hi! defender guy getting a patrol
Hi all, newcomer here!
Let me introduce myself,
I'm Santiago, from Spain, 30yo... and (ejem) a proud 110 2.2 puma defender owner but.... I'll soon be proudly joining the patrol family !! And yes, I know this is an Australian forum, but I've read some posts and you look like a very cool comunity and a very nice place for experiences/info sharing. I like messing around with cars and banging things with the hammer till they work.
I have a Nissan Vanette from 90s that I completelly overhauled by changing all the cooling system (previous owner using lots of well water) and fuel system (god knows what was used there) and now works just fine. I also have a 2013 110 landy that gives 0 problems and the daily driver which is just a booring Renault Captur that it's bests cumpliment is that it has bluetooth and meets emission regulations to enter to the city center.
When I bought a the defender I wanted to make it sort of a tourer, but covid and things made it just sit at my driveway. Nice point about that is that I've sorted most of its quirks... no water in, no water out, no leaks anywhere, etc (quite some work there...)
However, the bloody defenders are rising in price like hell... and I'm not in confort driving what has become a very expensive vehicle.... In fact, latelly I'm getting my nissan vanette more outside of the roads than the landy. With nice tyres, very short first gear and no fear of breaking anything (and knowing you can repair it) you can go to lots of places....... thats to me a very good sign that I need to sell the landy (cool vehicle though... )
So i've been seaching for another vehicle that replaces the landy in case I sell it.... I'm not into rock crawling, mud holes etc... just need a vehicle that drives me remote.... I want a vehicle with no computers, great repairability, low complexity and great interior space...
and I'm gettin a 1988 sd33 n/a heavy duty long wheel base high roof patrol. Only one previous owner and used in agricultural tasks (olive farming). It is all stock with factory fitted front and rear bars and a custom built aluminum roof rack made locally. 240k on the odo, a few rust spots, but nothing serious. And not a lot of things there to sort out (less quirks and less rust than any landy anyway, drives like a car and not like farming equipment!!)
The stock clearance is lacking compared to the landy, so some lift and tyres may be needed. It carries above 800kg, better than most, not as good as the landy. The the lack of power in highway.... is not bothering, as in Spain this kind of vehicle is anyway not legally allowed to go past 90k/h, and if you do, you can get fined (same happens with the landy and the van... so I'm used to that)
As for current current quirks that I'm aware:
- Glow plugs have some electrical issue and owner hardwired them to a manual push button to light them. (probably dead relay or ignition barrel or cables, works fine now, but I want to sort that properly, though I'm not fully bothered by that)
- When starting and stopping there is some quirky behaviour. When starting the car (which it does very very nice), after it starts (not while starting), it needs a tiny bit of throtle or it will stall. When stops, it runs for like 1 sec before cutting. Owner has no clue and is not bothered as it has been working like that for a lot of years. After reading through the engine manual, I belive the problem is that the injection pump control unit is sluggish and takes some time to change from start to run positions and from run to stop. Car works, runs, starts and stops fine (takes 1 sec to stop from cutting ignition). Most probably the dc motor is the culprit, as the pump controller eventually does what is required of it. I believe the pump is ok, as when running it runs very very smoothly. While testing the car past week I had no time to check properly the issue.
- Obviously some rust spots that are expected with this age. Rear bar atatchment point is the worse one, but no structural damage anywhere and mostly surface rust that sound strong the poking with a screwdriver.
- Obviously some leaks, but surprisingly few. Had a chat with the local mechanic that takes care of it and he has changed most of the seals, hoses etc, so prety good despite still having some places to check.
- And obviously, being a farm workhorse, aesthetically it is horrible, but all works and despite some shotcuts to make it back to work fast and easy, very very well maintained mechanically and structurally speaking.
Next weekend I'll be doing some basic prepwork on site at a local mechanic garage, who has been as kind as leting me work at his place over the weekend. I just want to be sure I will be able to make the 400 highway kilometers from where it sits right now to home, and when at home I'll check and solve whatever other problems I find. Surely it is going to be fun.
Next week I'll post some pictures of the car!
Happy to join!
