Any suggestions as where to look to find Defenders for sale

Thanks Peio, all of those sites have nice examples of Rovers. Although I took French in high school, which is to say back in the dark ages, my French is pratically non existent.
I actually have found a couple that look interesting but nothing solid yet. Simon at Motordome has one with low mileage and looks like it drives well, but it has had the chassis replaced and shows a lot of corrosion on the lower body. Then I found a couple in England. Still waiting for a reply from the dealers.
Overall impression is that a lot of dealers don't want to deal with foreign buyers. But then some like Walton's seem to be only interested in foreigh buyers. One of my UK friends took me by Walton's in 2023. Got the impression that they spiff them up but don't do a lot of mechanical work on their cars. Now, before anyone gets upset by that statement, I didn't crawl under any of the cars and do a full inspection, but none of the ones they had then really grabbed my attention.
Also in an earlier post I mentioned Defenders for 150 GBP (???) Don't we all wish that were the case. I was really meaning 150 thousand pounds. Another observation from my searches, is that it appears that folks in the UK can buy a Defender in the 2000's for less than the older ones. Must be the ability to export them.
Also have as yet identified anybody to do a pre-purhase inspection. There's always AA and RAC, but have read a lot of bad reviews about them. Also have been reading about, I think it's, Click Mechanic. Anybody that has had good results with any of those, please chime in.
So thanks again to all that have offered help, and hopefully I will find one.

Update on the search for a Rover, and observations along the way.
1. AA, RAC, Click mechanic, and specialist shops WILL NOT INSPECT A VEHICLE OVER 25 YEARS. That came as a shock. However, did find a gentleman that does classic inspections and he performed the inspection. Mr. John Vines, from just outside London.
2. Have identified and agreed to purchase a 86 110 V8. That is the easy part.
3. Shipping in more complicated than first imagined, but again, think I have found good shippers in AutoShippers
4. I did use or am using Car and Classic. As stated Auto Trader appeared to be full of bait and switch dealers. Guess the used car dealership image is universal. With Car and Classic, you are able to deal with individuals.
5. Not finished with the process, but well on the way. Hopefully will be on the ship within next two weeks.

That's great news on finding the 86 110 V8. Re' shipping and import, may be Mike at Britannica could help/suggest the right people to use?

Peio said:

https://www.leboncoin.fr/vi/2747542024.htm#xtor=ES-3999-%5BMYSRCH%5D

Here’s another example of what comes up on the French version of Craigslist

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Love the fact that it is advertised on a French website but is actually in Spain!

vaoleguy said:

Update on the search for a Rover, and observations along the way.
1. AA, RAC, Click mechanic, and specialist shops WILL NOT INSPECT A VEHICLE OVER 25 YEARS. That came as a shock. However, did find a gentleman that does classic inspections and he performed the inspection. Mr. John Vines, from just outside London.
2. Have identified and agreed to purchase a 86 110 V8. That is the easy part.
3. Shipping in more complicated than first imagined, but again, think I have found good shippers in AutoShippers
4. I did use or am using Car and Classic. As stated Auto Trader appeared to be full of bait and switch dealers. Guess the used car dealership image is universal. With Car and Classic, you are able to deal with individuals.
5. Not finished with the process, but well on the way. Hopefully will be on the ship within next two weeks.

Click to expand...

So, further update. Lets start with WOW!!!!! Who knew what was awaiting me in the shipping deal. I think I used a good company. However, that being said, there were so many "gotcha" moments. For the shippers this is a daily thing, but for first time shippers there are so many tank traps that you just don't know about til you run into them. Seemingly small stuff until you realize the ramifications of the choices. The company used Southampton for a lot of their shipping. Apparently that is a huge port for new car manufactures doing RORO shipping. Only problem is that because of the number of new cars using that port, the number of individual cars that can go on the ship is limited. Oh, yeah, plus you can not deliver the vehicle to the port any further ahead than 7 days. Ok, that wasn't going to work, so backup plan use Liverpool. Lots of availablty, but it's primarily a container ship and makes umpteen stops before it gets to Norfolk. Plus, using Liverpool was more expensive, both for the shipping and for the ground transport to have it delivered to Liverpool. Now, this nice container ship took basically three weeks to get to Norfolk with stops along the way. THEN, I am told that I am not allowed to go onto a port property to retreive my Rover. That's right, you have to hire a TWIC. Which is basically a certifed person to escort you about on port property. So, when I do finally get to see my new toy, the battery is completely dead. New battery mind you. Appears that someone moving or loading the Rover had no idea what switches did what, so things were left on and drained the battery. Finally get it loaded on the trailer, only to realize that U-Haul had rented me a trailer with one tire flat. ( Didn't show up when trailer was unloaded)
I'll wrap up this saga by saying that it is in my garage now and the fun is just starting. I think I got a good one, but there is stil a lot to be done. Anyway, here's a picture.

vaoleguy said:

So, further update. Lets start with WOW!!!!! Who knew what was awaiting me in the shipping deal. I think I used a good company. However, that being said, there were so many "gotcha" moments. For the shippers this is a daily thing, but for first time shippers there are so many tank traps that you just don't know about til you run into them. Seemingly small stuff until you realize the ramifications of the choices. The company used Southampton for a lot of their shipping. Apparently that is a huge port for new car manufactures doing RORO shipping. Only problem is that because of the number of new cars using that port, the number of individual cars that can go on the ship is limited. Oh, yeah, plus you can not deliver the vehicle to the port any further ahead than 7 days. Ok, that wasn't going to work, so backup plan use Liverpool. Lots of availablty, but it's primarily a container ship and makes umpteen stops before it gets to Norfolk. Plus, using Liverpool was more expensive, both for the shipping and for the ground transport to have it delivered to Liverpool. Now, this nice container ship took basically three weeks to get to Norfolk with stops along the way. THEN, I am told that I am not allowed to go onto a port property to retreive my Rover. That's right, you have to hire a TWIC. Which is basically a certifed person to escort you about on port property. So, when I do finally get to see my new toy, the battery is completely dead. New battery mind you. Appears that someone moving or loading the Rover had no idea what switches did what, so things were left on and drained the battery. Finally get it loaded on the trailer, only to realize that U-Haul had rented me a trailer with one tire flat. ( Didn't show up when trailer was unloaded)
I'll wrap up this saga by saying that it is in my garage now and the fun is just starting. I think I got a good one, but there is stil a lot to be done. Anyway, here's a picture.

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Nice! Tell us more about it…

Knappster said:

Nice! Tell us more about it…

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The basics are pretty straigth forward. 1986 Land Rover 110 V8 CSW with 91,000 miles. Solid chassis, solid bulkhead ( footwells have been repaired), recent clutch replacement, body work is in what I consider great shape. It has a few battle scars and small dings, but over all looks great.
However the back story I think is interesting. It was originally purchased by the London Zooalogical Society ( aka London Zoo) where it served for 7 years. During that time, I am told, it became the favored Rover for Prince Phillip to drive when he visited the zoo on WWF business. I understand that at the time he was the head of that organization.
From there it was sold to a farmer in Little Gadsden, where it was used until the clutch went out, at which point it was pushed into a barn and stayed there until 2018. So basically 20+ years in the barn until it was "discovered" by two Rover enthusiasts who purchased it and had it delivered to a small shed that they rented on another farm and used to work on Rovers. They had already worked with a Series IIA which from the pictures looks great. They then proceeded to replace the clutch, I think 3 doors, the windscreen, the radiator, and multiple other pieces parts. The most visible work that they did was to sand away the "4 coats of handbrushed paint" from the body and get it resprayed. They also had a V8 guru check the carbs to make sure they were synced. I have multiple MOT's, plus I had it inspected before the purchase, and I'm relatively happy with the history and the tale that the MOT's and new parts list tells.
Now, my turn. I'm going to restore the interior. Upholstery needs to be replaced and the body surfaces inside need to be painted to match the outside. It was originally a dull red/brown, but was resprayed Bronze Green.
The inspection turned up several issues on the underside. I have already purchased new brake lines and will replace those as soon as I can wire brush all the loose surface rust off the axle and treat the rust. The sellers replaced the brakes all around, but I think they need to be bedded in or maybe the rears adjusted. The emergency brake works well, unlike a series III that I had years ago. I will also be replacing the bushings all under the car. The seller has replaced all the shocks. So basically, I will be cleaning up the underside and hopefully be taking care of the surface rust. Then of course the transmission, transfer case, and engine all show some leakage, which is to be expected with a 38 year old vehicle. I will attempt to address those issues.
There is one overall issue that is going to take a lot of digging and figuring. It has electrical gremlins. Lights don't seem to work as they should even thought the seller has replaced all the bulbs. We both agree that it sounds like a ground/earth issue somewhere. The devil is going to be in figuring out where that might be.
So, as I said, much to do still, and I am just gettng started on everything. I'm guessing maybe another year of piddling and such.

Congrats on finding and acquiring such a beauty! She looks fantastic. Hopefully you'll be able to chase down the electric issues quick n easy like. I've been watching Bring a trailer auctions to get an idea of what these Landys are selling for and it's certainly a mixed bag. Do you mind sharing how much you paid for yours and how much the shipping/import tax/registration ended up being? Thanks and happy motoring!

Sounds great. Once you have sorted the brake lines I would suggest a full dosing inside and out of your preferred chassis wax. Even if you are in a dry state as you found out with your series these like to rust away when you aren’t looking!
With 38 year old wiring and several past owners possible Tinkering with it. One option to look at could be replacing the loom. That way you know it is good working and factory correct. Autosparks (link) are very good for this. Although no cheap and I assume even more expensive when you add shipping to you across the pond. But I fitted complete new looms to mine after a fire from them and they were very easy to deal with, had impeccable customer service, and the product is very good.

Thanks for the input guys. I appreciate it.
Peio, for flipping one of these, I paid way too much, but sorta got attached to the story behind it and was impressed with the two gentlemen that had done so much work on it over the last 6 years. They put a ton of new parts and pieces on the truck. Shipping is going to cost you about $5,000. Registration if VA is about $1,000. Still trying to figure out why I have to pay sales tax in VA when the sales transaction took place in the UK. Now the shipping on this one includes all cost to get it from where it was to my house. So, ground transportation from the farm to the port, actually shipping, port fees, etc in the UK (Approx $3,200) Once it finally reached Norfolk, there were port fees, document fees, trailer rental, TWIC fee ( who knew that you can not go onto port property without and escort) etc. That came to about $1,600.

dag019, Yes, the new loom is a possibility. I'm finding wires going nowhere. I think a lot of them are speaker wires as there are speakers in the dash, plus by the rear door. Also a couple of wires leading from the battery box with inline fuses and a couple of relays under the hood sorta look like somebody had driving/fog lights at one point.
I have already ordered the Fertan rust treatment. The brake issue has lead to treating the undercarriage before installing the brake pipes. What I have found since the last post is that the chassis itself looks great and what I thought was surface rust on that is actually a thin layer of English dirt in a film. Hit it with a wire brush and it comes right off revealing good metal below. Most of the rust I have found in on components. Rear axle, brake backing plate, anti-sway bar, upper rear shock mounting point, and the self leveling thing. So, currently it's up on jackstands and I am taking my time cleaning and removing the rust/scale/dirt. Funny thing about the dirt. The first week, I degreased the engine, trans, transfer case, differentials and emergency brake. When rinsing that, I flushed all chassis openings and nooks and crannies. ( I thought) I ran water through the entire chassis, working from one drain hole to the next and flushing until all I got was clear water. However the wheels were still on and it wasn't until I got it up on jackstands and pulled the rear wheels that I discovered more nooks and crannies with dried dirt still packed in them. I think I got a couple kilos of dirt from around the right rear wheel area and about another kilo from the left. Picked, scraped, poked, and then used air to blow out the rest.
So, all this means is that it will be a slow process, but the journey has begun. At present I am focused on the rear axle area and back to the rear cross member. I'll attach a pic of it up on stands with work in progress.