Giving an old S3 army girl a new lease of life

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Just found this thread Mate. Well Done what an Excellent job you've done, Took me 2 and a half years to do my Defender, but just starting a 1970 109 so will get loads of help from your pics and info.
Cheers
 
My life is becoming a comedy of errors!!! Just given the girl a full road test up the bypass before screwing everything down and the engine went bang, lost pressure and gave up on me. Just been towed home and having a beer to calm down.......................... and I got a parking ticket at work this morning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Another update on the insane world of getting this old girl going again.
Ditched the original engine after finding all sorts of cracks in the block which only came to light after it had got hot during the MOT and then blasting it down the bypass.
Got a cheap diesel engine off a mate, fitted it, ran perfectly only to have similar problems on the bypass; blew two glo plugs out and developed all sorts of knocking noises.
After further soul searching, wife persuading, wallet stripping and selling any excess junk I've decided to put a more modern 200tdi in it, simply for practicality and to have a running vehicle. I know it will cause a few issues with running on Series brakes and I know that it isn't original but I just want a vehicle and not a shed on wheels!!!!!!! Once it is running (I'm avoiding the bypass) I'll start putting more pics up as I start to fettle and tart her up!!!
 
The standard LWB brakes in good order are fine for a 200tdi and it will no longer see the hill you are approaching before you get there. :D
 
Well done on the finishing stretch, 200tdi a good choice , I installed mine as Di as it’s a simpler swap, for the battery I used a smaller one cut down the battery tray and moved it forward and upward to allow the oil,bath air cleaner to stay in place.
For the solenoid starter wiring I wired a push switch that had 12v with ignition on and 12v when pushed going to solenoid so push when cranking and engine off on key , put in a discreet place too
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For those that have followed this thread for the past eight years.............. here she is!! That old army girl I dragged up from Southampton to Norfolk, took apart completely, rejigged, reshuffled, cleaned, greased and put back together is finally on the road and going her stuff again. She may have a different engine, a different roof, different sides, different wheels and different door tops but she is big, brash, noisy and I love her!!! Obviously she will never be really finished and I never intended to make her a polished example but I have handled every nut and bolt on her body and feel that she has really become a part of me. Apologies if I now flood the site with pictures but I can't help myself!!!
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OK here we go with the first of many more questions.
I appear to have a leak from around the edge of the fuel tank sump bolt. Can I replace the seal?
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New copper sump washer? Those tanks do tend to rot between the guard cradle and the tank proper, so be sure it's only the sump washer.
 
It's good to know you got it going again. It will also become tax and MOT exempt in a couple of years time which is an upside.
 
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