, it was fast and by far the most fun I ever owned yet.


----------



## JamieB (8 Apr 2015)

Those VR6 engines are thirsty! Would love to Biturbo the 3.6 version of it and stick it in a newer Golf for a track car!


----------



## dan4x4 (8 Apr 2015)

JamieB said:


> Those VR6 engines are thirsty! Would love to Biturbo the 3.6 version of it and stick it in a newer Golf for a track car!



I got between 25-30 mpg out of mine, that was driving sensible on a commute but weekend hooning.

That would be awesome, you'd need AWD to put the power down and get the best from it.

The TT would make a perfect track car if it was stripped out, although personally I'd want to increase cooling on the brakes and upgrade discs


----------



## dean (23 Oct 2015)

Richard have you bought one yet ?
I also want one


----------



## dan4x4 (4 Nov 2015)




----------



## dan4x4 (4 Nov 2015)

these are the coolest landy's imo


----------



## OllieNZ (7 Nov 2015)

My previous boss just bought a spanking new 110 already taken it back to have rust on the chassis dealt with  
Not as cool  but I bought this at the start of the year



Still a work in progress


----------



## dan4x4 (7 Nov 2015)

Jimnys are mint, have you had it off road yet? its looking really clean! tyres look great!


----------



## OllieNZ (8 Nov 2015)

dan4x4 said:


> Jimnys are mint, have you had it off road yet? its looking really clean! tyres look great!


Not yet. I've still got a few more mods to do. Need to sort out some heavy duty recovery points for the front. 
I've built a new rear bumper


----------



## dan4x4 (8 Nov 2015)

Canny! weather is starting to become crap in the north east, best time to go off roading imo!


----------



## Dylan (16 Nov 2015)

Pimp my ride! Nice wheels for a rough terrain. Amazing how the wheels can change the look of the ride.


----------



## OllieNZ (20 Nov 2015)

Dylan said:


> Pimp my ride! Nice wheels for a rough terrain. Amazing how the wheels can change the look of the ride.


Heck no!!!! I'd like to think I've got a bit more common sense than that lot....

Do agree that swapping wheels and tyres can make a massive difference to looks and function.


----------



## dan4x4 (21 Nov 2015)

Uber amazing 6 wheeler if you haven't already witnessed it


----------

