Can this G be restored to its former glory?
Hello to fellow members,
My quest to buy a pre-2000 G wagon continues!
Expanding the search onto my home country, I came across an add with a SWB G-Wagon (pictures attached). It's being sold by a random car lot that obviously knows nothing about Gs, and is advertised as "G300 Gasoline with 180k km".
It unfortunately carries all that (rather hideous) 4x4 equipment that makes me wonder how hard of a life it has lived, however the interior looks rather tidy. Interestingly, it seems to have a manual transmission, which i believe to be very rare but it suits the car's character. It does seem to be missing two switches behind the gear stick, whereas year and engine (300 indeed? gas or diesel?) hard to identify.
I would greatly appreciate your expert opinions on car's overall condition, rust, engine, manual transmission, missing switches and cost of stripping away all non-original to bring it back to stock. Also would love your thoughts on whether this car is eventually worth the trouble and what do you think it is worth.
Your help/contribution is much appreciated! Ele
Starting with the basics.
I t would appear that this car is being sold in Greece or Cyprus. Most probably the former, and as it does not carry any number plate I presume that this is one of the many ex foreign plate cars abandoned in car lots waiting for someone to re export them. The car is a Ge300 petrol, 463 series. Before going any further check the plate on the engine bulkhead and extract all the details and pass them on to the club. There are many knowlegeable members such as Kevin for example that will be able to tell you all an awful lot about this car and its original spec.
A point of concern is that you may have a problem in registering this car with Greek number plates due to the age of the car and emission standards ( currently I think no car over 5 years old can be registered) and also due to the horrific costs of importing it to Greece.
Another point is that if you intend to use it in Greece, try to find a car with a/c., otherwise you will be driving it with all the windows open Aircon is not a gimmick when it comes to Greek summers!
The plus points are that sprucing it up and bodywork and painting jobs in Greece are very competitively priced by comparison to UK and you can have a really good job done there, The other plus point is that you can still find good mechanics and electricians that can work on cars of this vintage at a very reasonable cost . They somehow manage to source and occasionally make parts that are difficult or expensive to acquire.
As Leo said, a W463 with M103 6 cyl petrol engine of 3 litres.
Engine is dusty but looks to be in great shape.
Probably put together by a would-be off-reader and not seen much action.
The Warn winch is worth a few bob.
The front wheel arch mudguard extensions have been replaced by w460 versions probably to accomodate the new bumbler and winch. I think they look better.
Can't advise on import situation though but looks like Leo knows and you'll need to look in to it.
If the car has its origins in Northern Europe you need to check it thoroughly for rust, if its local it won't be an issue, a very good engine in manual form 19/20 mpg so not much worse than diesel. It looks sound enough though and the interior is clean so its had an easy life
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