Thread: Sleepy's S3 109 Diesel

Caught the direct flight - that bit was easy

Pick up was a bit of an adventure .

Got hit by a tropical downpoor in the first 3 minutes of driving (Don’t you love those wipers ! )
Followed by 18 hours (broken by a snooze in the middle ) straight of humbing 2.25 Litres of Diesel coucophony - Sounds like 10,000 sewing machines all slightly out of time.

Drove home at about 70 to 90km/h all 1500 NOISY kilometers.
Will seriously have to get some ear plugs as JDNSW has mentioned elsewhere.

Sorry didn't get any arty shots of sunsets and land rover. Too busy driving.

The steering is quite sloppy and took a lot of concentration. No speedo made the trip difficult. I had to estimate my average speed with my watch and kilometer posts Not all that accurate but I estimate my speed to be 65 to 85km/h. With a few rattly excursions into the 90's.

It has a noisey Fairey overdrive fitted which does help, but hoplessely over gears the vehicle when traveling any positive incline. Laboring in the wrong gear also saw the temp rise - not appreciably but nonetheless movement.

Anyway, here are some shots:




Recent engine rebuild


Heater not connected Hope the matrix is OK
Engine runs sweet with a diesel drone and only a small amount of smoke on start up. It's one hell of a noisey beast though


Bulkhead repairs below windscreen - new sections on both sides. Note no hinges. Seems a solid enough job. Doortops have a few bubbles here but otherwise solid with new bailey channels. Door locks not working.


I have changed the tyres over to some XZL Michelins I had.


Interior is great (for vinyl). One small rip in drivers seat. Door trims are a bit sad .


Small amounts of surface rust - will need to get on to them quick.


Speedo jumping around and oddometer u/s.


Floor solid evidence of repairs.

Hammerite paint everywhere. Seems to have done the preservation job.


Underneath appears good; solid and square. No chassis rust found..... yet other than on the top of the front dumb irons. Will need attention.

What's the story with that exhaust run - over the spring May need some adjustment.


Nice and straight. Paint is a little sunburnt.

Anyway that's enough for now.

Tomorrow I'm giving to mechanic for RWC - a few small jobs - hopefully no surprises.


Main items:

• a few lighting issues, and perhaps new parking light lens on front.
• heater will need reconnecting or replacing.
• steering pulling to left - a steering alignment but I expect more - yet to be diagnosed
• Windscreen squirter
• Speedo repair or replace

Next:

Stabilise all the niggly surface rust before it takes hold.
Springs and shockers appear ok for now.
Buy some earplugs and workout how to make alternative fuel/bio dieselhello Blknight????????

Very tidy.

If you want to get some more power, buy a 12V vacuum pump or vacuum alternator and remove the throttle butterfly - on the end of the inlet manifold in this pic:

It is a HUGE restriction to airflow, which most diesels don't have.

As for alternative fuels, it is not reccommended to run CAV DPA pumps (which your engine has) on WVO/SVO - the pump has small scrolls which can be easily damaged.

Generally looks good. The spring shackle pin visible in the exhaust picture appears to have the bush worn so its centre tube is not being pinched by the shackle plates. If this is the case with this one, it is likely to be the case with the others. And this could well be the reason for pulling left, although there are a lot of other possible causes, but steering alignment is not likely to be one. Also check U-bolts to make sure there is no movement between the springs and axles.

John

Very nice I had a s3 tray top for about ten years -had a holden motor 186
was slow but fun .
great memories.

Mate well done that looks really sweet

My old man has one the same, his is a 1975. With the diesel

Well he has two, one with a donor chassis. The good one is a bit crook though, need bulkhead attention, a new steering box, a new chassis, motor rebuild, gearbox rebuild and a cut and polish

It did go a while ago, I remember we got it up to 110 once , downhill though It had an overdrive as well and once we got it up to speed you'd look down and all the gear levers would be shaking around. Like they were about to jump out of the transmisson tunnel

And it was bloody noisey My brother used to wear a pair of earmuffs

Good luck with it mate

Looks great mate!

Look forward to watching the build up and subsequent trip reports!

Originally Posted by Jock The Rock

I remember we got it up to 110 once ,

Tomorrow I'm giving to mechanic for RWC - a few small jobs - hopefully no surprises.


Main items:

• a few lighting issues, and perhaps new parking light lens on front.
• heater will need reconnecting or replacing.
• steering pulling to left - a steering alignment but I expect more - yet to be diagnosed
• Windscreen squirter
• Speedo repair or replace

Next:

Stabilise all the niggly surface rust before it takes hold.
Springs and shockers appear ok for now.
Buy some earplugs and workout how to make alternative fuel/bio dieselhello Blknight????????[/QUOTE]

Hi mate, good to see she made it home no worries. yea she is a ripper, top find.
When i got mine it was in similar condition with similar problems , nothing to major.

1: the lights will most probably be a bad earth or globe.
2:the heater core will probably be blocked and may be beyond repair, You could remove it and flush it with diluted acid or CLR or descaler.
3:Steering pulling to left will most be a leaking wheel cylinder for the brakes on the drivers side.
4:windscreen sqirter may be blocked jet, use a pin to dislodge crud if the pump is working.
5:Speedo may be unpluged at the back, carfully remove the 2 dash screws and feel check the cable is pluged into the back ov the speedo cluster, but most likley needs replacing, cheep to get.
6: get your self a repair manual, you are going to need it!

Good luck

Cheers Will.