It's interesting to see one knowledgable person say "2500's a fair price..." and then AlaskaMike says "Zero value...". That's a pretty big swing in the value right there aye.
I never said zero value. That was Red90.
I was thinking the asking price was high for the vehicle, and that it would be better suited for a parts rig than a restoration project. If you saw how much Rover parts cost (especially the IIA variety), you could see the financial sense in that statement. However, financial sense rarely plays into these decisions.
The OP's idea of surface rust may likely be more serious cancer, since these rigs tend to rust inside out. For instance, that bulkhead would be a prime area of concern for me. Unlike Jeeps and other vehicles that have body tubs welded together, there is much more bolting-together on a Series Rover. The way the vehicle is constructed, the bulkhead plays a central role in securing the front body parts of the vehicle. The door hinge area in the picture with a hole is a structural part of the bulkhead, that connects to the frame (one of 2 points). Another area of concern for me would be the upper bulkhead- especially the channel the windshield sits in. The standard footwell rot always is a player. Nothing I saw couldn't be repaired, but the repair peices can start adding up after a while. On my bulkhead, I started on a set of footwells, then started noticing other significant cancer and the repair pieces started to add up. I eventually dropped back 5 yeards, punted, and had Pangolin supply me with a repaired and galvanized IIA bulkhead. It was more expensive in the long run, but I have a better feeling about the soundness of the bulkhead.
Again, we're talking about a 40+ year old vehicle. Parts wear out and should be replaced, and farm trucks don't always get that sort of care. Like any vehicle without any real value other than transportation or utility, they reach a certain service life, and then they're slowly allowed to decay. With the drought of parts once Land Rover left the US in the 70s, it was difficult to maintain these rigs even as well as their US counterparts, allowing more of them to fall into disrepair. The longer you let something rust, the worse it gets ("rust never sleeps").
All that said, I would consider a IIA to have more value than a III, and be more worth saving. I was just pointing out that the price is much higher than it initially appears when undertaking such a project, and that some of those $10-20K rigs are very reasonable when you consider the money that went into them during a rebuild. If I had the loose pocket change, I'd buy Mercedesrover's 109 in a heartbeat, because I know it's worth it.
) If not well tehn I hope you find the truck you're looking for sooner then later aye. I find it funny, for me, when I'm looking to buy X, I'll have seen all sorts of X all over the place for great prices and thought OK, I'm gonna buy that now... SO when the time comes adn I'm standing there cash in hand now suddenly there is none of X to be found and what few there might be, are exorbantly priced. Almost makes you paraniod thinking that someone's been watching you waiting to corner the market and make a killing off you HAAHAHAHAHA ... Now where did I put my foil hat???
