My first ever land rover, series 3, 88"

Hi All,
Back in March/April I decided to have a go at off roading, so bought a 88" 3 series.
It was in need of a bit of work, chassis etc, and also had a Nissan engine fitted.

I started eagerly, bit here, bit there, welding chassis, cleaning, de rusting parts.
The down side with the Nissan engine (2.5 diesel) it was badly fitted, poor welding on homemade engine mounts, poor welding on homemade exhaust, bodged wiring, it goes on and on.
I also wanted to go for the army olive drab look too, but its all changed again.

By this time its into June, and I have still not driven it yet, slowly loosing the will to go on.
It was then I decided, "bugger it" lets get a new chassis, and put an original Series engine in, so at least when it was running I could get stock parts for it, and as it is a tax exempt, I though it would be worth it.
Now it is October, still not on the road, but the rstoration is coming on a treat. I have even managed to knock up a temp shelter now in the garden, so raining, dark, I have no excuse..

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The temp shelter is working a treat, shame the lawn is dying, but I guess it will grow back next year.
Although having the shelter has got me back in the mood to crack on, hopefully ready for the winter.

This landy was meant to be a quick turn around, lick of paint, MOT, £1000'sss later, its still not running..
Just a quick list of things to date.

New galvanised chassis
New wring loom complete
New leaf springs x4
New hanger shackles + bolts
New shocks
New brakes all around ( shoes, cylinders, springs, seals)
New brake hose's
New brake pipe set
New fastenings all around, original spec + stainless
New stainless bulkhead brackets (homemade)
New exhaust, front & middle, home made stainless back box to come.
Refurbished axles, front and back.
Refurbished front hubs, new swivel seals etc.
New door bottoms
New fuel tank
New clutch + release plate
New clutch slave cylinder
Replacement engine (2 1/4 petrol)

My girlfriend has started on the interior, new black vinyl head lining for the safari roof, using the old one as a template.

All brackets cleaned and de rusted using electrolysis, (bucket of water with soda crystals and a 12v charger)
This method works a treat, after 12 or so hours in the bucket, the rust just falls off, give it a quick wire brush, then re paint.

i would be interested with your method of de rusting if you can spare the time private email me if you can, and good luck with the rebuild, the time spent now will reward you with the time spent admiring your hard work when its finished,

brnocz said:

i would be interested with your method of de rusting if you can spare the time,

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me too. that's a new one on me.
good effort on the Landy, hope it lives up to your expectations when finished!

I need an idiots guide to wiring, I found one today, cant remember if it was here or not.
I have a diagram already, but its all just lines and symbols, but I cant understand it..
The wires in diagram I saw today were drawn in the correct colours etc, can anybody help?

yes - PM me

A few extra pics, showing home made stainless steel bulkhead brackets and steering rack bracket.
Cleaned and painted throttle linkages, and painted then waxoyled rear axle.
DXF's available for brackets if anyone needs it..

that matt/satin black looks great. always done them gloss before - I think I'm a convert.

and some more, as is now...

TheSmiths88 said:

that matt/satin black looks great. always done them gloss before - I think I'm a convert.

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I have done the bulkhead in a satin, but the body work will be a matte black, with a matte laquer on to protect it.

Here's the pics, couldn't upload for some reason...

yu mite find these useful....

My new stainless back box, Home made.

pegibson said:

My new stainless back box, Home made.

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cant get the pics up...:doh::doh:

Looking really good, do you not fancy painting the exhaust manifold? I once used the halfords stuff but it just peels off shortly after. POR 15 make one that seems to adhear very well.

Im loving the Matt Black mate, keep us up-to-date with the build.

Alistu said:

Looking really good, do you not fancy painting the exhaust manifold? I once used the halfords stuff but it just peels off shortly after. POR 15 make one that seems to adhear very well.

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I used POR15 engine enamel,not cheap, but its a great product, So I might do manifold, but my credit cards a bit maxed for the moment.

Heres the exhaust pics, ignore the untidy brake pipes for now, just waiting for some clips to come...

pegibson said:

...my credit cards a bit maxed for the moment.

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I know the feeling! And when have you ever seen a manifold thats not rusty anyway, it is unlikely to cause any problems. I only mentioned it because the rest is looking good.

Today I fired it up, and moved it out of the temp cover for a bit!