Daily use of my '72 S3 - crazy?

Afternoon All,

Just wanted to say hello as just signed up. I'm 6 weeks into owning a Series 3 SWB Petrol (1972) and have to say I'm loving it at the moment (though it has been summer and winter I am a bit unsure of!). So, I am using this as a daily runaround - is this crazy considering the age or am I totally sound in mind and simply trusting on mechanics that have seen it run for 40 years already perfectly well? I am not sure yet (but then it is yet to break on me).

I know/knew next to nothing about mechanics 2 months ago but figure if I'm going to learn then this is a great car to do it on. Owning a Landy is brilliant (especially the comraderie on the roads in a world where everyone always seems so miserable!) but I am a bit fearful that I need to get it water/weatherproofed as quickly as possible for a winter of driving it and also to make sure that all the current 'niggles' are assessed and fixed if needed as I can only imagine them getting worse with daily use (previously this has been a hobbyiests car sat in the garage and driving a few hundred miles a year - this year it will probably (hopefully) cover in excess of 10k!)

Great to hear any thoughts or just have some "hello"s back

Andy (in Surrey).

You have no chance whatsoever of getting it weatherproofed, but that is half the fun. Owning a Landy is fun, but get ready for a lot of repairing and maintenance, but be happy in the knowledge that once you have fixed a problem, you'll likely never have to do it again, and I'm hoping that the list of new problems does have an end. Good Luck, stick with it, no matter how close you get to burning it to the ground.

I foolishly used mine daily for 3 years.. it eventually hacked me off.

You won't fix the niggles, you will however, after the hundredth time sat on the side of the road going nowhere be able to identify said niggle at speed. If you're even luckier you might fix it. Weather proofing is definitely out of the question.

I've still got the bloody thing

Haha replies totally in tune with what I was expecting lol I thought the "weatherproofing" dream may have been a bridge too far. I think what I actually meant was "getting it so that water doesn't **** through every seem with the slightest drizzle" and just always keep my sallopettes handy in case things get bad

I relish the 'challenges' it's going to throw at me and just hope I am still so enthusiastic after a winter season

Elwood, I echo your sentiment about the list having an end! I can't not believe that if you systematically fix everything you will eventually have a great car - though no doubt those with far greater experience than me will probably tell me by the time you I have done that a load of other problems will have occured.

Anyway, so far I love it, it is SOOO much fun and I love the amazement on little kids faces when you drive by!

I drive my rover at -20 and -25 below Fahrenheit. It's a drafty ride but mine is a pickup cab so it heats up well. I would rather drive in the cold than the rain because of the leaks in my roof. I gotta ask as well, is there a decent way to rainproof a rover?

Thanks Smilemon ...I have a truck cab and full hard top so could change if I find the heat is too lost with the full top on. Although I figure it would then be a shame that the exposed load area would then not be very useable for anything you want to keep a bit sheltered from the elements. One question, do you have a truck cab that fits snugly to the back where the seats are? I ask as mine overhangs so there is a gap of about an inch between where the truck cab finishes at the back and where the partition is behind the seats - I figured it was perhaps a Defender lid that someone has made do with or whether they were just not designed to fit there?

An 88 needs an adaptor trim bit to fill the gap between cab and tub yours sounds like it's missing. The 109 doesn't need one. I use my diesel 109 ever day for getting to work and as a working vehicle on our smallholding. Yes it messes me about sometimes but it's always easy to fix.

Hughesy, that's very useful mate thanks. Will try to search it out now (any tips for sites that might be useful?).

Great to hear you get a good service from yours. I'm not expecting trouble-free motoring but it's comforting to know other people are getting daily use from such an old work horse!

My series 3 was my daily driver for 2 years. An overdrive and freewheeling hubs were a godsend! Don't bother with trying to weather proof it, i tried and it drove me mad so i fitted a soft top and drove to school in 2 coats and ski mittens during the winter. Then i persuaded my parents to let me buy a 90 and fitted a soft top to it instantly...series landys have a strange effect on people! Still counting the days till i get the series back on the road though

Mine is at its most reliable when it's used regularly. As for waterproofing, replacing the perished seal across the top of the windscreen was a good start. The next move was to fix the leak at the top of the windows 'cos nothing touched properly. With the doors lined up as close as possible (by adjusting the hinges) I applied a thick layer of Sikaflex to the rubber seal where it leaked, covered it in clingfilm, shut the door gently and let it set. Trim off the clingfilm and voila! Dry(er) driving. Make sure the drain hole in the door channel is drilled through and clear, too. Or invest in some motorcycle clothing.
You'll never keep your feet dry, though.

I used my completely original spec 1953 series one all through the snow last winter, the only modification I made was to temporarily wire a spot lamp on a switch as some of the blizzards were interesting, NEVER got stuck, slid around on Avon traction mileage but to be expected and felt safer in her knowing exactly whats going on than in my other modern cars with "traction control" and other electric witchcraft bollocks. Never had a problem with her, she had mardy days and so on but trust worthy old landies are, basic, cold, damp and noisy but I would rather be out in a blizzard and 4ft drifts in my old 86" than any of my other cars/trucks

use them all year round, you'll soon learn what kit you need to carry, and if you do use it in the winter as I do then just watch out for all the other "modern" more "developed" vehicles sliding around all over the place, don't want them denting my nice new rear cross member!

Crazy, Oxides, Boris ...really comforting to hear so thanks for your replies.

Crazy, I'm already hoping for another bumper winter snowfall/floods so I can get out and have some fun in it

Oxides, thanks for the tips, I was going to go through a similar exercise so it's good to have some specific areas to look at. I think I am lucky as having just driven to work in the ****ing rain the meet with the roof at the front seems totally tight and rain resistant thus far. I did have experienced water gushing through the break pedal hole but after clearing all the muck out that was trapped behind it in the engine and making sure the drain holes either side were clear it seems vastly better this morning. I can already see your point though and I will make sure I don't drive to work in the Gucci loafers

Boris, you bastard! As if I didn't have enough jobs to do now I have to go and explore and overdrive unit as having pointed it out to me I now definitely want one! So once fitted* how do you enable it (extra gear nob/switch?) *I'm presuming I don't have overdrive as I guess I would know about it!?!

You can tell I am a complete nooob, but a quick learner and can't believe how much I'm taking on board already - thanks mostly to a great community so thanks again for the replies so far!

For that fully authentic experience take the top off - I drove around for a year topless, rain and shine, and it was great fun, but I used to commute by motorbike all year round so it wasn't really too uncomfortable for me. People think you're mad in the winter but the jealous looks you get in the summer!

If you enjoy driving it enough to compensate for the bad bits and you feel confident/competent enough to use it daily then go for it, the vehicle is capable of almost anything, the nut behind the wheel is the weak link


learn how it all works and get it ready when the weathers nice then decide when it gets bad if you still want to use it... Its the children in corsas and saxos that you have to watch out for in the snow/ice, they haven't got a clue, and sliding a few tons of 1950s metal sideways with all four wheels is interesting, make sure you go toilet before every journey else there's occasions when you may go during the journey!

I am on my third series 3 in 12 months. I get them running right and looking presentable and then sell them on. I use one everyday for everything from going to work to trips to the tip. Up to now I have not made much profit or loss even though I have spent money on them all. It seems that if someone can see you have done a certain job then they will pay a little more for the vehicle. So if you have niggles with the drive get it fixed as you will recoup some of the money when you sell it.
My last Landy drove 500 miles to Germany in one day no problem and had been used daily for months. As long as your not in a rush and you check your oil and water is ok you should get anywhere.

Water247 said:

Boris, you bastard! As if I didn't have enough jobs to do now I have to go and explore and overdrive unit as having pointed it out to me I now definitely want one! So once fitted* how do you enable it (extra gear nob/switch?) *I'm presuming I don't have overdrive as I guess I would know about it!?!

Click to expand...

It's mechanically operated from a lever in the cab beside the handbrake (not the red and yellow ones). You simply get to 4th, then dip clutch as if your changing normal gears but push the overdrive lever forward and now you have effectivley 5th. I found it made a huge difference and 55/60mph is a happy crusing speed Can stick a pic up if you want.

Harry

I did the 500 mile round trip to Newquay and back last week and all was good. I am a (only a bit) concerned that it seems to take a bit longer to start each morning in the cold. I guess that is part of an old car but is there anything I can do to try and give myself the best chance of it getting going in the cold mornings? I am very good with checking fluid levels so hopefully won't be caught out by anything leaking.

Have had the top off for two months (and loved every second of it) but as I want to prepare it for the winter I'm now giving in and getting the hard top on so I have plenty of time to fill holes and replace sills etc before it really gets bad! Yes, this means I am basically facing the fact that the best of the summer in England is gone :'(

I used my 2A as my daily driver for about 5 years - from student times to getting my first company box ( which was a pile of poo but free). I kept the landy and used it regularly. That was 18 years ago. since then I moved to German and still use it regularly here. Its caught fire, blown an engine, blow a diff, and caused me to lie underneath it in the rain several times bashing things with a hammer. Always starts though.
They are slow, noisy, bumpy, thirsty, drafty, breaky, wandery, easiliy fixy and a kin laugh.
I wouldn't swap it for anything else.

Put up with the water leaks, piles and deafness. The smile factor will keep you in it.

Sorned mine last month after using it daily for about 9 months, she's due a bit of tlc on the engine and gearbox and, if i stop spending the money, a new soft top mine had only done a few off road days in the year before we had her so suddenly getting used every day did bring some niggles to the fore quite quickly lol.
bloody miss driving her tho and can't wait to get her back on the road, oh and as for the leaks, part of my landy kit is a large bath towel pmsl, great for drying the seats and me when it rains

For those who have used their Series Land Rovers as their only cars... have you had many problems with reliability when you have had to be somewhere? I mean, jump in to go and find a problem has developed and have to take a taxi or bus due to time!