New Project - 1967 109 NADA 6 cylinder

[highmile]

Hey Guys! I am new to the D-90 Source Boards! I have owned a 96 Discovery for a number of years, but I just recently purchased my first Series Land Rover and hauled her home a couple weeks ago.



I bought a 1967 Land Rover 109 NADA 6 cylinder (#329 of 811 ever built) that has little to no rust anywhere on her frame or bulkhead for $1,250. A very solid truck. I have a complete spare engine that also came with the truck. I am not thrilled about the 6 cylinder engine, but the price was right and I could not pass up the deal. The interior is complete though very worn. I have temporarily removed the interior panels and the paint is the original bright red



Unfortunately, since hauling the Series home from Alamosa, CO to Colorado Springs, I have not had much time between work, Holidays, and a wife and kids that demand attention, to do anything but clean out the interior. I am excited about the future of this truck. The deal was very good.



Here are some pictures if anybody is interested.

http://picasaweb.google.com/bergeron20/1967LandRoverSeriesIIA109NADA?authkey=iNgRacM6iV4

In case the above link does not work, here are a few photos of when I was hauling it home.

Thanks!

[JimC]

Sounds like you're the man. We're all friends of series trucks here. I look forward to seeing the progress on your truck, so blow off those "obligations" and show us some Rover pr0n!

[highmile]

Thanks JimC!

I was hoping you guys might be open to Series guys as well! I promised my wife that I would be very intentional about my time between family and the Series Rover. So far so good!

[Burke]

Welcome John. Looks like a fun project. One of these days I WILL have a series...... Love 'em! Do you know the history of it?

[JimC]

There's nothing like a plaque that says "Land Rover 4-Wheel Drive Station Wagon." Sunburned paint gets me all excited. Welcome to the club.

Is your intake plenum made out of a muffler?

[highmile]

All that I know so far is that the truck left the Land Rover factory in September 1966 and delivered to San Francisco. The previous owner I purchased the truck from bought it in 1993 to simply use for carrying a bunch of geology students to go look at rocks around the San Luis Valley area. Apparently, he had some rough running issues sometime in 2003 and a bad solenoid he never fixed, and decided to park it 4 years ago. I haven't had a chance to even get to a point of attempting to start it just to see if it might just fire right up. I figure I need to get a new solenoid, new battery, new spark plugs, change oil, replace the gas, and go from there. Wish me luck!

Follow-up Post:

Apparently the previous owner before the previous owner I purchased the Series from attempted to start a repainting job. There are a few places where somebody has sanded down the paint to bare aluminum. That same person also repainted the front fenders, but of course, that paint is now all cracked and peeling, and the paint has faded to a different red than the rest of the truck. I like the faded poppy red, but the front fenders being a different faded color drive me crazy. I hate to say it, but I’ll eventually probably repaint the truck to the original poppy seed red and limestone.

[ECR]

Nice truck and a GREAT deal.
That truck in Land Rover circles would be about 10 times what you paid. Excellent find and have fun fixing it up.

[JSBriggs]

Is your intake plenum made out of a muffler?

That is the stock NADA 6 air filter.

John, hell of a find!

-Jeff

[highmile]

Everybody that looks at the engine seems to think that is a big muffler hanging around in the engine compartment. It is, in fact, what holds the air filter.

[ECR]

Everybody that looks at the engine seems to think that is a big muffler hanging around in the engine compartment. It is, in fact, what holds the air filter.


That is the stock air cleaner system. Impossible to buy now-a-days, but the filters are avialable anywhere (an AC/Delco part #). It looks like a complete great find.
Only 811 NADA 6 109s where made and they were the last 109s Land Rover ever imported to the USA.
The bigger engine was to try and compete with domestic trucks of the day... it didn't work. So the 109 was pulled from the US market rather than try to meet the performance needs and upcoming DOT regs that were about to go into place.
Your VIN will be something like 343000XXX, the last 3 digits are your 109s # out of the 811.

We have some more on our web site in the information section.

[chrisvonc]

Going to move this to the Projects section. Very exciting & welcome to the site!

[highmile]

Chris - Thanks for moving me where this thread belongs!

I don’t doubt that there is some collectability for this 109 NADA truck due to the rarity of only 811 ever being built, but I seriously doubt it would be worth 10X what I paid.

Here’s a story about purchasing this truck. He originally was asking $5000, but after asking a few fellow Series enthusiast about what it might be worth sight unseen (this is before I knew it was a rare NADA vehicle), I told the guy I wouldn’t even make the 2.5 hour drive down to Alamosa unless he was willing to go below $1500. He took a little time to decide, but ultimately said he would accept something below $1500. I took my dad along for the ride down that weekend to just “look”, with no money to buy, and no trailer to bring it home. I was seriously surprised at how nice the truck was for the price. I had looked at a couple other Series trucks in the past weeks that were in pieces, rusty, and incomplete for far more money. The 6 cylinder scared me due to folks telling me I would spend and arm and a leg for parts for that engine (which might be true). At least the truck came with a complete spare engine as well. The interior was very complete with all the original panels and seats and various gauges. The interior is rough considering it was used for 40 years. Truck even came with the Green Bibles and a couple other Series maintenance books. I liked the truck a lot and decided I wanted to buy it. We did not bring along purchasing money, and the seller did not want a deposit, so we did a handshake deal for $1,250. After coming back home, I did more research on what I was buying, and discovered that it was this rare truck #329 of 811. Even though I am leery of the 6 cylinder engine, I know that I had a good deal. I made the necessary U-Haul trailer arrangements, the seller had a friend coming with a long tow rope to be able to pull the Series up onto the trailer. All was good. We headed down the following Saturday, everything went extremely smoothly. We did all the necessary paperwork and money exchange. Then the seller tells me that he had a couple show up at his house with a trailer and $3000 cash in hand to purchase the truck. He told them that he already had a deal going. Surprisingly, he went with our original handshake deal, did not even mention that he was offered more until after we closed the deal. He was a great seller and honored his handshake. I was definitely impressed. The Series is now sitting peacefully in my garage after years sitting in 1 spot next to a shop. I have cleaned out the interior of the years of dirt blowing around the San Luis Valley. I only came across one dead mouse, which I think made a few holes in some of the seat cushions.

I am excited about the future with this truck!

Now, if somebody wants to offer me 10X what I paid, I am all ears!

[ECR]

I'm not suggesting you sell it. I don't think you should, but that is a serious find.
You don't know what you have there if you don't think it is worth some bank.

I have numerous clients that would pay big money for that truck. I don't want to be a vulture and that was never the intent, but that truck is worth a lot of money.

The last one we did up the customer had paid 9K and it as in far worse shape. I have customers that would pay 1500 for the intake and air cleaner alone.

[Rod Hayward]

Congratulations, John!
If I'm not mistaken, I've seen your truck a couple of times as I drove through the valley. It was west of town on the way to Monte Vista. I don't recall ever seeing a for sale sign on it, and my garage is already full, or I might have stopped in to see what the story was on it. I always looked at it longingly though, thinking it could be a real sleeper of a deal.

At least its closer to home now, and I'm glad its being saved from an uncertain fate. Maybe I'll get to see it in its renewed glory!

Cheers,
Rod

[highmile]

Rod, that is the truck I bought. When I was looking into possibly having a hauling service bring the truck back up to Colorado Springs, I talked to a few local San Luis Valley folks that were interested in the work, and all knew exactly which truck I was talking about.

Follow-up Post:

Mike, I do think the truck is worth some bank. It's just taking me some time to comprehend and learn exactly what I have. Seems like everyday, I learn something new about the NADA trucks whether it be good or bad. I wasn't seeking a NADA truck to begin with. My biggest concern now, is that I might not have the funds to restore as fast as I would like. It will be a long slow process, but I will not butcher the truck. Goal one will be to get her running again and go from there. I hope to bring her back to a updated original version.

Now, I do like this truck a lot and I am very excited about this truck, but if you have clients that are seriously interested in paying 10X what I paid, I'd be interested in talking to them about a deal. Money does talk.

[Burke]

I was a bit fuzzy on what a NADA was. I pulled this off of ECR's site to clarify. Wow, it is rare...

"In 1967 a limited production of 811 NADA (North America Dollar Area) 109 Safari Station Wagons were shipped to the U.S. These were the standard 109 5 door Safari Wagons, but they had a modified version of the 2.6 liter, 6 cylinder engine. The engine used a Westlake cylinder head and some other equipment to try and win back customers who complained of the lack of power from the 2.25 liter, 77 bhp, 4 cylinder in the over 3900 pound vehicle. The NADA 109's can be told from other 109 Safari Wagons in many ways. The NADA wagons had dual heated windscreens (like a rear window defroster, but encased in the windshield glass), the uniquely modified 6 cylinder engine, dash parts that were covered in textured plastic, not painted as usual, and they all have serial numbers that start with 343. This now rare version failed to jump start the slow sales of 109's, and it could not compete with the cheaper, faster, and more reliable U.S. built trucks of the time. Land-Rover stopped importing the 109 completely in 1967. Only 88's were available from 1968 to 1974."

[highmile]

I have gathered a lot of information between the ECR website with the above information regarding the NADA 6 cylinder Series trucks, and then referencing the Land Rover FAQ website that has the production dates by VIN number. The Land Rover FAQ website is how I know when the truck was started and completed in the factory, colors and that it was shipped to San Francisco.



http://www.lrfaq.org/Series/FAQ.S.chassis_numbering.343.html (http://www.lrfaq.org/Series/FAQ.S.chassis_numbering.343.html)



It is fun with a rare vehicle to see which colors are even rarer. A quick count, I think there were only about 115 red NADA 109’s whereas there seem to be a ton of the Marine Blue and Light Green trucks.

[cgalpin]

Wow, nice find. I like your approach. Get her running and enjoy her for a while before sinking any money in it. Don't sell it!

charles

[highmile]

I want to do this 109 NADA project, but if somebody wants to offer me 10x what I paid, I would be interested in selling. The rarity of the 6 cylinder make me a little nervous, and I'm not sure I would want to go the engine conversion route. For the right price, I would sell the truck and buy something easier for a first time Series project. Anybody want to make me an offer I can't refuse? Otherwise, I will continue to tinker!

[mikeslandrover]

neat :)

[highmile]

Hey guys!



I acquired an old February 1967 issue of Four Wheeler magazine that some of you guys might be interested in seeing the content. There is a road test article regarding the 1967 Land Rover 109 NADA 6 cylinder. There is also an ad for the same Land Rover on the back cover of the magazine.



I have scanned the pages and have uploaded them to an online photo gallery if anybody is interested in seeing. The images are high enough in quality to actually read through Picasa Web with a little zooming.



http://picasaweb.google.com/bergeron20/FourWheelerMagazineFebruary1967LandRoverNADA6Cylin derRoadTest



Also, if anybody would like a PDF of the same images, just let me know and I can email that out to you as well. The PDF file is about 6 MB in size.



Enjoy!

[highmile]

ooops! The link did not paste correctly. try this link!

http://picasaweb.google.com/bergeron20/FourWheelerMagazineFebruary1967LandRoverNADA6Cylin derRoadTest

[cgalpin]

Bravo!

[pendy]

I have been chasing after that truck for years. What did you say to make him part with it? The guy was quite a character.

Good for you.

JP

[highmile]

JP

You knew the guy, Rob, in Alamosa, CO that I bought this truck from? I didn't say much other than replying to an ad he had posted months before where he was asking $5000. I think he was tired of only having folks from far away inquire via email and no real way to come and check out the truck in person easily. I was only 2.5 hours away in Colorado Springs. Basically, at the time, sight unseen, I told him that if he would except something below $1500, I would make the drive down to take a look at the truck. He really wanted somebody to come look at it and said he would take something below $1500. I offered $1250 after seeing the truck and it was a handshake deal from there until the following weekend.

Seemed like a really nice guy, especially since he honored our handshake deal after somebody else offered him $3000 on the spot in the week between the handshake and coming with money the following weekend. He didn't even call me to see if I might be willing to match, which I would have been unable to do at the time.

[pendy]

Met him briefly. He stood me up a couple times when I was traveling through the area also. I was moving my shop close to his location, but that is not happening now. Guess he lost my phone number when it came time to sell. I do not think he was considering selling when I was asking.

So do you know for a fact someone else offered more? One thing you'll learn in the Land Rover atmosphere, sometimes things are not what they appear to be.

Regardless, its in your vehicle now, and I think you did well. Get it running. I know a lot of owners/ collectors in your area who can help with parts. Plus the Solihull forum will get you in touch with other locals.

Have fun!
Jim Pendleton

[highmile]

I don’t know for a fact that somebody offered more since I wasn’t there as a fly on the wall, but he did not tell me the story until after the money and title were exchanged. Don’t know why he would tell me this afterwards if it wasn’t true. He was very pleasant to deal with. It was a good month later before we had arrangements to get the spare motor transported to my house. He arranged for an engine lift at his house and a student of his that was coming to Colorado Springs for Christmas to haul it here. All I paid for was a tank of gas for the girl that drove and an engine hoist rental. Saved me an all day trip and a ton of gas, so I was happy. Rob has also been very open with any information about the truck. I have emailed him a few times in the past couple weeks hoping to get honest straight answers about the mechanicals of the truck, and he has responded. His answers are giving me considerable hope that I’ll have this truck on the road sooner than later. Apparently, it was running when he parked it. Had typical leaks and idled rough. Hopefully, I’ll have some time here soon to go get a new battery, do some fluid changes, and simple maintenance items and see if I might just get this truck started. Wish me luck!

[pendy]

Luck