New Buyer- Want another opinion!

[Defanton]

Hey everyone,

I am excited to join your community and I am thrilled to report I recently won an auction on Ebay for my first Defender!

It's a 1990 110 w/ 188000 miles. I'm planning on driving it back from SLC, Utah to Boston, MA. As a paraglider, I'm thrilled to finally get myself a weekend warrior to help me facilitate my sport!

 

Here's what I have so far:

Test drive video:

Pictures of the underside:

I'm a little disappointed with some of the quality of these pictures.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/hv4rcg5iz90e8h0/AABwYhODh4GVLjHQSxOS2gFSa?dl=0

Would love your thoughts and opinions on the ride! I'm super excited to go pick it up!

 

 

[western]

Looks good, engine sounds sweet for a TD,

My truck is a 1989 but 1990 model year in the same spec & colour. 

Underside looks good a wire brush, rust prevention & coat of gloss black paint would keep it in good order. Would be interested to know the chassis number to see if it close to my 110 CSW's number. 

You may want to check the max load rating of those alloy wheels as they were never a factory spec option or fit on 110CSW models. 

[Defanton]

Quote

My truck is a 1989 but 1990 model year in the same spec & colour. 

I'm actually unsure of what the technical year is as the VIN report suggests its a 2015 Defender, which cracks me up!

1 hour ago, western said:

Would be interested to know the chassis number to see if it close to my 110 CSW's number. 

Are you implying this number?

Quote

Underside looks good a wire brush, rust prevention & coat of gloss black paint would keep it in good order.

This is the thing I'm most terrified of! Do you really believe it looks good? I'm still unsure what they may or may not mean as the pictures are kind of iffy. I look forward to seeing it for myself.

 

I'm adding the check for max load rating of those alloy wheels. Thanks for that tip @Western

 

[Snagger]

That is exceptionally good for the year.  That engine must have been rebuilt to be so clean at that mileage.

As Ralph said, it’ll be well worth protecting the underside from corrosion, especially given winter conditions in Boston.

You must have spent a good deal of money to get such a good vehicle over there, so congratulations and I hope it brings you many years of pleasure.

[Defanton]

This rust scares me though

[reb78]

7 hours ago, Defanton said:

I'm actually unsure of what the technical year is as the VIN report suggests its a 2015 Defender, which cracks me up!

Are you implying this number?

 

What makes you think its a 2015? The FA in that VIN is the same as mine (1989) which is the same year as Ralph's

[Defanton]

@reb78 The online VIN check returns this report about the 2015 Defender

[reb78]

It looks really tidy for its age though and runs well in the video. The chassis looks fine on the dropbox pics - best way to tell is to give it a rub down and treat it, but it there's no huge rush for that. The rust at the bottom of that door pillar looks like the sill and bottom of the c pillar. The sill is easy enough to repair by welding in plates and you can buy c pillar repair sections - there is a thread on here of my repair to the same area, its not a hard job.

 

Edited August 5, 2020 by reb78

[PaulN]

Really nice looking truck!  Nice catch!  Sweet engine.....  😎

[Will@LRW]

1 hour ago, reb78 said:

What makes you think its a 2015? The FA in that VIN is the same as mine (1989) which is the same year as Ralph's

F is the same digit for 1989 and 2015 (G also 1990 and 2016). Most online vin decoders were written before 2015, or don't take account of the full 84-16 gamut of possibilities. I've updated mine to take account of the latest Defenders: https://www.lrworkshop.com/vin-decoder. Decoding correctly with identical lettering for different years turned out to be a bit tricky, but I got there in the end 😁

As with the others, it looks good for it's age. I would get the chassis steam cleaned and then dinitroled if you plan on keeping it 👍

[western]

1 hour ago, Defanton said:

@reb78 The online VIN check returns this report about the 2015 Defender

That site is incorrect my 110CSW is definitly a Sept '89 build, yours is much earlier in 1989, there is a 11832 difference in our vin numbers last 6 digitis. The 2015 may be the year it was imported.

 

You can obtain the info from the British motor heritage museum at Gaydon, Warwickshire, UK using this link https://www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk/archive/heritage-certificates

that will give you the spec as built & a definitive build date & date of first registration & quitepossibly the original UK registration number [or maybe you know that already] I suspect it was either a late F or G prefix registration number.

[Defanton]

Details! Thanks everyone so far for the information. Im excited to get to work on her! All I wish is I could sign a prenuptial agreement because I know the hag will end up with all of my money 🤣

@western, this would put my model around March. 23437 were made supposedly in 1989. If you are confident in September and you are 11832 ahead of me...

 23437(cars made in '89)/12(months)=1953(cars/month)

9(september index)-11832(september sequence number offset)/1953(cars/month)=~3 (march index)

Thanks!

 

Edited August 5, 2020 by Defanton

[western]

Happy to help, your welcome, you have a decent base vehicle there,

If March build is correct, then that would of put your 110 on a F prefix UK reg plates 

F	1 August 1988 – 31 July 1989
G	1 August 1989 – 31 July 1990

 

Mine being first registered on 19 Oct '89 put it on a G prefix. 

Do you know the original UK reg number ? 

& the paint is called Arles blue, the code is JUH/LRC424, the roof & wheels are Ivory.

[FridgeFreezer]

If yours is a close relation to Ralph's truck you've got a friend for life now

Looks tidy, that C-pillar is pretty typical and a bit of a pain but nothing insurmountable - I re-did mine using box section for the sills and a bit of light fabrication. Just make sure the aluminium outer is insulated from the steel when you re-assemble it.

As for the rest of the truck - give it the steam-cleaning of its life (including inside the chassis rails) and then drown it in dinitrol. Especially inside the chassis, bulkhead & doors.

[Mo Murphy]

Great to see such enthusiasm !

Don't lose it, keep coming back to the forum to reenthuse us others 😉🤣

Mo

[Retroanaconda]

Looks great. Utah to Massachusetts is a fair run home, but far more enjoyable than just getting it delivered on a truck 

Do let us know how you get on.

[jeremy996]

Yours is about the same age as mine, but mine has a 200Tdi as the TD cracked pistons at 140K. 

I'd guess your engine has benefitted from a heavy rebuild, as almost all TDs would have been in serious need before 188k came up. One big upside of a TD is it runs much sweeter than a 200 or 300Tdi.

[western]

nearly 35 hours driving time 

https://www.travelmath.com/driving-time/from/Salt+Lake+City,+UT/to/Boston,+MA

[Defanton]

So three days into owning it! 

It works but has a list of things I need to do!

The immediate needs are the engine bay isnt closing, I think its due to the side metal panels blocking the compartment to full shut. the spring loaded metal pin doesn't travel far enough down. The hilarity has been that on the first day one of the headlights was disconnected, the turn lights didn't work, and they gave me "it just worked earlier this week" BS. But to their humility, they did come in the next morning and fixed it quickly. 

The other is im curious about white smoke as i start the defender and idle it. Is this bad? Can I do something to fix that?

There is a long list of other problems which I'll start tackling in Boston but these are immediate needs.

Otherwise, HOLY **** THIS CAR IS SO FUN!!! I love the feel! I love the sounds! I love the way I sometimes struggle at finding 2nd gear! I can't get enough! We made the first 700 miles with it so far and we are about to do 2000 more!

Would love any help with the questions above! 

[Defanton]

[Snagger]

White smoke while an engine and exhaust warm up on a humid day are normal, but if it’s persistent or happens in dry conditions too, then that suggests a coolant leak into the cylinders.  If you have the original engine type (19J, 2.5TD, which has a terracotta block and black head), then it’s a worry as those engines almost invariably crack their heads and pistons at 80-90,000 miles.  Rebuilds are easy enough if you have no other damage, but a Tdi conversion generally makes more sense as those engines are far more robust and have much better fuel economy (about 5mpg better) and a great deal more torque and power by comparison.  Tdi engines are harsher and noisier by comparison, though, and at their age might need a good overhaul too.  It’s a relatively simple swap.

[FridgeFreezer]

As OP is in the states I'd just whack an LS in there and call it hilarious, probably cheaper than trying to import a TDi.

[Chicken Drumstick]

Agree. No point running low powered 4 pot diesels in the US. If not an Ls swap as that is pretty major. Grab a V8 from a Discovery 1/2 as they are an easy swap. 

[FridgeFreezer]

26 minutes ago, Chicken Drumstick said:

Agree. No point running low powered 4 pot diesels in the US.

It's more that (IIRC) they didn't officially get the 200TDi so it's a (relatively) expensive unicorn of an engine and there's easier cheaper ways to make a wheezy 110hp using locally-sourced boat anchors.

[Snagger]

8 hours ago, FridgeFreezer said:

It's more that (IIRC) they didn't officially get the 200TDi so it's a (relatively) expensive unicorn of an engine and there's easier cheaper ways to make a wheezy 110hp using locally-sourced boat anchors.

Were all the US Discovery’s V8?