Series 3 1980 109" Ex-Fire Engine

Hi all...

Not posted on here in about 10 years since I picked up my 2011 Defender 90 which is still going strong, it's taken me this long to acquire my second Land Rover - A 1980 Series 3 Ex Fire Engine.

It doesn't look much like a fire engine anymore unfortunately, It was in the hands of an enthusiast who sadly passed away before he could restore it, it then ended up with a gentleman who converted it to a pickup and painted it green, this due to the Fire Engine shell itself being rotten and beyond repair, and with a view to flipping it following some repairs, made it have a slightly wider appeal. He completed a full engine rebuild on an engine with just 9k miles on the clock.

Some of its history has been retained, most notably it's original call sign still being scribbled above the windscreen and it carrying a '999' number plate. It still has it's original wheels and truck tyres, which do need to go as they're hard as bricks!

I have managed to drag up a bit of history on it, It was supplied new from Land Rover in Matt White (Primer) to Banbridge who undertook the conversion to a fire tender and painted it red. It then went off to West Glamorgan Fire Service who were to keep it in active service until March 1998 when it transferred to Mid and West Wales Fire Brigade.

The grand plan with this is to eventually return it to Red, fit a full soft top with sideways facing bench seats in the back. It will serve as a bit of a day van for me, the wife, kids and dog as we've outgrown the 90 for those sorts of outings. It will be a bit of a slow burner this one, but ideally on the road for next summer!

I can't seem to find a definitive answer on what Red, if anyone has any info I'd love to hear it, I'm leaning towards Cherry Red as the moment.

I've probably left a few things out but Let me know your thoughts!

This is how she looked pre-conversion. Shame more wasn't retained.

It must be fire engine red.

So reached my first stumbling block with this which I need some forum help with...

One of the issues it came with was an ignition that was permanently on, as if the keys clicked 1 click round at all times, fine once started but requires the battery to be disconnected for it to turn off.

Has anyone got any suggestions on where to start investigating this, there's no shorts which I can find, but anything which may have failed?

Ignition switch wired correctly?

nathanglasgow said:

Ignition switch wired correctly?

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Or shorted ... and the colour should be the same as the wheels, which after all this time will only give an idea ...

Where was she based, do you know, maybe they have some records ?

Have you contacted Gaydon, they might have some info ?

Dippypud said:

same as the wheels, which after all this time will only give an idea ...

Where was she based, do you know, maybe they have some records ?

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I'll have another look in some proper sunlight and see if I can shed some light on it, my first look seemed to suggest it was okay mind.

She was based in Wales, but no records of what it was painted, the build records from Gaydon only show it as Matt White. My brief internet research suggests that coach builders seemed to paint them whatever red they had lying around. It's still the original red on bits of the interior too but it's all so faded as well.

There's some info which came with it which states it's a 'Banbridge' fire tender, but I can't find any info on them either, googling only brings up the auction for this vehicle from which the previous owner brought it.

the thing with fire engines is the are often repainted with what ever red paint is in workshops at the time,
we have used post office red or ford radiant red on our older fire engines

Well I'm useless at keeping this up to date!
Not any huge updates but I've replaced the brake servo and master cylinder (Clevis pin removal was a pig!), two wires were attached wrong on the back on the ignition barrel so ignition problem is solved, so mechanically, I think she's pretty sound now - for now.

So onto the cosmetics. I'm going full soft top, windscreen to back, so I'm on the lookout for some roll hoops (if anyone knows of any going, I'd be interested). I'm repainting her red, as it's going to be nie on impossible to know the original colour, I'm going to get some samples of red done and basically see what I like, then it will be a full strip down and repainted by myself, doesn't need to be perfect, and the dents are being retained!

Does anyone know where I could find some old images of welsh fire services in the 80's? I'd love to try and find some images or info on it when it was in service, but my efforts haven't resulted in much.
I've got the detail on how it left Land Rover, and I've contacted Mid-West Wales Fire Service but they have no records for vehicles off fleet apparently.

Cheeky picture of both Land Rovers below!

try contacting the fspg they may have the records

Excellent thank you for that, I've just done that now. Didn't know they existing so very useful!

TomR91 said:

I'm repainting her red, as it's going to be nie on impossible to know the original colour

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If you are going to paint her red it has to be masai red. it might not be the original fire engine red but you have said you cannot find what that was. At least masai red is an original series colour. It will also make your vehicle far superior to everyone else that has a boring blue or green one!

dag019 said:

If you are going to paint her red it has to be masai red. it might not be the original fire engine red but you have said you cannot find what that was. At least masai red is an original series colour. It will also make your vehicle far superior to everyone else that has a boring blue or green one!

View attachment 254981

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I'm with you, I've got samples of Masai and Fire Engine Red on order with Jawel, my mini Christmas project for myself is to decide.
I've also ordered a sample of fire cracker red as something a little different - as it seems we have no way of knowing, it's kind of a free pass!

Yours looks ace by the way.

In other news, I've contacted the fspg but had no reply, are they pretty active?
Any other avenues or resourced I could try? I was hopeful there was a 1980s annual of welsh fire engines lurking somewhere.

there is another organisation called the fire brigade society, but if the wheel rims are origanel they would be the correct colour

badfluffy said:

there is another organisation called the fire brigade society, but if the wheel rims are origanel they would be the correct colour

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Fab thank you, I'll give them a shout.
Yes, wheels are original, just a bit faded is all. Insides of the doors is the same too, original but faded.

have you tried cutting the paint back with a rubbing compound then getting the local paint suppliers to scan it , remembering that it would have origanly been enamel or cellulose

I haven't you know, bit of a daft thing not to try!!

TomR91 said:

I haven't you know, bit of a daft thing not to try!!

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If you are going to cut back I would start with a door as the inside of the door is likely to have had less sun/uv fading than the wheels, red likes to fade to pink in the sun very quickly.

dag019 said:

If you are going to cut back I would start with a door as the inside of the door is likely to have had less sun/uv fading than the wheels, red likes to fade to pink in the sun very quickly.

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Yes I'll be giving that a go after christmas and see how it comes up.

In other news, The FBS have got back in touch with me already with some further details, so I'm pursuing those leads to see what I can drum up on it's history.

So today I’ve taken a trip up to Manchester and got my hands on a full set of hood hoops. Torn wether to paint them or galvanise them but I’ll get round to that in due course.

Next task is to get my hands on a cheap hood which I can stick on it while I’m working on it, way to early to be putting something decent on it I think.