The master cylinder and electric booster costs £3000. It now needs the suspension changed out, but I've got the springs but it needs new shocks. Now also needs new brakes all around, two new batteries, air-con, and service and MOT. Probably the best part of £6000 spent on it. Would I be pouring money into a 22 year old black hole? Bought new in Sept 1998.
Ah! See your dilemma. Unless you want to use it for the next 10 years then it isn’t worth the cost to do it up.
That's been my view so far. However if you look at it another way, it is about a single year's depreciation, maybe less, on a £60,000 Defender or Disco5 or nine month's lease cost. So if it lasts two years with not much more being spent on it, and considering the tax benefit of repairs, it still may be worth it. Then there's 22mpg to count against it. So if I travel 10,000 miles, it will have consumed about 1100 litres more fuel than my Honda for the same miles, which will cost an extra £1500 in fuel near enough, or £1300 more than the Volvo.
It's realistically worth 4-5K in good working order with an MOT. £2k at most for a dealer to dismantle and sell the engine and transmission out to Africa.
