Advice wanted on 90's / County's :)

[Skinnyman]

Hey AULRO Legends!

I'm wanting to buy a Def 90. I have found an '88 model with 280'000ks.

Would love to hear all your feedback and experience. I have heard they may be thirsty in the fuel? But any advice would be soooo much appreciate!

Thanks all,
Can't wait to join the club, truely

[debruiser]

I've got a 2013 Defender 90 - I get 10.5L/100km. gets a bit worse if you tow heavy stuff. Lots of fun though, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Have a couple of mates with Land cruisers and the such... they can only dream of getting those mileage figures....

[gusthedog]

An 88 would most likely be petrol. The V8's do get a bit thirsty

[Loubrey]

Hey AULRO Legends!

I'm wanting to buy a Def 90. I have found an '88 model with 280'000ks.

Would love to hear all your feedback and experience. I have heard they may be thirsty in the fuel? But any advice would be soooo much appreciate!

Thanks all,
Can't wait to join the club, truely

Hi Mate,

An '88 would actually not be a Defender either but something called a Land Rover 90. The Defender name only came into play in 1990.

The factory engine options on those were 2.5 NAS Diesel (normally aspirated) and 2.5 Turbo Diesel if they were British or Colonial. These were slow and steady and with those K's most probably one of those, even if it hasn't got the same engine any more. European exports saw a 2.5 petrol and a 3.5 V8 although those are very limited and very thirsty.

Tough as nails and you'll love it from day 1, but at that age I would have someone who knows them have a good look at her. Would be a great project, but as a daily drive from day one she might cost you a bit to set right. If you good mechanically minded absolutely go for it.

Good luck on your search, but my honest advice would be to try and possibly find a post 1990 one and the "Defender" changes made them a lot friendlier to own.

Cheers,

Lou

[Skinnyman]

Hi Mate,

An '88 would actually not be a Defender either but something called a Land Rover 90. The Defender name only came into play in 1990.

The factory engine options on those were 2.5 NAS Diesel (normally aspirated) and 2.5 Turbo Diesel if they were British or Colonial. These were slow and steady and with those K's most probably one of those, even if it hasn't got the same engine any more. European exports saw a 2.5 petrol and a 3.5 V8 although those are very limited and very thirsty.

Tough as nails and you'll love it from day 1, but at that age I would have someone who knows them have a good look at her. Would be a great project, but as a daily drive from day one she might cost you a bit to set right. If you good mechanically minded absolutely go for it.

Good luck on your search, but my honest advice would be to try and possibly find a post 1990 one and the "Defender" changes made them a lot friendlier to own.

Cheers,

Lou

Cheers for that !

It has a 2.5L Turbo Diesel. And is registered till Aug, 2015.

Here is a link to it on ebay if you were keen to see?
1988 Land Rover 90 County in Montrose, VIC | eBay (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/121480923899)

Thanks again
And much appreciated
:)
Andy

[JDNSW]

The 90 was not sold in Australia at that time, so it is presumably a personal import. If it has the original 2.5 turbo diesel, this was one of the first small turbodiesels built by any manufacturer, and is a development of the first Landrover diesel introduced in 1956.

They are generally considered less than the best Landrover engine design, and by now most of them will have been replaced by a different engine. It would probably be a good idea to find out from the seller which engine is installed - if it is the later 200Tdi engine, this is probably easier to find parts for, as the original turbodiesel was never sold in Australia. But it could be one of several other engines if it was changed in the UK (or elsewhere).

The 90 itself, apart from the engine, will have a few parts that are difficult to find in Australia, but should be readily available ex-UK. I would try and find someone locally who can have a good look at it, perhaps one of the Landrover specialists such as Fred Smith Automotive or someone from here.

Because there are virtually no 90s of that vintage in Australia, it is impossible to put a sensible price on it - on the one hand there is the rarity, on the other there is the orphan status, although as I said above, you should be able to get most parts pretty easily.

John

[Skinnyman]

Cheers John!

I was told this AULRO site would be great for info! Not wrong :)

Thanks again

[Dopey]

Hmmm,
I just read this thread,
I punched in the rego number from the photos on eBay (which is different to the rego number written on eBay.....) into the vic roads rego check website,

https://vre.vicroads.vic.gov.au/MobileVRE/SearchResult.mvc?_vehicleType=S&_vehicleNumber=1cs4pr&_searchBy=registration

And it comes up with a VIN.....


Which I punched into CALVIN......

Clifton Scientific Text Services, the Netherlands (http://www.clifton.nl/index.html?calvin.html)

And CALVIN tells me that it doesn't recognise the number as a serial number, chassis number or a VIN code for a Land Rover...

CALVIN is not often wrong for researching about land rovers.

This vehicle is obviously a bit of a rebuild made from various different parts from different model years, however I would definitely be doing some very careful checking about the legality of this vehicle...

Mike.

Edit: this vehicle was for sale on eBay just over a month ago, for $12,000.00.

I saved some pics of it, just looking through the pics now, it has on the bulkhead a blue plate (presumably for the engine/gearbox transplant, and also appears to have received a replacement rear chassis crossmember at some time (which is quite common for UK land rovers to have done).

I was slightly interested in it, but not at that price and not with possible questions over its legality.


Mike.

[Skinnyman]

Hmmm,
I just read this thread,
I punched in the rego number from the photos on eBay (which is different to the rego number written on eBay.....) into the vic roads rego check website,

https://vre.vicroads.vic.gov.au/MobileVRE/SearchResult.mvc?_vehicleType=S&_vehicleNumber=1cs4pr&_searchBy=registration

And it comes up with a VIN.....


Which I punched into CALVIN......

Clifton Scientific Text Services, the Netherlands (http://www.clifton.nl/index.html?calvin.html)

And CALVIN tells me that it doesn't recognise the number as a serial number, chassis number or a VIN code for a Land Rover...

CALVIN is not often wrong for researching about land rovers.

This vehicle is obviously a bit of a rebuild made from various different parts from different model years, however I would definitely be doing some very careful checking about the legality of this vehicle...

Mike.

Edit: this vehicle was for sale on eBay just over a month ago, for $12,000.00.

I saved some pics of it, just looking through the pics now, it has on the bulkhead a blue plate (presumably for the engine/gearbox transplant, and also appears to have received a replacement rear chassis crossmember at some time (which is quite common for UK land rovers to have done).

I was slightly interested in it, but not at that price and not with possible questions over its legality.


Mike.


Bloody interesting find Mike! I did notice the interior is that Alres Blue colour, indicating that as an original colour. Hmmmmm what to think?

I'll have to suss this out when I take a look.

Thanks again, I very gratefully appreciate it :) :)
Andy

[manic]

I own a 1989 lr90, and you can call it a d90 if you like :p.

I bought it with the 2.5 TD, but soon swamped in a tdi for more go. The conversion is pretty straight forward and no issues with registration seeing as it is still a 2.5 land rover donk. Recommended

parts are not a problem, most owners out here seem to order in from uk anyway. The defender 90 from 1984 to present shares mostly compatible bodywork interior and accessories. A lot of the running gear can be swapped about pretty easily and the popular 300tdi and r380 found in defender/disco/rrc make for abundant spare options.

Unless you are handy with a welder or looking for a rebuild project you should be concerned about rust in chassis and bulkhead, I replaced both with galvanised as mine had picked up quite a few rusty spots. The doors and cappings also. steel frame doors rot out the aluminium skins and the seat box ends corrode, again a dissimilar metal issue. But anyway all these bits bolt off and on from 1984 to present.

The early 90s certainly make for excellent rebuild projects, I chose to build up one of these to my ultimate spec, picking and choosing the best bits made available over the years and resolving the corrosion issues that continue even in the latest pumas. I chose to do this over a new defender, possibly spent just as much but it's right and I don't have to watch it depreciate and rust!

[manic]

I own a 1989 lr90, and you can call it a d90 if you like :p.

I bought it with the 2.5 TD, but soon swamped in a tdi for more go. The conversion is pretty straight forward and no issues with registration seeing as it is still a 2.5 land rover donk. Recommended

parts are not a problem, most owners out here seem to order in from uk anyway. The defender 90 from 1984 to present shares mostly compatible bodywork interior and accessories. A lot of the running gear can be swapped about pretty easily and the popular 300tdi and r380 found in defender/disco/rrc make for abundant spare options.

Unless you are handy with a welder or looking for a rebuild project you should be concerned about rust in chassis and bulkhead, I replaced both with galvanised as mine had picked up quite a few rusty spots. The doors and cappings also. steel frame doors rot out the aluminium skins and the seat box ends corrode, again a dissimilar metal issue. But anyway all these bits bolt off and on from 1984 to present.

The early 90s certainly make for excellent rebuild projects, I chose to build up one of these to my ultimate spec, picking and choosing the best bits made available over the years and resolving the prevailant corrosion issues that continue even in the latest pumas. I chose to do this over a new d90, possibly spent just as much but it's right and I don't have to watch it depreciate and rust!

[manic]

If you have a 90 that is 25 years or older, it could be worth more than a new disco 4!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jDa7WhwELc

[Dopey]

I just had a look at the VIN number again....
It does seem to check out ok, when deciphering it in the standard land rover way.
Not quite sure why Calvin is not recognising it?
Usually the Calvin thingy that I linked to earlier is pretty good.

Anyways, here's a link to deciphering what the land rover VINs mean.

Decoding your Land Rover VIN Number (http://www.expeditiongear.co.za/cu5/Decoding-your-Land-Rover-VIN-Number.aspx)

Anyways, here are a few pics of the 90 that I saved from the previous EBay add that are not there this time, first showing the rear cross member.....

Mike.

[Dopey]

Pic of engine bay.

[Dopey]

Other side of the engine bay.