Series III - Even older more masochistic Land Rover Content

I attached the truck cab last week, but there was still little bits to do to get it to the stage where I can use it over the winter.

Inner wing splash guards have been painted and installed and I've painted the bare footwells. They were zinc coated steel so needed a coat of something to protect them. I had loads of chassis paint left and as it has a rust encapsulator built in, I thought I may as well use it. It can be overcoated at a later date with whatever I like so it makes sense. I took opportunity to give the bulkhead a coat too to protect it over the winter. It will get painted next year along with the rest of it in Bronze Green. 

Last thing to do was install the outer sills. 

Great to hear mark

Job jobbed. Excellent work!

As I was playing golf on Sunday morning, the inescapable sound of a Rover V8 could be heard in the distance. I was at the bit of the course which runs parallel with a nice piece of winding B road and when the noise finally burst into sight, it was a Black Land Rover 110 and a Green Defender 90 I think - they both looked fully kitted out for off roading but were obviously enjoying the B road blast. They were both V8's too!

There were a few comments. People could see it was brand new underneath and it made a noise when it arrived.

Thanks. I sold the wheels it came on (15x8) and bought some 16x7 offset ones and fitted 235/85 16 which is a very common upgrade for a Series as its close to the old 7.50 16.

I was away this weekend with some like minded Series Land Rover enthusiasts on a green laning trip.

I organised the route for the first part where we traveled to Crook near Windermere via as many green lanes as possible.  We stayed for two nights.  The first day in The Lakes was spent green laning our way around Windermere, which was great fun and a hard test for the vehicles.

The next day was spent wandering down to Malham in Yorkshire, again via as many lanes as possible and staying overnight at the YHA, before heading home.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself and it gave the Land Rover a good shakedown.  It desperately needs a bigger radiator.  I am thinking of putting a 200TDi radiator in as it incorporates an oil cooler too.  The soft top hood sticks can't come soon enough as the heat soak from the engine and exhaust meant sauna like temperatures in the cab, even with all the windows and vents open.  Sadly, it is also going to need a gearbox rebuild and possibly a transfer box rebuild too.  I can buy the basic rebuild kit for both for £120 so I will remove the 'boxes and take them apart to see what has failed.  I suspect a couple of bearings as they started to scream like mad on the way home yesterday and it was debatable whether it would get me home or not!

Despite that, I thoroughly enjoyed myself and to be fair, I hadn't touched the transmission other than to renew a seal!

That looks great fun. Did you encounter any stroppy walkers?

Can I ask a stupid question? What are soft top sticks? Will yours then have a full soft top?

Sounds like you had a lot of fun Mark, glad you’re enjoying it.

Looks like a great trip.

I've got the gearbox all disconnected and ready to drop out when I can get a little help from a friend.  The reason for the noise was that the transfer box tried to make an escape! 


When I drained the oil, a stud complete with nut fell out as well as a lot of metal shavings.  Hopefully just the bearings.  Both boxes are going to get a full rebuild and plenty of loctite on the bolts and studs holding them together!

A friend has donated a gearbox and transfer box. It was sat outside in a field for 4 years and has taken some dismantling, but I am now good to go.

I am going to use the casings of the donated boxes as they are a lot better than mine. I am also going to use the mainshaft and rear bearing flange. My gears are different as I have synchro mesh on all forward gears so I will stick with them.

My garage is a scary mess of bearings, gears and various unidentifiable parts. Gulp!

After a fair few quid ‘ours’ is done. Having seen and paid for the chassis and bulkhead I have a lot of respect for your efforts.