Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2001 22:29:05 -1000
From: "Hope Peter" <hope_peter@bah.com>
Subject: LRO:Santana Overdrives and Ashcroft transfer cases.
>Speaking of unobtanium, any ideas on the worth of a Santana OD?
Have seen photos, very clean. Supossedly came off a low (?) milage Santana.
This was on Ebay 2 weeks ago with a reserve of $950. High bid ended up
only getting to $250.
$950 is probably a credible price for an overdrive in perfect condition. Bear in
mind that regardless of what it looks like on the outside, the real value is determined
by what it looks like on the inside. I wiped out my first Fairey overdrive by letting
it run low on oil too many times. The input shaft was toast, and there was other
internal damage, but the unit looked brand new on the outside after I removed it
and cleaned it off.
In 1973, a brand new Fairey overdrive cost about $250. I don't know what the
Santana unit cost new. While I am not familiar with the Santana, everything I
have heard indicates it's a stronger unit than the Fairey. As such, I would think
it would be of similar or greater value, assuming the same physical conditions. I
have seen Fairey's advertised for over $1,000 for new or reconditioned, zero-time
units. So if the eBay Santana you're inquiring about is in similar condition, the price
seems pretty good for the market.
I'm not sure an overdrive is WORTH $950, however. If you're interested in the fuel
savings, you can buy a hell of a lot of gas for $950. Depending on how much you
drive your Land Rover, it may take a long time for that overdrive to pay for itself
in terms of the cost of fuel saved. If you're interested in the slightly higher
road speed to survive in today's traffic environment, the price may well be worth
it to you, however.
I'm not all that concerned about keeping up with traffic in my
SIII. I drive at 3,000 rpm in overdrive with 7.00 X 15 tires,
which gets me perhaps 55 mph. On anything other than "normal" highway
grades, the manifold pressure gets pretty high trying to maintain that rpm going
uphill, so I end up shifting out of overdrive, which drops me down to 45
mph or so at 3,000 rpm. This can be an inconvenience in fast traffic (to other
drivers, not necessarily to me), but it's not the end of the world.
In the early '80s, after I broke my first overdrive, I ran for a few years without an
overdrive at all. I didn't miss it all that much
except on long freeway drives to Montana or BC, and then I just got used to driving
slow and enjoying the scenery. Since everyone was passing me I didn't have to
concentrate so much on other traffic, and the trips were actually
quite relaxing. But it bugged me to have a shift lever in the vehicle that wasn't attached
to anything, so we eventually installed another new Fairey. But around town and
in the hills, I rarely use it. If I was thinking of buying one today, I'm not sure I'd decide
that the benefits were worth $1,000. I think I'd get more use out of a rear-mounted
PTO winch, if there even is such an animal available today (there was back
in the '70s).
___________________________
C. Marin Faure
(original owner)
1973 Land Rover Series III-88
1991 Range Rover Vogue SE
Seattle
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Mon Apr 23 2001 - 21:49:18 EDT