Drove a 1983 Defender 110 today....

[Christian P.]

A couple things to keep in mind:

1. The British are not good at oil seals. Expect British vehicles to leak 90 wt unless someone went through some extra effort. Leaks comes with the territory.

2. The roads are salted during UK winters. That's why there is a replacement frame industry. Assume any 25 year old truck imported from the UK to have frame rust issues unless there has been a very recent frame replacement & bulkhead work done.

When looking to purchase a new UK import truck that is 25 years old or older just assume you will need to also buy a new frame & maybe bulkhead and figure replacement into your budget unless you preinspect the vehicle and find out otherwise.

Just a observation and suggestion

I was going to say the same thing - even my 2002 Discovery was leaking all over the place.

 

[Root Moose]

I think this is a decision that GunshipDriver is going to regret - if he really wanted a 110. First time I've seen one that looked this decent at this price point. No expert on these machines but I watch the adverts for esoteric vehicles as a form of entertainment.

I also think that if the deal was done on ebay then there is more obligation on the buyer's part before the auction ends. The way I see it there were two options: go see the machine before the auction ends or suck it up and you bought a truck with leaks and a rusted frame. Maybe I'm just being old fashioned?

I think some "rationalization" has occurred once the reality of the situation became real. Not cool - especially for the seller.

 

[Wander]

I didn't ask the op if he asked to see pictures of the frame or not but he should have. Lesson learned I guess. I also don't think the seller should be listing this as defender because it isn't. Two wrongs don't a right but maybe this thread was educational to prevent this from happening again then that's great!

I got my question about the two 83's I saw listed and wondered how long they offered the iii

 

[TeriAnn]

Some earlier history, including early 1980's engine & gearbox availability (since people seem to be confused about that):


1962 IIA forward control introduced

1966 Last year of IIA forward control, IIB forward control introduced

1967 Last year the 109 was imported to North America

1971 Series III announced in September

1972 Lightweight introduced
1972 Last year of IIB forward control production

1975 101 forward control introduced

1978 last year of production for 101 forward control

1979 Stage One introduced (V8 109)

1980 3 main bearing 2.25L engine replaced by 5 main 2.25L engine

1983 One Ten introduced, 127 introduced in 4th quarter
1983 One Tens came with 2.25L engine & 4 speed gearbox
1983 Last year of lightweight production

1984 Ninety introduced, last year of SIII 88 production
1984 Ninety & One Ten came with 2.25L engine & LT77 five speed gearbox

1985 2.5L engine introduced replacing the 2.25L engine
1985 Last year of SIII 109 and Stage One production

1992 first 200tdis available in Defenders (introed in Discos a year earlier)
1992 LR petrol four cylinder engines are discontinued, with 200tdi only 4 cyl engine.
1992 500 Defender 110s imported to US plus 25 imported to Canada

1993 fourth quarter, first 1994 Defender 90s sold in US.

1995 300tdi introduced replacing the 200tdi.

1997 Last year D90 sold in US.

 

[discotdi]

Seems to me the buyer should have done a little more investigating if he was within easy driving distance. The seller clearly states that he will allow a buyer to take the 110 to a mechanic to have it checked out. the seller was pretty up front with the info that he had. I think major case of "buyers remorse" wife will kill me. BTW $15k for that vehicle seems about right.

 

[Maryland 110]

The e-bay add shows 1964 but then says it's an 83 Defender which is incorrect as the Defender's did not start until 1990. If it was an 83 it would still be a Series III and as it still has cappings along the side I think it is an older Series or maybe a Stage I that had a new front end put on to look like a Defender. It's got some nice kit on it and with some work would be a nice truck. With the rust issues discovered was the seller willing to deal on the price? I noticed nothing about the frame or bulkhead was mentioned nor are there any pictures of those areas.

The truck pictured still has its english plate and is correctly indicating and "A" registration-ie 1983. The first year for the 90 was 1984 and those have "B" registration plates. The external cage looks to be one of Dan Evans from Protection and Performance not a SD cage.

 

[AndrewClarke]

I'm going to throw my hat in with the "should have looked at the vehicle before bidding" opinion, but what's done is done at this point.

One thing I was wondering about is the wind-down windows. I thought all the '83s had sliding front windows. This one still has the old-style door handles and I don't remember offhand ever seeing the combination of old-style doors and wind-down windows. Was this standard?

Also, someone's taken the time to replace all the body cappings with galvanized, unless that was also standard on the '83s. I know they aren't galvanized on my '86, which is why I have a set of replacements to put on in the spring...

- Andrew.

 

[Camel110]

The first year for the 90 was 1984 and those have "B" registration plates.

The 90 first came out in June 84 and the registration letter changes on the 1st August (it did then anyway) so there are some 90s on "A" registrations. I had one that was sold to somebody for a refurb prior to export from the UK. An original 90 County Station Wagon from the first month of production.
Similarly, there are some 110s (not many) on the old "Y" registration as they came out before August in 1983 too.

One thing I was wondering about is the wind-down windows. I thought all the '83s had sliding front windows. This one still has the old-style door handles and I don't remember offhand ever seeing the combination of old-style doors and wind-down windows. Was this standard?

Yes, when wind up windows came in on the 110 there was an overlap with the old style door handles for a short time.

Also, someone's taken the time to replace all the body cappings with galvanized, unless that was also standard on the '83s. I know they aren't galvanized on my '86, which is why I have a set of replacements to put on in the spring...

They were originally galvanized, until a few years later when Land Rover realised it was costing them extra money. So they stopped and just started painting them. I guess they worked out by the time they rusted it would be too late to take the vehicle back!