Series 3 1972 on offer but SHOULD I?

I have been to view a '72 Series 3 vehicle, it has a certain degree of add on's: overdrive, checkerplate, rear spare wheel holder, wheelarch spats and the body panels are generally in good order with new tires all round; now for the bad things that I have found..

Being a novice I made sure that I read one of the 'make sure you look for buying guides' and found the following:

Rust at the base of the dashboard as it curves, the same can be found at the top offside of the firewall in the engine compartment.
Rusted through at the bottom of the grill panel (behind the plastic grill)
One angle iron 'strut' underneath the drivers seat that appears to link the main chassis to provide either strength or support, this is nearly rusted through.
Floors appear to have been replaced and seem strong
Exhaust is good and complete
Engine (2.25 diesel runs well with little smoke)
Electrics are a bit confused and the vendor suggests a re-wire

What I am not sure of is how much importance I should place on the rust I have found, the chassis are sound but it is the other parts; would these be prohibitive to get done or to do yourself (are they structural or would a fibreglass patch be sufficient?)

I hope my jumping in without intros or longer term membership will not offend.

Rust on a series 3....surely you jest

Sirus said:

Rust on a series 3....surely you jest

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I do get the fact that they rust and that they are nearly as old as me but should I take the risk of these bits of what seem like cosmetic rust areas and be faithful that they can be economically repaired as I do not have any skills in welding etc

see there lies your problom
not being able to weld yourself could end up costing you an arm and a leg
if your a practical kinda guy then i would try and get somebody to teach you a bit with a bit of practise you can soon pick up the basic's
either that or i hope you got an understanding mate

Without detailed pics of the areas affected its hard to tell. A new bulkhead could set you back a grand by the time you have had it fitted. This is probably not required though but without pics you just can't tell. Its an old car. Its not going to get any better without putting your hand in your pocket so expect to be always spending on it if your not going to get your hands dirty.

Sirus said:

Without detailed pics of the areas affected its hard to tell. A new bulkhead could set you back a grand by the time you have had it fitted. This is probably not required though but without pics you just can't tell. Its an old car. Its not going to get any better without putting your hand in your pocket so expect to be always spending on it if your not going to get your hands dirty.

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jus purrup sum piccys for the poor bloke then he can identify wot bits am fooked like yours

Hi,

You need to be able to answer YES to one of the following questions.

Is the price attractive, taking condition into account?

Does it have a long MOT? That way, you get plenty of thinking time.

Remember it is TAX EXEMPT.

602

Agree with 602 there - You need to be looking at one with at least 6 months mot in order to 'buy' you some time to do repairs.

If you own a land-rover - consider a welding course and welder as money well spent. Land rovers and welders go together!

The rust you mention does not sound a major worry, except the chassis outrigger, that'll need replacing.
If you cant weld or have it done cheaply then should you really own a series?, they all need snotting up from time to time.
I have a mig on eblag, they go cheap, buy one and learn.
The wiring you mention is a problem, most series's I've seen have cocked up wiring, its a problem and a ballache, if your not good with electrics leave it well alone or you'll be in for a total pain, auto leccys are very expensive, if you have electrical experience then its not hard to sort out.
At the end of the day mek your own mind up, if you cant do the work then price it up and see how much extra you gotta spend.
Your much better off buying a landy with a ticket, then at least it unlikely owt major will need doing.

dr pepper said:

Your much better off buying a landy with a ticket, then at least it unlikely owt major will need doing.

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i think that's bad advice - much better to take someone who knows what to look for with you when viewing a landy

and by way of an illustration, guess what this Series failed an MOT on ?

Having an MOT means nothing at all except that you will be able to drive it around for a while while you fully figure out the extent of your misery. My 109 had nearly a full ticket when I bought it. It has a hole in one of the front chassis legs just above the spring hanger, rot in the door pillars, and needs patching on the bulkhead outriggers. None of this happened in the few weeks between the MOT and me buying it. There's no way it should have passed a test. My first 110 was the same. That one even had a leaking brake caliper and holes in the footwells that were cleverly hidden by newly fitted carpet and pieces of old mudflap rivetted to the outside. Like I said, an MOT means nothing.

I have a '72 Series 3 109 safari and when I bought her 3 years ago i knew nothing about mechanics, welding, engines, electrics or anything that may have been remotely useful.
I bought her because I got fed up with paying £35 an hour plus VAT for a mechanic to fix my Toyota Hilux Surf every time it went wrong (which was often).
My 109 was a complete mess - it used 5 litres of oil every 100 miles and didn't have a reverse gear, the chassis and bulkhead were rotten through.
I went to Amazon and bought the workshop manual, parts catalogue Haynes (rubbish) manuals and a book on electrics and welding. Bought a Clarke Mig welder on ebay for £70 and a cheap tool kit from Halfords.
It took a long time and a lot of stupid mistakes but I am now starting to feel like I can do most things myself. I haven't paid a garage bill in 3 years!
I'm not by any stretch of the imagination anything like "competent" but I find that the Series 3 is a very forgiving vehicle.
When I took the gearbox apart and forgot to put a bit back she whined a bit to let me know i'd done something wrong but she didn't blow herself apart or go into "safety" sulking mode.
I'm not good with engines at all but with a Series 3 I don't need to be! If the engine starts to bugger about I can buy another one on ebay for next to nothing (in fact i am secretly hoping the engine will start to bugger about soon as i've been given a Perkins Prima that I am dying to stick in there) and replace the old one in a weekend!
The thing is - for someone who showed no interest, aptitude or motivation to get involved in anything mechanical (7 years ago I called out the AA to change a flat tyre for me on the M25) I am now hooked. I love the old girl to bits and cant imagine driving anything else (well - unless I want to go further than a 15 mile radius - my ears bleed easily and my arse bruises up something terrible)
If you go for it, be prepared to spend long hours reading books on how to make repairs and then trawling the forums to find out the bits that arn't in the books, then even more hours finding the correct parts, then lots more hours fitting the parts etc etc.
If that's the kind of thing you enjoy you will end up feeling very smug and proud of a lump of metal that just about everyone else around you thinks is a pile of (s)crap.
The only other people that love my 109 are my kids - 3 years old and 1 and a half - its because they can see all around and never go fast enough to get motion sickness!

WellWhoKnows said:

I have been to view a '72 Series 3 vehicle, it has a certain degree of add on's: overdrive, checkerplate, rear spare wheel holder, wheelarch spats and the body panels are generally in good order with new tires all round; now for the bad things that I have found..

Being a novice I made sure that I read one of the 'make sure you look for buying guides' and found the following:

Rust at the base of the dashboard as it curves, the same can be found at the top offside of the firewall in the engine compartment.
Rusted through at the bottom of the grill panel (behind the plastic grill)
One angle iron 'strut' underneath the drivers seat that appears to link the main chassis to provide either strength or support, this is nearly rusted through.
Floors appear to have been replaced and seem strong
Exhaust is good and complete
Engine (2.25 diesel runs well with little smoke)
Electrics are a bit confused and the vendor suggests a re-wire

What I am not sure of is how much importance I should place on the rust I have found, the chassis are sound but it is the other parts; would these be prohibitive to get done or to do yourself (are they structural or would a fibreglass patch be sufficient?)

I hope my jumping in without intros or longer term membership will not offend.

Click to expand...

Sean said:

i think that's bad advice - much better to take someone who knows what to look for with you when viewing a landy

and by way of an illustration, guess what this Series failed an MOT on ?

Click to expand...

Nope, give us a clue, what did it fail on

brake light bulb - he gave me a full ticket, trusting me to get the bulb sorted

Sean said:

brake light bulb - he gave me a full ticket, trusting me to get the bulb sorted

Click to expand...

yer go the same place i go fer MOT's then sean

90truckcab said:

yer go the same place i go fer MOT's then sean

Click to expand...

Stevie Wonder Motors, Ashtonfields, Stafford

ah just ring up fer mine,