A crossroads....

[John-2a]

Hi Guys and Girls, Ive kind of reached a crossroads in my Landy life, id be really interested in your thoughts.

Currently I own a tired 88RRC, 2'lift, twin batteries etc, failed its pink for a leaky real main seal, 2 front shocks and 2 worn seat belts.

Now the dilemma is I have 2k of car loving cash to spend, not much of a dilemma you scream! but i need to get a reliable working vehicle to travel from Sydney to Forster each weekend as i live up north and work in the smoke.

I was thinking of:
A. Engine rebuild (most of 2k), tidy the old girl up a bit and hope she lasts
B. Swap her for a series 2-3 with a lot less to go wrong spend the 2k on refurbishments, not sure on the comfort level for the 4 hour drive, but i also have a spare engine and gearbox in the shed, gasket sets, hoses boxes of parts from previous series i've owned.
C. Sell everything and get a cheap Disco 1 on gas for about 3k?, ive seen a 3.9 disco with rego on gas for 1k that has a blown head gasket/cracked bore and is pumping water out, are the re sleeves pricey and does anyone know of a reliable rover v8 engine shop between manly and taree that i could get quotes on, or does anyone have a 3.9 disco motor that they would part with for the right dollars?

Im happy to own any land rover, and i will always have one around, anyone have thoughts on best reliability/dollar etc?

Cheers, John

PS, if anyone needs small stuff transported between Sydney and Taree area i travel that way every other weekend and back, although at present i'm shoehorned into a Hyundai excel until i sort my land rover woes out!

[GuyG]

I'd say keep the vehicle you have, you only have a couple of things to fix and you know the vehicle. Does the engine need to be rebuilt or just the seal needs replacing? Buying another cheap one could end up being more expensive with repairs, normally they're cheap for a reason.

[John-2a]

Shes getting a little tired, 220ks struggles uphills, blows a bit of smoke/oil if pressed hard, id wouldn't trust her every other weekend back and forth and the extra petrol going up hills hits the wallet hard $110 petrol for SYD to TAREE, only $60 from TAREE to SYD downhill!

[MR LR]

I would say to sell it all and buy a 300tdi Discovery, super economical and they go alright, nice on the highway and its fitted out like a disco so will be a pleasure to drive, or save some more cash and buy a td5 but electrickery might not be your thing, but by the sounds of it diesel isn't either, please yourself

[Michael2]

220K is pretty low for the 3.5, I sold my RRC at 460K and went to diesel. So with some work it should be ok for awhile. Personally, I'd never go back to petrol, (worse still petrol / lpg). The 300Tdi Disco is essentially a plastic RRC with half the fuel use and no tailgate. I'd agree with MR LR jnr.

The Series is character building, but also labour intensive. There's not a lot to go wrong, but it does need ongoing care - it's just the nature of 1960's technology, be it cars or submarines. I enjoyed a Series for 20 years, but going into debt to buy a Defender was well worth it.