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Thread: What would you pay for a 75 LWB Series 3?

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    What would you pay for a 75 LWB Series 3?

    Greetings All. I am looking at a 75 LWB Series 3 hardtop with 2.6L petrol motor. It is registered and drives well. Kms unknown. It has 66k on clock, but I suspect has been round the clock at least once. Interior is a mess. Seats torn etc and dashboard the usual powdery mess. Some rust around lower door frames, which is fixable and around external area near windscreen where the higher mirrors have been mounted. Upper door frames/ Windows rusted out. Car comes with replacement upper door frames and glass. Otherwise car seems good but of course needing a lot of tidying up. Seems mechanically sound and is 1 owner.This is a drive away car. Asking price is $4000. Is this a reasonable asking price?

    Cheers

    Bolton

    BB

  2. #2
    JDNSW's Avatar
    JDNSW is offline RoverLord Silver Subscriber
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    Very difficult to tell from the description. If there is no chassis rust, and the engine seems to be in reasonable condition, it is probably in the right ball park.

    Registered and roadworthy, it should be in range of $8-10,000. Start with that and try to estimate what you need to spend to get to that position - think about things like "are the tyres roadworthy?" Five tyres is probably well over $1,000 for example. How bad is the wiring? All the lights work? Wipers? Steering, tie rod ends, swivels etc OK? Brakes OK? Need a new battery? Oil leaks?

    If a lot of these things need money spent on them, even if you do the work, it adds up pretty rapidly, and you need to take these into consideration in deciding on a realistic price.

    Hope this helps.
    John

    JDNSW
    1986 110 County 3.9 diesel
    1970 2a 109 2.25 petrol

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    Following on from John's comments ....

    A LWB hardtop is less desirable than either a SWB or a LWB Station Wagon.
    The 2.6 motor is less desirable (due to fuel consumption and availability of parts) than a 2.25 4-cyl. Although....some people are now keen on keeping the 2.6's and it's less common to find one still fitted to a civilian vehicle.

    Has it been standing for a long period, if so was that outside or under cover ?

    It's easy to get caught out. I've had good looking vehicles with rusted diffs, pitted front axle swivels etc. which has meant finding a secondhand axles. I've had parts vehicles where everything is great condition and I wonder if I should be parting it out !
    Test drove a Series IIa Dormobile, the week after getting it home the brake master cylinder failed ( I was going to overhaul/replace it anyway).

    I'm getting out of touch with prices and they all seem too expensive but looking at some of the prices people are asking for running vehicles in good condition maybe the prices for a 'renovators delight' are justified

    Bear in mind that you'll possibly spend far more on it than it's worth to get it back on the road.


    Colin
    '56 Series 1 with homemade welder
    '65 Series IIa Dormobile
    '70 SIIa GS
    '76 SIII 88" (Isuzu C240)
    '81 SIII FFR
    '95 Defender Tanami
    '58 Series II (sold)
    Motorcycles :-
    Vincent Rapide, Panther M100, Norton BIG4, Electra & Navigator, Matchless G80C

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    JDNSW's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by gromit View Post
    ..........

    Bear in mind that you'll possibly spend far more on it than it's worth to get it back on the road.


    Colin
    Bear in mind that you'll certainly spend far more on it than it's worth to get it back on the road.

    Fixed it for you. But I should point out that this is not just Landrovers - it applies to the restoration of any car. Or even, for that matter, just keeping your present car going.

    But to put it in perspective - you buy a new car, and as soon as you drive it out of the showroom you have lost a substantial part of your "investment", so why expect a used car to be any better as an investment?

    Actually, I tend to agree with Colin's comment about the six. For the reasons stated, plus the loss of footroom, they have become quite unpopular, which means that they are becoming quite rare. They are quite nice to drive, and I rather like the engine design (from an engineering perspective), same as I do the 2l engine.
    John

    JDNSW
    1986 110 County 3.9 diesel
    1970 2a 109 2.25 petrol

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by JDNSW View Post
    ..... so why expect a used car to be any better as an investment?
    I should tell you what I've spent on my Series I and then what I was offered for it last year !
    Eventually a lot of older vehicle prices do head skywards.
    I've learnt not to tell the wife what I've been offered ! She immediately wanted to turn the Series I into a new kitchen which doesn't have the same appeal to me......she was the same with the Vincent when an offer was made.

    As for the 6-cylinder. I have one in the FFR I'm working on but yet to use it on the road.
    Parts were very expensive if you can even find them. Someone approached me a while back looking for an exhaust manifold (they are prone to cracking), he was about to pay $300 for a secondhand one !!!
    I have a NOS one still in a LR box and I fitted a brand new one to the FFR because the original had cracked. At the time Four Wheel Drives had heaps of new ones from the Army auctions.
    Piston rings were quoted by a UK company at more than new pistons & a rebore would cost locally but at the time I couldn't find +.020" rings anywhere.
    I've managed to source NOS water pumps recently but otherwise you need to repair your old one because they are very hard to find. Companies that do this charge about $250.

    I potentially have access to a Rover 3 litre motor but I haven't worked out whether the crankshaft is the same on an auto (most Rovers were autos) and manual. There is also the problem of moving things underbonnet because of the Weslake head. It might be worth getting just for spares anyway.

    Series III's are going up in price while Series I prices are crazy and Series II's are rapidly heading that way. Problem is that piles of 'bits' are being advertised for high prices.




    Colin
    '56 Series 1 with homemade welder
    '65 Series IIa Dormobile
    '70 SIIa GS
    '76 SIII 88" (Isuzu C240)
    '81 SIII FFR
    '95 Defender Tanami
    '58 Series II (sold)
    Motorcycles :-
    Vincent Rapide, Panther M100, Norton BIG4, Electra & Navigator, Matchless G80C

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