Thread: So what do you think??

Originally Posted by garrycol

Are 80s really so rare that you had to move on this one? They do seem to be coming up on ebay almost as much as other series 1s. I do appreciate very early ones special but later ones less so.

Maybe not so rare over in your neck of the woods but I haven't seen any in WA for quite a while and I don't fancy buying one unseen from across the country and then paying around $1k to get it brought across - that would just make this one worth $3k if you all reckon it's worth $2k over East. Also, I haven't seen many 80" with hardtop truck cab, even looking through the "show us your S1" thread, searching several internet sites and looking through several books. Plenty of canvas tops and a fair few 88" with hardtop, but no 80" hardtops. Are they rare just because I can't find any? What other definition for rare is there?

I haven't actually "moved on this one" yet. If it was in better condition or cheaper I might have, but it's neither so I'm just doing due diligence homework at this point. I won't be panic buying it. I only stumbled across it looking for a Series 3 as a runabout so I can sell my Patrol ute with slide-on TrayMate camper.

It seems to me as if you taking the right approach Jay.

Make him a sensible offer and if he doesn't like it look for another one. You are correct that bugger-all seem to come up for sale in WA!

My brother managed to score one in similar condition to yours for $500 this year!

Cheers Charlie

Originally Posted by JayBoRover

For me the big crunch is still with those front fenders. It seems to me they are too bad to be repairable and a relatively costly item to replace. I've now added to my concern with those "straps" over the back of the fenders - wondering what possessed a previous owner from screwing those on. What was falling apart to require that and why?

Still thinking....

80 guards have a nasty habit of cracking around where the bolts hold them on to the bulkhead. Its not unusual for a vehicle to be "fixed" on the farm by having extra steel reinforcement added to them with the hopes of keeping them on for a bit longer. Often the fronts are bracketed to the chassis or bumper for the same reason. If the guards are only cracked and not torn through you can often have them welded back together, provided corrosion hasnt set in. Otherwise its fairly easy to make a much less noticeable repair on the underside of the guard.

Common problem with the later 80" guards..

I spoke to the owner last night, principally to let him know I was still considering it and researching some more. Although we didn't yet talk the about the price, he did tell me that if I buy the S1 I can pillage as many parts as might be useful from the other dead S2s lying around. So I now need to figure what parts might be useful, without knowing much about the other vehicles. I know that one is a SWB hardtop and that both have severely rusty chassis. I think I'm going to have to go back to check them out, in case there's something worthwhile hiding there. This time I'd get him to pull the S1 out so I can get a better look at it and then also I can check the chassis number to confirm it's age.
So are little things like indicator lights, speedo, seats etc likely to be interchangeable between the S1 and S2? Also maybe the front cross member and front of the chassis rails, if only the back is rotten? Seems to me unlikely and I would prefer to try and get the S1 back to original without incorrect series parts on it but I'm thinking maybe I can take both off his hands if he's unwilling to drop the price on the S1 alone.

Very little is interchangeable especially if you want to restore the S1; however; later parts can be made to fit.

Early S2's had some common parts, later 2A's less so. The speedo is totally different, as are all parking lights and the 80" left the factory without indicators. Axles, brakes, instruments, steering box and body panels all differ as do the chassis and bulkhead. I think I am correct in saying that the seats are different as well.

I wouldn't bank on the S2's as being useful bargaining tools

The chassis repairs are easy to do yourself if you can weld - PM me if you would like me to email you some articles I wrote on how I did mine,

Cheers Charlie

What chazza said - very little interchangeable if restoring it - it's not a bargaining point.

That's pretty much what I figured. I don't think the wife would accept two old Landy's lying around here either. It's a tough enough sell to be considering one. Still, I suspect she thinks a new hobby might ween me off racing cross country rally's.