I've just bought my first Land Rover

carlosfandango

Mornin' all,
Some of you may know me from the classic or even the bike section but I never thought I'd be posting over here!
Anyway, I've just bought a 1989 Defender 90. It's blue & a commercial. I plan to use it as a company vehicle & benefit from the cheap tax. It's not going to have a hard life, believe me, but I like the idea of stuffing a load of stuff in the back of it & heading off for the weekend, eh, this weekend..
I really know VERY little about these and have an unpleasant feeling in the bottom of my tummy now that I've bought it, but excited at the same time. If Jenn is reading this, she'll be laughing her bags off.
I always liked them, the functional look and basic design (I know that this is going to provoke comments!). I like "quirky" but it has bitten me in the ass before.
I drove it last weekend and following a test drive in a few others, this one actually drove very well. It's very tidy underneath with no traces of the dreaded rust on the chassis.
However, the bottom of the two front doors is not great & I'd like to replace them. Any ideas? Also, there is rot at the base of the windscreen pillar on the passenger side, but I've seen this on them all. Bit of fabrication there I reckon.. Where the roof bolts to the body on the back there is some surface rust, nothing serious. I can't wait to tackle it, no, really!
I swore I'd never get anything again that needed work, but this was really niggling at me to buy. So it's done.
Overall, I'm very happy with the condition of it considering I paid just over €4k for it (was that a fair price?). I'd really love some advice, suggestions & guidance from anyone who care to offer it.
I went to buy a few magazines that specialise in them & scoured the net but ended up just getting confused & bought what I liked. Probably not too clever.
I will post some pics if you are interested but in the meantime, some support would be great!

emaherx

I drive a 110 Defender. Its a great 4X4.
on a Defender that old I would check the prop shafts for play and make sure the hardi spicers are kept well greased as they are a common point of failure.
Other than that the ends of the half shafts tend to ware as well but you would notice that as a clunking feeling when changing gears.
Check all of the Suspension Bushes, if they are worn it will severely effect road handling which can be bad enough at any time.

Don't buy spare parts from Dealers in this country. I needed new wheel bearings and was quoted 50 Euro each thats 100 Euro per wheel, then I bought genuine Timken Bearings for 8 Pound Sterling each from www.land-rover-parts-shop.com/

For Doors I'd try breakers in the North like www.traynors.co.uk.

Good luck with your new 4X4

carlosfandango

Thanks Emaherx,
All good advice there. Thanks for the links too!

L-M

carlosfandango wrote: »

However, the bottom of the two front doors is not great & I'd like to replace them. Any ideas?

Lol if u can see outside through the doors it's normal:P

But really how do u find it so far?
The only thing that would turn me off actually owning one is the whole, u have to drive with the hand out the window or it's closterphobic.
I've driven a 98 110 lwb heavy duty pick up,and an 88 90 hard top, and they were both fairly frightening experiences. The 88 didn't have power steering and i had to get up off the seat and stand on the breaks to stop it, wasn't funny for me, but the fella who owned it (sitting beside me) found it very funny.

I don't know if 4k was a bit rich for the year but they do hold there value. The lower to a certain extent then nearly stop depriciating for a few years, and start again. Great yokes all the same, do post pics and best of luck with it.

Rovi

Congratulations on your purchase, you'll soon be a fully fledged member of one of two groups-
1. People who owned a Land-Rover once and now despise them with every fibre of their being, or...
2. People who can't imagine life without at least one Land-Rover (not necessarily fully functional) in the fleet.

There are a vast amount of parts (new, used, spurious) available from all sorts of sources; buy a few of the many Land-Rover specialist magazines in your local newsagent, and go from there.

Here are a few to be going on with-
http://www.paddockspares.com/
http://www.johncraddockltd.co.uk/
http://www.landroverspares.co.uk/
https://www.lrcparts.com/
http://www.famousfour.co.uk/

...and right here in Ireland-
http://www.crozier4x4.com/

harlem

Congrats on the new landy!
I had a 90 and loved its go-anywhere-ability, being able to see over ditches and higher vantage point on the road, and the friendly flash of lights/wave that other landy owners do to fellow landy owners

I didn't like that the doors on my one were wonky and every time it rained it would drive right in on top of you...brrr :rolleyes:
Oh & I wasn't able to get used to the lack of ABS, didn't help that my car previous to it had been a dinky MGF so the landy was a giant in comparison!

They're a brill 4 x 4, we still have a 'project' 110 & I'm looking forward to seeing that on the road again.

I think you're dead right to buy what you like for them, its one of the things I love about the landy's they're so customisable & you can really make it your own
Happy motoring

RobbieMc

Congrats and welcome to the great money pit that is Land Rovering.
I currently have a Disco 2 and a series 3. The 90 is a good vehicle and if well maintained will serve you well.
Get whats needed done when it's needed, don't put repairs on the long finger cause when something breaks, it will leave you in a mess.
On saying that, my last 90, after a day off roading, stiil go me home with a CV joint gone, Starter broken, leaking radiator, and broken rear propshaft, That was a great day.