ONE LIFE, LIVE IT!1! bought

[garethj]

I've been hankering for a Defender 110 for ages, probably since I sold my 109 V8 a few years ago.  The old one was good fun to drive but with no power steering and leaf spring suspension it wasn't a restful drive by any stretch.  I've had more relaxing drives pushing a car with a seized brake drum, under a constant stream of gunfire.  The luxury of coil springs and power steering was alluring, and 30mpg from a Tdi instead of 10mpg from the V8 seemed handy too.

 

So after lots of saving up, I thought I had enough for a 110.  Prices seem almost reasonable at this time of year; we haven't had OMG SNOW CHAOS yet.  But finding a Tdi (not the earlier turbo diesel) was still difficult and finding one which doesn't have a 4 inch lift and metal roofrack cuts down the choice a lot.

 

I took a flyer one evening and did a search on every category and found this one listed under spares, any car.  No bids.  I held my nerve until the last minute on Sunday evening and threw a bid on for the opening price of £2000.  Nobody else bid so I got it.

 

I'm not shy about my dislike for adding junk onto Land Rovers, and this one will need extensive de-twatting.  The roofrack will go, as will the bull bar and all the spot lights.  The stickers obviously have to go, and the big wheels too.  I think it's even got a lift kit, so I'll try and find some standard size springs.

 

A message to the seller about collecting it and we arranged for last night.  First part of the journey was walking past the Skoda, I spared no expense and caught the train!  Which was late.

 

Into Bedford station, change for Kettering.  I remembered the train commuter rule; you have to be pressing the button to open the doors at least 10 seconds before the train stops.  If you aren't holding the button down by the time the train's beeper goes you almost get blown over from all the tutting behind you.

 

The owner picked me up from the station and we drove back to his place.  The ONE LIFE, LIVE IT-mobile started up and sounded smooth, we exchanged cash for a V5 and I set off.  It was parked with the rear tight up against his house, and it turns out that reverse gear is very close to first gear.  It's quite easy to select reverse by accident and reduce the gap to his house from 3 inches to 0.0003 inches.

 

Into first, gently feel it want to go forwards, off with the handbrake and we're chugging away up the road.  Clutch down, into second and crunch, don't rush the gearchange.  A brief detour around the housing estate as my phone's satnav thinks I'm still at home.  I used my zen navigation skills to get onto the main road and found a petrol station.  I don't forget you boys, so took a photo.  And filled up, with £101 worth of diesel!

 

Onto the A6 and it seems to run quite well.  Nobody would say it's sprightly but it's quick enough for most traffic and when I got to some dual carriageway I put my foot down until we got 75 on the speedo with more to come.  Not bad.

 

It was about 35 miles home and there were a few issues.  The brake pedal seems to go a long way down and the battery overcharges for a couple of minutes every so often.  The voltmeter reads all the way to the right and the headlights get really bright.  Then it settles down again for 10 minutes.  Regulator I think, or possibly alternator?

 

I arrive home at about 9pm when it was very dark, but I got a photo this morning before driving it to work.

 

The colour is a really nice dark green, the doors are second hand off another car so while they're not too rusty they do need a lick of paint.  Once the de-twatting is done, I think it will be good.

 

Anyone want a Skoda Octavia Tdi with recent cambelt and water pump?

[mat_the_cat]

I'm not the only one who thinks they look better more or less standard then! The trouble with most off-road modifications is that they make it (even?) worse to drive on the road, which is where you spend most time. Still, you should get a good few quid back from selling the 'extras'.

[DVee8]

This place is what it use to be.One life turns up,skoda goes for sale..class

[Shep Shepherd]

@mat_the_cat I agree that they really do look better in standard trim

[Cavcraft]

I reckon you've done well there, I'd love one of those or a 'series' Land Rover.

 

Can I just humbly suggest you nail a hand grenade to it somewhere and never let it out of your sight? It seems to me almost every time you open the internet, someone's had one of these stolen.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

All those lift kits, big wheels, roofrack, stickers and other shit just shout 'HEY EVERYONE!!! I AM A GRADE A BELL END' when you see them on a Landy being driven on the road. When you see a standardish one in the town centre traffic though they look cool as fuck I think.

[DS20]

Great purchase - and great value, too, for a TDI - usually, a functioning one would go for more than £2k, from what I've seen.  

 

There's nothing like a coil-sprung Landy  

[purplebargeken]

My 110 Landie (pre-defender but same shape) was fabulous. I'd have it back in a heart beat.

 

I would be tempted to leave the extra lift and dump everything else. Just for the sheer hell of towering over most road going vehicles mind. I salute your choice of vehicular happiness. 

[purplebargeken]

Yes, make it very, very, very, very secure.

[forddeliveryboy]

...thought you were going to say you knocked a hole in his house wall on departure!

 

Yep, I'd leave the springs in too if it rides ok, spend the money saved on the tyres and welding. They look great when de-cluttered.

[Skizzer]

Nice one.  That looks like Epsom Green, which is the same colour I resprayed my old Ninety.  That didn't have too much nonsense hanging off it, apart from a snorkel and a homebrew rollcage - but then it used to do duty as a marshal truck / rescue wagon for off-roading events in its previous life so it had an excuse.

 

Good luck with the chassis

[garethj]

I'm looking forward to sticking the roof rack and bull bar back on ebay, probably £150 at least.  That should pay for some standard steel wheels and tyres.  I don't think I'll get much for the steel 8 spokes as the tyres don't have much extra tread.

 

With the doors all the same colour, the stickers gone, and the fucking limo tints gone from the rear windows it'll be ready for the County graphics down the side.  That's the long term plan.

[Taff]

can I applaud you on your de-twatting stance? I've been hyper critical of the "one life, live it" bunch, and to have you return that LR back to boggo is a GOOD THING. I'll happily volunteer my time to assist, if you are anywhere near Wiltshire

 

to be clear, I'm in no way anti "Land Rover". I am viciously anti "one life, live, stickerd bloke smokers with camo trousers and a turfer winch" 

[320touring]

nice Landy, and good luck with the anti-twatter, now down to real business- deets on the skudder?

[Asimo]

Don't just de-twat, lower it a bit from standard and fit some 70 series tyres. Slammed Rover!

[Fabergé Greggs]

Top purchase. Could you let me know some skoda details?

[scruff]

Top motor and +eleventyseven on the detwatting praise. 

 

Brake travel could well be the rear brakes (drums) needing adjusting. 

[Sigmund Fraud]

Wonderful, it reminds me that I really need to buy a series Landie before they become (even more) unaffordable...

 

De-OLLI-fication certainly is the way forward. Aren't you just a little bit tempted to order custom 'Buddhist Land Rover Club' stickers ?

[inconsistant]

You da olliyolomofo

[forddeliveryboy]

Don't just de-twat, lower it a bit from standard and fit some 70 series tyres. Slammed Rover!

 

 

[HillmanImp]

Has anyone said D701 SWL yet?

[hairnet]

people primed for accessories as they have similar.........

[Micrashed]

Well done. Im sort of meh about the twattishness if you intend to use it off road in any way shape or form, as I dont mind suitable mods that aid its use off the black stuff and into the green/brown.

 

One Wife... Leave It.

[drum]

Very good value for a station wagon. You'll get used to the gearbox.

How is the chassis?

Put me at the front of the queue please if you ever sell it.

[garethj]

people primed for accessories as they have similar.........

If it saves me sticking them on ebay, you've got first dibs!

 

Is there any difference between wheels & tyres off a 110 and those off a 90?  It will never go off road (on purpose) so the standard tyres will do me fine.

 

The Skoda has just passed 170,000 miles, has most of a service history and I changed the cambelt & waterpump at 160,000.  I bought it at 150,000 and it's had rear discs & pads, battery and 4 Firestone tyres recently but otherwise just a couple of oil & filter changes.  It's got working climate control, 4 electric windows and if you want dull but dependable motoring, it's just the thing.  The temperature gauge doesn't work and the digital trip computer display takes a few minutes to become visible.

 

MoT is up next week so I'll stick a new one on before it goes for sale.  I'm in Bedfordshire, not much idea on price, I'll have a look and see what they go for.

[dollywobbler]

That seems great value, but yes, anti-theft kit needed!

Gearbox may respond well to new fluid. ATF fluid being my preferred choice. Think it was Dexron II I used on the Disco, which improved things a bit. 2nd gear synchro is a bit flaky though.

I want another Land Rover.

[scruff]

Wheelz are the same, just make sure you get welded rims and not riveted Series jobs if you are going tubeless, but as above most 90s (orig spec ones on steels anyway) run diddy 205R16s. You want (taller) 750R16s as a minimum. Ebay usually has lots of skinny tyres/steel rims due to OLLI types "upgrading" or bling merchants going for alloys.

 

 

Well done. Im sort of meh about the twattishness if you intend to use it off road in any way shape or form, as I dont mind suitable mods that aid its use off the black stuff and into the green/brown.

 

One Wife... Leave It.

 

Each to their own but the whole accessory market and the mods the mags tell you are a "Must" for venturing anywhere off road is complete bullshit. All you need is decent tyres and even then you don't need something designed for the Amazon rainforest. OK, if you want to spend your weekends and play-and-break sites or do competition you might want locking diffs and all that jizz but how many farmers do you see going round with lift kits, snorkels, diff guards, fucking tree wires and NangChungCok winches with nylon ropes? Trust me, the average farm 90 will do more bum clenching offroading in a week than a road warrior lifted, OMG extreme modded winch weapon with SuperCentipedeSquasher tyres will do in a year.

 

I always think a good role model (lol) for Defender mods are the electric board motors, they have wide mud tyres cos of where they have to go, and that's it! The big FO winches are for work (they do look cool though). 

[dollywobbler]

The only bit of extra kit I would have liked on the Discovery is a limited slip rear diff but even then, I think having more kit just makes it more likely you'll get stuck, as you get over-confident.

 

The only time I got stuck greenlaning was when I failed to read just how dramatic a side slope was, and I got the Disco stuck against a bank. Never had anything more grippy than all terrain tyres and modifications just aren't my thing. 

 

Best was my LR 90 V8. Got up a really tricky clamber, with axle twisters first time. A 110 with stupid mud tyres got completely stuck. I actually heard OLLI twats muttering 'of course, a lot of it comes down to luck.' Yeah, you carry on with that dream mate. 

[dave21478]

Yep. People who need ultra-knobbly tyres and massive lift kits and the like for green lanes are either not driving it properly or the lanes are in too poor a condition to be driven....in which case ploughing it up even more with your mud tyres helps nobody and gives non 4x4 enthusiasts more ammunition to get vehicles banned from green lanes. 

A standard Land Rover on good mixed terrain tyres at the correct pressure for the situation will go anywhere a reasonable person will need or want it to.

[Skizzer]

Narrow tyres are better in mud and (particularly) snow anyway.  Fat balloons are only better for deep sand or swamps - or tossers.