2025 deleted member
Well-known member
You’re gonna be in it 40k by your estimates- so it will actually be 50-60. I’d wouldn’t do a swap- just get the nicest turnkey example you can find, it’ll be more reliable.
110, how bad really?
- Thread starter Roam.Wild
- Start date
Arjan
Fossil Overlander
Although perhaps a bit late, here are my thoughts on owning a 110 - 300 Tdi Hard Top.
It all comes down to maintenance, expectations and history.
- maintenance. You're getting a 30 years old vehicle and it will show. Unless you buy a totally 100 % rebuild vehicle – very serious money – you will get a project. Either small, or big. Chassis rot, bulkheads rot, metal and aluminium have a nasty reaction to each other and the electrics….
But, it is all very basic. 300 Tdi engine require fuel and will even run without electricity (don’t ask me how I know) and although they are not the strongest of engines, they usu. will get you home.
The green 110 in the picture is a vehicle I created for serious long distance Overlanding and it never failed me. Things went wrong, broke and all that but I always got home. It is a spartan vehicle and nothing you can do will change that. One can improve comfort, reduce noise etc. but in the end it is a box on wheels and designed to work for a living and hosed out.
I took mine on long trips – 6,000 – 12,000 miles at times – and I have learned to drive, live & sleep with them. But they are not for everybody. Headsets get old to have a conversation with your passenger, listen to music without turning the volume way up and elbow space is restricted. Speed is relative, towing a trailer takes planning and sleeping in them is when you’re 1.85 (6ft. something) a challenge.
The cage is something I really suggest to consider – if they roll there is not much protection and many people use them as a base for the rooftent. Also, please remember that the heater in this Defender is really a laugh.. I replaced mine with the biggest one I could possibly fit after seriously modifying the bulkhead and it worked very, very well…
So, eventually I accepted my age and sold it. Have “series III” left and changed to Discovery II’s that will basically do the same job but in greater comfort. Still can’t sleep inside really well but life is a compromise.
If you’re not afraid to work on your vehicle, deal with rust and are not in a hurry to get somewhere they are a fantastic machine that will try to keep going when most are about to give up.
Good luck making you mind up.
It all comes down to maintenance, expectations and history.
- maintenance. You're getting a 30 years old vehicle and it will show. Unless you buy a totally 100 % rebuild vehicle – very serious money – you will get a project. Either small, or big. Chassis rot, bulkheads rot, metal and aluminium have a nasty reaction to each other and the electrics….
But, it is all very basic. 300 Tdi engine require fuel and will even run without electricity (don’t ask me how I know) and although they are not the strongest of engines, they usu. will get you home.
The green 110 in the picture is a vehicle I created for serious long distance Overlanding and it never failed me. Things went wrong, broke and all that but I always got home. It is a spartan vehicle and nothing you can do will change that. One can improve comfort, reduce noise etc. but in the end it is a box on wheels and designed to work for a living and hosed out.
I took mine on long trips – 6,000 – 12,000 miles at times – and I have learned to drive, live & sleep with them. But they are not for everybody. Headsets get old to have a conversation with your passenger, listen to music without turning the volume way up and elbow space is restricted. Speed is relative, towing a trailer takes planning and sleeping in them is when you’re 1.85 (6ft. something) a challenge.
The cage is something I really suggest to consider – if they roll there is not much protection and many people use them as a base for the rooftent. Also, please remember that the heater in this Defender is really a laugh.. I replaced mine with the biggest one I could possibly fit after seriously modifying the bulkhead and it worked very, very well…
So, eventually I accepted my age and sold it. Have “series III” left and changed to Discovery II’s that will basically do the same job but in greater comfort. Still can’t sleep inside really well but life is a compromise.
If you’re not afraid to work on your vehicle, deal with rust and are not in a hurry to get somewhere they are a fantastic machine that will try to keep going when most are about to give up.
Good luck making you mind up.
DividingCreek
Explorer
Unreliable ?
If you purchase a 30+ year old defender from Africa- a continent known for being brutal to vehicles, and also a place most vehicles only receive maint when they break, expecting to just start using it might be dissapointing. In my experience working on defenders daily, its usually less about regular maintenance, than committing to the larger undertaking correcting 35 or more years of deferrred maint. They are simple vehicles to work on and require few special tools.
We've done significant rust repair on African imports so any claim that "its rust free because its from Africa" are sales pitches, not reality.
Would a 60 series toyota thats run US highways instead of an African import thats seldom seen pavement make more sense ? If your asking these questions here you should buy the Toyota.
The worst thing you can do for reliability of a defender is let it sit unused.
If you purchase a 30+ year old defender from Africa- a continent known for being brutal to vehicles, and also a place most vehicles only receive maint when they break, expecting to just start using it might be dissapointing. In my experience working on defenders daily, its usually less about regular maintenance, than committing to the larger undertaking correcting 35 or more years of deferrred maint. They are simple vehicles to work on and require few special tools.
We've done significant rust repair on African imports so any claim that "its rust free because its from Africa" are sales pitches, not reality.
Would a 60 series toyota thats run US highways instead of an African import thats seldom seen pavement make more sense ? If your asking these questions here you should buy the Toyota.
The worst thing you can do for reliability of a defender is let it sit unused.
Last edited:
85_Ranger4x4
Well-known member
Getting a good baseline is critical for getting reliability out of a vintage anything.
Service everything, brakes fuel system, cooling system, exhaust, wheel bearings/axles, steering, suspension, engine accessories/belt... its all unknown until you go thru it.
Roam.Wild
Well-known member
This is not a negative but a positive to me lol. I'm looking for a project build. I have brand new trucks in the garage and they are boring to me now, I'm dying to get my hands dirty again. As mentioned in my original post "My plan would be to go through the truck systematically and rebuild/refresh whatever’s needed to make it as reliable as possible". It will be nice to have a winter project, I was about to start tearing down the motorcycle and put it back together to cure my seemingly endless boredom. Winters are long and cold here in CO, and this will be the first winter in a while we aren't spending down in Baja. I think it will be quite fun to tear it apart and repair / replace as much as I can.
My uncle and his business partner bring 1-2 of these in every month. They have a nice 2000 TD5 110 that just came in that I am heading over to Baltimore the first week of Dec to check out, and hopefully trailer back home!
Roam.Wild
Well-known member
I won't be taking it on any long trips right off the freighter. Have a long list of maintenance and parts I will probably rebuild / replace when I get it. Luckily I havent seen too many with rust issues. Like you said its like 25+ years old at this point, SOME rust is inevitable.
A 60 would be nice. Maybe next year if I get wind up my ass to LS swap something.
Roam.Wild
Well-known member
Love hearing about a well traveled Defender!
Yes I have been prioritizing finding ones with a decent maintenance history. As long as the engine doesn't blow on my, I don't mind replacing most other parts, which I may do just for peace of mind.
The cage would be a great idea, I follow a couple on Instagram that had a roll over last year in theirs and it folded like paper. Unfortunately the plan is for a Alu-Cab roof conversion so I am not sure how I could incorporate a cage, but something else to look into!
We heavily looked into the Discos. Certainly a little nicer, but alas the Defender tugs at the heart strings.
85_Ranger4x4
Well-known member
Same
I love fiddley little projects like packing wheel bearings and the like. You feel like you're doing something but not the not fun kind of doing something like bench pressing a transmission.
Which I guess throwing a clutch in a new to you rig may not be a bad idea either though...
Disco market is weird, they are so all over the place on pricing and condition it is hard to get comfortable actually pulling the trigger.
Roam.Wild
Well-known member
A LOF clutch is in the cart, one of the many things getting replaced right away since I won't know the condition of. Brakes, clutch, wheel bearings, swivel hugs, fluids of course, all bushings, all suspension, and I am sure I am missing 40 other things. I think my cart at NWR is over $20k lol