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bakerstreet
Original Poster
1,001 posts
34 months
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Evening  I am currently on the hunt for a 1980s Series Land Rover. I looked at one today that had been painted no less than three different colours in its life! Various bodges including silicon everywhere and a home made oil filler cap. The bulkhead was on its way out and had been patched in places. However this truck did have a 12 month ticket and no advisories listed. It also had a few issues getting into second a couple of times. Diff and gearbox were very noisy too. The other contender is an all original car with blue paint and single patch on the bulkhead. The quality of the welding on the chassis was much better too. The steering and brakes were worse though. No history as it had been owned by one farmer and was on its second owner and that was a garage who had bought it as a project and worked on it in their spare time. MOT till the end of the year and a few advisores including play in the steering and worn springs. It had the nasty old diesel engine though, which was incredibly noisy! It smoked a bit on start up, but soon cleared as it warmed up. I'm currently leaning towards the origainal one, as 'm hoping to know the price down for a repairs to the brakes and the indicators I'm interested in peoples opinions on both cars and the all original Vs modified ect ect.
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Trommel
10,502 posts
128 months
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Bolting new bits on is a lot easier (and cheaper) than welding up holes.
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A.J.M
3,289 posts
55 months
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What he said. Brakes for a series 3 are cheap to buy, also cars that are in original condition will be worth more in the future when s3 prices do eventually rise.
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bakerstreet
Original Poster
1,001 posts
34 months
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Thanks peeps. I'm also thinking the blue one is the way forward. A green one has appeared on the bay, but they won't tell me what the reserve is and I dont want to waste my time going to look at it if the reserve is more than my budget. There a few bits wrong with the blue one, but I'm hoping I should be able to solve most of them. I'd say that series prices are reasonably strong especially if they have decent history and a full ticket
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varsas
3,102 posts
71 months
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I'm (sadly) selling mine at the moment, I've had 3. You haven't said what your budget is, but actually original S3's are very rare and you will pay a lot, such a car would be worth £4k+. Any landie which has been used will be a bitsa, with a mixture of parts. I'd quite like parabolic springs, other then that I'm not sure you need to do anything to a series, two sets of tyres would be nice though as off-road tyres on road aren't ideal. I'd really like an original car (my current one isn't quite) but wouldn't be willing to pay the premium. Like any classic you need to drive a few so that you know what's right and what isn't, they do vary. A noisy gearbox would put me off, I'd rather put a new engine in then a new gearbox or start playing with the transfer box. Personally, I wouldn't buy another one with a LR N/A diesel, they are just too slow for daily use (although awesome off road). Mine was screaming at 50mph even with 7.50 tyres on it, it felt dangerous on the motorway. An overdrive petrol will cruise at 60+. Prices seem a bit low at the moment, there's a fair looking 90 in the classifieds that looks very good value (not advertising, that's not my car). Prices where higher a few months ago. As said, steering and brakes wouldn't worry me. Corrosion would, very much. 
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bakerstreet
Original Poster
1,001 posts
34 months
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varsas said: I'm (sadly) selling mine at the moment, I've had 3. You haven't said what your budget is, but actually original S3's are very rare and you will pay a lot, such a car would be worth £4k+. Any landie which has been used will be a bitsa, with a mixture of parts. I'd quite like parabolic springs, other then that I'm not sure you need to do anything to a series, two sets of tyres would be nice though as off-road tyres on road aren't ideal. I'd really like an original car (my current one isn't quite) but wouldn't be willing to pay the premium. Like any classic you need to drive a few so that you know what's right and what isn't, they do vary. A noisy gearbox would put me off, I'd rather put a new engine in then a new gearbox or start playing with the transfer box. Personally, I wouldn't buy another one with a LR N/A diesel, they are just too slow for daily use (although awesome off road). Mine was screaming at 50mph even with 7.50 tyres on it, it felt dangerous on the motorway. An overdrive petrol will cruise at 60+. Prices seem a bit low at the moment, there's a fair looking 90 in the classifieds that looks very good value (not advertising, that's not my car). Prices where higher a few months ago. As said, steering and brakes wouldn't worry me. Corrosion would, very much. You have a PM/E-mail
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TimCrighton
788 posts
85 months
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I have a very clean Green/Ivory standard Series 3 Petrol (A plate). I've been toying with clearing some drive space and I might let it go. It was restored by Dunsford around 4 years ago. Originally blue it was properly sprayed in Green, new seats etc etc. Heater, O/D, FWH etc etc. PM me if you are genuinely looking for something.
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budrover
250 posts
73 months
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series LR are easy to take to bits at home ...go bargain hunting on ebay and find one that has been rebuilt with a galvanised chassis ...its the favorite past time of retired engineers !...then they have no where to go in them so sell.
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task
229 posts
40 months
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I've had a couple of Series Land Rovers, still got the last one I built, an 88" Series 3.
I opted to go non-original when I rebuilt it, I fitted a Rover V8, parabolic springs and a rear bulkhead removal bar.
I would say it really depends on what you want to use it for, I built mine for green lanes and having fun in, not to be an original example.
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bakerstreet
Original Poster
1,001 posts
34 months
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Well I've done just over 200 miles in my series now and all is well. Bit gutted that I didn't keep up to date with this thread, as I would have looked at some of the offers on here! I'll admit that that the gearbox needs a rebuild and generally the whole car needs a tidy up, but it was at the lower end of price range for series Land Rovers. The chassis is very solid. Its had all the welding done to a high standard and the bulkhead is also good too. Passenger footwell has been patched, but other than that its in a good state I'm currently on the hunt for a spare steel wheel. I want to put it back to standard wheels and ditch the disco steel wheels, but got to sort a few other bits first. I went to the Beaulieu Spring Auto Jumble and picked up some carpets and Vinyl. The dedicated Land Rover field was abit disappointing. I'm hoping to make trim panels for the doors and carpet/rubber mat the back over sound proofing. I might even do a build thread Here it is, helping me move house 
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schmalex
8,670 posts
75 months
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Nice one, fella!!
I have a 1984 S3 that is a bitsa, but I absolutely love the old girl!!! It's got a few problems such as a couple of rust holes in the bulkhead etc, but it flies through its MOT every year, so I'm not overly concerned. I only ever really spend money on the important parts to keep all the oily bits working properly.
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hazzalandy
5 posts
16 months
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Definitely don't worry about paint or cosmetics, just sand it down and brush paint it. Chassis rot is a pain to sort but other than that if you've got a hammer and three different spanners you should get by. Bear in mind brakes are appalling, they are all noisy and smelly and they all "mark there territory"
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varsas
3,102 posts
71 months
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hazzalandy said: Definitely don't worry about paint or cosmetics, just sand it down and brush paint it. Chassis rot is a pain to sort but other than that if you've got a hammer and three different spanners you should get by. Bear in mind brakes are appalling, they are all noisy and smelly and they all "mark there territory" Mine has dual circuits and a servo, they are actually pretty good, very sharp. They easily produce enough power to overwhelm the back tyres, they have very little grip and that's far more of a problem! Rubbish off-road of course when they fill up with water... I rebuilt the engine on mine and, 2 years later, it leaks no oil at all. Fair enough I did have to take it apart and re-do the rear crank. seal after made a hash of it the first time but they can be made oil tight (well sort of, mine still burns some, but it doesn't leak)
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bakerstreet
Original Poster
1,001 posts
34 months
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varsas said: Mine has dual circuits and a servo, they are actually pretty good, very sharp. They easily produce enough power to overwhelm the back tyres, they have very little grip and that's far more of a problem! Rubbish off-road of course when they fill up with water...
I rebuilt the engine on mine and, 2 years later, it leaks no oil at all. Fair enough I did have to take it apart and re-do the rear crank. seal after made a hash of it the first time but they can be made oil tight (well sort of, mine still burns some, but it doesn't leak) Mine does have a slight oil leak, but nothing major. I'm planning an oil service on it soon. Bought the bits from peanuts from Paddocks and I got some mineral oil from my local GSF. £12 for 4ltrs. Bargain! I've recently reubished the original series wheels and purchased 5 brand new Insa Turbo Dakar mud terrains. She looks much better for it too  I've also bought some genuine window side panels, which I shall be repaiting the same colour as the wheels. I'm looking forward to it
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schmalex
8,670 posts
75 months
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Just be a little careful pushing the Dakars through sticky mud. They have so much grip that they can snap half-shafts (not a big problem, as they're only £20 or so each). Just ease off from spinning them up in sticky mud
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bakerstreet
Original Poster
1,001 posts
34 months
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schmalex said: Just be a little careful pushing the Dakars through sticky mud. They have so much grip that they can snap half-shafts (not a big problem, as they're only £20 or so each). Just ease off from spinning them up in sticky mud Never heard that. Point taken.
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varsas
3,102 posts
71 months
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I have Insa Sahara's which seem pretty good. One friendly word of warning, just be a bit careful the first time you use off-road tyres on wet tarmac, especially if you have no weight in the back as there's not that much grip. Just leave a bit more of a gap and you'll be fine, might be worth you doing some braking tests on a straight/quiet road just to get a feel for where the limits are.
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LewG
106 posts
15 months
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That looks far better with the proper wheels on, at the end of the day all mechanical bits can be overhauled and repaired, and one of the great things with old Land Rovers is the sheer availability of parts for such low prices. Here is mine after tidying her up a bit ready for an MOT next spring, first ever chassis patch in 37 years! 
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