Always view before you buy

[Trevor]

70 Series

A mate of mine is looking for his first 70 for offroading and saw this on eBAy, despite the errors in the advert and vagueness with service history we decided to go and have a look anyway. So off to Bradford we went.

Probably the most shocking condition I've ever seen underneath and engine wise, it had been stored in a garage for years and I suspect that there was no airflow in a damp environment. Fuel lines, brake lines, chassis, suspension bolts mounts all rusting badly i.e. flakes on top of flakes type of rusting.

Transfer box covered in oil from a top end leak???, rear crank seal leaking, It took forever to start and just blowing blue smoke everywhere, once warmed up it blows blue when backing off and just horribly lumpy on anything over idling.

Wouldn't engage in low so guessing vacuum hoses perished.

We had seen enough and called it a day, we were only the second people to actually go and see it, I can't believe that its making the money its currently at by blind bidders. Someone is in for a shock when they collect it, I don't even think it's worth buying at scrap value and parting out as it's so bad.

Wouldn't have thunk it going by the pictures.

 

[Ben]

Certainly wouldn't have thought it from the pics, looks quite tidy.

Seems a lot of money though. Maybe prices are going up?

If your mate can hold out for and pay extra then I'd recommend getting a 3litre KZJ70 instead of a 2.4.

 

[Trevor]

I think he's seen the prices of the LandCruiser II and doesn't know his is the earlier model, priced it "finger in the air" jobby. I costed out what it would need just to bring it back to a runnable baseline and it's a minimum of £1500 assuming you don't find surprises along the way, then there is Tax and Test on top so I think a fair price is £250 if you want the hassle of bringing it back to life.

I'm waiting to hear back from a chap with a 3.0 conversion that needs a new head and another standard 70, I'd sell the standard to my mate and then bring the 3.0 back working, while I wait for my 80

 

[Graham]

Certainly wouldn't have thought it from the pics, looks quite tidy.

Seems a lot of money though. Maybe prices are going up?

If your mate can hold out for and pay extra then I'd recommend getting a 3litre KZJ70 instead of a 2.4.

.
Absolutly.

We bought the red 70 series, with a duff head, it was the 2,4.
But we paid accordingly, at just £640.
It still run well, but used water.
Paul at West Coast 4x4 in Banks, Southport, and his crew put a 3.0L Surf engine in.
Like night and day.
The 3.0L is the far better option.

Gra.

 

[Yorkshire Devil]

70 Series

A mate of mine is looking for his first 70 for offroading and saw this on eBAy, despite the errors in the advert and vagueness with service history we decided to go and have a look anyway. So off to Bradford we went.

Probably the most shocking condition I've ever seen underneath and engine wise, it had been stored in a garage for years and I suspect that there was no airflow in a damp environment. Fuel lines, brake lines, chassis, suspension bolts mounts all rusting badly i.e. flakes on top of flakes type of rusting.

Transfer box covered in oil from a top end leak???, rear crank seal leaking, It took forever to start and just blowing blue smoke everywhere, once warmed up it blows blue when backing off and just horribly lumpy on anything over idling.

Wouldn't engage in low so guessing vacuum hoses perished.

We had seen enough and called it a day, we were only the second people to actually go and see it, I can't believe that its making the money its currently at by blind bidders. Someone is in for a shock when they collect it, I don't even think it's worth buying at scrap value and parting out as it's so bad.

Wouldn't have thunk it going by the pictures.

Was it the gold one off ebay by any chance?

 

[Trevor]

Yep I think so, There is a link to it at the top of this thread. It made £2300 in the end, I just can't fathom it out.

 

[Yorkshire Devil]

Worth a bit more than £250 though even though its a dog with a good body!

I could tell from the advert that something wasn't right

 

[Trevor]

I suppose value is subjective depending on the reasons why you are buying.

In my case (on behalf of my mate) looking to buy as a keeper to use, a comparable vehicle which is taxed, tested and had some service history which is as tidy underneath and mechanically as the bodywork on this one may be £2500 - £2750, on a good day perhaps. So to bring this one to the same standard and factor in some unknowns plus a bit toward "time and effort", you would hope at the end of the exercise to have spent no more overall than a comparative "drive away as is" vehicle, hence the £250 appraisal.

If you were buying for parting out then the margins work very differently I imagine, again one has to take a view on which bits work and can sell and which bits get weighed in but I would imagine the "buy low sell high" principle still applies.

Buying for export, well I don't know enough about that market but I think in any of these scenarios (especially how really truly bad this truck is underneath a nice body) there can't be much opportunity to break even at that buy price. Maybe I missed Lord Lucan in the back seat or a couple of gold bars in the boot, but the bit that really got me is that some people are bidding on this blind which is too big a risk in my eyes. The photos were nice of a freshly washed body which will give initial appeal but she was a dirty, unmaintained grotbox where it mattered.

We were happy to walk away for our requirements, maybe the buyer will be delighted for different reasons.

 

[Chris Green90]

Worth a bit more than £250 though even though its a dog with a good body!

I could tell from the advert that something wasn't right

I've seen a few dogs with amazing bodies but I still wouldn't give them £250

 

[Trevor]

This was rough alright Chris, reckon you'd catch a dose off this one.

 

[Chris Green90]

I take it that it had Additional Inordinate Dilapidation Syndrome. Why do you have to bring everything down to that level Trev....This aint lincomb ya know

 

[Trevor]

You're a bad influence on me Chris, me being a Vicars Son and brought up in an Convent and all.

 

[Roger Fairclough]

Caveat emptor.

Roger