There's never been a better time to invest in your own slice of British motoring heritage. As we know, Defender production is about to stop in the UK, Land Rover are taking orders for the very last ones to be sold here and values are sure to rise soon. How do I know this? Because they always do once I've sold a car.
This passed it's MoT 2 weeks ago, an advisory on a track rod end rubber boot but otherwise it's all good. The reason for this is I've lavished care, attention and money on it over the last 6 months of ownership. Doing 50 miles a day is an excellent way to find what's worn out... Things it's had that I can remember:
Complete exhaust, from the manifold back.
Rear brake shoes and cylinders.
Alternator.
Thermostat.
Various popshaft UJs
Radiator with gearbox oil cooler.
It's a genuine 200 Tdi but with a recent change to a Discovery engine, done with a Steve Parker conversion kit. The car has 247,000 miles but the engine apparently had about 100,000 on it. This engine is an absolute gem, starts instantly, doesn't use oil between changes and other than a puff of smoke on start up it's healthy from behind. No nasty knocks or rattles and even the heater is very good. Somehow it doesn't leave massive leaks of oil on the road, oil levels in the diffs, transfer box and gearbox are very stable.
It leaks a little water into the driver's footwell, an even smaller amount into the passenger's. Dunno how little but by the time I've driven to work with the heater on it's as dry as a bone in there. There's the usual corrosion to the top of the bulkhead, but the chassis and rear crossmember is good.
The previous owner replaced 4 of the doors so they're not too rusty, however they're not exactly the right colour either...
I'll get some photos in daylight over the weekend, but all the doors open, lock and the windows work. I'm zipping (it's all relative in a Land Rover) up and down the motorway doing 50 miles a day and it's never let me down.
I'm in Bedfordshire, work in Northampton if that's easier to come and look at it. Drop me a PM here or call 07710 532614 to save me putting it on ebay and dealing with scamming Nigerian princes.
This passed it's MoT 2 weeks ago, an advisory on a track rod end rubber boot but otherwise it's all good. The reason for this is I've lavished care, attention and money on it over the last 6 months of ownership. Doing 50 miles a day is an excellent way to find what's worn out... Things it's had that I can remember:
Complete exhaust, from the manifold back.
Rear brake shoes and cylinders.
Alternator.
Thermostat.
Various popshaft UJs
Radiator with gearbox oil cooler.
It's a genuine 200 Tdi but with a recent change to a Discovery engine, done with a Steve Parker conversion kit. The car has 247,000 miles but the engine apparently had about 100,000 on it. This engine is an absolute gem, starts instantly, doesn't use oil between changes and other than a puff of smoke on start up it's healthy from behind. No nasty knocks or rattles and even the heater is very good. Somehow it doesn't leave massive leaks of oil on the road, oil levels in the diffs, transfer box and gearbox are very stable.
It leaks a little water into the driver's footwell, an even smaller amount into the passenger's. Dunno how little but by the time I've driven to work with the heater on it's as dry as a bone in there. There's the usual corrosion to the top of the bulkhead, but the chassis and rear crossmember is good.
The previous owner replaced 4 of the doors so they're not too rusty, however they're not exactly the right colour either...
I'll get some photos in daylight over the weekend, but all the doors open, lock and the windows work. I'm zipping (it's all relative in a Land Rover) up and down the motorway doing 50 miles a day and it's never let me down.
I'm in Bedfordshire, work in Northampton if that's easier to come and look at it. Drop me a PM here or call 07710 532614 to save me putting it on ebay and dealing with scamming Nigerian princes.
