Bog Orfe

Member
Hi All,

I've become the surprised owner of an ex-military Series 3 109" 3/4 tonne utility. Unusually for an ex-MOD vehicle, it is LHD. It's believed to have seen action somewhere in its life because the previous owner, a retired army officer, found a number of spent bullet cases in the nooks and crannies. It appears to have had various colour schemes over the years, originally seems to have been NATO green but has also been sand coloured, so might have been in the desert/Middle East. It also has what appears to be an oil cooler in front of the radiator, which also makes me think it may have served somewhere hot. It is currently green and black camo. It has the 2.25 petrol engine and is 12 volt electrics. Apart from some interesting rear bulkhead repairs using Dexion, it is very original looking. I paid the princely sum of £100 for it, as a non-runner, on condition that it wouldn't be broken for bits. It has spent a number of years dry stored in the previous owner's garage and hasn't been run for about 9 years. Brakes and clutch are but a distant memory. Today, my son and I stuck a battery and jump leads on it, cleaned out the float chamber and connected a temporary petrol supply. There was no spark and the points were in poor shape, so they were sanded up and gap set, as were the plugs cleaned and gapped. We then had sparks but there was not even the slightest attempt to fire up. Much head scratching later, we realised that, although the previous owner had gone to the trouble of labelling all the HT leads, he had inadvertently put them back on the distributor cap in the correct order but started one post away from where he should and also put them in reverse rotational direction. After looking through the oil filler to identify when number 1 should fire, we identified the correct post for the number 1 lead and put the rest in the right order/direction. She fired up first turn! Happy Days! Doesn't sound too bad but there is a slight intermittent misfire. Hoping some new plugs, points and HT leads may cure that. Next jobs will be clutch and brakes, before moving on to the structural repairs. I'm expecting we'll have lots of questions because it's the first Land Rover I've ever had and although my son has a Defender and has worked on lots of those, plus Discos and Freelanders, he's never worked on a Series vehicle.
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Sounds like a bargain and a wonderful project. I wonder if spent bullet casings count as "patina"? Any bullet holes?
The military vehicles often have oil coolers, it was because they would run stationary for long periods as radio vehicles (FFR - fitted for radio)
 
Sounds like a bargain and a wonderful project. I wonder if spent bullet casings count as "patina"? Any bullet holes?
The military vehicles often have oil coolers, it was because they would run stationary for long periods as radio vehicles (FFR - fitted for radio)
This one has some odd switches in the middle of the dash and a bracket on the side that might have been for an antenna, but it is 12 volt and doesn't appear to be an FFR model.
 
THat looks like a very easy resto, rear chassis and a lot of cleaning and waxoiling. Mine is similar and has had a mil rear chasis fitted at some time but it has more cable holes in the bulkhead.
 
THat looks like a very easy resto, rear chassis and a lot of cleaning and waxoiling. Mine is similar and has had a mil rear chasis fitted at some time but it has more cable holes in the bulkhead.
I like the idea of an "easy" resto, but looks can be deceptive. I expect some nasty surprises somewhere along the line. Thankfully, the bulkhead looks pretty sound. The RH A post needs repairs at the bottom. Both lower footwells are full of holes. The door tops are knackered. there are a couple of outriggers that need replacing, along with the rear crossmember/chassis leg ends. The aim, once we've got brakes and clutch, is to tackle the known structural repairs plus any that come to light while doing the above, then use it while doing bits and bobs, as and when.
 
That’s a great looking truck!
Near the town I live in used to be a company called MVS who sold, amongst other stuff ex mod land rovers. There were acres and acres of 109’s and I used to spend hours just looking around them. A few years later, most of them were gone but I did buy my first ex mod 90 from them. Unfortunately, the company no longer exists and all the landrovers are long gone....
Anyway, I’ll shut up and wish you all the best with your Land Rover. Looking forward to updates!
Rich
 
Wow, that would make a great
Intro thread! :p;)

£100 you lucky man. I think she will come up nice, and you will be pie-hot at welding by time your done :D
 
Absolutely beautiful! I can see many happy hours ahead, plus a few frustrations, as you learn about Landys and work on the restoration. Absolutely everything is available to help with the resto and you can find out about her military history on a number of forums if you Google it. Mine was built in 1984 and served with the military until 1998 but appears to have had only two years active service and that was with 101 Field Regiment which is, or was, a TA artillery unit, so not a lot of use.
 
Absolutely beautiful! I can see many happy hours ahead, plus a few frustrations, as you learn about Landys and work on the restoration. Absolutely everything is available to help with the resto and you can find out about her military history on a number of forums if you Google it. Mine was built in 1984 and served with the military until 1998 but appears to have had only two years active service and that was with 101 Field Regiment which is, or was, a TA artillery unit, so not a lot of use.
I'm not sure what year this one is. She was civilian registered with a W (80-81) plate. Might be that is the year of manufacture and she's been issued with an age-related number. I might try looking it up on the DVLA database.
 
The switch panel in the dash center usualy is for convoy lights,you may find the rear diff case is painted white to aid visibility for following vehicle while running in a lights out action.
 
The switch panel in the dash center usualy is for convoy lights,you may find the rear diff case is painted white to aid visibility for following vehicle while running in a lights out action.
The rear diff casing is rust coloured
https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/defender-90.343586/#post-4513223

Try this, was spoke about other day,
Check vin it will tell you age

J
I tried this but my VIN (on the reg document) doesnt seem to have 17 characters, so it comes up invalid. I'll check on the vehicle tomorrow. Will it be under the bonnet, or on the plate on the side of the seat base box?

In the meantime, I checked out its civilian reg on the DVLA site, which gives a first reg in 1996, year of manufacture 1980.
 
I tried this but my VIN (on the reg document) doesnt seem to have 17 characters, so it comes up invalid. I'll check on the vehicle tomorrow. Will it be under the bonnet, or on the plate on the side of the seat base box

Did you look at the second link from @Turboman in the post I linked to.

Or try this it may help

http://www.glencoyne.co.uk/chassis.htm

Had a quick look at this, I believe things changed a bit around 79/80 as regards numbers. So you may have a 79.

Where the stamped number on the chassis is, as far as I am aware they only stamped them on the front chassis leg. Forward of the axle.
Drivers side if it’s RHD.
The plate where ever usually underbonnet should show same number.

J
 
Did you look at the second link from @Turboman in the post I linked to.

Or try this it may help

http://www.glencoyne.co.uk/chassis.htm

Had a quick look at this, I believe things changed a bit around 79/80 as regards numbers. So you may have a 79.

Where the stamped number on the chassis is, as far as I am aware they only stamped them on the front chassis leg. Forward of the axle.
Drivers side if it’s RHD.
The plate where ever usually underbonnet should show same number.

J
 

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