Learning curve ahoy!

So, Landy ownership starts here.

Moving from the SE to the wild hills of Herefordshire last year gave us a need for something with four paws dragging it about. A brief dalliance with a P-reg Shogun reminded me exactly why I don't tend to go for plastic-and-electronic Japanese "sensible" vehicles (see also: username). When that died the other month, we started to briefly consider something more in keeping with the Meccano-ness of the rest of the fleet.

An infatuation with an ad for an airportable ended rapidly with the realisation that not only was it effectively on the dark side of the moon, but the vendor was a mouth-breather of the first order, so the search started. After trawling umpteen ads (do LRO _ever_ remove ads for Sold vehicles from their site?) and having a look at a couple of utter disappointments, we've just been a couple of miles down the road and found an utterly lovely, totally un-fiddled-with 1980 88" SW. 42k miles from being bought new in the next town, and a service book fully stamped up (albeit with 17yrs between 27k and 36k services!)

No MOT, of course, and a list of (noticed) issues that mean I need to arrange a trailer to collect it. One crunchy outrigger and very sticky-bindy brakes are the biggest jobs, but it's definitely not charging and it needs a damn good service.

So... the learning curve ahead is steep enough to have me selecting mental low range. My toolbox is entirely metric. I know nothing about who to avoid when buying parts. Educate me, new friends, educate me...

Adrian

PS - to forestall the inevitable - yes, pics to come when it gets collected. But, to keep you all happy...

Go to the introduce your self, some people get annoyed if you don't!
But I belive one can simply not educate another about the problems that you will face, as it will be differnt on every car.
I guess, grinder, metric and imperial spanner and socket sets (e.g my landy has a random assortment of both, I think all do!)
A variety of hammers, check the bulkhead and rear crossmember for rust, wd40 and penetrating fluid are useful, at some point you will need a welder if you keep it for any length of time I imangine.
Also tell us what engine you have, that makes problem solving easier
Do you understand the leavers and knobs?
Also I can't really tell but I have a feeling your front axle isn't standard ( I know it has non standard wheels and extended arches) but looking at the hubs, I don't recognise them!
Brakes are easy ish to work on, to replace the shoes and springs a small ratchet strap can be useful ( I'll explain when you have the dum off)
Apart from some extras you have that arnt to my taste, you have what appears to be a nice landy!

Cheers! It's a 2.25 petrol, and sounds sweet as anything.

ben waine said:

Apart from some extras you have that arnt to my taste

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Coming soon to eBay - one shiny bullbar, and what appears to be a Metro steering wheel...

Welcome!

Looks a nice Landy your getting there. Given the age it may have a 5 main bearing engine too. (Can tell by terracotta colour and webbing pattern on casing)

Avoid anything made by Britpart as a general rule as it probably won't fit without a big hammer or will break after 3 hours use otherwise.

Cloth seats? You'll be telling us that it has a coat hanger for an aerial too?

Land Raver said:

Given the age it may have a 5 main bearing engine too. (Can tell by terracotta colour and webbing pattern on casing)

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It was first registered November '80, so could go either way, I think? It's very very oily at the moment - rocker cover gasket is high on the list of work...

Yes, I'd picked up on BritParts "reputation"... AllMakes are the other one that seems to come in as the cheap option - what are they like?

As for the cloth... Mmm. Indeed. The three-abreast all look identical and fit well, so I'm presuming it was originally slightly posh. There's side-facing rear seats and a rear wash-wipe, together with lots of rubber mats and other bits of trim. I gather "County" didn't come in until later, but maybe there was a slightly upmarket option beforehand?

Looks good mate; bfg tyres means p/o wasnt a cheapskate!
Britpart are ok for some things but for important bits that hold fluid in or rotate at high speed, go for genuine or oem mid range parts.
My fave tools are; clarke 240v impact wrench, irwin nut/bolt grip sockets, wd40, breaker bar, bfh, compressor and vac bleeder, grinder with cutting discs and a big towel for the oil !
Good luck, series 3s are the best series vehicles imho, characterful but a little bit more suited to modern driving (a little!).

ronsealdeath said:

My fave tools are; clarke 240v impact wrench, irwin nut/bolt grip sockets, wd40, breaker bar, bfh, compressor and vac bleeder, grinder with cutting discs and a big towel for the oil !

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I'm fairly spanner-competent, with years of mucking about with grown-up Meccano behind me. It's mainly a question of scale here - I'm used to lifting engines out on my own, without a winch! I think that might change...

I know I've got a long-ignored "Dibnah-size" drawer in my toolbox, but have no idea what sizes I'm going to be using on this.

Two sets of imperial spanners, a cheap metric and a good mixed socket set breaker bars. Some extra 7/16" and 1/2" (10mm / 13mm) to carry round in the dash for faffing with electrics/timing. Engine crane is useful but I've done a top-end rebuild with the block in the chassis - you can remove the wings to get pretty good all-round access. Lots of hammers copper, pein-ball and FBHs

The only "big" stuff I've needed is a big adjustable wrench to get the big crank dog off the front of the engine.

Oh, lots of oil...and sand...and more oil

D

won't be long before you need a hub nut spanner too - readily available from most LR parts suppliers. prop shaft nut socket tool also a worthy consideration as you can't get a normal socket on them due to access.

Yes, hub spanner is worthwhile though a chisel can be used at a push, just remember to remove burrs on the back face

...and a good grease gun. There are nipples on both prop shafts and, if you're lucky, on the track rod ends. It's well worth keeping them full of nice clean grease, to avoid rust and failure later. You'll find that you spend a lot of time lying under it, which is easy on a Landy, without needing to jack it up.

Glad to see you've noticed what bits need to be returned to ebay !

As it's registered Nov 1980 I reckon it should be a 5mb engine and you should also have the rationalized axles. June 1980 was supposed to be the changeover date. Looks like it's been garaged most of its life. The dash looks new and not subjected to much uv light.
Looking forward to hearing & seeing more

Land Raver said:

As it's registered Nov 1980 I reckon it should be a 5mb engine

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I think so, but we'll find out when I play hunt-the-engine inside the black hole of bay. The rocker cover leak is... substantial, but I think that's all it is.

and you should also have the rationalized axles

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The what...?

Looks like it's been garaged most of its life.

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Bizarrely, no. What you see in the pic is the result of a day with the local Poles. Armor-All is dripping off the interior. It was, apparently, green with moss and lichen. Last MOT was 2010, and it's lived in a hedge since.

We collect it tomorrow...

TooMany2cvs said:

I think so, but we'll find out when I play hunt-the-engine inside the black hole of bay. The rocker cover leak is... substantial, but I think that's all it is.



The what...?



Bizarrely, no. What you see in the pic is the result of a day with the local Poles. Armor-All is dripping off the interior. It was, apparently, green with moss and lichen. Last MOT was 2010, and it's lived in a hedge since.

We collect it tomorrow...

Click to expand...

Should have 21 or 24 (I forget which) spline half shafts as opposed to earlier 10 spline. Slightly different stub axles and wheel bearing types. These axles can be identified via the slightly offset diff drain plug.

I bet those guys at the Polski wash couldn't believe how much water ended up inside the Landy!

Also twin leading shoe servo assisted front brakes on 88s. My 82 had a 3mb engine tho and a random box and random trans case! You never know with series landies.

Land Raver said:

as you can't get a normal socket on them due to access.

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My skimmed knuckles and bent extension bar beg to differ!

Well, it's home... I've not had a chance to play properly yet, but...

* Lack of charge seems to be due to the fan belt being so slack you can turn the alternator by hand without much
* Off-centre drain plug on the front diff
* Fairey freewheel hubs
* Parabolic springs all round.
* Can't see what colour the block is, or what the engine number is, so don't know (yet) if it's 3 or 5brg.
* Big hole in the driver's side bulkhead that I didn't notice the other day, visible from the front wheel - seems to be on the bottom of a bulge around the brake pedal area?
* Rear hubs seem to be very leaky
* Brakes are VERY over-enthusiastic. Fronts look to be TLS.
* Front swivels are shiny, but leaky
* ...and it won't start! It'd been driven up the field from where we left it on Tuesday, so it's clearly not too fatal.

Still, at least That Bullbar is going to come off easily! Looks like the arch extensions are only held on by a few self-tappers around the lip, too.

you can tell whether its 3 brg or 5 brg block by looking at bottom of block 3brg is smooth 5 brg has ladder effect

Looks smooth along length on manifold side, but a rib above dipstick.
Other side? Black hole of Calcutta...