Series 3 My SWB series 3 HELP PLAEASE!

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alfie dobson

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I am quite knew to the hole refurbishing show but have been doing my 1977 series 3 for a bit and I have several questions. Firstly i am wondering wheather i should get a new galvanised chassis? Next is the engine side of things. I have an old range rover as a doner car which i think i will use the axles,diffs,brakes,and maybe the transfer box to make it 4wd. I think i will get an overdrive but the main problem is the engine. I have been told the range rover engine is not very good and i think i will go with a 200tdi?? If this is the right decision please good i have some parts that i need, mine is short wheelbase. I want to keep turbo but seems hard?? Sorry for going on a bit and i know other people have asked these questions already but any help would be great or any other ideas. Thank you
 
if you plan on keeping the truck a long time a galv'ed chassis is a good buy, especially if your existing one has a few plates or a lot of rust. Once that and the bulkhead are done and kept looked after it should last forever.

if you do sell later, a galv'ed chassis is a plus.

can't ehlp on the engine side but I believe there are a lot of series trucks with range rover or disco v8's in them
 
I've gone the new chassis route as my current one was going to be too much of a time investment to justify repairing. There is alot of rust all around it and once I started the stripdown in preparation for the new one I've only discovered more areas of rust which was hidden by the body. I could pull out moss and other much from every hole leading into the chassis too so assumed it was also rusting from the inside out. It's a big investment and it took a while to persuade myself to order it but once I did it put my mind at ease. I know I'm building back onto a completely sound frame which I can maintain and keep solid and all the areas of rust I kept discovering on the old chassis no longer kept me up at night thinking about having to repair! The chassis is still a few weeks from delivery but I'm finding the stripdown itself alot of fun too, learn alot about the car!
 
Im not being a git but it sounds like you are trying to make a series land rover into a modern car. What will you be doing with it when its finished?
 
Bobsticle said:
Im not being a git but it sounds like you are trying to make a series land rover into a modern car. What will you be doing with it when its finished?
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the idea was a first car but i do share your point anhyy other opinions or what you did would be great
 
Many make the mistake of thinking a 'done up' series is like a modern car. A series was a bitch to live with in the days of good old british (rust bucket) car manufacturing never mind in todays robot built car era.
They are very noisy, very slow, very thirsty, very leaky, very high maintenance and let you down when you least expect it and need it the most.

They are also the best fun you could ever have.

My first was over 30 years ago. I did all my courting in it and fell in love with the damn things. It was my daily drive and once home I would drive another 30 miles to take my young lady out of an evening. Yes you can live with one as a car but its more to do with your outlook than the cars performance. I came from a Ford Escort MKII background. I had three before the series 2 and although I did a bit of customizing and tinkering the basic escort was much easier to live with than the Landy.

By all means jump in and enjoy the experience, it never did me any harm and by all accounts it could be a great first car. Staying under 45mph and being pretty indestructible should pay dividends for an inexperienced road user. The problem may lie in forking out to rebuild one and then hate it (you will never get your money back). If it was me with what I know now I would get the 77 through its MOT on a shoestring. Beg, borrow and botch it through then drive it for a year. Then decide. You may find out that most of us series owners enjoy the tinkering as much as the driving as a whole package. They are never finished and you are always spending on them. If its not for you it can be sold on and you havnt lost anything. Unfortunately you may get hooked and spend the rest of your life with one or wanting one or wanting several. You can still strip it down and renew everything in a year if its what you want.

;)
 
i am definitely thinking i will restore it to its "former glory" My only problem is whether i ad the 200tdi. IT seems many have done this and it makes it much more usable but i am worried that it could ruin the authenticity of the car
 
alfie dobson said:
i am definitely thinking i will restore it to its "former glory" My only problem is whether i ad the 200tdi. IT seems many have done this and it makes it much more usable but i am worried that it could ruin the authenticity of the car
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How old are you? Just curious, as your posts seem all over the show and the fact it's the summer holidays, sort of rings a few alarm bells.

Your opening post goes on about using Range Rover axles & brakes and trasnfer box. This will not make an authentic Series. In fact there is some serious modding involved in fitting all that. More so than an engine swap. And for a first car, something heavily modified, even a Land Rover, is probably not going to be good insurance wise.

The Tdi block is essentially the same basic block as the 2.25 petrol and diesel engines in a Series. This is why they are common as an engine swap. If you'd have used Goggle to research this, you would have come across this:
https://www.steveparkers.com/conver...gine-conversion-kits-into-series-land-rovers/

Which explains how to do it mostly.

That said, there is nothing wrong with a standard Series, the petrol isn't very speedy, but will happily trundle along at 55-60mph no probs. It's not even that noisy. But it isn't very economical. 15-20mpg is very much a reality (maybe better if you drive gentle).

Diesels are slower still and are noisy but a tad better on fuel.
 
300bhp/ton said:
How old are you? Just curious, as your posts seem all over the show and the fact it's the summer holidays, sort of rings a few alarm bells.

Your opening post goes on about using Range Rover axles & brakes and trasnfer box. This will not make an authentic Series. In fact there is some serious modding involved in fitting all that. More so than an engine swap. And for a first car, something heavily modified, even a Land Rover, is probably not going to be good insurance wise.

The Tdi block is essentially the same basic block as the 2.25 petrol and diesel engines in a Series. This is why they are common as an engine swap. If you'd have used Goggle to research this, you would have come across this:
https://www.steveparkers.com/conver...gine-conversion-kits-into-series-land-rovers/

Which explains how to do it mostly.

That said, there is nothing wrong with a standard Series, the petrol isn't very speedy, but will happily trundle along at 55-60mph no probs. It's not even that noisy. But it isn't very economical. 15-20mpg is very much a reality (maybe better if you drive gentle).

Diesels are slower still and are noisy but a tad better on fuel.
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i am only 14 but have grown up with cars which explains your query.mine is 1977 so is 2.25 petrol so 10mpg and like 40 mph. The car has been in my family for bit now so would look to keep it but am also looking at first car options and i think my decision is upgrading to the 2.5 petrol or 200tdi or getting something else for the money that the engine would cost any more ideas would be great
thanks
 
alfie dobson said:
i am only 14 but have grown up with cars which explains your query.mine is 1977 so is 2.25 petrol so 10mpg and like 40 mph. The car has been in my family for bit now so would look to keep it but am also looking at first car options and i think my decision is upgrading to the 2.5 petrol or 200tdi or getting something else for the money that the engine would cost any more ideas would be great
thanks
Click to expand...
You have a problem, as well as being 14, you will grow out of that! :)
Petrol series will do better mpg, and much better top speed than that if all is working right! ;)
 
alfie dobson said:
r u talking about the new petrol
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No. I have never had a landy newer than my Ninety, which is 26 years old! :cool:
I am talking about old 2286 cc petrol engines in series from the sixties and seventies. I have owned several, and driven others. They should do over 60 mph! And up to 20 mpg driven carefully.
 
Turboman said:
No. I have never had a landy newer than my Ninety, which is 26 years old! :cool:
I am talking about old 2286 cc petrol engines in series from the sixties and seventies. I have owned several, and driven others. They should do over 60 mph! And up to 20 mpg driven carefully.
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they only did 52mph new./ I think you would need an overdrive to do 60mph
 
alfie dobson said:
they only did 52mph new./ I think you would need an overdrive to do 60mph
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If you say so. My memory is that even a 2286 diesel will go faster than that. On 4speed box. And petrol is more powerful.
I have had Fairey od, and Ashcroft high range box before, both good, Ashcroft box is better
 
alfie dobson said:
they only did 52mph new./ I think you would need an overdrive to do 60mph
Click to expand...

Sorry, no. Quoted manual top speed of a petrol-powered Series truck is 70 MPH. That is the flat-out speed - and not good for the engine or the truck.

I drove my109 (Series IIA, 1964, petrol 2286) to work this morning at 60 or so with no problems out of overdrive and 65 in OD with plenty of pedal left at both speeds.
 
Im with Turboman on this one, Im on my second series 3 petrol, I have overdrive fitted and get to 70mph on an open a road (it also has weber carb, kenlowe fan and more modern ignition system which helps) my last one didnt and got to 60 quite happily (clocked by Turboman's ninety funnily enough!)

Stick with the petrol and service it, full service including valve adjustment and timing, nlt just oil and filters and get used to that. The series is fun to drive but has its limitations and modifying it with RR parts will create even more.

Your better off building on what you have now, get it all straight and solid and then look at how you want to improve it for what you do wether it be mostly road, greenlaning, full off road or farm hack.
 
monkfish24 said:
Im with Turboman on this one, Im on my second series 3 petrol, I have overdrive fitted and get to 70mph on an open a road (it also has weber carb, kenlowe fan and more modern ignition system which helps) my last one didnt and got to 60 quite happily (clocked by Turboman's ninety funnily enough!)

Stick with the petrol and service it, full service including valve adjustment and timing, nlt just oil and filters and get used to that. The series is fun to drive but has its limitations and modifying it with RR parts will create even more.

Your better off building on what you have now, get it all straight and solid and then look at how you want to improve it for what you do wether it be mostly road, greenlaning, full off road or farm hack.
Click to expand...

IIRC when we were doing sixty, your speedo only read 45mph. Could be contributing to OPs issue as well.

And I don't know if claims based on Ninety speedos can be considered as official. Speedos on those are often innacurate too! :D
Don't think mine is too bad, though! :)
 
Turboman said:
IIRC when we were doing sixty, your speedo only read 45mph. Could be contributing to OPs issue as well.

And I don't know if claims based on Ninety speedos can be considered as official. Speedos on those are often innacurate too! :D
Don't think mine is too bad, though! :)
Click to expand...

I seem to remember using my phones GPS after that and the top speed I ever got was 62! The 109 speedo is a bit more steady so I think it is a bit closer in speed.
 
alfie dobson said:
they only did 52mph new./ I think you would need an overdrive to do 60mph
Click to expand...
55-60mph should be easy from a standard good running 2.25 petrol. Mine on 7.50's has pulled 65mph on the speedo before, so due to the larger tyre size was actually going faster. GPS verified that the speedo under reads. I wouldn't advise sitting at that speed for long (over revving the engine a tad), nor will it maintain it if there is a slight hill. But 60mph is perfectly doable.
 
So...to get back to the landy restoration. As a londstanding series driver I agree totally with Bobstickle. I'd avoid doing all the fandango conversions with RR bits etc. Get it road legal with authentic S3 parts and chug around for a while. There's nothing worse than a period landy all pimped up to look like something it isn't. Good luck...you've got three years to get the job done!
 
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