New to the world of old landys and would be very grateful for some advice

Hello everyone,

I've bought my first Landy, a 1977 series 3 SWB. It's not been the best start but I'm keen to get it sorted and very excited to able to get out and enjoy it.

Annoyingly the rear differential decided to cease to exist half way home on a 210 miles journey to Chester. So after a sad and expensive journey back on a low loader it got pushed onto the drive till I get it sorted.

After taking it all apart to see what had failed, the main issue is that the teeth of the pinion gear of the diff are no more. This could have been very likely to the next to nothing oil that came out when I drained the axle paired with motorway driving.

So I've ordered a load of parts from John Craddocks to get it all back together but I'm struggling to find a diff. From what I've read no one seems to have them rebuilt. It's the original 4.7 ratio which I'm finding tough to track down on eBay.

I was wondering if anyone has either a spare one they want to sell or bought a reconditioned diff from Simmonites and would recommend them? If not I've also seen Ashcroft but that even more pricey.

I'd be really grateful for any advice.

Cheers,

Tom

Try John Richards at hinstock, one of the few places that's always worth a call

Welcome to LZ.

Check out fb marketplace.

Hi Tom
Welcome to Landyzone, that’s a sorry start to ownership and you were unlucky last owner didn’t maintain as he should have, it’s always best not to take things for granted and from now on I’m sure you won’t.
How many mile did you get before disaster
If you were geared up with tools it would have been possible to drive home just on front diff
First off you can buy the crown wheel and pinions in sets easily enough but search out for OEM if you can find any at reasonable price
On eBay diffs do pop up but also you may find a whole axle easier and you can buy front or back as diffs both the same and then you get more spare parts to play with.

Check both axle tubes closely as they do get rusty, I changed my 84 swb rear tube as it rusted very thin I tested it with nail,and hammer and got a new one it wasn’t cheap.

The positive think is you have the confidence/ skills to have a go and that’s a great asset which you save you pounds in future and all parts available
Are the halfshafts ok and how many splines are there on each end

Take your time to inspect the mechanicals and make a list of what it needs and take you’re time

Be nice to see some pics of what you have , is chassis and bulkhead ok, springs not rusted out , engine petrol diesel original

Thanks for the responses, I called John Richards and he's got one there for me that he's put to the side. He sounds like a knowledgeable chap, so I'm looking forward to having a look round his place, cheers very much for the recommendation.

I'd done about 100 miles at that point, it drove pretty well sitting at around 55mph most the way. It has the fairy overdrive so all seemed well until the diff gave up.

I did consider taking off the rear prop and driving it in 4wd but there was no guarantee the front diff had enough oil in it as well.

Hopefully the diff I pick up tomorrow will do the job and then I might look to replace the crown wheel and pinion on the broken one at some point. Thanks for the links.

I will definitely be checking the fluids in the front diff and I will also check the axle casing, thanks for the advice. Bit by bit I plan to make sure it's all properly maintained.

The half shafts looked all good there's a bit of tension markings on the splines but no serious damage. They are 10 spline half shafts.

The previous owner spent a fair amount making sure the chassis was sound and undersealed so that's all looking pretty tidy, from what I can see so far the bulkhead is in good condition. The door tops are a bit rotten in a few spots where they bolt to the bottom half of the door so will look to replace them at some point as they are bit weak they flex out and let water in at the top.

It's a 2.25 petrol.

Thanks again,

Tom

That does look nice
And you’d be forgiven with it looking like that everything else should be in same condition
If you don’t have a workshop manual as yet (the green bible ) you can find one below with the parts book

At the beginning is a routine maintenance section particularly useful is how to change the ep90 in
The front swivels, diffs, main gearbox , steering box, transfer box and you have the overdrive which s good, hope not too noisy, you will need about 9-10litres for complete change and best to buy in 20l drums which is a lot cheaper

Have fun

It's decent but far from perfect, the picture makes it look better than it is. But I bought it knowing I had some work to do. Amazing thanks for forwarding me the link with the green bible, that will be very useful!

With finding out that the rear diff had next to no oil I think I'll be changing them all really to be safe. Thanks for the advice on the vast quantity I'll need for it all. Would anyone recommend a particular brand that would work for all transmission and swivels, I've heard the Morris ep80/90 is decent and that's GL5. I did search this on the forum and someone mentioned some modern oils weren't as compatible due to degrading certain types of metal?

Cheers,

Tom

This is on eBay, I live 20 mile away from S&A and picked mine up, but you need GL4 not GL5 as that can be bad for the phosphor bronze bits in gearbox as you say

Amazing, thanks for sending the link through. Will get some on order. Cheers for all your help