Defender 110 1985

[D1rtysurf]

Hi all,

I am currently looking at purchasing http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... =472299424

Is there any more economical engine that would bolt straight in with a 5 speed mated to it? What are these 3.5 rovers like on fuel? Do you think the 4 speed will hold up? and is there anything I should look for if I look at this truck? What are the heaters like and is there a way of transplanting air conditioning out of another vehicle into it? Always loved the look of the landys and see a lot of potential in this one.

Cheers

[Smurf]

You buy an 8 to have an 8. Not to pull it out and replace it with something smaller/cheaper.

[mercutio]

You buy an 8 to have an 8. Not to pull it out and replace it with something smaller/cheaper.

agree totally

[D1rtysurf]

Yea thats true and I love the idea of an 8

Been having a look round and I see that they are more economical than a range rover or discovery so my mind is made up on the engine at least

[DieselBoy]

Yeah, but its a little baby 8 remember.

Only 3.5L, carburetted, and designed as a slugging work horse.

I was getting 14L per 100K on my 3.5V8 EFI Classic Rangy with out even trying to conserve fuel.

I would describe the 3.5 Rover V8 as being slow, thirsty but solid and reliable.

Fit a HEI dizzy to it and it cures the water issues.

Watch for head gasket issues and cam lobe wear. Google these.

As for the gearbox bearings, I would say that if its noisey in every gear but 4th the gearbox bearings are shot. 4th is a direct 1:1 drive basically coupling the crankshaft straight to the drive shaft. That would indicate the bearings on the lay shaft are close to wrecked. I would be on the look out for 2nd hand box.

The body on this defender is odd. The Extra door on the passengers side looks retrofitted?? Weird.

The seats look good, but I wonder how you access the battery box under the passengers seat, and the tool box under the drivers seat?? Normally the seat bases unclip and allow access to the compartments, with those seats that wouldn't work I don't think.

For the price you could have a hell of a lot of fun with it, and http://www.landroverspares.co.nz can hook you up with the necessary new parts!!!!

[D1rtysurf]

Cheers DB, to be honest, your 110 was the inspiration behind this haha

Yeah I was wondering what is up with the door eh, didnt find any other 110s on the world wide interweb showing the extra door. Would you think that an EFI conversion could be a good idea or not really worth the effort?

I'm hoping to find a 'santana' gearbox (5 speed that bolt straight up, if anyone knows of one around... )

I reckon I could get 33s under it with the coil spring spacers and a decent snorkel with the HEI dizzy to be safe, a nice repaint with a bit of bar work and have quite a nice wagon.

Cheers for the replies, great to see

[DieselBoy]

Cool, I'm still really enjoying mine. Its bloody amazing were it goes for a standard rig

I would stay away from the EFI. The least amount of Lucas electrics you have, the more reliable she will be

255 85 16 are the tyres every one seems to run. The Defenders are pretty light weight so wide tyres don't tend to work.

255 85 16 are just a fraction bigger than 33". The standard tyres (750 16) are 32".

I wonder if that has a Salisbury rear diff??

[Ralfie]

Hi all,

I am currently looking at purchasing http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... =472299424

Is there any more economical engine that would bolt straight in with a 5 speed mated to it? What are these 3.5 rovers like on fuel? Do you think the 4 speed will hold up? and is there anything I should look for if I look at this truck? What are the heaters like and is there a way of transplanting air conditioning out of another vehicle into it? Always loved the look of the landys and see a lot of potential in this one.

Cheers

Unusual door confiquration with the third rear door. Definitely not original and glass is 'fixed' so no window to wind down. Don't know why some one would want the extra door but certainly went to a lot of work to fit.

As for economy they are a brick and OK fuel wise for a V8 but will drink the fuel if pushed. They later 3.9 engines are a good swap and perform so much better. Even the EFI injected 3.9's would go will in it. If worried about the ECU and possible problems then fit Link computer or similar or stick to the twin carbs set up. But to fit a different engine for economy means dollars for a conversion. Can fit a 300tdi diesel from a Discovery with 5 speed if you want or even a jap diesel conversion. The Aussies fitted isuzu engines.

The 4 speed (LT95) is a strong gearbox but tends to get noisy in the bearings. Bit truck like in changing gears. If you wanted a 5-speed then look around for the LT85 (Santana) gearbox or a later R380. Both use the LT230 transfer case.

The rear diff will be the salisbury and it will have drum brakes on the rear.

As for fitting air conditioning; a bit job and not much room to fit it. Even newer land rovers with A/C loose leg room with an extra dash part for the A/C.
The heats can be a bit poor on the early ones. The heater can get dirt and shit in through the top guard vents and if gets blocks up they pack up. Scoops on the wing tops help to some degree and also allow betetr air flow through the heater when driving.

2" spring and shock lift will allow 33" tyres without rubbing although you may want better off set rims or wheel spacers otherwise turning circle if affected too much. As already suggested 255 85 16's are a good option although you can go wider if you want.

Before buying vehicle check it out for rust in the front bulkhead corners just before the screen and the front door pillars top and bottom. Also the doors tend to rust badly and expensive to replace. The front foot wells inside also tend to rust.
Check rear chassis cross member for rust as well.
Body is ali and gets dented and marked very easily so don't excpect it to be perfect.

Just remember its a 27 year old vehicle and asking price reflects that but with time and a few dollars could be a very good vehicle.

[L-andy]

Great vehicles, but then I'm biased. Ive had one for the last 10 years depite not even liking them when I bought it. Remarkably capable in stock form. Drove mine pretty much stock except 33"s and a 2 inch lift for about 6 years and it did everyting I wanted with plenty of room for the family (mine is 5 door wagon).

Wouldnt use it as a daily driver though. Mine has 5 speed Santana box and fuel is fine for a second vehicle/toy but would not use it for a work/commuter vehicle.

About 4 years ago I pulled it all apart and got rid of all the rust, put new brakelines in and fixed oil leaks. Blasted and POR15'd the chassis. Didnt rebuild the motor or panelbeat it though. Still looks the same battered landy on the outside.

As said above, rust in the firewall is common. Around the footwells and by top front door hinges. Also steel door frames rust behind the alu skins. Rear crossmembers are also prone.

Mine is 1989 and has SU carbs not strombergs as on the one you are looking at. SU's would be my preferance. No diaphrams to perish and good on angles. Easy to set up once you understand them (despite some people telling me they were the devils work!). Late 80s also saw electronic ignition as standard along with SU carbs, also a bonus. Engines will stand far more advance than the 6deg that the manual says. Gives quite a boost in performance for nothing.

Drive train "clunks" are common. Biggest culprits are A frame balljoint on top of rear axle and/or splines between gearbox and transfer box getting flogged out. Center diff can also have freeplay. Add all these together and you can have quite a lot of play and clonking when you go from 1st to reverse.

A frame joint is easy and inexpensive to fix. Center diff is very cheap to re-shim with genuine shims but fiddly and time consuming. It would be expensive to have it done by a mechanic. Spline wear effects the inner splines of the transfer case input gear which is fairly cheap and easy to replace without even removing the box. It comes out through the PTO inspection cover. The later input gears are "cross drilled" with an oil way to prevent the problem re-occuring. The same wear also effects the gearbox mainshaft!! Not cheap or easy but if you are going 5 speed anyway.....

Mine has been totally reliable. Despite being originally pulled out of a scrapyard in a sorry state. It has been drowned and generally abused it has always got me home. I have had 285/85/16's (34 x 10.5) on it for the last 4 years and the tall, narrow tyre certainly works better. As the trips I did got harder, I did the same swap as DB and but a Range Rover back axle in place of the Salisbury. It has a KAM locker in it to get rid of the weedy bits. This has been a fantastic mod, gained 35mm of clearance under the diff, got rear disk brakes and a locker all in one mod )

Early 110 front ends have the strongest CVs the factory fitted. They got steadily smaller and weaker as the years went by. I have broken 1 front halfshaft in 10 years but never a CV or diff (would probably be a different story with a front locker though). The salisbury rear is very strong but hangs low and is very heavy.

Have a look at the inside of the oil filler cap. Its the quickest and easiest way to asses the health of a Rover V8. Dry and chocolate brown = sweet well looked after with regular oil changes. Black & wet = engine is tired, the head gaskets have started to leak combustion fumes into the crancase valley. Cam lobes will probably be worn and performance will be down.

Cheers

Andy

[D1rtysurf]

Shit thanks heaps guys, awesome information there.

Going to go look at it on sunday and hoping she's in a reasonable state. I asked if it had a backseat and apparently it does and its all legal with belts and has been put into storage, so that's also a bonus.

Thanks for all the input, yes it does have the salisbury rear diff and hopefully the engine is in reasonable order. It will be my daily driver and will be doing around 4-500km a week so hoping that there won't be too many issues with it. I will stay away from the EFI as advised (Cheers DB ). Will let you all know how I go.

Cheers again,
Mike

[bryan.daley]

Hi all,

I am currently looking at purchasing http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... =472299424

Is there any more economical engine that would bolt straight in with a 5 speed mated to it? What are these 3.5 rovers like on fuel? Do you think the 4 speed will hold up? and is there anything I should look for if I look at this truck? What are the heaters like and is there a way of transplanting air conditioning out of another vehicle into it? Always loved the look of the landys and see a lot of potential in this one.

Cheers

Rovers. 6 rules
1. Leave it as and maintain.
2. if 1 is not followed, pre write cheques now, over draft,2nd income
3. economical = modern not antique,diesel fast spinney thing (turbo)
4. older rovers, really good off road but weak (snap break $$$)
5. older rover modify = see 2.
6. wash and keep clean, tighten bolts and oil - bliss

Rovers are cool

[D1rtysurf]

Right well...

Looked at it today, It's an ex-forrestry vehicle, assembled in Nelson (hence the extra door). It was reasonably tidy, small amount of rust in the footwell both sides of the gearbox tunnel. Gearbox bearings were much worse than expected as in you couldnt talk to the passenger unless you were in 4th, pinion seal on rear diff was leaking, carbs needed a retune.

Have left it for now but may go back to it, depends how much I can get for my rover and when it sells, hoping to sell the rover within the next week (sneaky link drop http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... =463163211) over 30 watchers but no decent offers.

What do you guys think of a v8 3.9 manual disco? I've got one in my eye for a steal with a lot of the hard work already done. pros and cons? anything to look out for?

Cheers heaps guys ( and girls )
Mike