Any Land Rover 110 experts - project looming...

The chassis aren't the same, but adding the bits isn't difficult - a year is probably a realistic time scale as you'd presumambly (assuming no lottery win!) be scouting around for s/h body parts. Whith the money 110 Station Wagons are fetching currenty my could even make a repectable profit!

Richard

Is it worth him looking for a good 110 pickup, knackered 110 SW and combining the two, then putting the remaining parts on fleabay I wonder. I saw a top-notch looking 110 SW recently that got valued at about £1,000 because the body was great, but the chassis and mechanicals were paste. Gimp owner had spent wonga on making it look pretty and let the truck rot underneath.

Ah Richard,

You have unwittingly revealed that you have some knowledge of the differences! prepare for some questions...........What is the extent of the chassis work that needs to be done, do you know? I would have been quite happy to pay the extra for a SW but all the ones i seem to have seen have bloody awful bodywork. I have a loose idea that I want to use a late 300tdi van bodied 110 and do the conversion from there. They seem to be alot better condition for some reason even though you would expect them to be more abused??

My mechanical knowledge is good, i used to be a marine engineer, and I now have a near completed workshop so I think the time constraints will be governed by how long I can bear to look at the Range Rover rather than anything else!! It's going to be a complete body off job and do the job right first time hopefully, but having rebuilt before I know how things change.

Running gear wise i'm open minded. Do you reckon that the 300 is a better bet than the Td5. I know that Td5 engine is unpopular but I'm quite a fan of it, having used it in lots of vehicles and having done lots of miles behind one. What do u think?

All i know is that I want it to be BRG, or black!

Dave

The only real changes are for the middle row seats. There's two body mounts that have to come off (bolts) and SW versions fitted. There's an additional crossmember to fit (bolt on) - for the chassis that's about it apart from some brackets/twiddly bits and the seat belt mountings - bolt-on on a SW chasis - I seem to recall that all the necesary holes are on standard chassis already. The main stuff is the actual body - you need to make sure you get good body side frames as they a dammed expensive, and if it is a take-off make sure you recover the said seat belt brackets/fittings, they are not megga bucks idividually, but quite soon add up. Oh, and make sure the slopy floor under the middle row seats has not been bodged up otherwise fitting the belts can trun into a nightmare as you can't just put then through to the chassis - just think what would happen in an accident of the body shifted relative to the chassis......

While your finding a body, see if you can get the self-leveller - it's not absolutely essential (you could use Td5 dual rate springs), but the improvement to the handling is very noticable.

Richard

Thats handy to know. i didn't realise that the defender ever had a self-leveller on it. Thought it was just the Range Rover. Does that mean you avoid that dodgy look you see with some 110's where their arse in the air? I would prefer to avoid that look if possible. I think the way forward then is to find a 110SW with knackered chassis maybe and sell the remaining bits to fund the next bits. It's all coming together loosely in my head. The idea is meeting with nods approval from the other half aswell which is good as allthough it won't alter the decision or the project if it goes ahead, at least i won't have to sneak large bits of landy into the garage.....

Time to start looking around for prices of base vehicles. I need to decide what it is I want to end up with, remove (in my head) all the bits I want to change anyway and I should be left with an ideal base vehicle. Now, where to start!

Dave

On or around 11 Mar 2007 05:51:46 -0700, "Dave R" enlightened us thusly:

I'll have most of a set of body panels for a CSW to move on in the next few months...

Self levelling was fitted to County specification pre-Defender 110s. The unit is similar to the RR one but not identical. Unless it has been overhauled or replaced, it is unlikely that any are still working. The softer springs that go along with them really do make a big difference to ride though. JD

And you're just round the corner, bonus. I know you're west wales somewhere Austin, how far from Carmarthen?

Dave

That post was unreadable & I'm no post nazi.

which one was unreadable

Sorry Nige, slightly confused why you found my previous posts hard to read. Was obviously understandable as there's been a good few replies. I must have dodged the grammatical exam to be allowed to post on here. Sorry if I offended you pal!

Dave

In message , Dave R writes

FWIW when I was looking for my 110 I specifically looked for a 300Tdi rather than a TD5. Yes the TD5's a bit more refined but there's more electronics to go wrong and a bit more that will need a testbook if you want to fiddle. I'd go for a late 300 Tdi over a TD5 any day.

Will

It takes a lot to offend me matey, It was a HUGE post that i didnt understand. I am tick do man innit?

Point of order Mr Chairman! The self-leveller was fitted right upto Td5 (as there is no "to" VIN in Microcat, they are still fitted to some vehicles) standard on County Station Wagons and optional on other

110's, when dual rate springs were intrduced. While having the same function as RRC ones, they are radicaly different in design (and far more expensive!). They rarely fail, but do throw wobblers now and again - either failing to "pump up" or steadfastly staying "pumped up" until given some gyp - off-roading works well, or putting a badly loaded trailer on (obviously not a terribly safe approach). Mililtay 110's do stand up a bit at the back, but standard 110's should sit "normally".

Richard

That is interesting - I am pretty sure none have been exported here since the Defender name was introduced (of course I could be wrong!). Most owners of them here have had them fail, and not replaced them because of cost - this includes myself. The units are difficult to find and expensive when you do find them. Perhaps one of the reasons they seem not to be exported here is they do not stand up to the conditions (probably continuous high speed on severe corrugations in high temperatures!) JD

On or around 11 Mar 2007 14:21:09 -0700, "Dave R" enlightened us thusly:

about 30 miles north, bit less as the crow flies. between Lampeter and Llandovery.

The 110 here has iffy doors but most of the other panels look OK. doors, especially passenger side, will need repairs to the door frames.

Yeah dave - snip out some of the old stuff when you reply and it makes it much easier.

Thanks Austin.

If you don't mind i will pop up one night and have a look? Are you inferring that you have a complete vehicle?

The nights are drawing out a bit no so hopefully I could get there before it gets too dark. Probably won't be this week but next week if that's ok with you.

If it's not a complete vehicle, what bits have u got.

If you want to email me off group its:

snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com

Dave

Thanks for that. I need to have a look how my stuff is viewed on my PC as most of the stuff "hides" so i'm not aware of all the crap I am including when I reply.

Must try harder............

Dave