Sold a death trap. pre purchase inspection con!

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J_Swan said:
Things picked up at this weekends inspection, not picked up initially:

Swivel ball seals corroded/not effective
Rotted bulkhead in need of repair/replace (I knew this already)
Rotten footwell
Battery box completely rotten
Radius arm bushes ineffective including rear
Rear crank seal gone
Gear box fluid leak
Front and rear bearings gone - wheels loose & dangerous
Front hub bearings gone
Rear cross member corrosion
Rocker cover leaking
Steering box fault (as discussed)
Click to expand...

So basically it wants a front axle rebuild and a bit of rolling restoration. I rebuilt mine in an afternoon on my 500 quid discovery as this was the only thing it failed its mot on. It also wants poly bushing with is the easiest method of replacing the radius and trailing arm bushes. Keep an eye on eBay as I bought an entire seat box for 99p for my defender. I also bought a pair of discovery axles with Teflon swivels for 140 quid that gave me 24 splines and disk brakes all round.
 
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Cant really see from the photos, but has it had a new rear chassis section?

The bulkhead is going to be, by far, your biggest expense. Why people bother with a respray when theyre like that, im really not sure.

It will probably have damage in the fold at the top of the footwells also. Those corners will be letting in rain, and it will be sitting behind the heater matrix and the peddle boxes.

Also, once you have made sure the chassis needs no more hot work, get some corrosion prevention on there, else it will just fall apart. Im not sure if the welds are patches, or if they have been cut in, but, if theyre patches, you really want somthing penetrating on the inside, as the water will hang about in the gap behind the patch, and eat the patch from the inside.

Again though, the bulkhead is going to be the most bother. You might just be able to weld in corner sections in situ, but, i suspect, the rot will have gone further.

...but then it depends how far you want to go. Its an old truck, so it will always have defects. Landrovers are either constant maintainance, or a whole load of work on galanised bits etc. and then less maintainance - this seems to be a fact of ownership. You may well want to go for the first option, and just do the corners and chuck on plenty of corrosion stuff.
 
julianf said:
Cant really see from the photos, but has it had a new rear chassis section?

The bulkhead is going to be, by far, your biggest expense. Why people bother with a respray when theyre like that, im really not sure.

It will probably have damage in the fold at the top of the footwells also. Those corners will be letting in rain, and it will be sitting behind the heater matrix and the peddle boxes.

Also, once you have made sure the chassis needs no more hot work, get some corrosion prevention on there, else it will just fall apart. Im not sure if the welds are patches, or if they have been cut in, but, if theyre patches, you really want somthing penetrating on the inside, as the water will hang about in the gap behind the patch, and eat the patch from the inside.

Again though, the bulkhead is going to be the most bother. You might just be able to weld in corner sections in situ, but, i suspect, the rot will have gone further.

...but then it depends how far you want to go. Its an old truck, so it will always have defects. Landrovers are either constant maintainance, or a whole load of work on galanised bits etc. and then less maintainance - this seems to be a fact of ownership. You may well want to go for the first option, and just do the corners and chuck on plenty of corrosion stuff.
Click to expand...

I think it may have had a new rear chassis section, it definitely has a new rear cross member so it could well have been done at the same time.

Foot wells are corroded, and will definitely need hot work, they're not too leaky but do trickle lightly. I'd imagine it's going in through the bulkhead and coming through the corroded foot well.

Regarding the bulkhead, I think you're right in saying the rest will be the same so I don't see the point in getting the corner pieces done, without the rest. It's not tackling the cause of the problem.

I've looked into/thought about buying a tatty but solid bulkhead, perhaps having a bit of welding done then getting galvanised but there seems to be a massive difference in what people think this costs.
 
J_Swan said:
I've looked into/thought about buying a tatty but solid bulkhead, perhaps having a bit of welding done then getting galvanised but there seems to be a massive difference in what people think this costs.
Click to expand...


Id post up photos of mine, but photobucket has committed Seppuku, so i cant...

But, costs -

Bulkhead - i paid £200, but in hindsight, it should have been more like £150
Blasting - local firm - £75
Welding - i welded it, but still about £25 in parts from yrm
Hot dip - i paid £180 at a renouned crap galvanisers - this is about 3x weight cost - they charge a premium for landrover parts, and still do a **** job. i had to get them to do it again, so it turned out ok, but was more hassel and cost than it should have been
2k respray - i paid £150 i think. next time ill diy, as im not that impressed. i can spray, i need new filters for 2k work - in hindsight i should have just sorted it out, but it seemed easier at the time to pay a firm to do the job

So, what's that - about £650?

But then the time... Ive still not completed the fittment, as things keep comming up. If i just wanted to change the bulkhead it would be easier, but then you get sidetracked with more and more stuff. Currently looking at the sills / b posts and lining them up for hot dip galv too.

I have a disco which falls into the constant maintenance trap. Im kind of hoping that the defender will go with the "spend a load of time and money on it at the start, and then relax in the future"
 
julianf said:
Id post up photos of mine, but photobucket has committed Seppuku, so i cant...

But, costs -

Bulkhead - i paid £200, but in hindsight, it should have been more like £150
Blasting - local firm - £75
Welding - i welded it, but still about £25 in parts from yrm
Hot dip - i paid £180 at a renouned crap galvanisers - this is about 3x weight cost - they charge a premium for landrover parts, and still do a **** job. i had to get them to do it again, so it turned out ok, but was more hassel and cost than it should have been
2k respray - i paid £150 i think. next time ill diy, as im not that impressed. i can spray, i need new filters for 2k work - in hindsight i should have just sorted it out, but it seemed easier at the time to pay a firm to do the job

So, what's that - about £650?

But then the time... Ive still not completed the fittment, as things keep comming up. If i just wanted to change the bulkhead it would be easier, but then you get sidetracked with more and more stuff. Currently looking at the sills / b posts and lining them up for hot dip galv too.

I have a disco which falls into the constant maintenance trap. Im kind of hoping that the defender will go with the "spend a load of time and money on it at the start, and then relax in the future"
Click to expand...

Wow - thanks for that, good to see it can be done on a budget. Where did you pay £150 for a respray!? I know you said you weren't impressed but that's cheap even for a touch up.

You mentioned you could spray also - that's another thing I've considered. Seeing if there's anyone on the forums who can do a decent job and perhaps pay them for the work. Their overheads etc would be minimal and it may take a couple of weeks but it could save big ££ .
 
julianf said:
I knew exactly where it should be, and it still took me an age, scrapers, and a wire brush to fine.

The fact that you or the non-landrover inspector can't find it does not mean its not there.
Click to expand...

I'll have a proper look this eve to see if I can find any date stamps under the truck where described.[/QUOTE]

Have you established where the chassis and engine numbers should be, and checked yourself that they are / are not there? You say you have a garage receipt for the engine fitting, is the engine number on the receipt and does it match the v5c?
 
Ask @danny6801 his respraying skills look great from this distance :p

DSC_1009.JPG
 
J_Swan said:
Wow - thanks for that, good to see it can be done on a budget. Where did you pay £150 for a respray!? I know you said you weren't impressed but that's cheap even for a touch up.

You mentioned you could spray also - that's another thing I've considered. Seeing if there's anyone on the forums who can do a decent job and perhaps pay them for the work. Their overheads etc would be minimal and it may take a couple of weeks but it could save big ££ .
Click to expand...

Just to be sure -

The £150 figure was for the bulkhead, not the whole vehicle.

I supplied it to them post mordant wash, so primer upward.


After i lay a new concrete floor in one of the workshops here, im going to spray my 110s roof (2k).

I think there is a reasonable mark-up in painting, but, by the time youve got the paint (which isnt that cheap in itself) the capital costs, the labor, the workshop rent, and all that, you can see how it adds up.

Paint on my £150 job was maybe £20-25 ish. I dont know how long it took them - probably not long enough, but i doubt its a job where you could pay someone, say, half that, and it still be viable as a commercial enterprise. Maybe, as you say, for a hobbiest who isnt really counting the hours, but not for a firm with all the additional expenses.
 
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