1979 Series Santana 88 diesel

[rdelat]

Just bought a 79 Santana 88. I really do love the experience. Rovers North has got some great products for sale but not much in the series I world. Any recommendations on sites to visit? The truck is about 90 percent original in good condition I'd like to restore it to near mint condition. Also, I'm looking for a couple things I can't seem to find. One is front and rear lap belts that use the standard bolts as opposed to the anchor system. Also, I'm trying to find the spare wheel mounting system for the hood (bonnet). Thanks.

[leafsprung]

you know its a series 3 not a series one right? They have lots of series three stuff.

[rdelat]

Thanks for the note. I live in Barcelona now (originially from Miami) and the Santanas here were marketed and called Defenders. Although I know that the Defender in the UK and in US were different. I've got a 4 speed transmission and was told by the seller that makes it a series I while the 5 speed makes it a series II and so on.....

I wasn't fully convinced, but because the truck was made here in Spain for the local market I thought maybe its a marketing /product name issue. So you think its a series II then? How come?

[SafeAirOne]

The Santana is based mostly on the Land Rover Series. Santana probably had a few variants of the truck denoted by their own series number, but these series numbers are not related to the Land Rover series numbers.

For a more complete explanation than anyone here has space to give, see:

http://www.lr-mad.co.uk/santana.html

[rdelat]

Thanks for the note. I had found that page before and similar ones too. The best history page on Santana is one I found written by former workers in Spanish. Anyway, I pulled all the registration papers and found the following:

It is listed as a Santana Land Rover 88 2.3 Diesel. So I think I've got what is the equivalent to a Series III.

I'll be posting pics soon so we can end the debate...... Appreciate the thoughts..... Do you guys think that I could the truck back with me when I move to the States again? Or is it so old that it won't meet emission/safety standards.

[greenmeanie]

If it's more than 25 years old then their should be no problem with importing it to the US. Just make sure you have a complete set of paperwork and a letter from the manufacturer confirming the build date.

[rdelat]

I jsut looked at the photos of Santana's production and LR UK/USA. You are correct it is a Series III. Thanks for clearing that up. I bought the whole truck for about $3500 and like I said runs great except for a small oil leak, and broken speedometer/tachomoter. Do you think if I moved back to the States I could resell it for about the same or more?

[SafeAirOne]

I bought the whole truck for about $3500 and like I said runs great except for a small oil leak, and broken speedometer/tachomoter.

Only one small oil leak? Is everything else empty? I bet you're going to say that water doesn't leak in when it rains, too! :D


Do you think if I moved back to the States I could resell it for about the same or more?

Yes. Don't forget to include the cost of shipping. Of course, you could probably offset some of the shipping cost by driving to the UK and shipping from there it in a container filled with other goodies that people want, like 200Tdi engine assemblies! ;)

[rdelat]

You know... that's not a bad idea.... I could ship the car back on a 40'ft container filled with UK LR parts! I can make up the shipping costs.... :thumb-up:


Now the next thing I want to buy is a Jeep GPA amphibious car!!!