Landrover 109 what to look for?

As for ideas, I have a notion to build a 109 double cab with a BMW Six Cylinder and a 5 speed box, something similar to this:



Alternatively if you're going for a pickup this one has a good look to it.



Series Land Rovers are quite easy to make a mess of by attaching lots of bolt on tat.
Part of the charm of them is the clean lines, which will take some amount of personalising, but much easier to ruin the look than with the coil sprung models.

A Series 3 109" would probably be the cheapest / most widely available, unless you would be swayed with a Defender (110).

I prefer the 2WD/4WD drivetrain used in the Series Landys, over the constant-four used the the Defenders (including post-Defender named Ninety / One-Ten models), but I settled on a One-Ten for better spares availability and general daily usability. Also Series use leaf springs on rear, so in my opinion are better for load lugging, Defender are coil all round, so better for comfort and off-road ability.

But assuming you've done all the research and settled on a Series, dumb-irons (part of the chassis forward of the front wheels) are a key rot area. Rear crossmembers can go, but not as bad as Defender ones, bulkhead, especially near the lower door hinge, plus top corners.
General chassis, look for thick paint used to cover things, and home weld jobs.

Body is ally, which oxides where it touches steel.

As far as engines go, I personally like the idea of a 200/300 TDi retrofitted, but without the turbo. I'm a diesel fan, so would happily plod along with the 2.25D if I wanted something standard.

You have to be committed to the Green Oval to drive a Series every day!

Back in 2008 I purchased my very early One-Ten, for a reasonable price of £1600. I could have got a Series 3 for about £1000, which I wanted, but practicality made me spend more. Mine lacks all mod-cons, just the way I like it, but was retro-fitted with a 200Tdi (ideal for me).

I went for the HCPU (High-Cap), as it is the only one with a full width tail gate.







You can still get the odd bargain buy, and they are nicer as a daily...

Lots of wheel options available in the standard Land Rover 5x165 -or 5x6.5"- with some more expensive than others.
I've never been the biggest fan of Alloys on a Series motor, but they can look good with a set of Turbovec's.

To my eye, Modular (as in the picture above) Wolf and Mach 5 all look pretty smart on Series motors.
I see the key to getting them right as having the wheels fill the arches and sit flush with the body.

As to running them as daily drivers, I've had a variety of them on the road as my main car over the past 13 years, and currently using our Series III as my main motor.
In truth, provided they start first time, the brakes are properly adjusted, the steering isn't full of worn joints, springs with some movement, working shock absorbers and maybe a bit of hot air from the heater then it's as pleasant a drove as a coil sprung motor.

Equally, drive one that's the opposite of the above, and it's a bloody awful experience, as it would be with most classic cars in a similar state.

I could spend a lot more time going on about the merits and pitfalls of the things, but I doubt you need more persuading to buy, nor anymore reason to try and put yourself off.

Looks like the series 109 is the way I'm going. No one yet has mentioned the v8! I'm thinking this engine could be more reliable? What price should I be paying for an mot'd half decent machine? Spending a bit on the right motor I don't mind, I just don't want a basket case. Would a new style interior fit? ( seats,chubby box)

V8's...

Just like anything else on a Series motor, a good one is a good engine for them, a well abused and worn out one is just awful.
The usual issues with them are stretched timing chains which will throw ignition and cam timing out, along with their predisposition to wear the lobes off the cam.
It's not uncommon to find them running with 2 or 3 of the 16 cam lobes completely round, the only real symptoms being loss of power and a marked increase in fuel consumption.

Easy enough to rebuild, whilst later cams can make the old 3.5 a bit more lively, as will some porting work on the heads, but a proper rebuild with decent quality parts will cost you £700 upward.

Personal preference is to dump the carbs in favour of the standard efi setup which makes them a much better engine to my mind.

Fast? A fit one will give a reasonable turn of speed, but it depends on how it's geared and the state of tune the engine is in as to just how quick it actually is.

A proper Stage 1 V8 is also a nice prospect, but their relative rarity -and a reasonable list of unique parts- means it's harder to do one 'properly' and they're becoming more of a collectors item.

A good 3.5 will do similar or better fuel consumption than a 2.25 petrol.

Seats etc from a coil sprung motor will fit easily enough as the interior space is basically the same, you may need to drill a few holes though.

As to what sort of money to pay, the going rate for an MOT'd runner is probably £2.5k in the usual marketplaces, but if you're lucky then you can pick up a decent one from £1200 or so, but you have to be quick.

As to what engine to go for, the Series III I'm currently running is a 2.5 diesel with a 5 speed box which is a fairly simple installation and gives a nice relaxed drive.
As mentioned above, I fancy building one with a BMW Six Cylinder on a 5 speed box, which done properly would make a nice vehicle which was quick enough to give people a bit of a surprise, but it comes down to personal opinion I suppose.

No problem at all.
Nice to know 18 years spent messing about with the things has some benefit to others.

I think this is what fascinates me most about the possibility of having a Land~Rover.
If you get all the different parts it's got the potential to be 'all the cars'. You can have a pickup, a van, a cabriolet, a camper, a crewcab, estate car, tow-truck...
I love the idea that it's basically car-lego and you can unbolt things in minutes and totally repurpose it. Hell I bet if you have basic fabrication chops you can even make custom panels for whatever need you might have.

I love the utility and 'go-anywhere' potential, but I'd actually be cool with a Rwd one on a Scimitar chassis with a decent modern drivetrain (bulletproof Toyota/Lexus v6? BMW? ) and then all the spare panel / canvas bits in the garage to 'transform' it whenever I needed it for the task at hand.

[edit] added this to illustrate my shonky point:

We have a few in the family, 3 "normal" leafers, 2 101's (not normal leafers) and 3 coilers.

I drove my series 2 as a daily for many years and it never let me down. Canvas topped, 2.25 petrol powered, much fun!

Around town they are totally fine, and cruising down a country lane in the summer with the roof off is brilliant fun.

Speed is not something they are famous for, so if driving longish distances often then consider a 90/110 instead as they are much more comfortable for that kind of thing.

Regular use is the key, my series doesn't get used all that much and so the leaves corrode together slightly and the ride is quite jarring for a while until everything has loosened up again, it also has heavy duty springs which don't help. Jumping from the 90 straight into it makes you wonder if the suspension is working at all...