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Talking about them robbing stuff. The guy down the road from us has a Defender and he woke up the other morning and somebody had robbed his bonnet!!! WTF?!!
And I thought I'd post this up as well chaps, and get your opinions. I've just been doing some T-Shirt designs for local Land Rover specialists Tuffrok
Like the art. 🙂
Yep, bonnet theft is a problem, a bike lock through the bonnet frame and into the engine lift eyes as well as security hinges.
Designed to be lifted off and removed in 10 seconds for ease of maintenance in the bush somewhat plays to a thief's hands as when they are worth a few hundred quid each. Designed for a different era.
I've had 3 new ones and 4 old ones,
I like them, but i used to them
got a 1971 and 1985 series 3
my new one is a 65 plate 90 xs, with some nice extras, inc Alive ECU remap and intercooler
its coming up for 17,000 miles only
I think its going to get sold soon
If you wanna see a photo and some spec pm me
The earlier td5 10p has a reputation for cracked cylinder heads. I believe the later 15p ones are better.
Oil in the injector loom tend to cause misfire but easy to replace.
Most common ecu failure stops it reving properly so the car still drives just not fast.
Hateful things, terrible. The day we got rid of the last one at work was a happy day. If you have not driven one do so soon as it could save you a lot of bother.
If you're looking for a slightly more unusual defender then Monty Halls is selling his Custom 110.
[B][url= https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F162883438704 ]A chance to own the only Land Rover 'Marine' Defender made. There is only one of these unique vehicles.[/url][/B]
I was knocking about in the works Landy today and as usual it was a hateful experience. If you value fashion above function go for it. Which is a shame to type as they where originally so functional but have been totally outclassed and outdated. If you need a 4x4 look at an L200 Dmax etc. Or do the planet a favour and buy a modern estate car.
A guy I know made a fortune buying restoring/improving selling and exporting land rovers, can you guess what he drives?
Yep you got it a Toyota Land Cruiser!
I had a love/hate relationship with my TD5 90. Brilliantly robust for lugging gear down lanes, over fields and into the woods. Bloody awful on the road, cold, damp, insecure (I gave up locking it after I realised all the locks could be opened with a 20 pence piece), terrible in icy / greasy conditions, cramped and uncomfortable (at 6’2” there was never enough leg room and it’s only possible to steer with your elbow out of the window). Brakes are awful compared to weight of vehicle - as I found out in a head on collision (admittedly the other car was a write-off, my 90 had a chipped number plate.)
sometimes I miss it, but I wouldn’t have another.
Dime of you have got it all wrong. Your expectations of the LR are based on car ownership.
If you think a Defender is a bit rubbish, just buy a knackered old Series LR, if you can still find one cheap. Run that for a while then buy your Defender, it will feel like a Rolls Royce in comparison!
Certainly felt like it to me going from a S3 ‘lightweight’ to a 90. The move to a RRC after was even better, apart from the fuel bills from the 3.9l V8....
<quote>Bloody awful on the road, cold, damp, insecure (I gave up locking it after I realised all the locks could be opened with a 20 pence piece), terrible in icy / greasy conditions, cramped and uncomfortable (at 6’2” there was never enough leg room and it’s only possible to steer with your elbow out of the window). Brakes are awful compared to weight of vehicle</quote>
I'd agree with most of that, but if your brakes weren't very good then they hadn't been maintained properly. In good nick they will comfortably stop 3.5 tonnes with minimal effort.
The only time I've found the brakes in a land rover lacking was one or two descents in the Pyrenees - but that was in a drum-braked series 2 109, so a world away from a Defender.
EDIT: No quote? Oh well, I guess it's better than all that 'span style' nonsense...
I've a 54 plate 90 td5, use it daily for work for the last 3-4 years and whilst it's officially a pool vehicle, it lives with me and is the very best form of Landrover ownership in that when it does very occasionally need work, I leave it with the estate workshop 😃 So far, it's been mainly radius arm bushes which get abuse from pulling the Ifor Williams twin axle trailer and brake pads which really don't like the wet sand/light soil. Just fitted some polyurethane radius arm bushes, so hopefully they'll last a bit longer.
Id never driven one before, so after having done about 20k local miles with it, I can say that I love it and it's perfect for what I need to do, which is travel about a 5500 acre estate here in broadland Norfolk. It goes wherever I point it, although appropriate tyres in the really boggy bits are essential anyway. It starts, it goes, it stops and it gets a very hard life. It's noisy, it leaks and the exhaust fumes come in via the creased rear door and I love it!
I particularly like the camaraderie when passing other Landy's on the road, which reminds me of my Triumph TR driving days, although the Landrover wave seems to be one of resigned acceptance and acknowledgement 😃
Would I personally own one? If it's for local rural stuff then yes, without a doubt. If I needed to do longer journeys that involved lots of dual carriageway, probably not!
Actually, Kenneth, you’re right. I explained that really badly. The brakes were fine - if anything slightly too much grab in that particular collision (low speed, mid summer, greasy lanes after a light rain) . It was the BFGoodrich Mud and Snow tyres that let me down - everything locked up. Having subsequently owned cars with ABS I realise how ‘agricultural’ the 90’s brakes were.
EDIT: yes, I know, mud and snow tyres on the road in the middle of summer. 😬 In my defence, I worked on an estate and needed them for off road access.
So I drove a 2nd hand one today at our local Landrover dealer. Its feels much like driving a van, the elbow room was tight but I loved it!!!
I'm 6'4 and fitted just fine. Now just to find me a good example.
While I was there they did attempt to sell me a limited edition 400bhp version for 150k!!
You must be stick thin and have driven some terrible vans then. Every van I've driven for the last 15 years has been a considerably better place to sit and drive than a Landrover.
im 6ft 2 and i find mine (old 87 dash and sliding window doors with plenty room) comfy more comfy than our old golf or the hyundai i had before that
a friend had a puma xs with the focus dash and the wide door cards there was not enough room in that .
Are with a poster above - they are a total theft magnet.
Easy to strip, easy to steal, with a healthy parts market.
They had one of mine.
Not had one for about 10 years now. Noisy, unreliable, leaky, uncomfortable things.
Still miss it.
Bigman. Have a word with the Lord Whiskey sanctuary. I've heard they have had two vehicles donated to the charity recently for them to sell with all proceeds going back into the charity. I *think* one of them is a Defender. Might be an opportunity for a good deal.
There's a unit in the same place as where I work have some.
I now want this one...
[img] 
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Bargain at just under 40K!
Thanks Nick, I was after something quite specific so not sure that will fit the bill. I may put a call in on the off chance though.
I am going to head upto Twisted in the next month to drive some of theirs. I have seen those Bespoke 90’s aswell, they look very nice but i’ve not seen any of their work in person.
Dave, it's a Freelander Luxury Hse Td4 Auto. Registered Sept 2013. 20,000 miles.
Never mind. :0)
This is mine
with a few mods, Custom dash / Alive tuning remap/ etc etc
[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4711/40158257322_7ef01e2b32_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4711/40158257322_7ef01e2b32_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/24bDyNW ]IMG_3219[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/158534364@N04/ ]corin tomlinson[/url], on Flickr
url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4650/39293064955_5226256be9_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4650/39293064955_5226256be9_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/22Scega ]IMG_3564[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/158534364@N04/ ]corin tomlinson[/url], on Flickr
That is very nice indeed!
Every van I’ve driven for the last 15 years has been a considerably better place to sit and drive than a Landrover.
The van at my last job was a 2002 Sprinter 108. Getting in that after my 1990 Discovery V8 was amazing. It cornered and stopped so much better. Thing is the Discovery with half the handling had twice the power to get into trouble with, properly sideways at 45 in it was one of my most terrifying experiences on the road.
When I bought it, winterised FFR.
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After its 1st rebuild, new 1.4 transfer box, late suffix LT77, gas flowed head, wolf rims, pump&injector tweaks, painted, roof tent.
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How it looks currently.
[url= https://s18.postimg.org/rb9nffsah/WP_20150403_007.jp g" target="_blank">
Nothing much wrong with it apart from my ocd. Galv chassis going under it, galving the bulkhead and anything else steel, bare metal respray to grey. Building a ~140-150bhp 200tdi with VGT to replace the trusty NA. New seats and trim, Eberspacher, upper side panel lockers and adding a bit more overlanding stuff.
I'm 6'6" and find it day long comfortable but I drive with a dropped elbow style. Part of the family and will never sell it. Kept inside at all times and no longer used as a daily driver due to theft.
Had 200TDi, 300TDi, two TD5's, DiscoII and now a Disco3.
Evolution for me! I prefer the comfort of the Discovery 3 and it tows just as well if not better than all the 110's I had.
Scratch your itch. You seem to know what you're getting in to. We got rid of our last TD5 110 because it wasn't safe for more than one child seat. I've gone a bit soft now so probably wouldn't give up the comfort to go back to Defenders.
Had all of our TD5s chipped. More power and torque and better MPG. Get a Mantec rear wheel holder - it will stop the rear door from rattling itself to bits. Chequer plate the top of the front wings. They're so useful for standing on!
Good luck.
PS Other owners wave at you. It's weird at first!