xychix Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 Hi all, As I'm still chasing my dream of owning a defender before they end the productionline I've now found an 110 build in 1985 with a 2.5 non-turbo engine in there. The car has done 275.000 km, the current engine has done 85.000 km's. It's a 3 person 'van' model. The series III lightweight (http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=87349) is still out there as well but I've not yet had the guts to start such a project. The 110 is road legal and still on active MOT (CT as they call it here in france). The car has bean (ab)used to drag wood from the forrest by it's current owner (only for 2 years, he's using a quad now) What to look out for? - rust on crossmembers (it will be there but how bad is it) - rust on shock and coilspring mounts - how can I determine if the cast iron 2.5 engine has cracks? - how can I detemine the working of gearbox / reduction box/ diff-lock / .... - how hard is it to do the timing belt on these engines (certainly one of the first things I need done) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xychix Posted July 17, 2014 Author Share Posted July 17, 2014 really noone? I'll lift one of the front wheels and have gearbox neutral and rotate the wheel (should work) thereafter I'll put the difflock on and test again (should not turn as it should be locked to the back). Thats about as far as my logic goes..... is this correct? any other hints!? I'm going there tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xychix Posted July 17, 2014 Author Share Posted July 17, 2014 The extra patch of grey looks to me as a fuel cap for a series III, maybe the vehicle had a extra tank fitted?? or a watertank... ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discomikey Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 your mental health.... haha, but seriously. check the chassis over, rear crossmember, all outriggers and front dumb irons. check for fatigue and cracking around the spring mounts. next up check for oil leaks, try and determine where they come from (if ) when you find any. this will give you an idea of what work would be involved in repairing them. open the bonnet (daft as it sounds) this is where any evidence of dodgy mechanics will be most evident. if it looks nice, neat and as if it should be. then it gives you a good idea that not too many spotty oiks have messed about with it. looks to me like the standard fuel tank has been replaced with a later fuel tank (possibly) from what i can see not got the best eyes though, the "earlier" type looks to be blanked off. test drive it, make sure it doesent clunk too much when you come off the power onto overrun. best to check this in all forward gears as sometimes the box can get worn and pop out of gear on overrun. check it doesent pop out of reverse if you put your foot down. and check that the transfer box lever moves as it should, and engages low box, chances are, if he has been using it to tow logs out the woods it will all work fine. check the engine doesent breath too much out the filler cap, and that it doesent smoke excessively, doesent overheat on a good test run, and runs smooth. make sure there are no odd vibrations etc. therell be loads ive missed too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xychix Posted July 18, 2014 Author Share Posted July 18, 2014 well Mickey, I missed your post but almost all points your mentioning it fails on (didn't overheat) front cross member could be stabbed straight trough with a screwdriver (over the whole bottom area of the thing) The chassis rails had a few spots I could push trough. The rear member I could poke trough with the back of my screwdriver Engine smoked black all along its revs from 'take-off' to 'time to gear up', had a little clunk not to bad. Stationairy it shivers like running on 3 cilinders, for the rest it sounded 'ok' but comparing that engine to my ford transit 2.5di the transit is a whistle. Then the copper pipe to the first injector came lose (cracked) and gasoil all over. The guy worked his ass of to find one and 4 hours later it was on. I was for a last testdrive and still considering to take this beast (no hydrolics on steering) home... Then I noticed the 5th gear sounding like an anglegrinder when picking up some speed.... that was it. I felt bad for the guy working his ass off but felt like to much sh%T. ow bye the way, do landy's have special cooling fluids? it looked milky/yellowish and felt like sunscrean... Must say it did look nice and felt awesome, difflock was working (lifted a front wheel). But trying to find parts here in France for a 30year old UK engine and a new gearbox after welding 2 crossmembers and a dozen paches elsewhere....... Dijon is a 2,5 hour drive for me and that's likely where i'd end up Am I whining and should I buy a toyota, or did my gut feeling and whining 5th gear save my ass here I'm wondering at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwakers Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 ow bye the way, do landy's have special cooling fluids? it looked milky/yellowish and felt like sunscrean... sounds to me like emulsion. betcha the head gasket's gone too..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discomikey Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 Yeah that's oil in the coolant. Most likely the cause of the rough running too. Put it down to a headgasket like above. Its a shame when someone really tries to do something like that for you but it unfortunately sometimes just isn't worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tacr2man Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 look on mobile.de for european defenders, as for the one you show , its not so much condition , as what it is being sold for, if its cheap and you have reasonable mechanical skills , its fixable. The body condition doesnt look that bad. Only you can decide based on your budget and technical ability . HTSH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xychix Posted July 19, 2014 Author Share Posted July 19, 2014 asking price was 4800 euro's, was willing to lower 500 at max. for a new engine (maybe only head gasket), quite some welding and potientially a new gearbox thats a bit to much project for me. For half of that money I'd consider putting it in the yard and fixing it later on. (don't have that much time now as I'm still building the shed the project should be done in. And thats gonna take atleast 2 more years since I only have school holidays to be here) The helpfull owner (still feel guilty for how the day turned out) even burned his hands on the gearbox as he was trying to check the oil level in there. But with the screaming sound and the fact he burned his hands I sincerely doubt if I could make it the 300 km's motorway home... I've decided to go and see as much defenders in my area as possible (even the ones I don't intend to buy) just in order to get a good look for it. Short visits I hope not to bother owners to much. Does anyone have a good EU (NL or FR preferred) webshop for me where I can buy parts and get a feel for prices? I only find sites with mods, like alloy, new springs, lift kits etc. Where to get ne crossmembers or the copper fuel pipes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eightpot Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 4800 euros seems very expensive for a car with lots of rust, an old smoky engine and a noisy gearbox - I wouldn't feel too sorry for the guy as I think he would have had a party if you had bought the car. www.paddockspares.com is probably a good place for you to look for parts prices. I ship a lot of new & used parts internationally so you are welcome to message me if you ever need anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xychix Posted July 20, 2014 Author Share Posted July 20, 2014 He bought it 2 years ago from a "friend" for more money, he was handy enough to replace a fuel line but had no real idea about how things worked (for example diff-lock). Hey seemed a honest and nice guy so I assumed he didn't base his price on the value but on what he payed 2 years and 1000 km's ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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