1973 Series III - questions from a novice!

Hi all,

I recently bought myself this lovely 1973 Series III 88" on eBay. It's a petrol 4 cylinder. Got a decent price for it and, whilst it needs some work, is in relatively good condition, mechanically speaking. I'm a total novice to working on cars, but have been reading up Land Rover Series (I have a lot of books on them!) since I decided to fulfil a life long ambition to own one earlier this year. I want to do as much of the work as possible on the car, but don't have the equipment or knowledge to do the more complicated stuff.

I'm going to be using it for the odd, short trip to rugby (5 miles) and trips out with the dog, once, maybe twice a week.

It failed its MOT the other day (as expected) as there are a few things, mostly minor, wrong with it. The little things were things like lights, indicators and registration plate lamps not working or missing and the battery was insecure. Tires were all knackered too. My plan is to do much of this work myself (with help from you guys when required!) and let a local garage do the bigger things. I've highlighted some questions in red below, and would be very grateful if someone could let me know their thoughts.

The big things were:

• 3.7.B.1 - service brake is causing the steering wheel to severely pull one way;
• 3.7.B.1 - front brake binding (both sides);
• 7.2.3 - fuel tank leaking; and
• 7.1.2 - exhaust has a major leak of exhaust gases (front and rear).

I have found a local, family owned garage that has a good reputation and they reckoned the exhaust was a relatively easy fix. I asked them to take a look at all the brakes, not just the ones that failed, and they estimated an hour for the front and an hour for the back - is that realistic? Their price per hour is £60 - is that good/average/bad? I've no idea, my other cars are all newish and I've never had to take one in for work before. I live in the South East, in between London and Brighton if that effects the price per hour.

**UPDATE** I have actually removed the fuel tank myself and found the leak. The metal surrounding the plug at the bottom appears to have had some work done on it before, maybe for a previous leak. The fuel is dripping (slowly) out of the welded area. I've done some reading and the concensus seems to be that it's knackered and needs replacing. Is this one (http://www.paddockspares.com/552174-swb-and-lwb-front-fill-fuel-tank.html) any good?

Time is tricky to estimate, brakes binding is likely to be seized wheel cylinders and/or poor adjustment.

Pulling to one side probably a leaking wheel cylinder which needs cleaning up and a new seal kit or replacing along with new brake shoes.

Probably best to just replace slave and shoes on both fronts and clean up and investigate the rears.

It can all turn into a bit of a PITA if bleed nipples and brakes lines start snapping but needs sorting properly so if your not confident get the garage to go through them properly and try not to cry at the cost then you can begin to learn how to maintain.

By the time they need doing again you'll be a fully qualified mechanic

Wot he said ^^^^

depending on budget, and on how original you want the vehicle, you might consider upgrading the front brakes to discs.....

I use paddocks for some of our spares, and they tend to be pretty good, with decent customer service. They can be busy sometimes, which is a good thing..... For the money, a new tank is your best way forward IMHO - if you treat it properly with Dinitrol/Bilt Hamber stuff, it will outlive you.

If the brake pipes are getting to the end of their life, then replace them all and be done with it IME - Kits are available from companies on the web with good reputations....

Oh, and Welcome Aboard

Thanks for the comments, much appreciated. Apologies for the slow reply, been in Africa with no internet.