Newbie

Hi. I am fancying a series 3 land rover, I have wanted one for quite a while to be honest. I understand about what to look for when buying one and am not worried by working on the car, at the moment I have an MG Midget which has taught me a lot about classic cars.
All I really want to know is, how bad do they rust? When talking to a number of people they recommend not to get one because of how much they rust. However, I do not see how this could really be any different from any other classic car.
What are they like to live with as an every day car? By every day car I don't mean going miles and miles, just reliability so when I need it I can get in and go.
And finally, I shall be looking at spending around £1500 on one, would this get me decent one?
Cheers

Just got my first Series (a 2a), and it can't really be compared to anything else on the driving front. Maintainance wise, if you can fix a Midget, you'll cope with a Land Rover. And you will always be fixing something... Rust? Only really everything underneath and the bulkhead.... Search this forum, all the info is already on here. Everything can be fixed/replaced readily - with time and money. £1500 will get you a runner in need of work. But search, search and thrice search on here and on Google - it's all out there! And welcome, if it suits you, you'll love owning it.

Chassis and bulkheads can rust. If you are handy with a MIG then the chassis is not so much of a concern as the bulk head. The latter can be quite fiddly to repair.
I just keep mine well oiled and undersealed. Its lasted 50 years so they can't be that bad if you keep and eye on them. Both chassis and bulkheads can be bought off the shelf though at a price.

As for reliability - mine has never failed to complete a journey in 20 years including several continental trips. They tend to slog on even when they are totally knackered. If you know your way around carbs, points, (Petrols) and the basics you can always fix it at the side of the road if something goes. Be prepared to do spannering though as there is always something that needs fixing although as stated jobs rarely keep them off the road.

But be warned - they are slow and thirsty and can't be rushed. I have a series 2A and it was my only car for at least 4 years. Wound me up sometimes when I was in a rush or had a long journey.

I certainly would not be without mine - Its by far the best machine I have owned in terms of laugh factor, lugging junk, taking your mates down the pub, getting stuck and turning heads. 20 years of ownership must say something.

As for price. When I bought mine, S2s and 3s were banger money. Its seems that in recent years prices have shot up. Not sure what you would get now for 1500 quid but as stated - as long as the bulkhead and chassis aren't crumbling go for it. Everything else can be fixed with an old coat hanger, a hammer and bits of string.

Good luck.

Ok, cheers for the advice

Can only repeat what's been said keep your spanners to hand, had few probs with mine but always made it home. My s3 cost 1500 and is pretty good haven't found any rust that's worth talking about everything else is easily fixed or replaced.
Shop around there are good ones about. Enjoy.

Deegan said:

Can only repeat what's been said keep your spanners to hand, had few probs with mine but always made it home. My s3 cost 1500 and is pretty good haven't found any rust that's worth talking about everything else is easily fixed or replaced.
Shop around there are good ones about. Enjoy.

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is rust ever worth talking about:lol::lol: they all have it

hi paid just over £600 on ebay for mine non runner got it runing and moted for a few hundred more bit a welding swearing a lot weekends at her but love it to bits , the things like a meccano set most of it is bolt on and ther isnt much or anything you cant replace

on the rust front i have a classic mini. when im on the mini forum i see some amazing feats from people who dont want to shell out for panels so make there own generally stuff like boot floors, inner arches, floor plans non external panels so patching a square box section chassis is no probs. once again the bulkhead is more fiddly but you can get repair panels and it shouldn't be too hard to make it look good. youl love it i had my series 2 in the family and then i got my mini and the difference in engine bay extra room if massive so now i love jumping up on to the wing of my s2 to do a job.

lapider said:

on the rust front i have a classic mini. when im on the mini forum i see some amazing feats from people who dont want to shell out for panels so make there own generally stuff like boot floors, inner arches, floor plans non external panels so patching a square box section chassis is no probs. once again the bulkhead is more fiddly but you can get repair panels and it shouldn't be too hard to make it look good. youl love it i had my series 2 in the family and then i got my mini and the difference in engine bay extra room if massive so now i love jumping up on to the wing of my s2 to do a job.

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used to do minis meself wich is where i learned most of my pannel beating and metal bashing skills
heres a couple of pics of the last ever one i did





took me 2 years to build that bugger

Good work with the Mini!

In answer to the OP's question - they are pretty awful to drive until your used to them....but theya re also kind of addictive to drive. Well shortish distances anyway.

If rust worries you, for about £2k you will probably find one on a galvanised chassis. Aside from any needed bulkhead repair, it would just be a case of spannering then. That's the routre I took because I can't weld.

if you want a modicum of comfort i suggest you buy a 109 rather than an 88" either length with a standard 2.25 petrol engine will be thirsty compared to your Midget, a good 2.25 diesel is reputed to be capable of 30mpg or even more when driven for economy

the diesel is pretty sluggish but once rolling will cruise around 45-50mph with just a little extra in reserve (my mates 109 diesel will sit on the m'way at 55), the petrol can be quite a nippy engine, is quiet and can barely be heard running on tickover but 21-22mpg is just about the best you can expect, start racing it away and going above 50-55mph and you will lose mpg quite rapidly

the rust is nothing compared to the suffering the last midget i had to glue back together although landrovers can rot quite badly, my 109 chassis wasn't too bad when i bought it but i still had both dumbirons to rebuild, two outriggers to replace, the rear of the chassis rails to rebuild and a new rear crossmember to fit (plus a couple of small patches to let in), on top of all that i had to rebuild a bulkhead

i did look at a couple of 109s prior to buying this one where the chassis rails were literally collapsing in my hands, they'd turned to dust that was only held together by rust and all the steelwork behind any aluminium was crumbling, this problem isn't restricted to 109s, 88's can be just as bad so take a very good look at anything you potentially want and take a good screwdriver and a hammer to poke and bang with, don't just rely on looking

once you find the one you want you'll not regret it as they're measured in Smiles Per Mile, mine are my daily drivers i don't have a modern car of any form, today i used my 109 for a 220 mile round trip to collect another escort for a friend (hauled it back on a trailer for him)

oh and i've fitted 200tdi's into my ones

Hi good advice from everybody, after owning a series 3 swb for 14 years all i can add is get some decent seats if it's going to be your daily drive, the furthest i took mine was to turkey great memories but now have moved on to coils as i'm not getting any younger lol, definatley an aqquired taste but addictive.