languini84 said:
This will be my first series if I get it. The chasis is new, the interior is pretty good. Some rot in the firewall light surface rust here and there, new tires. The truck has 50k on it, used as a daily driver, runs good. This is the owners description here are the pics
http://www.olinthompson.com/LR.htm
What do you guys think?
I cant see the truck in person as i dont have the time to drive up, but I am almost deff gonna make a deal with the owner this week, just want some input.
Chris
A) Those have got to be the funkiest wheel-arches I have ever seen!
B) Depends on what "rot/rust on the firewall" consists of.... The places that usually rust out on the bulkhead are the horizontal seam at the back of the footwell, the sideposts to which the doors attach, and sometimes around the outside edge of the scuttle vents, near the windscreen hinges. Can you weld? These are all repairable, but.... to really do it really well, it would be better to pull the bulkhead, strip everything off, sandblast, cut out the bad bits, weld in the replacements, then either galvanize it or dip it in a rust-preventive primer to get back in all the nooks and crannies. Lemme tell ya, it's a lot of work doing all that, then figuring out how it goes back together afterwards. It may save you time and effort to swap a defender bulkhead in instead (a Defender bulkhead is much like a Series III bulkhead, you can convert it with some work).
Short of swapping or fully dissassembling, you can replace footwells and lower posts while the bulkhead is still on the vehicle. Again, welding skills would be needed, but, it would save a lot of time and effort to not pull the dash bits off then put them back. But, the rust monster could still be lurking in there somewhere.
Or, if you're lucky, it could be surficial rust, and no welding would be needed.
But I wouldn't count on it.... look at the discoloration seen at the front of the door in the side view.... it appears as though there is rust there, higher up the pillar, meaning a lot more serious welding would be needed.
Go look at Dan Ratcliffe's post in this section, where he was giving ballpark prices for Series Rovers of various conditions. Good advice there.....
C) I really, REALLY suggest going to see something in person before making a deal on it. Pictures gloss over so many things.... You need to get through the engine bay, drive it around and see how it rides...
D) A Series really isn't for everybody. Don't get me wrong, I love mine, but, it's been in bits for most of the time that I've owned it..... Don't feel bad if you get there and ride around and somehwere in the back of your head, something is telling you "This thing is a glorified tractor, and maybe not so much glorified"....
Anyway.... if the thing runs soundly, and the rust is only surficial, then it may be worth the asking price. But if you're going to have to get in there and weld in replacement bits, then less than half of the asking would be more in line..... but, that can vary by region, too, so, I don't know about your particular neck of the woods....
Hope that gives you something to chew on.....
-L
