Thank you all for input and opinions on the Defender! I pulled the trigger on it yesterday and am over the moon. As we've seen, it needs plenty of TLC, but is in generally good driver quality condition. I don't really have big plans other than enjoying it and getting some of the needed rust repairs done.

1989 Landrover 90:

• RHD, imported from the UK in 2017
• 75k miles
• gas i4 (weird) with a 5 speed
• solid frame, does need some rust neutralization
• relatively solid firewall, some rust repair was attempted, but needs to be improved upon

The motor shares a lot with the 200tdi from what I'm learning. While quite slow, it seems to be a good workhorse. The truck runs and drives really well. Fires up easy on a cold start or hot start.
We settled on $15k. I got it insured and registered as an antique, now I just need the gas "shortage" to simmer down so I can spend some time just cruising. I know the koolaid is still fresh in me and a Defender has been on the dream car list for a long time so I'm sure I am mentally blinding myself from the laundry list of things this car really needs. I imagine there will be a follow up post of holy crap look at how much stuff the 90 needs!

That said, I feel like the price point leaves me with the ability to flip it today and make money - though that is not my want. I'm excited to start tinkering on it!

I like interior work, so I'll probably spend some time here getting things to a nicer spot.

And if you're in for some hype, here's the insta reel reveal:https://www.instagram.com/p/CO2bDrKhBVB/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Thanks again oppo hive mind! I look forward to sharing the adventures of the 90 alongside the e30 build

The back of the 90 isn't the worst, but it's also showing some age. I was willing to just deal with it, but then I stumbled on to rustoleum heirloom white. Turns out this can of spray paint is pretty much a spot on match for the LR's paint. GAME CHANGER for getting some of the okay paint looking better in a few spots and actually doing some reasonable looking repairs.

I pulled out the rear seats and mat from the floor. Still not enough space to sleep in nor is that something I plan on doing, but it made for a fun headline

Started with a little clean up and stopping some rust. Working on stopping the water causing the rust from getting in as well, but the details of that aren't as exciting as this picture progress

Did some scuffing, then a little primer

Still a have a few layers of white to go, but making great progress! I also pulled the headliner as another side project. Debating just leaving it out, but the core is in good condition so it's worth a recover at some point.

A few points still up in the air:

• a layer of white bedliner on the base of the bed. It's getting covered up with a mat either way. The bedliner just seems like a nice extra layer of noise reduction.
• Recovering the bench seats. I am refreshing their frames with some fresh paint and I will be steam cleaning the seats either way. I considered a beachy/tropical pattern, but the Mrs wants to see it retain the farm/actual usable truck feel. Which is probably a good idea, I don't want to be afraid of using it.

Side by side for the full impact:

Thanks for joining on this round of Land Rover updates!

Sent the thank you note this morning and just received a confirmation email from the Nashville Director of Motor Vehicle services cc-ing the entire local clerk's office team and a few other unknown government employees!

Mission accomplished and of course I was very appreciative to Matt in person yesterday.
The director said this made her day as they normally only hear from customers when they have missed the mark. I hope this is helpful for Matt. I also gave some recognition to the two other clerks in the office as they both bring a positive attitude to the work place.

Have a good memorial day week Oppo!

I'm still in the "you know how they say don't meet your heroes? Will this time they're wrong" phase of Land Rover ownership. Took the 90 out on a ~80 mile cruise Saturday where it did everything right. I've roughly gotten the hang of driving RHD and the unusual feel of shifting with my left hand.

(note the cardboard. Expected droppings, but surprisingly minimal. Confirmed it's full of oil)

Sunday I gave everything a wash. Saved the Landy for last and boy did it need a cleaning. Pretty sure the previous owner didn't ever try to clean it based on the layers of grime on this thing. I know it's a pretty imperfect truck, but at the very least I need to start with a clean canvas! Next up will be cleaning up the interior and taking notes on what all is needed.

Cant decide if I'm keeping this sticker on the driver's door or not. It means little to me, but it's kinda neat.

Today, I picked up a boat load of paint at Home Depot. Going to try rust neutralizer on some bits and touching up some bad spots in the white paint as well. Mirrors and step bars will likely get a repainted, as will the front bumper. I like shiny metal so the diamond plate is going to get a polish as well. I also did normal car stuff with it! Brought home some more mulch and a few plants.

Many moons ago I worked for a hot rod shop, I need to get in contact with the owner to get the firewall rust repairs on his to do list. I've been searching for a passenger door and a rear door, more to come there.

To go full British, one might say I'm pretty well chuffed to bits over the 90 at this point!

Shuffling cars around so we could take the 90 out for a cruise the Mrs noticed we had a rear light out. Not a big deal, I am working my way through the truck and haven't checked all the lights yet. So flipped the headlights on and gave it a walk around. Surprisingly only the one bulb out. Then blinker test (I assume it'll blink fast if one is out, but checked anyway) all work. Finally the bigger failure, no actual brake/stop lights. While the truck is plenty noticeable, I would still like to be safe and tell others when I am stopping!

Swapped in a working bulb first to see if there was some weird connection between the lights that would cause full failure if one was out. No luck, but all the lights can turn on now. I found some handy wiring harness guides and was able to track down the brake light wires. According to forum lore, I was likely looking at a faulty brake pedal switch on the firewall. All seemed correct there however. I traced the wire to a connector that was quite filthy (and still is) but didn't look to be properly pushed together.

(potato)

Pulled it apart, blew it out like an NES game, pushed together aaannndddddd BRAKE LIGHTS! I am a mechanic guys. I am planning to do a little engine bay clean up today. While I have priority rust repair items, my goal is to detail it bit by bit to get a full list of needed things.

I have had three or four run ins with the same county clerk within the past few months at this point. This is thanks to a small low key satellite office that is right across from my house.

My first interaction, I thought he was a little too matter of fact and dry. 2nd/3rd, I appreciated his matter of fact-ness and his efficiency. He really knows what he's doing.

Today however, today takes the cake and I would like to give him some recognition that actually matters. I went in to register the e30. I finally had the plate in hand, my paperwork together. This should be easy. Guess what? It wasn't.

First off is the plate, it's a novelty plate from way back in the day. I was super jazzed to get to run it as THE plate for the e30...well it turns out you can't register novelty/vanity plates as antique plates in Tennessee because REASONS. That said, the clerk wouldn't take "reasons" as the answer and my boy, his name is Matt, Matt, called every dang contact he could think of to see if we could possibly get this pushed through. I didn't tell him the story on the plate/why it matters to me, the man just went to bat all the way up to the TN department of revenue for me. I really appreciated that, it truly softened the blow that I can't actually use it (it'll go on as a front plate).

Think that's it? Nah, the car hasn't been registered since who tf knows when. The vin is in purged records and needs to be pulled back to their current system. He gets everything tee'd up and starts making phone calls; we got Susan then Taylor and we're nearly at the right point so we can register this ol heap of mine.

PLOT TWIST! The car has a title lien in 2000ish with Old Knox Pawn which is apparently a DBA of Money 2 Go 1. Stamped on the title is Old Knox Pawn and the eventual signature of lien paid off in 2002. HOWEVER nothing connects Old Knox Pawn to Money 2 Go 1. At this point, Matt has talked to I don't even know how many people (he's also kept pushing for me to use my plate). I figured he was ready to tell me to kick rocks, good luck connecting with whatever pawn shop that is. WRONG, Matt, my man Matt, picks up the phone and calls the pawn shop!!! This dude has them faxing (because the pawn shop wouldn't email) a one in the same notice so he can get me wrapped up.

At this point, it was on the pawn shop so he took my info and said I will call you as soon as it comes in. We know how things are so I figured we'd get a call...next week? SURPRISE AGAIN, the pawn shop sent it asap. Matt calls me as I'm walking in the door (clerk is across the street, this is maybe 5 mins later) and says I've emailed you the one in the same, I'm here until 5 and all day tomorrow. Come in, side step the line and we will get you taken care of.

Yes, Matt is doing his job, but he is doing it at the top of his game. I think government employees get crapped on a lot, particularly when it comes to the DMV/car related stuff. I would like to thank him for...well...giving a rip about getting things solved.

TL:DR How can I give him recognition that is actually noticed?

Ripped from my instagrams

I've documented the process off and on, but I need to get better about keeping up with things other than on the 'gram.

About a year ago, Feb 2020 for when I come back to this later on, my father and I went to a large plot of land a buddy of his owned to look at the slew of relatively decent condition "ran when parked" kind of cars.

There was an '00s Tacoma that immediately caught my attention, but it wasn't for sale. After a little poking around, we learned it could be for sale as a parts car, but the history of why that was a fact was probably best left as unknown. There was a Subaru Brat, rear facing seats and all! I My eyes lit up when I saw the Brat through the weeds growing tall around it. That light was quickly extinguished when I saw the Brat had more holes than swiss cheese. Rust had almost nearly consumed the poor thing. My dad spotted a 1982 Corvette with the beloved crossfire injection engine. It was in surprisingly okay shape, interior was aged, exterior wasn't beat, the tires even had air in them still. We came for a $500 range car and this would probably be more than that, but I always had a crush on Corvettes growing up and my dad is a hotrod kind of guy, so this fit the bill! Except the bill was a ridiculous number comfortably in the crack pipe category.

Quick background, at this time I'd recently-ish acquired a BMW 340i and was researching older BMWs just to learn. I knew the naming e36, f30, and so on but I was still learning what era that actually associated with. I always enjoyed my old Audi, but thought it would be fun to find an older BMW at some point to play with. That is when I saw it, a red convertible BMW sitting in the field covered by an older camper awning.

It was rough. Both doors had dents, the top was missing the rear window. The interior was moldy with front seats from a '00s era GM product. All four tires were flat and I had no idea when it was running last. Yet I wanted it!

We didn't talk numbers as it was starting to rain, so we went to my dad's favorite watering hole to BS around for bit. The owner finally roles in and we starting talking. He's a hard headed dude who has over valued almost everything we asked about so I wasn't holding on to much hope. We offered $300 and it was a firm hell no as soon as the words left our mouth. He said it's clearly a $600 car. We let this rest for a little bit and bought the guy a beer for letting us poke around for as long as we did. Maybe an hour and a couple drinks later, we came back to the topic. We settled on a dollar per model level, $325.

A day or so later we had AAA pull my new car, a 1990 BMW 325i 5 speed convertible, the Krusty Krab, home and so started the project! However that was also the end of a big part of my life. Shortly after, my father passed away. It's been a rough year getting through, but I've been able to spend a little time on the Krusty Krab and it helps me feel connected to him. Cars in general help me feel connected to my father still as he inspired my passion and taught me how to wheel and deal.

Fast forward a bit, I've pulled the interior, done some rust prevention, bought a few parts, spent some rainy days in junkyards, swapped in a new-to-me gas tank and a new fuel pump, did some clean up and plopped in a new battery. The pivotal moment on if the Krab is cooked or ready to keep fightin'. I turned the key and she sprang to life!! Loudly I might add, as we had to cut the exhaust off before the cat since it was rusted to bits.

She lives! Which means it's time for more work to happen. A day or so later I met with a local BMW mechanic for a couple hours. Turns out he's a real talkative dude who really knows his stuff! I am a half decent shade tree kind of person. I don't mind doing the work myself, but I know my limits and my time constraints. So taking the car to someone who knows what they're doing and can help make it reliable for me is what I think is best. He's already waste deep in to replacing the timing belt and water pump, with more parts to come!
Circling back to that gram thing from the beginning, in true Hype Boi fashion - big things coming bruh, keep the eyes open!

Once she ran, there was still one very important question - does the Krusty Krab drive? I wanted to be safe and tow the car out of the shop up to wait for AAA again to take the car to the mechanic...but I couldn't help myself. I put the Krab in gear and eased off the clutch. MOVEMENT! Reversed out, put it in first and without hesitation I was up the hill to wait for the tow truck driver. My mom understands why this car matters to me and came out laughing at how ridiculous I looked in this beat old BMW. She said stand there and let me get your picture. She immediately texted it to my why saying "boys and their toys."

I'm excited to hear how things go with the Mechanic and will give some more picture filled updates in the future

TL/DR: I bought a project car I'm now emotionally attached to. Surprisingly, it runs and drives.

Thank you all yesterday for the many suggestions on how I can best show my appreciation to the local county clerk. I was able to get the director's email and will be sending a very nice note. I asked while I was in today, they are unable to accept pretty much any kind of gift. I asked about donuts. They said technically against the rules and made it pretty clear they would be uneasy if I brought them in (plus I'm not sure how everyone feels about community food right now).

That said, Matt continued to research my plate issue after I left. It turns out that vanity plates get recycled when they do plate updates which means old ones can't be re-issued as antique plates. He said when they do new processing it resets the plate production counts, but retains the same internal ID. This particular vanity plate I have had a design modification and it's likely someone else has the new design with my number on it. Since it's associated with the same internal ID, we would have the same plate aka not good. All that to say, I am okay with not running the plate I had picked out.

Good news out of all of this, I walked in today and was out in 10 minutes. All of the paperwork was lined up and ready to go!

While I would have loved to finish this yesterday and possibly could have if I moved my work schedule, things have a way of working out. Today would have been my dad's 71st birthday. Registering the last car we got together on his day feels right. I did leave the clerk's office a bit misty eyed with pride. I am happy to keep this car moving forward and I know my dad would love to see the work I'm pouring in to it.

Nifty dudes cruising down 40 in Knoxville, TN

Wish I'd asked the Mrs to get the front of the Porsche. It had many many many many lights.

@wbizarre I was leaning 32" but the oppo hivemind is all rocking a 34" perhaps a trip to bestbuy to get the experience is in order

@skyfire77 I hope to not have to go back in to my current office. It's out of the way with few benefits to it and the surrounding area

@tripper welp, that solves that concern. I love that!

@cash-rewards having both of those things, can confirm they are good spends!

@hammerheadfistpunch if I didn't already have a dreamy chair to sit in, I 100% would be a nice chair. I'm a bit mixed about the timing of it tbh. It would have been helpful to have earlier on as we figured things out, but now I know what I want to improve things since we've been doing this for a bit

@tripper interesting, hat's one of my hang ups. Sounds like I can divide the screen in to sections then?

@just-jeepin I've been just laptoping it when I travel. It's not my favorite, but it works well enough.

I really like the break up of the screens allowing things to not just float around. That is an excellent point on pro multiple screens.

@milky I think I was looking at a smaller version of this originally. I feel like a name brand is probably a good idea

Work finally committed to we are staying home - full stop. So they offered us some cash ($750) to get things to make WFH better. Clearly we're over a year in to this, so the basics are out of the way. I am looking at upgrading my dual monitor set up. Either to bigger nicer monitors or one large curved display. It seems like the ultra wide spread would cover what my dual monitors do and make the desk look a lot less junky.

(over the top ultra wide for your time)

Does anyone use a curved display for work and how is it?
I read a decent number of documents/excel crap/emails/boring work stuff. Not designing or editing photos with it. Plenty of reviews out there I'm reading on currently, but oppo always has interesting takes on things.

Also, what WFH items do you absolutely love that might not be on the standard list for everyone?

@davesaddiction the best feeling!