1979 Stage 1 Acquisition - Major Project

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pumpkinboy1991
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2020 10:52 pm

1979 Stage 1 Acquisition - Major Project

Post by pumpkinboy1991 »

Hi all,
I'm in the process of acquiring this early stage 1, which I'm rescuing having sat in the elements in a field for over a decade. There isn't really a chassis or bulkhead to speak of as they are all but dust, to the point you can see the car has snapped in half. This will prove to be a bit of an issue in the recovery as moving it in one piece onto a trailer or transporter will just damage the body further. It'll be a case of dismantling in situ and trailering the parts back to my workshop.

A bit of investigation into the chassis number indicates that it started life as an export left hand drive vehicle and was then registered in the UK the following year in 1980, however it is quite clearly a right hand drive car. I've been told this may have been a bit of a tax dodge by the UK to export and immediately reimport the cars (not sure how that works but it wouldnt surprise me). Can anyone shed any light on this & whether being one of the early stage 1s is desirable or not?

I'm in two minds as to whether or not I should restore the car as a stage 1 or use the body on a modern coil sprung discovery 1 chassis I have along with the 3.9 auto box it had. I worry it would be sacrilege not to restore as a stage 1 but it wasnt initially what my build was going to be before finding this! Although, I do think I'm edging towards restoring it as a stage 1.

Suggestions welcomed 😊
Cheers!
Cliff4WD
Posts: 303
Joined: Fri Aug 10, 2018 2:39 pm
Location: Rye, East Sussex, UK

Re: 1979 Stage 1 Acquisition - Major Project

Post by Cliff4WD »

Personally IMHO, I think you should restore it to what it was or allow it to die gracefully. Bits of old Defenders and Discoverys are ten a penny so if you want to build an hybrid, then do it with Defender parts. A restored Stage 1 will be so much more satisfying (and valuable). Not the easiest undertaking in the world to pull off mind.
Cliff

1981 109 V8 Stage 1
2000 Discovery 2 Td5

109 V8: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2161
My Disco Thread: http://www.thed2boysclub.co.uk/viewtopi ... =3&t=58130

LAND ROVER. TURNING OWNERS INTO PAUPERS FOR 70 YEARS
pumpkinboy1991
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2020 10:52 pm

Re: 1979 Stage 1 Acquisition - Major Project

Post by pumpkinboy1991 »

I think you're right Cliff. I tried to upload some pics of it as it sits but had difficulty doing it from my mobile due to the size of the images. I'll stick them on my laptop in a bit and post them. The java green is growing on me!
Cliff4WD
Posts: 303
Joined: Fri Aug 10, 2018 2:39 pm
Location: Rye, East Sussex, UK

Re: 1979 Stage 1 Acquisition - Major Project

Post by Cliff4WD »

Think I saw it on FB. If you want to upload photos here then I'd recommend registering on https://postimages.org/ You then upload your photos and then share the photo here by copying the hotlink for forums url and pasting it into you posts here. The photos then appear, no big image file issues.
Cliff

1981 109 V8 Stage 1
2000 Discovery 2 Td5

109 V8: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2161
My Disco Thread: http://www.thed2boysclub.co.uk/viewtopi ... =3&t=58130

LAND ROVER. TURNING OWNERS INTO PAUPERS FOR 70 YEARS
disco2hse
Posts: 1637
Joined: Sun Apr 27, 2008 3:51 am
Location: Auckland NZ

Re: 1979 Stage 1 Acquisition - Major Project

Post by disco2hse »

Yep, these are becoming increasingly rare. Pretty sure I saw it on FB too. There was not a lot left on it, ...But then I have seen some pretty amazing restoration jobs.
Alan

1983 ex-army FFR 109 Stage 1
2005 Disco 2 HSE TD5
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