Progress ? What progress

Seeing as how I've either been at work or it's been chucking it down since my last post I've achieved nothing. However, all is not lost as I've had chance to root through the latest landy mags and found some of the stuff I will be needing to get - for example a brake service kit will all new shoes, wheel cylinders etc.
Then I decided that as I need to replace the dampers I may as well put new braided brake lines on as well, so I found them also - looks like I can do the dampers, brakes and brake lines for under £200 so that's not too bad.

What I don't know yet is how much it will cost to overhaul the half-shafts etc. with new wheel bearings and oil seals, it would be stupid not to do them whilst I'm under there - and I will have to do the swivels as well (found swivel overhaul kit for under £16 a side).

So I may not have actually done any work but I've spent a bit of cash in my head !!.

I'm off to Europe tomorrow for a few days so hopefully get back on track next week.

Plenty of advice

Well as I expected, the response from the Series III club was quick and helpful. It seems the best thing to do is locate the axle stands under the spring hanger plates (use a bit of 2x2 to pack it out) and it will be fine. But my plan to lift both ends at once have been scrapped - nobody thought that was a sensible idea, so I'll chock the back end and lift the front then reverse the process when I've finished at the front.

Cheers chaps on the Series3 board.

Series 3 club

I went out earlier to put the Series up on axle stands, that didn't go far. First off one of my stands is missing the securing peg which holds the centre post at the right height and no amount of searching can find it - so I guess it will have to be an old screwdriver or drill bit in the hole instead !!.

Then I got to jacking up the front end and deciding where to put the stands - completely flummoxed because the received wisdom is to put the stand between the suspension and the wheel hub - but on the Series you can't do that because the half shaft flange bolts through there. Never mind I thought, I can go inboard of the suspension - oh no I can't because the differential is off-set so there is no room on one side.

So I decide to go on the Series 3 and 90/110 club forum and ask for advice, trouble is I haven't been on there for at least a year and my account has lapsed, so I've had to re-register - that's waiting for the moderator to accept. Whilst I was there I discovered that my membership ran out last month, no problem I can just renew it on-line - oh no I can't because I have a Linux PC running Firefox and their on-line payment system has a Java applet that won't run on my browser ( I tried with Firefox and Opera, no luck with either) So I 'll have to call Frank or Marjorie tomorrow and renew over the phone.

It's started !!

Finally got underway at last.

Charged the battery up overnight and this morning replaced the battery and tried to start the thing, nothing doing. So I decided it was obviously out of petrol, drove over to the next village where the petrol station is, got some and put it in - still nothing doing, turning over ok but no attempt at starting.

So now it's out with the WD40 all over, pulled the leads, took out the plugs and distributor cap - everything looked fine, and I could smell petrol at the exhaust so it was obviously getting fuel - obviously something in the ignition system.

So now it's out with the meter, checked the LT supply and that was ok, tried cranking the engine with the HT lead to the distributor held near the engine block, no sparks - ah-ha it is a duff HT lead, luckily I had a spare one so on it went and the engine duly fired !!.

Next question, is it going to move or is it seized in the transmission - no problem, it pulled away as smooth as you like - now it's in it's new home - 10 feet further down the drive waiting to go on stands.

Harry Potter

Well at last the Harry Potter fest is nearly over !! - Wife and younger daughter have finished reading the new book (and no, I don't know how it ends because I've not read it myself yet), Larger daughter is reading it at the moment. Still, at least now I can get back to my project as there is someone to look after small boy - hurrah, but it will probably rain again tomorrow. All I got done today was charging the battery - but it's a start I guess.

Finally stopped raining

So now it's finally stopped raining I can make a start - going to get the battery off and start charging it then see what happens if I try and start it, there is some fuel in but only a little.

Weather

Well, as expected the weather is shocking, and to further complicate matters the Harry Potter book has arrived so that's the whole house to a standstill - well apart from small boy who can't actually read !!, but I'm on small boy duty whilst the book is devoured. Still there's always tomorrow I suppose.

Weather update

Well it's raining pretty steadily now and has been since around 4pm - looks like the top half of the village will flood again - nothing too spectacular but bad enough for the the people who live up there. We live right by the river but it seems it's the drains that can't cope rather than the river rising.

If it keeps up like this then I guess there will be no starting this weekend, just have to keep everything crossed.

This weekends' plan

Got an outline now of what I want to achieve this weekend - modest though it is.

1. Charge the battery
2. Put some petrol in
3. Get some air in the tyres (I've got a compressor so not too difficult)
4. See if it will start !!

I've seen so many stories in the mags about someone coming across an old landy thats been stood in a field or barn since before the Crimea war etc. who just put fuel in and a battery, ejected the wildlife and then drove it across the field that I've got high hopes mine will actually start and move (stopping may be a different matter of course !!)

5. Move down the drive to it's home for the renovation
6. Get the front end up and onto axle stands
7. Borrow some more axle stands and get the back end up
8. All the wheels off
9. Spare wheel and bonnet off
10. Front wings off

That should keep everyone busy for a while !!!

Daughter is planning on charging me £2.50 per hour for her assistance - bargain ??

Modifications so far

I think it might be interesting to let you know what I've actually fitted/modified etc. since I bought the landrover so here goes.

First thing I did after buying was to change the front seats from the basic ones to high-back 'deluxe' seats - now that is a marketing term !!, I bought them through a small ad in one of the mags and they were a distinct improvement over the originals.

After that I got two bench seats and lap belts for the rear, fitted them no problem so the kids could travel around, it was a great hit with both my girls and their friends, I even took some of them off-roading in the back (and I've got one trip round a course on video).

Of course I had to fit a CB radio - cost me £10 second-hand at a land-rover show and works a treat.

But by far the best thing I did was get Parabolic springs (although still on the original oil dampers) as they completely transform the ride - and I changed the seats again.

The latest seats I've got fitted came from a Vauxhall Senator, they cost me £40 off Ebay (that was for the whole interior !) and they are like 2 big leather armchairs - super comfy, and they have heater elemts in them although not wired up yet. But with the new big armchairs I had to replace the steering wheel with a smaller (15") one as I couldn't get my knees under the original - and now anyone sitting in the front has to climb up to get in !!.

I've also replaced the floor panels in the front cab for checker plate so my fet don't slip as much when wet, got a full length roof rack (ebay again) and two spotlights on the front bumper (going to get relocated onto the roofrack).

Can't think of anything else I've done - but I'm sure I must have !!!

Starting out

I suppose it would make sense to begin by explaining how I got to where I am now with this project and what the objectives are.

I bought my Series III a few years ago from a chap in Mablethorpe, after I'd thought about getting one for ages. I wanted a long wheelbase with LPG, not bothered if it was a County model or not and not too fussed about condition. Anyway, I saw this one advertised in one of the Landy mags, went to see it and bought it - I know you should never buy the first one you see but it was just what I was looking for, and anyway I wanted it so that was it really. The chap I bought it from had got it from Jake Wrights who had got it in the ex-military disposal sales, he got them to fit the LPG kit, put new tyres on it and MOT it - nothing else needed doing.

When he got it home he spent the next 18 months scraping the chassis, replacing the rear quarter chassis, waxoyling everything and fitting a hard top in place of the canvas - then he got bored and sold it to me.

Once I got it there were a number of things needed sorting, the carburettor was shot and a couple of wheel cylinders needed replacing - apart from that I was able to run it as my daily vehicle no problem.

Of course it came in for a regular dose of abuse, I joined the Series 3 and 90/110 club and was soon off with them around the place as well as a few off-road days here and there - and it stood up to it all really well. There were a couple of minor issues of course, I lost it going down a steep decent and ended up crashing into the trees at the bottom and having to be winched out by a friendly 90 - and broke my clutch slave cylinder on the trip back from a Northern Landrover run.

Then the LPG system gave up the ghost, a solenoid went and Jake Wrights didn't supply that system any longer, no spares anywhere so it was back to petrol only (I have a new solenoid now, off ebay of course and it's in my plan for replacement).

Then the heater packed in so it was impossible to use in the winter as we get freezing fog here and the windscreen just ices over - and I can't get the damn thing working, again it's in the plan !!

Finally I bust a seal in one of the half shafts on an off-road trip and got oil in the brakes etc. - limped home 80 miles and stuck it on the drive, it's been there for the last 18 months while I decided what to do.

And this is where we are now, about to begin restoration. How much is required I've no idea. Will I finish it ? - I hope so because I need to use it again. How long will it take ? - no idea. How much will it cost - ???.

So who is in on this project ?

1. Me
2. Abbey, my 13 year old daughter
3. Martin, my friend from round the corner
4. When I'm stuck - Steve Ducker from CLASP in Scunthorpe, Land Rover engineer from up the street
5. Anyone else I can rope in when needed - if your reading this and fancy helping out drop me a line !!

Next post - what are we going to do first !!

My first post

Examples of what I won't be doing to my Series III