Thread: Land rover county.....thoughts

G'day Todd,

Is it a V8 or 3.9D?

LRH

Hey LRH, its a V8

Todd

Sounds about right - depends on condition / rego / where in Aus it is

But in Sydney there are a few V8's around for about $5,000 or so - again all depends on depends on condition / rego.

Whereas the County 3.9D can still pull in as much as $15,000

HTH

LRH

And to answer the question about spec level, they were called a 110 in the uk, and are basically an early defender, but without the defender name.

hey thanks guys, I thought as much...uummm the car is at gosford , nsw and is pretty neat...could be a good buy for me...thanks again
Todd

If you need someone to carry out a pre purchase check I know a man who can - for a small fee and he's not far from Gosford.

LRH

i think ron has one for sale as well.

The first 110's in Oz were called County's, from about 1983 until 1989ish, when they lightened the chassis, put the 200tdi in, new gearbox, etc and called it a Defender.
I'm on my second one. The gearbox is probably the 4spd LT95 if it's an '85 (same as mine). Strong, but sits on just over 3000 rpm when cruising at 110. They are a brick, so expect only 4.25 km/l on petrol whether you drive carefully or plant it. LPG conversion is almost compulsory.
Things to watch out for on a County at this age that can cost a bit
- Worn prop shaft splines (truck driveline repairers can fix this)
- half shafts and drive members, which can add up if all are worn.
- Worn CV splines due to water ingress and hence rust, and one shot grease preventing lubrication (this can also result in buggered wheel bearings. CV's are something stupid like $800 each here in Aus. They are currently 25 pounds from Paddock spares in UK, but I don't know what postage would cost.
- Steering box leak (common problem in every landy ever built isn't it?)
- Aircon - even in perfect working order, will never be great if original!
- Chassis rust...mainly found in rear cross member if it exists
- bottoms of all doors can rust out.

As it's a quick job to do, I check my CV splines/wheel bearings every 8 - 12 weeks, especially if doing river crossings, or driving through any water that is higher than the drive members.
County's have arguably one of the strongest drivetrains in any Landy, so as long as you maintain it, and check half shafts every now and then, breakages due to ofroad use are pretty rare.
The most common damage is bent steering track rods which are in a vulnerable position, and pretty thin. I bought a MONSTER of a track rod from Rovertech in Perth after bending three in 6 months, and have never had the problem again.
HTH

Cheers
André