Series 3 - How much work to fix?

[LC4Dakar]

I just looked at a mid 70's 109 two door with hard top. It is in the Southwest, but is right hand drive and has a Connecticut safety sticker on one window. No known history.
Body has NO DENTS! Paint peeling in one or two minor spots.
Full length roof rack with ladder plus bull bar bumper with headlight guards.
Interior is very nice, with cloth seats (8-10 seats total). Has carpet and head lining in good shape.
Gasoline motor and transfer case leaking oil.
Looks totally stock.

BUT:
The metal strip between the doors and the front fenders has major rust at the door hinges. Hinges feel sound, but the metal is raised up a lot and all paint gone. Same with hood hinges and less so at windshield pivot.

The main frame behind the rear spring perches is 50% - 60% GONE! Outriggers for the springs look okay, but there is heavy undercoating that I can't see through. Undercoat has heavy cracking.

Will it need a new frame? Or can it be fixed?

How about the hinge points?

He's asking $5,500.

[IMG][/IMG]

[Mercedesrover]

You can get a rear frame section but if the rear is that bad the rest of the frame isn't far behind. Figure on a frame.

The front door pillars are part of the bulkhead. Check out the footwells too. Parts are available for both the pillars and footwells.

Also check the center door pillars, aka: T-Pillars. These are usually rotted along with the bulkhead and frame.

[LC4Dakar]

That's what I was afraid of. Footwells are perfect, though.

Even doing it myself I'd have too much time and money into it.

Shame, that's the best body and interior I've ever seen in a Series.

[I Leak Oil]

Yup, probably figure on a new frame and extensive bulkhead work, not uncommon. I think that price might be a little high but not unreasonably so if the rest of it is in good shape and all there. Really depends on the extent of the frame rust. That undercoating tends to trap moisture making the situation worse.

[Series1Rangie]

The frame is most likely to be like the rear portion, but see if the seller will let you bang on it with a hammer. Its the only real way to know how bad it is. If he/she won't let you bang on it, walk away.

I think the price might be a little high with the rust, HOWEVER, you may not need to fix it all immediately. A rover with rust could carry you thousands of miles before it "needs" to have the bulkhead or rear cross-member fixed. You MIGHT be able to prolong the pain by doing some rust inhibitor and rust prevention now. Don't try to recover yourself or someone else from a rusty cross-member.

When the transfer stops leaking oil, make sure to top it off.

Looks like a nice truck, not sure how I feel about the bull bar, but whatever.

[Wander]

As you're in NM the rust will spread much slower than in a rust prone area so if the frame tap test isn't terrible you can repair it and the parts are available. That brush guard is better on a Denfender so you migth be able to sell it to a Defender owner to help cover some of the repair costs.

The leaks are probably just old seals and a new set will keep those leakes down to a mimimum. My 64 IIa has good seals and it might leak a drop or two after running it a lot. Be sure to also check the swivel balls. That is a nice looking series from the pic, if the seller will work with you on the price it might be OK. Having the knowlege to talk to the seller about why you feel it's not worth his asking will help.

[Alaska Mike]

Estimate: A kabillion dollars and 50 cents.

Honestly, once you start a frame swap, there's a million things that need to be replaced to do the job right. Fasteners, seals, gaskets, and all sorts of things will likely need to be replaced, and they can add up pretty quickly.

With my own project, every step I start uncovers 3 more that need to be addressed. I'm hampered since I'm doing a fairly involved conversion, but the concept is the same. You're talking about a vehicle that rapidly approaching 35 years of use, and the vast majority of Series Rovers were not babied.

The upside is that parts are still available, and the knowledge base is out there. I couldn't imagine trying to do a project Rover without the interweb. Serious respect to those who did it back in the day.

It's not a sound investment. It's a Rover.

[Wander]

It's not a sound investment. It's a Rover.

Now there's a quote! Bang on Mike, not everything on life needs to make sense after all.

[LC4Dakar]

Maybe I'll wander over and offer him $3K.
All he can do is yell at me and throw things

[Wander]

Good luck!