SLROC Forum

Hi all ive recently changed career from the events industry that consumed every waking minute of my life to a new weekend freindly job and find myself looking for a new hobby, ive had a host of 4x4 quads but now with a wee lad im thinking a Defender 90 td5 would fit the bill so im looking for something between £5000 and £7000 to start this hobby off.

Ive been involved in a few days out at Drumclog but on my Can Am renegade 800r X thats now going to fund my new Hobby...

Hi Tommy,

Welcome to the forum.

It's a healthy budget for a vehicle to take to the likes of Drumclog. You should be ale to get a well kitted out one with that sort of money.

Keep an eye here, don't think there's anything at the moment but there's always ebay, that's where I found mine. You might need to travel right enough. Good luck.

There's a day at Drumclog on the 17 Feb if you get sorted.

Stephen

Hi and thanks for the welcome, What sort of things should i look out for when going aboot tyre kicking..

Tommy - check out Alan's 90 he's got on the For Sale board (went on last week).  His forum name is yellowdisco.  Looks like a top motor, couple of logical mods and Alan knows his stuff.

Alan (not the same one!)

Hi Alan thanks, Question time -
I'm I right in saying this model doesn't have electric windows,
and is there any questions raised at having an engine over 100 000 miles on the clock.

Sorry if these are dumb questions!

Didn't realise Alan's was up for sale, good looking Defender.

I'm no expert but its always worth taking someone with you who has some knowledge of these vehicles but definitely check out the chassis as that would be your biggest investment if it was hanging by a thread.

Give it a good drive around and make sure the gearboxes are as they should be, any major leaks etc. srevice history are sometimes hard to come by with these and they've mosly had a few owners but don't let it put you off. Mines had 9 previous owners and I'd say I've been lucky.

I prefer the 300tdi rather than the TD5, remember if your going playing in the mud you have more electrics that can go wrong! Just a thought?

Stephen

Some are being sold with over 200k miles, I don't see it as an issue. Mines has 103k on it just now but I also have a Discovey 3 with over 100k on it and I don't plan on getting rid of it anytime soon!

Hi what kind of TD5 90 are you loking for hardtop, pickup, station wagon.I've a TD5 90 good truck for missing about in, same heater as the older land rovers so a good fleece is a must in winter, windscreen wipers suck but its all the charm of a defender. Look at the two defender models as there was a facelift around 2002 ( easily identified by rear fog/ reverse lights being round NAS) with better dashboard layout, better door design as rear door is one piece, ECU with flash memory meaning the ECU is easier to re-map if you want some extra power. I'm afraid electric windows are normally on top spec models like XS. To very honest i would have a 300 TDi in a minute , i like the power of TD5 but i would like to run on veggie oil as i normally get 25 MPG (but to be fair on the motorway i do sit about 65-70 MPH) i like the simplicity of working on 300TDi's and plenty of spares from scrapped discoverys. Watch on newer TD5 station wagons road tax is £460 a year, the commercial models are £215 for road tax.

Hi Greg im looking for a station wagon with seats at the back or the ability to do so.

You can retro fit seats into a hardtop and get windows put in, station wagons are harder to find more expensive as they are so sought after. However before you buy a 90, get insurance quotes for a station wagon and a modified hardtop. As in my case I got my fingers burned insuring a hardtop as its a commercial vehicle even if used for private travel and commuting. Keep an eye out on ebay for rear bench seats I got a pair for 25 pounds which had the same seat material as my front seats.  Good luck in finding your truck

Thanks for the info matey, i will defo be doing that and hopefully have a truck soon enough.

As of Tuesday i am now a LR Defender 90 owner, had it out on Saturday for a quick run down to Knockhill and today i started going over the body work to establish how much work needs done and so far there is only a small rusty hole on the inner side below the wind screen and the rest is surface. chassis not checked yet but happy non the less.

Tommy, the chassis is the place to start looking, the bodywork is not important in the slightest, its aluminum alloy and easily patched/filled or replaced by bolting on a replacement panel. When you say a small hole below the windscreen do you mean in the bulkhead ? If so I'm afraid you may find you've got a bigger problem than you think, by the time a hole appears the bulkhead is often pretty far gone. Let me guess its in one corner an inch or so below the windscreen....and the other side is bubbling/has rust stains  ?

Pics ?   

On the bright side, anything is repairable, either with a patch or a replacement. Last year I did a complete chassis and bulkhead change, a challenge but really not that difficult. 

i normally get 25 MPG (but to be fair on the motorway i do sit about 65-70 MPH)

I get just over 27mpg from my 110 when towing a loaded transporter?  It has been chipped.

Only had a problem once electrically speaking, the water was lapping near my knees.

I love my TD5