The Defender thread

caprilicious

You can't doe it without the log book Sean (unless it varies County to county, that's what my local one told me).
It's a while since I did it, from what I remember the previous owner has to order one from his local motor tax office (assuming it's registered in his name), send in the fee (used to be €12) & then register it into your name.

Here's the full info from citizensinformation.ie:

Replacing lost/misplaced documents
It is possible to obtain replacement documents associated with changes to vehicle ownership. List of documents and the cost of their replacement is as follows;

Document Replacement cost
Registration book/certificate €12
Vehicle licensing certificate €12
Tax disc €6
To obtain replacement documents, download and complete form RF134 (pdf) and have this form witnessed by a member of the Garda Siochana at a Garda station. Forward your completed form with the appropriate fee to your Motor Tax Office.

(http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/travel_and_recreation/motoring_1/buying_or_selling_a_vehicle/change_of_ownership.html?searchterm=change%20of%20ownership)

The other way is as follows (this is copied from a mail the motor registration dept sent me):

If you cannot contact the seller you can be registered as the owner of the vehicle by completing the attached Declaration before a Peace Commissioner, Commissioner for Oaths or a Solicitor and have the form stamped and signed @ any garage to verify the chassis no. . This form should also be returned to this office i.e. Driver & Vehicle Computer Services Division, Department of Transport, Shannon, Co. Clare for updating. This process takes 14 working days approx

Hope that's of some help

SafeSurfer

Just wondering what is the oldest LR 90 and 110 you have seen on the road recently. I love the classic look of unmolested, unmodified early nineties in Trident green but especially Arles blue, something iconic about them in their original condition. The earliest example I have seen on the road recently was a 1989 ninety. I suspect most of the early models are lying up in farm yards around the country, rusting away. There are plenty of 200tdi s around but road going 2.5s and 2.5 turbos seem very rare.

Any early examples spotted recently?

caprilicious

Not a 90/110 but I seen a hum dinger of a series II, 1962 reg in Kilkenny. Looked to be in great nic & towing a trailer so not just a show car either

There's a nice black '88 reg 90 I've seen about a bit too. I thought it was a '98 in good condition so did a double take when I got up closer & seen it was 10 years older.

Tokyo

101sean wrote: »

I was only kidding Mike and it's not my thread!


Good to have someone else along who knows their stuff, expect to get pm'd as well if you look like you know what you are talking about.

No worries at all mate, happy to chip in a comment or two now and then. I'm good at *looking like* I know what I'm talking about, whether it's true or not remains to be seen.

I'm actually in the process of getting my own Defender back home to prepare it for a drive from Ireland to South America for charity. So, money and the help and charity of others permitting, I'll be giving it a full stripdown and rebuild as part of the prep - I also want to do some rust repair to the bulkhead and, if I Can afford it, galvanise the chassis and bulkhead. Should all of this come about, I'd be happy to document it for those interested, could be a good learning experience for all of us.

Icyseanfitz

came the whole way from dub to kerry with zero problems and started no bother this morning delighted, now just to sort out the tax situation, it was an ambulance before which was why the guy i bought it from never had a logbook but said he would sign any forms etc. when i go about getting one, he had it taxed in 2010 without the logbook though

101sean

That looks really nice, hope you get the tax sorted.

Earliest 110 I owned was a factory registered 1984 military demonstrator with a 2.5NA diesel, I'll be post a pic when I'm home. There's a few lads with earlyish ones but they are thin on the ground though.

Tokyo

It's not gonna stay that white for long, mate And start saving for the 2" lift kit, roof rack, rear tyre carrier, rock sliders, bunny burners, etc that you're going to be wanting pretty soon!

Bonnet looks like it has the decals from a Puma Defender....

Icyseanfitz

must say the drive down was something else, a little bit of wtf mixed with a whole lot of smiling some view from the drivers seat as well, just the tax holding me back,

i know he added a fair few bits to it (clutch, fuel tank, TD5 lights, driver door and a nice bit more) but i dont think he did anything to the bonnet, as for things to do to it....ive a list a mile long :pac:

SafeSurfer

mike_ie wrote: »

It's not gonna stay that white for long, mate And start saving for the 2" lift kit, roof rack, rear tyre carrier, rock sliders, bunny burners, etc that you're going to be wanting pretty soon!

Bonnet looks like it has the decals from a Puma Defender....

Yeah the Land Rover bonnet decal was such a common mod that it became factory standard with the puma models from 2007. You can source all sorts off decals for them, ones I've seen are "Offender" in place of the Defender badge and "Randy Lover" in place of Land Rover, neither of which I would want to be driving round with above the grill

Tokyo

Icyseanfitz wrote: »

as for things to do to it....ive a list a mile long :pac:

If you're looking to keep it in decent condition for years to come, do yourself a favour and chuck a rear tyre carrier on it. The factory mount on the door cracks the entire frame of the door over time and also puts a lot of stress on the hinges.

Icyseanfitz

the guy i bought it off did a reinforcing job on the rear door, but i will definitely look into getting a proper carrier

SafeSurfer

I quite like the landyglass panels. They would be useful on a 110 hardtop which can be a pain to reverse a trailer with sometimes, especially when your snorkel keeps "adjusting" your mirror, every time you open the drivers door wide. The landyglass panels are expensive but are a nice bit of engineering.








The type of landy I really like is something like this one below.

101sean

door cracks the entire frame of the door

Yep mine was split from top to bottom from the weight of the spare and the wiper motor full of water and it was only 6 years old at the time :rolleyes:

I'm back from wandering around Antrim so here's a pic of the early 110 I owned for a while.

Icyseanfitz

took it for a short spin again today and even with the bloody annoying bushings that are causing it to fishtail (damn dangerous tbh) it had a great big smile on my face, and is just me or is everyone else on the road much nicer to you in a land rover :pac:

caprilicious

Icyseanfitz wrote: »

took it for a short spin again today and even with the bloody annoying bushings that are causing it to fishtail (damn dangerous tbh) it had a great big smile on my face, and is just me or is everyone else on the road much nicer to you in a land rover :pac:

Did you get the "Landy wave" that fellow Landrover owners give each other? :pac:

101sean

Yea, a self steering rear end isn't funny, only recently fixed mine after chasing the problem for ages, the axle mounts on mine had worn oval! :eek:

General opinion with bushes is to stick with OEM metalastic bushes or use Super-Pro ones, cheap poly bushes don't last.

Icyseanfitz

can i ask what the best bushings are and where to get them, most people ive talked to told me to get poly bushings but id take yer advice on them, yeah a wobbly rear is a little scary :pac:

SafeSurfer

caprilicious wrote: »

Did you get the "Landy wave" that fellow Landrover owners give each other? :pac:

And get really annoyed if they don't wave back! It reminds me of an episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm".



Larry: I waved to a guy in a Prius and he didn't wave back.
Jeff: I don't wave to people in the same car as me.
Larry: We're Prius drivers; we're a special breed.

One thing about defenders, or series, they are distinctive you can recognise that unmistakable shape half a mile away!

Icyseanfitz

caprilicious wrote: »

Did you get the "Landy wave" that fellow Landrover owners give each other? :pac:

i was getting people pulling over to the side on the small country roads near my house the whole time :pac: could have been something to do with size and wobbliness of my land rover haha

the other car id be driving is a fiesta and people would drive straight into you in it before pulling in to let you past

101sean

I'd just fit standard metalastic bushes unless you want to do a lot of of roading and want the extra flex. There's plenty of how to articles out there and a press isn't needed but does make life easier.

Cheap poly bushes don't last but are easy to change which is why some like them. Super Pro poly bushes do last but are around 5 times the price of the cheap ones.

Icyseanfitz

i can get a Bearmach polybush kit for 120 euro delivered, are they any good? and for arguments sake, lets say the bushings arnt causing the wobbling, what are the main things that it could be? the guy i bought it off was 99% that the bushings where the cause mind

Tokyo

Worn bushings could easily cause wobbling - they keep everything tight in the panhard rod, radius arms, etc, so yeah, when they're worn they can cause lateral or longitudinal movement of the wheels with respect to the body.

Most people recommend to run standard rubber bushes on everything, as poly bushes, depending on which you choose, can be very detrimental to the ride. Polybushes come in different stiffnesses and you can adjust the ride depending on the colour you fit... Which in turn will be based on the loading of your truck. So you really need to be careful which you choose. The wrong selection with give you a hard, bumpy ride.

The thing you have to watch out for is that bushes are actually in the system to add some flexibility and to eventually fail... If you replace the OE bushes with something stiffer, you run the risk of breaking the components the bushes were originally designed to protect. Replacing a worn bush is cheaper and easier than replacing a knackered pair of radius arms, Panhard rod, etc.

Tokyo

SafeSurfer wrote: »

I quite like the landyglass panels. They would be useful on a 110 hardtop which can be a pain to reverse a trailer with sometimes, especially when your snorkel keeps "adjusting" your mirror, every time you open the drivers door wide. The landyglass panels are expensive but are a nice bit of engineering.

I don't like the landyglass panels, I have to say. They always make me think of the time that people thought that wraparound sunglasses looked great, and now they look like ****? It's kinda doing the same thing to your truck. I'd also question their claim that the glass panels are stronger then the original, especially with a roofrack fitted.

Want windows in the back of your 110 van? Grab a set of rear windows from a 4 door 110. Cut holes in your van panels and they rivet right in.... Looks far cleaner than the landyglass panels IMHO.....

101sean

Bearmach are probably better than Britpart and if you want to use polybushes you'd best change all of them.

Most likely cause of the rear wandering is the bushes in the rear trailing arms. The upper mounting bushes in the A frame can cause it but don't wear as much.

Worn Panhard rod bushes in the front will give vague steering as well.

If you are taking all the suspension apart you may as well do the A frame ball joint while you are at it. That will need a press to get out of it's bracket, last one we did took 35t to shift!

Icyseanfitz

im going to get my mechanic to do the bushings to start with, dont have the know how yet, but i am going to learn how to work on these things, i love how simple the engines are as well, i can open the bonnet and actually see the different parts quite easily in comparison to a modern car

Tokyo

Icyseanfitz wrote: »

im going to get my mechanic to do the bushings to start with, dont have the know how yet, but i am going to learn how to work on these things, i love how simple the engines are as well, i can open the bonnet and actually see the different parts quite easily in comparison to a modern car

To be honest, if you want a simple job to start off with, changing the bushings on your Defender is as good a place to start as any. It's a set of spanners & big hammer kinda job, and I'm sure that plenty of people here, including myself, would be happy to talk you through it.

Icyseanfitz

guy i bought if from is telling me i will be the first registered owner of the vehicle when i go to get the logbook as before he had it (never got it registered) it was an ambulance, i wonder what the lovely tax office people will say to me :pac: i suppose i could always go down that second route of getting declared mine if i have to

Icyseanfitz

was talking to a lady in the motortax by email and apparently because it has never been taxed before i just fill out a RF100 form (first time taxing form) to be able to do the doe and then when i tax it for the fist time a vehicle registration cert will be issued seems pretty straight forward thank god

Icyseanfitz

hi lads where do i find the chassis number? i was told near the tax/insurance holder but i couldnt find squat

101sean

On one that old it will be on a plate on top of the brake pedal box under the bonnet, a visible tamper proof plate wasn't a requirement at the time. It should also be stamped on the front RH chassis rail just behind the lashing eye but may take some finding. The number will start SALLD

Do a google on RAVE manual and you can download an electronic workshop manual that will show the location.