I was staying with family over the weekend. My relatives know a local farmer and had mentioned to him that I was rebuilding a Series 3 Land Rover.

It turns out that he has this one at the corner of one of his fields. It's a 1975 88" 2 1/4 Petrol. Looking at it, it looks very original and hasn't been modified much.

Apparently it had been taxed, MOT'd and road legal until a few years ago. Since it failed it was SORNed and used as a shooting vehicle on the farm. A few months ago part of a barn roof collapsed on it. This buckled the roof and smashed the driver's side windscreen pane as can be seen in the photos.

According to the farmer it was driven under its own power to where it is now. He said if he had time this week he connect a battery and see if it would start. He also said he would look for the documentation.

The chassis and bulkhead looked like they were mostly ok from the quick look I had. It has had a new rear cross member welded on fairly recently (perhaps in the last 10 years).

I did consider taking a week off work and going over there to do as much work as I could to hopefully get it through an MOT. Then I could drive it home if it is actually running. The farm has MIG welding kit on site, so the chassis could be patched if possible.

Am I right that this vehicle would be tax exempt from April 2015 under the new rules?

afaik it should be

I have been thinking what I will need to do if I go and work to get this Landy road legal. I've probably missed some, so feel free to add suggestions.

1) Check chassis for holes.

2) Patch any bad areas.

3) Replace windscreen glass.

4) Fit new driver's side wiper.

5) Swap roof for undamaged one.

6) Swap seat belt reels (the ones on it looked quite frayed).

7) Check brake mechanisms on all wheels.

8) Replace brake and clutch pipes.

9) Drain, refill and bleed hydraulic systems for brakes and clutch.

10) Check handbrake works.

11) Change engine oil and filter, as well as air cleaner oil.

12) Drain and refill differential and gearbox oils.

13) Grease any grease nipples.

14) Check that all lights, horn, wipers and washer work.

15) Check tyre condition, treads and pressures.

16) Take to MOT station and hope it passes.

17) if it passes, tax, insure and drive home.

What would the rules on emissions be for this vehicle? As it is still currently classed as a "modern" vehicle, would it need to pass a 2014 standard emissions test?

What is the situation for the owners of Post-1974 Series vehicles?

Depends if its before or after august 1975 if before then so long as there's not too much blue smoke and it never gets so smoky that you can't see to overtake it should pass.

Personally I'd get it home before messing too much with the brakes, so long as it has some meat left on the shoes and the adjusters work I'd just run it round the farm to clean all the rust out of the drums and then adjust them up. Handbrake similar - handbrakes should not be tested on the rolling road! I'd just check for leaks and only replace the fluid if it looks really bad. As soon as you start trying to bleed the brakes you'll be into the broken bleed nipple -> new cylinder -> new brake line world of pain...

You must insure before you drive to the MOT! You don't need tax but you must insure the vehicle.

D

personally i'd buy it as it stands rather than getting it fixed and mot'd....

the reason being is YOU are going to be putting the effort into getting it road legal, once road legal the value of it at least doubles which is when you get the problem of buying it

the farmer may decide he wants to keep it to run to the local village or feed his sheep etc', if not that then he may decide it's worth £2.5k and expect you to part with that sum

at this point you've given up a weeks wages and supplied a week of free labour to put money in his pocket

honestly, if it was me i'd try to agree a value as it stands and buy it if i thought it was a project worth taking on and then possibly negotiate space and tools to do the necessary repairs where it is so that you can mot it to drive home

don't be getting into big discussions "of it'll only take this to fix" or "it'll only take me a couple of days", the less said the better for your wallet (unless you like giving time and money away) AND, most projects take twice as long as initially thought they would

it's up to you but from what little i looked at it could be a promising project, just use your head when it comes to negotiations

looking at the pedals i'll take a wild guess that all the hydraulics need a good seeing to