Buying an old Land Rover - For Life

[HuntsmanPH]

Tou might find this interesting:

http://www.mod-sales.com/direct/vehicles/,25,/Used...

I was having a look, but got distracted by this:

http://www.mod-sales.com/direct/vehicle/,37,/43613...

Want.

That is all.

[matt21]

some great advise there, thanks folks. Two days ago I looked on ebay and thought, I like this, I like that. Now all the advise is taken I am more picky. Think I am tempted by a Series 3 SWL with a roof. As long as chassis is ok I can upgrade any tired bits as a go.

There is something appealing about a rough looking tough old Landy, big wheels and nice paint job are not order of the day here!

[anonymous-user]

A Landy should look as rough as a badger's arse. I have some spare wheels with proper Michelin skinny knobblies if you are interested.

[Simes110]

I can only heartyily endorse the need (and it is very definitely a need and not a wish) for a Series Land Rover or even a Ninety / One-Ten / Defender.

I have a 40 year-old 88" Series 3 2.25 petrol soft-top. Admirably standard and unmolested and nicely patinated with the years of gentle use. Of the 4 cars we have, this one is the one that starts every time and always, miraculously, passes its MOT. And is driveable year-round.

My 110 is a delight but doesn't have quite the character of the Series. My L322 Range Rover is a clear descendant, but you can't really compare them.

The Series (Toby, as that's his name) is loud, yes. Slow, very definitely. But he communicates more than my E55 and pops on the overrun. He's utterly versatile, shifting freezers, dump runs, towing my trailer and pulling Transit vans up snowy hills with equal ease. His heater (standard, again) chucks out the heat and the canvas roof makes it very warm (no micro-climate from an uninsulated metal roof) inside.

There's no door fabric. Just metal. Original vinyl seats flatter than Kylie's stomach. He has static seat belts, too. And sliding door windows. He bounces along very happily when driven. That 2.25 engine is massively tough.

And he never, EVER, fails to put a smile on our faces. Always driven with the rear canvas rolled up, no matter what the weather.

He's cleaned once a year and lives outside. Insurance costs £50 a year fully comp for two of us. Dead easy to work on (I knew nothing, but learned on my 110 and really don't have a problem now) and he's just so damned useful.

Couldn't bear to part with him either.

So, yes, do it. Buy wisely and you'll never suffer depreciation. Prices are rising.

[Downton Mini]

V8Triumph I though you didn't like 'modern' metal?

Dad is looking a a TD5 90 at the moment of 2004 vintage (so not as old as some) I really hope he goes for it (he wants something to use to get to work etc as the lads at work have trashed his van he was looking a VW Caddy 4motion vans but he would love a landy. I've found him a very nice looking low milage TD5 90 but he's a bit worried about fuel economy having heard some horror stories anbout less then 20MPG!!

It's an itch I'd love to sctratch in the future too

[anonymous-user]

My old Land Rover left Lode Lane, Solihull, in 1981, never to return. I liked that, because so in that year I also left Solihull (we lived a quarter mile from the Landy factory) to go to university, and I never went back.

[Simes110]

A Td5 90 should do over 30mpg with ease.

My 300Tdi 110, fully laden and highly tuned, gets 26mpg on a motorway run.

[timetex]

Breadvan72 said:

My old Land Rover left Lode Lane, Solihull, in 1981, never to return. I liked that, because so in that year I also left Solihull (we lived a quarter mile from the Landy factory) to go to university, and I never went back.

Ah ha - small world.

I think I left Solihull about 9 years later, rarely to return.

I was probably a bit further (maybe a mile) from the Lode Lane factory, but went to Ulverley J&I which was but a stone's throw away!

[edo]

stretch the budget a bit - looks tidy

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2012...



Assume the mileage is missing a 1!

Land Rover Series Iii 88IN SWB PETROL SOFTTOP 7 SEAT 2.3 2dr 1975

2 Doors, Manual, All Terrain, Petrol, 26,000 miles, marine blue, MOT-10-2013. from our extensive Land Rover stock (see website) Motodrome are pleased to offer this smart-looking 1975 example of the ever-popular Land Rover Series III soft top, refinished in the original Marine Blue. Fitted with the 2.25 petrol engine, rear benches hence 7 seats, freewheel front hubs, white 8-spoke rims, chequerplate wingtops, bonnet mounted spare, and towpack with electrics, and a nice hood. It will come with 12 months MOT and has road tax to the end of October 2012 also. . It’s full of character yet is really original-looking, and on an 120-mile run on arrival it performed really well And of course, being a petrol, it won’t fall foul of the latest LEZ restrictions. £2,995 p/x considered

[ajh38]

You gits, I was all for getting a 205 GTi for about 3k now I've had my head turned! Such a contrast.

[mat777]

edo said:

stretch the budget a bit - looks tidy

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2012...

Looks a very nice motor, it just needs 3 things doing to it:

- lose the chequeerplate wing tops - the stuff always looks terrible on Leafers
- strip the black bumper back to its galvanised finish to match the rest of the body cappings
- replace the hideous 8-spokes with some Land Rover steelies, preferably with some proper knobblies as again road tyres just dont suit it

[Marlin45]

mat777 said:

LANDYPHIL!!!


This is my Series 3, a 1982 (last of the line) 88" Station Wagon which I will never ever sell

We used to have a '78 County in blue which was an exact duplicate of yours...sold a few years back to subsidize a divorce. It is now still running about the boonies of West Virginia

Our current '64 ex-mil 109. Running a 200td (no intercooler) and RR diffs. Other than that it is as it left the production line'ish.

ARRIVED LIKE THIS......




MOVED ONTO THIS.........



AND ENDED UP LIKE THIS.....



It's all meccano!

Edited by Marlin45 on Friday 26th October 15:31

[Marlin45]

Downton Mini said:

V8Triumph I though you didn't like 'modern' metal?

Dad is looking a a TD5 90 at the moment of 2004 vintage (so not as old as some) I really hope he goes for it (he wants something to use to get to work etc as the lads at work have trashed his van he was looking a VW Caddy 4motion vans but he would love a landy. I've found him a very nice looking low milage TD5 90 but he's a bit worried about fuel economy having heard some horror stories anbout less then 20MPG!!

It's an itch I'd love to sctratch in the future too

Our '07 TD5 90 hardtop will do 29-31mpg day on day if SWMBO isn't just popping down the yard to feed the donkeys

[Piglet]

We have his and hers Landrovers:

Mine:



1976 on a galvanised chassis - I got lucky and bought this on ebay for £1500 earlier this year along with a trailer load of spare bits.

I love mine and it's great to be able to chuck stuff in the back without worrying about the mess. Mine did the 200 mile round trip to Silverstone with the camping trailer for the GP in July and was very popular towing people around the campsite.

Edited to add: yes I know my windscreen is wrong!
His:



1972 Tax exempt - bit more agricultural, he paid about the same for it but it's on an ordinary chassis.

Both brush painted, his in an agricultural paint and mine in a Tekaloid colour to tie in with the (fake) County colour that was on it previously.

Buy one! (or two...)

Edited by Piglet on Friday 26th October 15:36

[6fire]

mat777 said:

As you say, speed, cmfort and handling are things old Landies won't do, however they will bring a smile to your face!

I don't agree that they don't handle. Certainly my SIIa (and the defenders and wolfs I have driven since) like to understeer, but they can all be coaxed into oversteer and they're actually quite placid and controllable in a slide - the only dramas are the slightly vague steering and the possibility of tripping them if you slide into a kerb or other obstacle.

mat777 said:

A series landy is part time 4wd (unlike the permanent 4wd range rover/defender/disco with centre diffs) and you will have 2 levers in the cockpit. Yellow is 4wd - push down to engage ONLY when on loose surfaces. Using it on tarmac etc winds up the tramsission as there is no centre diff - expensive bangs will result. Red is Hi/Lo range. Putting it in Low range automatically engages 4wd as well, changing back into High from low cancels 4wd (which is also how you get it out of 4wd in high range).

Many will tell you that you must be stopped to change from low ratio to high ratio or the other way around. Not so. The transfer box is just a non synchro gearbox. Double de-clutch, rev match and you can hop between then with no dramas. And it may just save you getting stuck.

mat777 said:

The mention of changing the leaf springs for parabolics is a very good shout. If the springs are more than 10 years old they will either have sagged (usually unevenly giving a nice lean) or rusted up and seized solid (no suspension!). You can either replace directly with multileaf springs (British Springs do fantastic quality replacements), or go for parabolic springs (fewer leaves, separated by little blocks). These give a much more compliant ride though arent quite as good if you intend to load your Landy up to maximum weight every weekend. Leafsprings can be maintained by painting the sides of the leaves witrh a mixture of oil and diesel, then wrapping in denso tape. This keeps the leaves sliding over each other nicely and the tape keeps out dirt and water.

Worth noting that many series rovers lean when empty. Partially because of the weight of the driver and fuel tank (often under the drivers seat), the right and left sides can have different numbers of leaves in the springs.

mat777 said:

Everyone constantly laments the brakes on landys but it is all rubbish. Well set up drums are more than powerful enough to lock all 4 wheels in the dry, though I will admit the earlier small drums may fade badly. There were 3 types - 10" SLS as fitted to early Short Wheelbase, 11" TLS as fitted to Long wheelbase and later SWB, and extra-wide 11" TLS as fitted to 6-cylinder and V8 versions. 10" SLS versions use a shared fluid resevoir with the clutch, IMO this is dangerous so best modified to separate circuits - though if you find one with the 10" drums, I would highly recommend upgrading it with backplates, cylinders and shoes from the LWB 11".

Absolutely agreed. The brakes are fine so long as you keep on top of maintenance. I always found the limiting factor was the tyres.

[mat777]

What on earth are those wheels on your piglet? I've never seen anything like them before

[6fire]

HuntsmanPH said:

Tou might find this interesting:

http://www.mod-sales.com/direct/vehicles/,25,/Used...

To be fair when you see the use they get, I'd steer away from MOD fleet land rovers. Unless you can find an ex RAF L/R that has just chugged around an airfield. The rest of them have a pretty hard life.

And I'd definately avoid the project Tithonous 110's. They 1980's non Turbo Diesel Defenders which were give the 'Titonhous' upgrade of new seats, some chequer plate and a roll cage to make them conform to safety requirements. They're dog slow and most are absolutely shagged.

[Piglet]

mat777 said:

What on earth are those wheels on your piglet? I've never seen anything like them before

Ahh yes, my wheels are a bit of a problem and OH has had to manufacture wheel nuts for them as they were missing one on each wheel (probably a locking one) when we got it and the nuts are a non standard size.

They are the Ranger alloys that it came on. We've just bought another set of Landy wheels on ebay and potentially we'll swap them over at some point.

[mat777]

6fire said:

HuntsmanPH said:

Tou might find this interesting:

http://www.mod-sales.com/direct/vehicles/,25,/Used...

To be fair when you see the use they get, I'd steer away from MOD fleet land rovers. Unless you can find an ex RAF L/R that has just chugged around an airfield. The rest of them have a pretty hard life.

And I'd definately avoid the project Tithonous 110's. They 1980's non Turbo Diesel Defenders which were give the 'Titonhous' upgrade of new seats, some chequer plate and a roll cage to make them conform to safety requirements. They're dog slow and most are absolutely shagged.

Actually, I'd stay away from RAF ones more. Most of them have bent, staggered or bowed chassis from shunting airfield equipment and aircraft around way beyond their design limits. Stories of towing trains of 20 ground power units, driving up roofs of turf-topped hangers and moving much heavier vehicles by shunting with only one side of the chassis all abound. Also avoid anything that's had even a passing association with the Paras or other forms of airlifting.
The General Service Landies are usually a good buy as they are guaranteed to have been well maintained by REME and when engines are shagged, they are swapped out for overhauled units.

Edited by mat777 on Friday 26th October 15:48

[smartphone hater]

Piglet said:

Ahh yes, my wheels are a bit of a problem and OH has had to manufacture wheel nuts for them as they were missing one on each wheel (probably a locking one) when we got it and the nuts are a non standard size.

They are the Ranger alloys that it came on. We've just bought another set of Landy wheels on ebay and potentially we'll swap them over at some point.

I wish I'd known, I've just chucked a load of wheels you could of had.