IamRobbie
Well-Known Member
self taught, me and my flock of pigeons don't do too bad a job I suppose.
Just picked up my 3rd welder today since starting with a poxy Clarke 85en gasless thing.
The joys of land rovers!
Just picked up my 3rd welder today since starting with a poxy Clarke 85en gasless thing.
The joys of land rovers!
dag019
Well-Known Member
Surely that is part of the point of having a defender. If you are not going to work on it yourself then they are are not sensible to own in any guise, even the new ones. I would also say that several times a year is optimistic, and is more likely to be once a month!
I did a similar thing when I bought mine. Just got my first installment of student loan and a student account with a large overdraft and immediately went out and spent £1800 on my '89 110, which definitely should not have had the 12 months Mot it came with. Since then (8 years ago) it has cost me a small fortune, I have learnt how do do everything to it out of necessaty, can now weld, and have a series III which i have now finished rebuilding. But that was part of what I wanted when I bought it and because I have done so much work and regularly maintain it it quite happily took me 6k miles to Morocco and back in October with no problems.
It needs to be carefully considered why you want a defender. If it is just for the look and you expect to not put a spanner to it between services or MOTs, then you will be in for a very large shock and will end up hate it. (Even more so if you are paying a garage to do everything it needs).
If it is to enjoy to opportunities a defender gives you that other vehicles do not, including the easy maintenance and repair, you will love every second of ownership.
There are plenty of buying guide for what to look for but everything can be repaired fairly easily. To get a good basis you want to have a solid rust free chassis and bulkhead as these are the most expensive and difficult to repair/replace.
Drive train noises are not ideal but gearboxes and diffs are easy to replace and cheaper than extensive chassis/bulkhead repairs.
Knocks and clunks are likely to just be Prop UJ's or suspension bushes which are very cheap and easy to replace.
With 5k to get the most vehicle condition wise for your money I would be looking at a 110 hardtop, these are the "least desirable" model (The 110 station wagon is the most expensive model, closely followed by the 90 station wagon). They are however the most practical, huge load space, and with some individual folding seats and windows in the sides perfectly good for carrying passengers when they are not full of other things.
lightning
Well-Known Member
If the O/P is lucky he could get a very nice TD5 hardtop for the top end of his budget (£8,000-£10,000) that doesn’t need much doing to it.
I disagree that the 90 is too small. I have a 110 and the missus drives a 90. The 90 is fine for two of us and we used it as our only car for eight years.
The 110 is of course a lot better in this respect but mainly if you want to carry more than two people plus luggage.
As for bikes, we use a tow ball mounted bike carrier.
The 110 does ride better on bad roads but the 90 can be improved by fitting adjustable dampers, as we have done.
I disagree that the 90 is too small. I have a 110 and the missus drives a 90. The 90 is fine for two of us and we used it as our only car for eight years.
The 110 is of course a lot better in this respect but mainly if you want to carry more than two people plus luggage.
As for bikes, we use a tow ball mounted bike carrier.
The 110 does ride better on bad roads but the 90 can be improved by fitting adjustable dampers, as we have done.
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@IamRobbie
Am risking hijacking this thread, sorry @mattie_uk so this'll be my last word on the subject. Any recommendations for a noob wanting to get into welding.
I read somewhere to stay well clear of gasless for instance. Bet there's already a old fred about it somewhere, right?
Am risking hijacking this thread, sorry @mattie_uk so this'll be my last word on the subject. Any recommendations for a noob wanting to get into welding.
I read somewhere to stay well clear of gasless for instance. Bet there's already a old fred about it somewhere, right?
dag019
Well-Known Member
Avoid gasless, splash out on a proper argon mix rather than using CO2, and watch all of the youtube videos. Then just lots and lots of practice on scrap that doesn't matter.@IamRobbie
Am risking hijacking this thread, sorry @mattie_uk so this'll be my last word on the subject. Any recommendations for a noob wanting to get into welding.
I read somewhere to stay well clear of gasless for instance. Bet there's already a old fred about it somewhere, right?
I was self taught and then did a city and guild course at the local college evening school. Other than the opportunity to practice lots with a better welding set it was not worth it. I already had the skills, and my welding improved more from spending 3 hours a week doing it than the tuition I received.
Oldseadog
Well-Known Member
At this time of year many FE colleges do 'taster courses' at very reasonable rates, so my advice would be to sign up on one of those and get 'the feel' for it there!@IamRobbie
Am risking hijacking this thread, sorry @mattie_uk so this'll be my last word on the subject. Any recommendations for a noob wanting to get into welding.
I read somewhere to stay well clear of gasless for instance. Bet there's already a old fred about it somewhere, right?
Remember that welding is like having a shyte, you can't do it unless you're comfortable ... it is alsoi the most erotic and sensual of all the manual skills, but that's another story
cooltide
sheep fancier
Struggling to find the bit about, do you want to spend your weekends underneath your defender, or spending money stocking up on tools, Haynes manuals and swarfega to enable spending the following weekend underneath your defender on a cold wet road?
Hi all
Apols for delay in replying, was testing out a few options with the missus and just about repaired the fallout. Some progress made though, as it looks like we'll get a second - dare I say more everyday-practical and reliable - car for her to use. That might be an MX5, which I hope shows the sacrifices I'm prepared to accept to get a Defender.
We've also signed up for a an off-road day in a Defender near Edinburgh so i can see if I fit into a 90, I've seen an example that I quite like the look of (see below) but would like to know if I'll fit/would prefer a 110 before bothering the seller.
In meantime. I'd be grateful for any thoughts on whether this would be a sensible option.
https://forsale.lro.com/land+rover/defender+90/236759
Thanks to all who commented on thread btw, much appreciated. Sad to let the Feeelander 2 go, but I either get the Defender now or never get one.
Apols for delay in replying, was testing out a few options with the missus and just about repaired the fallout. Some progress made though, as it looks like we'll get a second - dare I say more everyday-practical and reliable - car for her to use. That might be an MX5, which I hope shows the sacrifices I'm prepared to accept to get a Defender.
We've also signed up for a an off-road day in a Defender near Edinburgh so i can see if I fit into a 90, I've seen an example that I quite like the look of (see below) but would like to know if I'll fit/would prefer a 110 before bothering the seller.
In meantime. I'd be grateful for any thoughts on whether this would be a sensible option.
https://forsale.lro.com/land+rover/defender+90/236759
Thanks to all who commented on thread btw, much appreciated. Sad to let the Feeelander 2 go, but I either get the Defender now or never get one.
Marmaduke
Well-Known Member
Way to expensive for a defender without a galv chassis
