After many months of searching for an old Defender I am finally collecting a 1989 Land Rover 90 this weekend.
The 90 is what I think is classed as "rough but ready", it starts and runs ok, but comes with MOT advisories on chassis and steeing damper issues.
The first thing I need is a good welder to sort out the issues with the chassis before they become more than just MOT advisories!
If anyone can recommend any welders or welding companies in the Blackpool area I would be most grateful.

Welcome to landyzone. I wish you well with your new landy. Often, mot testers give advisories for nothing more than surface rust, lets hope thats the case here. Once you start welding plates on a chassis, it never seems to stop.

Col

Hi and welcome

Hi and welcome!

It’s worth finding a local MoT tester who knows landies. Many places that just deal with newer cars don’t understand landies. Your local Landy club might be able to help. I’ve got a local Indy guy who I take my 1989 90 to for an MoT who knows his landies.

Welcome Aboard

Knappster said:

It’s worth finding a local MoT tester who knows landies. Many places that just deal with newer cars don’t understand landies. Your local Landy club might be able to help.

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+1, forget taking to a "garage" - it'll end in tears IME .. Also, put some pictures up on here of your rust, and we either laugh, or give you proper advice ... or more likely.. both

Try joining "Lancashire land rover club" on Facebook. Nice bunch of folks and possibly be able to give you some places to try.

As has been said, post up some pictures and possibly copy and paste the advisories onto here. Lots of knowledgeable folk on here to steer you in the right direction.

With the age of your truck, if on the original chassis, learning to weld or finding a friend that can may be an option.

I bought a 1993 90 a couple of years ago. My lack of experience with defenders became apparent when I started to become aware of the rot prone areas of the chassis. When I crawled under mine with a hammer to tap and locate corrosion I concentrated on the main chassis legs, which seemed OK, but totally missed the outriggers and rear crossmember!

So far I have replaced the bulkhead outriggers (had beendonebefore), rear outriggers, dumb irons and rear crossmember (also been done before). I could probably have just patched the rear crossmember but I would just be putting off the inevitable so decided to avoid the future advisories and get the job done. I was lucky enough to be given a galvanised rear crossmember that had been previously fitted to a truck for 7 years and it was in great condition, so would recommend anyone fitting a rear crossmember to get a galv one.

Thankfully I managed to do these myself.

Good luck and enjoy!

Hello and welcome

GaryW said:

After many months of searching for an old Defender I am finally collecting a 1989 Land Rover 90 this weekend.
The 90 is what I think is classed as "rough but ready", it starts and runs ok, but comes with MOT advisories on chassis and steeing damper issues.
The first thing I need is a good welder to sort out the issues with the chassis before they become more than just MOT advisories!
If anyone can recommend any welders or welding companies in the Blackpool area I would be most grateful.

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Welcome to LZ!

In addition to chassis rust, Nineties often suffer from problems with the engines.

Is this a 2.5TD, a 2.5 petrol, or already been converted?

Many thanks for the replys.
Unfortunately it is a bit more than just surface rust, mainly around the rear outriggers.
The engine is the original 2.5td, which doesnt have any strange sounds but does smoke a bit for a few seconds after starting.
Will try to put some photos up of the rust later to see what people think