Have a 1981 series 3 swb diesel which has just been used around the farm for the last 10 years since it started having problems. Decided it was time to think about whether it will be left to fall to pieces or do something about it.
The reason it came off the road was because the clutch was slipping. i suspect this was due to oil leaking into the clutch. Certainly today i was poking around and confirmed oil drippimg from the clutch housing drain. This probably has a lot to do with the fact it puffs like a steam train from any available leak on the engine, which is usually around the oil fill cap. take it off and you are fast engulfed in grey smoke. Considerable more than from the exhaust. Couldnt get any water to condense on cold metal, so it isnt steam. Engine compartment is well oiled.
Aside from that, it starts well and chuggs along relentlessly. Couldnt say what the power output is as it never does anything demanding.
Any thoughts?
Now apart from this little engine problem, there is the chassis. All the outriggers are terminally rusty, varying from awful to non existent. The fuel tank looks suspiciously like nothing is holding it up one end. In the past it had a new rear quarter section. the remaining chassis above the rear axles is looking thin, one side is holed where the bump stop ought to be but both seem flaky here and there. The new rear end is also thoroughly holed. It might be possible to replace the back with a new rear half since the engine area is generally in better nick, somewhat protected by the various oil leaks. A new half seems to fit against the cross member just behind the rear of the fuel tank. The rear fuel tank outrigger is gone and the frame behind is a little holed. The cross member is ok, but hard to say what is hiding behind the fuel tank.
Apart from that, the front ends where the bumper bolts in is rusting, though it doesnt look as though the spring mounts are currently compromised significantly strength wise. One of the outriggers forward of the fuel tank is rusted away and the chassis side behind holed, revealing some interestingly melted looking wiring. The outriggers under the bulhead certainly arent holding it up, and naturally the door pillars are rusting. nice view of the ground beside the pedals.
So thats a bit of background. I'll try to post some pictures shortly once I figure out which way up they are and which is what. My original reason for posting was to ask what a good chassis ought to look like? I mean, its construction. This one clearly looks like the bottom is made of steel strip welded either side and it sticks out a little here and there from a true square section. Is this plating which has been added in the past, or is it how the chassis would have been made originally? If it has been added, then I'd judge things are even worse than they appear.
Oh, then there is the grinding sometimes getting into reverse, which might be the sticky clutch, and someone once said the rear differential had lost a tooth, accounting for an occasional nasty clunk when going backwards.
The reason it came off the road was because the clutch was slipping. i suspect this was due to oil leaking into the clutch. Certainly today i was poking around and confirmed oil drippimg from the clutch housing drain. This probably has a lot to do with the fact it puffs like a steam train from any available leak on the engine, which is usually around the oil fill cap. take it off and you are fast engulfed in grey smoke. Considerable more than from the exhaust. Couldnt get any water to condense on cold metal, so it isnt steam. Engine compartment is well oiled.
Aside from that, it starts well and chuggs along relentlessly. Couldnt say what the power output is as it never does anything demanding.
Any thoughts?
Now apart from this little engine problem, there is the chassis. All the outriggers are terminally rusty, varying from awful to non existent. The fuel tank looks suspiciously like nothing is holding it up one end. In the past it had a new rear quarter section. the remaining chassis above the rear axles is looking thin, one side is holed where the bump stop ought to be but both seem flaky here and there. The new rear end is also thoroughly holed. It might be possible to replace the back with a new rear half since the engine area is generally in better nick, somewhat protected by the various oil leaks. A new half seems to fit against the cross member just behind the rear of the fuel tank. The rear fuel tank outrigger is gone and the frame behind is a little holed. The cross member is ok, but hard to say what is hiding behind the fuel tank.
Apart from that, the front ends where the bumper bolts in is rusting, though it doesnt look as though the spring mounts are currently compromised significantly strength wise. One of the outriggers forward of the fuel tank is rusted away and the chassis side behind holed, revealing some interestingly melted looking wiring. The outriggers under the bulhead certainly arent holding it up, and naturally the door pillars are rusting. nice view of the ground beside the pedals.
So thats a bit of background. I'll try to post some pictures shortly once I figure out which way up they are and which is what. My original reason for posting was to ask what a good chassis ought to look like? I mean, its construction. This one clearly looks like the bottom is made of steel strip welded either side and it sticks out a little here and there from a true square section. Is this plating which has been added in the past, or is it how the chassis would have been made originally? If it has been added, then I'd judge things are even worse than they appear.
Oh, then there is the grinding sometimes getting into reverse, which might be the sticky clutch, and someone once said the rear differential had lost a tooth, accounting for an occasional nasty clunk when going backwards.
