More "infant friendly" landy than a series 3? Options?

[pfillery]

I'm faced with a possibility of selling my series 3 lwb hardtop. For convenience I really need the ability to collect my 18 month old from daycare etc. As a vehicle with only the front 3 seats and no capability to take a car seat without modification (not like when they came out and you could just put the baby on your lap).

Now I really really love my series 3. It will pain me to consider disposing of it, but if it has to be done so be it. I can't really afford a defender at present, don't want a V8, would prefer a 4 cylinder, forgive my stupidity but the TD5 is presumably 5 cylinder? so costs as much to register as a 6 anyway, I have read all the bad stuff people say about discos, so does this really leave me any Landy options?

[willvine]

Honestly if the budget is tight get your self a cheap Toyota Camry run about and keep your landy. I was in your boat a few years so but eventually sold my series 3 and bought a rangie on gas. You could look out for the vm diesel rangie, they are around but rare

Cheers

Btw discos aren't that bad most have don't approx 300000 by now which is pretty good I recon a good one will do 400000 with a little work.

will

[isuzurover]

Disco 1s are very practical for your intended use. You should be able to pick up a good 300tdi 5-door for less than $4k.

If the S3 is old enough, join a club that allows club rego (GCLRO?) and keep the S3 on club plates.

[30t of coolness]

Yep a Disco 1 Tdi , But go a 4 door as getting the kids in & out of the back of a 2 door can be a bit of a pain even though the folding mechanism gets the seat well out of the way.:)

[Landy Smurf]

i would go for a cheap car . but it would be a shame to sell the s3

[Lotz-A-Landies]

Sell the children, it will save you more money in the long run! :twisted:

[digger]

Sell the children, it will save you more money in the long run! :twisted:



blues brothers - sell me your children - YouTube


:twisted::p

[korg20000bc]

Phoenix had a kiddie seat set up in his S3 FFR. Give him a PM. He might have some info...

[Disco Muppet]

By a Microphone, and a shady character will trade you his caddy for it :p
(just to keep the Jake and Elwood reference going).
300tdi disco would be my pick, quite a few out there that look to be in good nick, they're pretty economical and still good for the weekend :)

[Landy Smurf]

i have heard s3's are quite good in crashes( or maybe just rollovers) i know our defender did well at protecting me. i have also seen and heard that the disco 1,2 are not so good. i think you will struggle to find a good 300tdi on a budget. you may get lucky but then it depends on how much time you have.
i know this is a bit personal but what would your budget be roughly if you sold your s3?

[Killer]

I was able to get my SIII certified for a child seat in the front row, simply by drilling a hole right at the back of the tub (SWB) beside the door/tailgate opening, where there are several thicknesse of metal. I then bolted the standard child seat attachment fitting to this, I may heave had to use a longer bolt I can't remember. The child seat strap was just long enoufh to reach this position. I then took it to a certifier and it went through no problems. Give me a yell if you need to know more.

Cheers, Mick.

[pfillery]

i have heard s3's are quite good in crashes( or maybe just rollovers) i know our defender did well at protecting me. i have also seen and heard that the disco 1,2 are not so good. i think you will struggle to find a good 300tdi on a budget. you may get lucky but then it depends on how much time you have.
i know this is a bit personal but what would your budget be roughly if you sold your s3?

Depends on what I got for the series 3 and the shed full of parts I have for it. Assuming I got what I want for it I would think I'd have a total of about $5-6k to work with - she has to be worth at least $4k at current prices, plus all the extras on it and the parts I have as well.

I can afford more than that but have to replace before I sell the series if it happens so I do have the backup available to cover this.

What I really want is a Kombi but I think this may still be a pipe dream.

I really don't want 5 or 6 or 8 cylinders and know nothing about diesels.

[pfillery]

I was able to get my SIII certified for a child seat in the front row, simply by drilling a hole right at the back of the tub (SWB) beside the door/tailgate opening, where there are several thicknesse of metal. I then bolted the standard child seat attachment fitting to this, I may heave had to use a longer bolt I can't remember. The child seat strap was just long enoufh to reach this position. I then took it to a certifier and it went through no problems. Give me a yell if you need to know more.

Cheers, Mick.

Being a lwb this may be hard to do this way. I'm sure it is doable but I will wait and see. What if there was a fitting already fitted for a car seat though? A lot of them used to just have a hole drilled through the parcel shelf (for a sedan) and these are fine. How are they to tell that the mod is new or old since a rwc or inspection doesn't look for child restraints.

[2stroke]

Maybe you could buy a cheap car with rego to drive while you track down some series model 5 door panels and convert the S3. Coat of paint then sell the cheap car. Everyboby wins :)

[jakeslouw]

Buy a Disco1 300TDi, it will use less fuel than the S3 and the engines are reasonably bullet-proof.

Or as others have said: buy a cheap flat car and keep the S3.

[Landy Smurf]

i am sure you could get a decent 4cyl car for around 5k-6k with around 100-150kms. i love the series landys but i can understand your problem. it would be awesome if you could have both, but then that is probably a long shot. is there a certain time limit that you need to have this sorted out by?

[Killer]

Sorry, I didn't read your original post correctly (LWB Hardtop), it may be worth talking to an engineer about positioning a bolt for yours though, he may be able to suggest a suitable place for it. I would not like to just put a hole anywhere and try to get away with it. I hope you can find a suitable solution.

Cheers, Mick.

[pfillery]

Sadly can't justify 2 cars. 2 x rego costs when one is bad enough isn't an option for me. Besides who wants to drive a car when you have owned a series landy??? I've gotten used to the rough ride and the high driving position.

I'm sure a solution will present itself.

[Landy Smurf]

if you had a 109 s/w would that be good enough?

[The ho har's]

Sadly can't justify 2 cars. 2 x rego costs when one is bad enough isn't an option for me. Besides who wants to drive a car when you have owned a series landy??? I've gotten used to the rough ride and the high driving position.

I'm sure a solution will present itself.
Join a club and get Special Interest Registration, our 101 V8 is only $197.00 a year


Disco 1s are very practical for your intended use. You should be able to pick up a good 300tdi 5-door for less than $4k.

If the S3 is old enough, join a club that allows club rego (GCLRO?) and keep the S3 on club plates.

As Ben has stated:)

Mrs hh:angel:

[Davo]

If you want to keep it, keep it. The way the old static belts used to attach was to the rail on top of the bulkhead behind the seats, so it shouldn't be a problem for an anchor point. I'll be doing the same thing with my SIIA when I get around to it.

I bought an old Rangie for our family car and had a CRAB bar put in the back. That would also be worth looking into. But just take the car to whoever puts anchor points in and ask.

Here's a photo of the factory-fitted nut under the rail where the top of a static belt would attach to. It's actually welded into a small bit of channel that fits into the capping. Something similar wouldn't be a problem for a baby seat anchor point.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/

[pfillery]

But of course this has certain restrictions and requirements ie you can only drive for club events, testing, servicing etc and presumably a requirement to attend a certain number of club events in a year. My reckoning is that having a vehicle means it should be driven, plus is there really a justification to having a special interest rego on a standard series 3 1975 model? It isn't rare or particularly noteworthy so probably wouldn't be eligible would it?



Join a club and get Special Interest Registration, our 101 V8 is only $197.00 a year



As Ben has stated:)

Mrs hh:angel:

[pfillery]

I had thought of this option but the positioning of the factory bolts you pictured is not correct for mounting a car seat - the mounting would need to be centred in relation to the passenger seat and it is slightly off so the car seat would not be stable. I think it would also be argued that there is no structural support in the back of a series 3 seat squab, I haven't tried to fit one up to the vehicle but if a mounting belt runs over the top of a seat it has to be strong enough to support it, probably not an issue if the seat sits high enough though.

Are these bolts for seatbelts or were they for a ute roof to bolt to? They seem in an odd spot for safe seatbelt mounting, the belt would not offer any protection and would easilly slip off your shoulder I would think.


If you want to keep it, keep it. The way the old static belts used to attach was to the rail on top of the bulkhead behind the seats, so it shouldn't be a problem for an anchor point. I'll be doing the same thing with my SIIA when I get around to it.

I bought an old Rangie for our family car and had a CRAB bar put in the back. That would also be worth looking into. But just take the car to whoever puts anchor points in and ask.

Here's a photo of the factory-fitted nut under the rail where the top of a static belt would attach to. It's actually welded into a small bit of channel that fits into the capping. Something similar wouldn't be a problem for a baby seat anchor point.

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/attachment.php?attachmentid=51345&stc=1&d=1348132475

[pfillery]

if you had a 109 s/w would that be good enough?

Yes and no.

I believe I would run into the same problem as this would also require fitting of mounting points since a wagon of the same vintage would not have them either.

My father in law's Rodeo dualcab which is only a late 90's or early 2000's doesn't even have any fixing points.

I think finding a wagon in the same condition as my hardtop would be impossible.

I think I'll do some research into the options but it may just be simpler for my wife to keep doing the pickups and drop offs for the time being. I really don't want to get rid of the S3.

[The ho har's]

But of course this has certain restrictions and requirements ie you can only drive for club events, testing, servicing etc and presumably a requirement to attend a certain number of club events in a year. My reckoning is that having a vehicle means it should be driven, plus is there really a justification to having a special interest rego on a standard series 3 1975 model? It isn't rare or particularly noteworthy so probably wouldn't be eligible would it?


Yes it would, any vehicle over 30 years is eligable;)

We don't seem to have a problem with driving our vehicles when we want as there are plenty of trips to go on. We are members of SLOw and GCLRO clubs, no requirement to attend events/meetings, but hey, we want to go to them so we can drive our vehicles:)

We are taking the 101 to All British Day this Sunday and going on a camping trip next weekend :) Both club events:)

Mrs hh:angel:

[pfillery]

So does anyone know if the bolt holes in the bulkhead behind the seats in a series 3 as shown in an earlier post are "officially" seat belt anchorages or are they some other purpose? Spoke to a certifier today who said that if they are seat belt points they would be a higher standard than child seat restraints and should pass without needing a mod plate/inspection. But there would need to be some official thing from LR saying that is their purpose.

does anyone have anything definitive?

[Davo]

Yes, they really are for the factory-fitted seatbelts. Look in a parts book and you'll see that at the time a static belt that went over your shoulder and then down to that top rail was how a seatbelt was used back then. They don't slip off your shoulder and it was the standard for the time. I used belts like this for years in my SIIA but have now changed to the modern inertia reel.

I didn't say to use that mount, but that since it was a seatbelt mount then something similar would be strong enough for a baby seat. You'd have to do the same sort of thing for the centre of whatever seat you wanted to use for the baby seat. You'd take a piece of angled channel and weld a 5/16" UNC nut into and then rivet it under the rail, the same as the seatbelt mount, and it would serve exactly the same purpose except it would be set up for an anchor point. I'd be surprised if the back of the seat, meant to support an adult, wouldn't be good enough for a baby seat as well.

Do a search and you may find a picture of how a company over east put an anchor point into a Willys Jeep!

[wagoo]

Join a club and get Special Interest Registration, our 101 V8 is only $197.00 a year



As Ben has stated:)

Mrs hh:angel:

There is also the cost of annual club fees on top of the $197.00. It is $130.00 in Vic. No real advantage there if one is a single vehicle owner, non club member on pensioner concession registration. Don't think engine capacity or number of cylinders make any difference to charge. There is the restriction of only being able to use the vehicle for 90 days per year.Vehicle can be used for all normal non commercial purposes. trailers can be towed, payloads can be carried. One can register additional 25 yr or older vehicles at the same charge rate, so it could work out economical fo multiple vehicle owning club members.
Bill.