Thank you for the thoughtful replies. I am less put off knowing it's easy enough to redo some poor welds like this. The next thing I am struggling with, to answer some of your questions, is the mighty asking price of 25k ('95 300tdi, 90k mi) which seems tall even if it is as tidy as they claim...

Hi all, Newbie here, looking to purchase my first Defender. Have looked at many over the past year, seeking a solid chassis/bulkhead/suspension that I can work on for years to come. Found a pretty one (usually a red flag to begin with as far as I can tell) that has recently had new rear cross...