Just bought a...

Just bought a series III to replace my 300tdi disco. (Which I now have to sell!)

Been umming and arring over it for weeks now, and spending a good hour or two a day scouring the web for ads, much to the frustration of my girlfriend, I decided sod it, and went for it.

At first I thought, what the hell have I done! Replacing a solid, reliable, immaculate disco that gets me 32+ MPG with an old boneshaker. Whether it was the right choice or not is still to be decided as I haven't picked her up yet. Hopefully going to do it this weekend.

It's in limestone (That creamy safari colour!?), and looks in good condition. I broke rule number 1 and bought her without viewing which I have never ever done before. Stupid I know! but I thought it was worth the risk for the money I paid.
I will post some pics once I've collected it, but I'll be happy if it turns out to be as honest as it's described by the pics and information.

But of course now, I've got a few questions about owning one of these bad boys...

It's fairly low milage around 60,000 miles which is proved genuine by all it's old MOT cert's. Is that really that low for a late series 3? (My 98 disco is on 130,000!)

Once I get it home, what are the best things to look at/check to make sure it's fully servicable and not going to break down on me any time soon? I assume the obvious, plugs, leads, greased nipples etc. But anything specific to series 3s?

It's a fairly lengthy drive home (I'm expecting 5 hours), so is it best to give it a break after every couple of hours to cool off etc. or are they less fragile than I think?

Is there anything else I need to know other than that I better start getting friendly with the local petrol station staff, and to buy myself a comfy cusion to sit on!??

Initial plans are to fix anything that isn't atleast reasonably servicable, but after that I intend to get a safari roof and possible a bonnet mounted spare wheel. Are there any must have's for a series tool kit?

and finally; how do I go about getting a radio in him? The old man's a bit of a ninja when it comes to wiring so he'll probably be doing it. Any literature to help him out?

Hope you're still alive and not bored to tears by this point, and I look forward to your replies.

Well if its a petrol its going to bankrupt you!


Lynall

Congratulations, welcome to series ownerhsip!

Lynall is right they are a "little" thirsty.

Personally I' be leery of a 5 hour drive in a 40 yr old vehicle I don't know well. But if you are handy with the spanners and well prepared you might make it. Check all the fluids before you leave. Absence of leaks probably means it is dry! Have a good check of the brakes, they are reliable if used often, but is one thing you don't want to fail once you are on the road.

Download the manual, there are plenty of links on this site to it. Do the maintenance recomended.

Pah rule number 1. I've bought all my classics blind. Hope it's a goodun, get some pics up here, we likes pics

You don't know bankrupt till you have a series and a rover 3500 V8...

if the inner wing piece is in poor nick then they can squirt water up the gap, bounce it off the inside of the bonnet and onto the distributor cap.

check the tyre pressures as well as fluids. have fun!

just go 4 it mine sounds very load earplugs gaffa tape and the bigist flask of tea or coffee also aa r rac card in back pocket also how you getting there could help[ freinds with big cars alwallys help]

good luck cheap parts all over just takes longer to find them these days

Welcome to a lifetimes occupation! I bought mine blind, about 5 hours away too! my girlfriend (at the time) came with me, and reluctantly followed me back! not that she would have been able to do anything to help if broken down. I had that initial dread, of 'what have I done', yes, I remember that well.! also the fear of the drive! LOUD, as hell, and a very 'active' driving teknique! (mine is series 2a though). But the fear went after I got the first MOT done! it was needing a LOT of welding, but luckily I had help, as there always will be with lovers of old classics.
Like Landrover109uk says, road rescue!! it's well worth the money! I got GEM motor assistance, it does classics, cost £83 a year, and will take you home, when/if you breakdown, I have used it, a few times, but the longer you own these vehicles, the more you get to know what is needing repair, and if you keep on top of it, it' becomes more unlikely you will breakdown. (obvious, I know).
I presume it has MOT, so it will have been structurally checked, but giving it a good look underneath is worthwhile, as is checking fluids... front and rear diff's, gearbox, overdrive (?), transfer box, and main oil/water, take some ep90 oil (for all but the engine) with you.. not all garages sell it. Then again, if the seller is honest, he would probably know if there is anything you need to do, if he has owned it for a while.
Good journey, good luck.

By the way, it was a pure co-incidence about the name of the road rescue, and mine, it just happened to do classic breakdown cover!

You'll be fine doing 5 hours solid driving, worth stopping to give yourself a rest and check its all still together, but, the engine won't have any major issues with it.

Putting a radio in is very simple... positive wire from the battery (or any positive from the dash) if you want to be fancy a second 'switched' positive off the ignition, earth (anything metal) and the speakers - if your father has any basic knowledge of electrics he'll be able to sort it with no problems at all.

Might be worth contemplating some sound deadening material if you want to be able to hear your radio!

A good selection of metric and imperial spanners / sockets are useful otherwise, just general tools.

Good luck with the journey home, take it easy, she'll be happier trundling along with the trucks, than with the modern cars, though will be capable of both.

and as for a radio! I'd suggest more like a P.A, like they have on the main stage at Glastonbury, so you can hear it..

ReadySalted said:

Are there any must have's for a series tool kit?

Click to expand...

A great big lump hammer and a wire brush!

ive just sold a series 2 diesel i have spent one and a half years stripping and rebuilding, longest journey i did was about a mile to the mot station, the guy that bought it came from durham to collect from near nottingham, i was really worried but he texted me the next day saying land rover didn't miss a beat

1396midget said:

You don't know bankrupt till you have a series and a rover 3500 V8...
fun!

Click to expand...

I agree but my god is it a bloody good laff!!!

Haha thanks for all your comments.
I'm starting to feel a bit better now about what I've embarked on.
Going to be an ordeal in the next week or two, with picking the new Landy up, and selling the disco. I'm going to try and get the series checked over by my usual mechanic (family friend), to make sure it's sound. It's got a 10 month MOT so if the mechanic gives me the thumbs up, then it's bye bye disco, hello cold, loud, juddery, expensive and rusty motering.

Feels a bit like I'm stepping down a car, going backwards almost but I think once I'm used to owning a classic again I'll love it. Had a few doubts tonight when I was driving home from work and considered what it'll be like in the series, but hey ho.

I don't use the disco off road or for greenlaning because it's too smart and I find, quite a boring drive. It's the old toss up of character, utility, and simplicity, vs reliability (well sometimes), reasonably speed and accelaration, and mod cons.
I bought the disco because I wanted something that was smart and comfy, but big enough to carry lots of kit, and rugged enough to do a bit of greenlaning, and just feel as though I haven't been getting what I want out of so it's time to change.

Anyways, is it worth joining my local land rover club or even the Series III Owners club? and how do series compare at greenlaning? The disco always seemed capable but fragile and I was constantly expecting a mirror to fall off or something to buckle underneath. I assume the series will be the same, if a little more clunky?

drive it for a bit, anything that falls off isn't important.

Series can hold their own on green lanes. Local clubs are good for knowing where the byways and suck are, if they're recognised you can even get money off insurance.

in 4wd series have the same mechanical 4wd as any disco or def in that both axles are driven equally, in good condition as where when new are strong off road vehicles a match for any ,as long as chassis ,bulkhead etc are good the rest can be cheaply done overtime ,and any ive done up steer as true as later vehicles at highish speeds if still a little awkward at 3 point turns,ive just finished my light weight which i swapped for disco 2 he when collecting it was very surprised that it drove alot better than hed expexted,and is using it for daily drive to work etc ,i now plan on doing a series 3 88 for similar reasons as you,luckily parts are cheap,once eventually you get it right it will be as reliable as any,

Series are fine on lanes, the biggest issues you will have are:

1. Narrower wheel spacing so on slightly ruttered lanes can be a pain - wheel spacers can correct this, or you can just live with it, its not a major issue.

2. Ground clearance can be an issue on the some of badly ruttered lanes

3. No power steering - if you come to a dead end on a lane and have to turn round it's a minor inconvienience and if crossing ruts, keep your thumbs out of the wheel, cus, if the wheel goes it will spin and break your thumbs. (damaged a finger that way on a P&P site, just from the wheel catching it as it spun from my hands)

However, having off-roaded both a disco and a series, the series is a lot, lot more fun!

There was a radio fitted in mine when I got it. Kept banging my head on the speakers, so I ripped the lot out. Could never hear it anyway, so now I just sing to myself.

I chose a Series by choice, because it's so different from a normal modern car. I've driven Discos, Defenders & Range Rovers and they're just not the same.

Even standard they'll go pretty much anywhere. I've modified mine now and I don't have any issues going where more modern stuff venture.

Best thing ive fitted to my series 2 is the heated drivers screen as the std heater cant keep the screen clear.
TDI engine is also a huge bonus as well.


Lynall

Picked the old girl up yesterday and my first impressions were good. (Pics to follow).

The guy selling her was a sort of land rover garage, come restorer, in a deep dark lane in the south west corner of the country. Really nice, and seemingly honest guy. A few old series landys battered and corroded in his yard, which made the series I was there to pick up, stand out and look like a diamond in the rough.

After giving her the once-over, and taking her for a spin on the roads, we did the paperwork, parted with 1220 quid and set off on the 6 hour drive home.
I followed my Father who was in the series, in my disco, and the series never missed a beat. Happily trundelling along the motorway for almost all the journey at between 65 and 75 and at times overtaking even reaching what seemed like an easy 80. Stopped once for fuel and when home worked out an MPG of 20 mpg which didnt seem too bad, as fuel economy was my biggest concern when looking to buy one. Considering my disco gets 30+ and diesel is more expensive that petrol there wont be more than 5 to 10 MPG difference so happy with that.
Even my old man who thinks I am crazy for going from a very smart discovery to an old shed said that the drive was surprisingly comfortable, and that the engine which has only done 59000 miles was much quieter than expected.

It's quite a change having the series parked outside at the moment and I keep looking at it, finding things to do. A little hole here, a bit of rust there.

As you will see from the pics, the back door is rusty but not too worried about that, the interior leaves a bit to be desired but that's easy to sort and (reasonably) cheap. The passenger side area of the bulkhead is pretty corroded which hopefully won't be too much to sort out, and there are the odd bits of rust here and there on the hinges and on the door bottoms the paint has bubbled somewhat and the metal is showing through, although it looks to still be silver and in good nick.

List of things to do now are;

• Sort interior: (replace outer seats, fit cubby box in centre), paint metal bits on dashboard to smarten it up, rip out old stereo and fit a CD player that works, Perhaps fit some door cards if budget allows, fit one of those JML stick on lights from B&Q or something on the room so that I have some form of interior light, (it's cheap, and means no wiring).
• Repaint wheels/ and hammerite wheel hubs. (I know what you're thinking, the're too far gone to be repainted, but I think sod it, I'm gonna do this on a shoestring, and if the paint flakes off in 6 months, I'll just repaint them)
• Get a tin of limestone paint, and touch up door bottoms, hinges etc. (The landy's actually got quite a good finish on the outside from being resprayed in 2004, but I hope that brush/ roller marks won't show up too badly)

As you can see, it's sort of a tidy-up-on-shoe-string-budget sort of affair, but hey ho, it should be fun.

My biggest concern is the chassis as I (Bear in mind I know bugger all about welding, and chassis'), think it looks quite corroded. I could be wrong though, and it's got an MOT until next June, so it should be reasonable.
It's going into my usual mechanic on tuesday and hopefully he'll give me an honest opinion of how much work really needs doing on it, and then I'll know whether it's a keeper on not. Either way, look out for a 300tdi disco, or a limestone series 3 on eBay in the next couple of weeks!

I do now have a few questions;
The tyres have a bit of tread left, and would be satisfactory for road use for another couple of thousand miles I would think, but they do look like they're past their prime. Very faded and sun damaged, and just like they've been on the car for the past 10 years. (It's covered just over 1000 miles per year for most of it's life so it's quite possible they've been on there a while!). So, what are some decent tyres I can get to fit the standard steelys I've got on at the moment. I'd like something that will be capable off road for greenlaning, but not too noisy on road. I like the look of the chunky mud tyres you often see, but I'm open to opinions?
Also, where to buy a series 3 cubby box? and how do they fit in? (Do I have to make brackets, or just have it sliding around in the centre?)

Cheers.

All that and you wanna know what tyres? :doh: