Thread: My new S3 SWB

Hello Everyone,

Well, after many years of dreaming but with no space to keep one, the stars have finally aligned and I've got myself a Land Rover Series 3.
Thanks to a couple of guys I met at the All British Day a couple weeks ago, I was given a lead to this 1976 model that was "possibly" for sale.
The owner is a lifelong Landy driver, having travelled all over Australia in them, family in tow. He showed me some great photos of his adventures, the Simpson Desert, NT, all over.

The family and I drove 4 hours to check it out, and I was not disappointed. After a tour of his LR filled shed, as well as checking out some of his motorcycles (a shared passion) we made our way over to the green one. Cosmetically, it's not the best one I've inspected, just a bit tired in that department, but mechanically and chassis wise, it's A1. The owner has done the brakes, swivel pins, steering and a few other things just in the past year. The 2.25 petrol engine sounds perfect and the 1 or 2 drops of oil I found underneath were golden with not a trace of 'sludge'. Being a British bike owner myself, I'm not scared of leaks, as long as it's clean oil. It's got a Fairey overdrive which seems to run fine, a little noisy, but I don't think it's out of the ordinary. The parts to return the gearbox back to standard are in included. Also included in the sale is a spare bonnet without the spare wheel bracket, 2 new door tops, and a few other bits and pieces, he just kept pulling stuff out of the shed (Alladin's cave!)
I found 2 small rust repairs on the frame, but appeared well done and treated/painted. A small bit of surface rust is appearing on the drivers side bulkhead so I'll treat that and hopefully find a paint match. Eventually, I'll give the whole thing a new paint job, but that's low priority. The body panels are straight and dent free, it really looks like a well looked after vehicle.
The interior looks great, seats recovered to original spec, not dents or major wear. The dash is a bit tired but may come up well with some elbow grease. Other issue is the fuel guage isn't working, possibly the sender, he's not sure. He replaced it a while ago, it worked temporarily, but stopped again. Some original tools are there, including the hand starter.
Only thing I'll want to do right away is upgrade the headlights, they're typically British dim. A quick search says relays and H4 are the way to go, same as I've done on my Norton, any wiring diagrams and pics of what you lot have done would be much appreciated. Other than that, a jerry can bracket for the rear, replace the signal/tail/reverse light lenses and some light guards are in order. Also a priority is fitting a childs seat for my little girl, any advice there? I'll probably leave it as is after that and enjoy it for a while

My 4.5 year old is super excited, loved climbing around inside it, and has already named it the Giggle Machine.

I should have it on historic rego by next week

76S3 (3).jpg76S3 (1).jpg

Donald

I think damning all the British along with the Prince of Darkness (Joseph Lucas) is a bit rough. Did Norton use Lucas electrics? (Likely - Lucas had taken over virtually everyone else by WW2)