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110 200TDi Refurbish by total newbie

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110 200tdi tdi
7K views 32 replies 15 participants last post by  fireball 
#1 ·
After months of research - and test driving of a couple of petrol 110s and one great D90 200TDi thanks to a local member - I took the plunge and bought a 1984 110 with a 200Tdi. The chassis is brand new Richards and the body is in fairly good shape. Interior needs a LOT of work. Suspension and transmission are solid 8s or 9s. Engine probably a 6 or 7.

Plan is to have a fairly complete rebuild from the ground up; evaluation and repair or replace engine; complete restore of the body and repaint; new interior and full insulation.

As of yet undecided on engine. First real test drive was mixed: Engine runs solid, but vibration is way worst than the D90 I drove. Probably hard rubber mounts. Lots of exhaust smell in the cabin (combination of bad seals and lack of insulation). After about 40 minutes at cruising speed I noticed temperature gauge rising. Pulled over an noted a coolant leak. Probably pump.

Right now undecided between repairing 200TDi and trying better engine mounts to reduce vibration or replace with something like an OM617. Definitively want to stay diesel.

So far forum members have been invaluable with support, tips, links to parts, etc.

Wife currently at DEFCON-4. May move to DEFCON-3 if I decide to replace engine. Will have to join a spouse support group when she sees the complete refit plan.

Will post start-point pictures soon.
 
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#30 · (Edited)
No sign of the refrigerant lines or ports? Adding a compressor is simple. Perhaps they just chose not to move it over with the engine swap. If the main parts of the A/C system are there, make it work. It is an expensive bunch of parts there.

But anyway. Looks like a normal Defender 200TDI in the stock location. You just need to de-hack some of the previous work and fix the problems you are having. There is no reason for it not to be quiet and comfortable, if you want.
 
#31 ·
I did not see any lines, but honestly it was getting dark and I had two hours drive back to Boston for a dinner ahead of me, so I did not dwell much. Also keep in mind the last engine I worked on was a VW bug 20 years ago... so it'll probably take me a while to familiarize myself with this one!

Given that we are painting the truck head to toes, we will start disassembling everything next week and we'll find out for sure what's where.

We did find out that they did a horrible hack job with the dashboard. Seems they removed all the original trays and posts to put in ventilation ducts (maybe when they added the A/C?) and covered it all with a cheap plastic cover imitation of the NAS cover. The dashboard will need replacement.

The best part is this weird, modern looking (as in probably installed in the last two or three years) red lighted switch smack in the middle of the dashboard that lights up when you press it but does not seem connected to anything.
 
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