ADVICE: Africa Adventure!!

Hi Guys!

I need some advice! I am now the proud owner of a 1975 2.25 Litre Series III and wanted to ask some questions! I am South African but work on a yacht in Monaco! The vehicle is back in SA with my parents who are getting anxious to sell the vehicle as they say I would be throwing good money after bad if I wanted to keep it and restore it! But I am holding out as I love this old thing thats been restored twice and owned by my grandfather and my father!

So now you know the background here are my questions:

1. Can this particular Land Rover be converted to an up to date mean machine with a moderate budget? I.e. better fuel consumption, power steering, better suspension and other smaller mods + a large amount of TLC?

2. I have heard of a Ford or Chevy V8 conversion for a Land Rover? Worth it?

3. Do you agree with my father that I'm throwing good money after bad?

4. Do you think an this type of Land Rover in original form would be a good vehicle to due a Cape Town to Cairo Trip? What about doing it in a modified version?

Thats my questions for now! Thanks for the help!

Cheers

HI and welcome,

difficult choice sail around the med or work under a rusty landy!!
1. most people would put a discovery 200tdi in, ssupension can be sorted easily with parabolics
2. personally i would stick with landrover if things go wrong easier for parts having all one make
3. we all do that just need the money and pateince
4. have a look for rusty rhinos safari Rhino Project

Sound good to me Series Land Rovers are rarely worth the money you throw at them....but thats not the point in it all...they are great cars and you can get a lot of satisfaction from rebuilding/modifying and a great lot of fun. It's not wasting money - go for it!

In original form it makes a great expedition vehicle in my opinion!

Parabolics make for a nice ride but I have heard from some that they can sag when laden (i.e going on a long trip with all your gear might not be a good idea). I went for HD springs and shocks on my SWB to make sure that they can take the pounding!

I don't think you're going to improve the fuel consumption by fitting a larger petrol V8 engine. A 200Tdi is what you need - good on fuel and more than enough power for a leaf sprung Land-Rover, in fact for a trip like that it might be worth turning down the turbo boost to reduce the chance of blowing up the old series transmission. I think doing a trip like that in a leaf sprung Land-Rover would be an excellent adventure, something I'd like to do myself at some point.

My pennys worth.

1 you wont get the series to a modern mean machine on a budget.

2 a v8 conversion in my opinion is not so good for that application, especially a chevy, a rover v8 possibly, a 200tdi much better.

3 Yes i agree with your dad your throwing good after well not so good, most landy owners know that, its not allways about the cash, if it is then buy an L200.

4 cape town to cairo would be fabtastic in a series yes, i bet you wouldnt be the first.