72 Landrover Series III 88? (1 Viewer)

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Anyone know of good information on these vehicles? I know it's not an LC. But there is a cherry looking, rust free Series III Landrover nearby for $5,500. Any thoughts or websites I can use to educate myself?
 
I have owned three Land Rovers over the years they are great vehicles. The Series III was the last of the four cylinder, manual transmission models.

The advantages of the Rover are 1. an aluminum body on a rugged steel frame. This minimizes body rust and lowers the center of gravity, 2. they use full floating axles rather than semi-floaters like Toyota. This means that if you shear an axle, the wheel will remain on the vehicle and the broken axle can be extracted without even removing hte wheel and tire. This is a bid help when in the bush. You jsut put the rig and four wheel drive and continue on. Or, you can replace the broken axle with the spare you are carrying.

These Rovers are SLOW on the highway, even slower than a six cylinder Cruiser. Fortunately, the Series III has a fully synchromesh four speed transmission, modern shock absorbers. Series III were introduced in 1969 as I recall and discontinued inthe late 1980s in favor of the Range Rover.

The Land Rover's body is fully modular. you can take it apart to suit your needs; e.g. fully enclose cabin, pick-up truck cab, no top, no doors, half doors.

It is a much simpler vehicle than the Toyota, primitive comes to mind;e.g. they come with a hand crank for starting the engine with a dead battery. It's true! The push rod 2.3 liter 4 banger is as rugged as the 1F or 2F.

One of the best parts sources is "British Pacific LTD" located north of Los Angeles around Valencia or one of those towns off Interstate 5. Another good source is "The British Northwest Land-Rover Co." located in Olympia, WA. There is another parts source located somewhere in New ENgland but I cannot recall. Parts are fairly available as this is a real cult car.

I still have a 109 Pick up with right hand drive, a series IIa. It will go about anywhere my Land Cruiser will go.

That price is reasonable if the Rover is in good shape. You might enjoy owning one. I sure have.
 
Anyone know of good information on these vehicles? I know it's not an LC. But there is a cherry looking, rust free Series III Landrover nearby for $5,500. Any thoughts or websites I can use to educate myself?


The gearboxes are real honest. If they are quiet,do as they are told ,then they are good.
If they are jumping out of gear then you know the story.
Simple vehicle ,most likely the electronics will let you down from time to time.
The 4 cyl is a 2.25 litre and the best of them but heavy on fuel for a little motor.
it is possible to swap in bigger engines and get more power and better economy.

Ask the brits ,they know how to deal with their annoying habits.

http://www.difflock.com/forum/
 
Yep, the frames rust rapidly. Very weak.

The bodies are AL and nice.

The axles are full floaters but the mortise and tennon splines they have is laughable.

Neat rig.. gut it and put Toyota axles in it and you will ahve something usefull ;)
 
Mace, I believe that the axle "joinery" is intended to be the weak link in the drive train as replacing an axle is much simpler than other tasks like fixing propeller shafts, u-joints, pinions and ring gears in the field. The steel used in "forging" the axles is fairly mild. I have a couple of busted ones I use as a tool handles and a pry bar. I was surprised at how soft the steel is.

On the other hand it could be that Rover was just too cheap to use better quality steel or finish the axles hearder.
 
Mace, I believe that the axle "joinery" is intended to be the weak link in the drive train as replacing an axle is much simpler than other tasks like fixing propeller shafts, u-joints, pinions and ring gears in the field. The steel used in "forging" the axles is fairly mild. I have a couple of busted ones I use as a tool handles and a pry bar. I was surprised at how soft the steel is.

On the other hand it could be that Rover was just too cheap to use better quality steel or finish the axles hearder.
replacing an axle shaft is easy.

The 4 spline pinion is not easy to replace ;)

Brittish steel sucks the big monkey butt.. Why do you think the brits used hardened valve seats on leaded gas??


I REALLY love the way my fathers D90 looks. But god that thing sucks to work on..
 
On the other hand it could be that Rover was just too cheap to use better quality steel or finish the axles hearder.

Land Rover just stuck with a marginal design longer because they felt it was ok for most people and that for every $ that Land Rover made they had to siphon off $.80 or so to keep the rest of the company afloat, so naturally they didn't have a huge ammount of $ to invest in R&D or for licensing other people's designs. They DID have a decent off he shelf replacement- the Salisbury axle which is something of a primative Dana 60, these got used in LWB land Rovers and are easy to retrofit to the SWB rovers. BUT even then it is a Dana60 with 24 spline 1.25" axles... :p

If you are familiar with FJ40s then driving a Series Land rover will be like hopping on a Ford 8n Tractor. My brother is a FJ40 owner wheras I am a LR nut. They both have their advantages and disadvantages. He bitterly complains about the lack of power in his FJ40, when I drive it I feel like I am in a porsche. ;) the 83 HP 2.25 rover engine is built like a tank but SLOW.

If I had my choice I't build a blend off the two vehicles, FJ40 axles with disks and longfields under the Landrover. Then replace the LR's engine etc with a 3.5/3.9 ROver V8 and LT95 4 speed Transmission/transfer case. Add a set of Parabolic springs and you'd have a nice vehicle.
see this :
https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=125441&highlight=land+rover
 
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I think they make new galv. frames...

They do, available from most of the usual LR suspects. About $2500 or so, more depending on where they're shipped to. The Series III frames were "treated" at the factory with internal rustproofing, apparently, for whatever that's worth. They do rust from the inside out, but so does every car frame. Luckily, there are lots of holes in the frame to squirt in a gallon or so of Waxoyl. That stuff works great and can definitely keep the rust away. A galvanized frame, though, would sort out the rust issue once and for all, of course.
 
I've had a nice 40 and two great 55s. I now have 3 Land Rovers. To each their own, but both/all are awesome. I think the Toyotas out perform the Rovers in how they drive all day long. I think the Rovers are easier to work on and beat the Toyotas in nostalgia all day long. Both probably perform off road similarly in my opinion.
The ultimate is the Stage 1 Rover - a Series III with a factory V8 and a Range Rover drive train (full time 4WD). Finding a nice one in US is a needle in a haystack, but they are awesome. Very capable off road, simple, aluminum body, and 70 mph on the freeway all day long. No discs though, so watch the high speeds.
All in all, the comparison between Land Rovers and Land Cruisers is like the age old question... which is better, a screwdriver or pliers?
Both are indispensable yet either can out do the other.
 
Seconded for check the frame for rust, another bad spot is under the hood, where the front wheel wells meet the firewall. Water and road debris collect there and can rust through into the cab. If you see the truck in person, scrape there with a screwdriver or stick to clear any gunk and check the integrity of the firewall. The rest of the body is aluminum so not much rust to worry about there. After rust electrics are the main concern. Make sure you stock up on lots of bottles of Lucas Smoke...

For a clean rust free runner $5500 is a great price these days. I have seen total basket cases going for more than that lately. RHD and Diesel are usually worth a little more because they are rarer here in the states. An overdrive installed or included is a huge plus and probably worth close to 1/4 the purchase price alone. Check the engine for it's level of stock and check which carb is installed (Weber, Zenith, Solex) as each has it's advantages and disadvantages. From what I have seen Sandy took out a few trucks in the NorthEast and those owners are trying to replace them, causing prices to creep upward a bit.

I drive both a Series 3 and an FJ40 and in my case the Series 3 is a little faster (but that is all relative given the snail speeds compared to modern cars). I drive it on the highway happily around 50-60 MPH without an overdrive. I think though it is mainly due to the bigger wheels and gearing on my FJ compared to the stock drivetrain in the Series 3.

Working on a Rover is very simple and 90% of anything you need can be done with hand tools. Good parts resources are Rovers North and Atlantic British or Pacific British (depending on which coast you are on). If you need a lot of parts or want to stock up on spares, there is Paddock Spares in the UK. Shipping is pricey but if you need a lot of parts the savings on parts more than offsets the shipping.

Rovers North has a forum as a resource, but it is kind of a pain to join up. Guns and Rovers is another good forum for early Land Rover knowledge. I have found that a good all around forum for Series Land Rovers is hard to come by, nothing exists like MUD for Toyotas.

Post some pics of the trucks so we can see the shape it is in and maybe point out anything that can be easily seen from the photos.
 
The rear cross member is prone to rust and is best viewed while on a rack. The bulkhead ( firewall ) can also have issues in the lower windshield / fresh air vent area. This area can rust inside and outside and is expensive to repair. Check the door bottoms. The 2.25 liter engine is reliable but can benefit from a carburetor change and adding electronic ignition is money well spent. Unlike the Series 2/2A, the gearbox is not as robust but is suitable if treated well.
Good luck

1963 / 1967 Series 2A's / 1971 Series lll :)
 

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