Series III - SWB - New find - replace rusty rear spring hangers

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Originally Posted by mick88

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your purchase, overall it appears to be a reasonable straight vehicle.
As Lionel pointed out, unless the seats are engineered they will most likely get knocked back on the RWC inspection.
You may also find that you have to reach into your pockets a bit as these vehicles (Series 3) are now over forty years
old and unless the steering and brakes have been maintained they usually need a few dollars thrown at them for a
roadworthy. It also looks like the radiator may have been spitting out some rusty coloured liquid.
The other issue that often presents itself on RWC inspections is the condition of the shackle spring/chassis bushes.
For the novice they can be a real PITA to replace in the chassis, but there are plenty of tips here on the forum on the
best way to go about it. The battery looks like it is being held in place with a "gravity strap" so attention may be required
there too for the roadworthy.
I see the vehicle is on CPS plates, are you going the same way, or full rego?

Cheers for now and good luck.
Mick.

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Hi Mick,

Yes the seats will need to be changed for the road worthy. The radiator core was replaced, as too were the shockers and bushes at some point not so long ago I think. The brakes might need attention as the car pulled to one side a bit in the test drive.

The guy I purchased it from has had the car for 20 years. He and his dad restored it together when he was 16 and has had it since. He and his dad seemed really nice which was part of the reason I bought this particular one. He was very open and explained all the things that he had done and still needed to do.

I've got a budget of $5k, hoping that stretches far enough to get her on the road. I'll be looking to put her on club plates. I did have visions of driving her to Cooma next year, lets see how it pans out. The one concern I did have is whether I'll need to replace the rear section where there was welding done to the rear spring hanger. Hoping my budget covers that.

Cheers,
Adam

Hello Adam,

Being located in Melbourne means that there are a lot of fellow Land Rover enthusiasts nearby to you. Plenty of people who can give advice and possibly know of Land Rover friendly workshops where tasks like welding can be done. This forum is a wealth of practical hands-on experience and a world of knowledge about things Series Land Rover.

Enjoy the journey Adam.

Here is a tip about the Series Land Rover section (https://www.aulro.com/afvb/series-land-rovers) - below the division of Series into 1 - 2 and 3 lurks a generic "Series" section. If you just click on "Series" and hop to the "Series III" section you can accidentally miss a lot of information lurking in this generic section.

Kind regards
Lionel

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Originally Posted by lammy

Hi Mick,

Yes the seats will need to be changed for the road worthy. The radiator core was replaced, as too were the shockers and bushes at some point not so long ago I think. The brakes might need attention as the car pulled to one side a bit in the test drive.

The guy I purchased it from has had the car for 20 years. He and his dad restored it together when he was 16 and has had it since. He and his dad seemed really nice which was part of the reason I bought this particular one. He was very open and explained all the things that he had done and still needed to do.

I've got a budget of $5k, hoping that stretches far enough to get her on the road. I'll be looking to put her on club plates. I did have visions of driving her to Cooma next year, lets see how it pans out. The one concern I did have is whether I'll need to replace the rear section where there was welding done to the rear spring hanger. Hoping my budget covers that.

Cheers,
Adam

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Does anyone want to have a guess at how much its likely to cost to get my Land Rover on the road? I'm hoping less than $5k but not entirely sure. Keen to hear the thoughts from you guys.

P.S. Took her ("Old Mate") for a drive today - every drive is an adventure - love it!

Cheers,
Adam

How much it costs to get it on the road will depend on a number of factors - most of which we do not know; and probably neither does anyone else!

1. Labour is likely to be the major component, so it makes an enormous difference whether you do the work (unpaid!) or pay someone to do it!

2. Do you just want to get it roadworthy, or are you a perfectionist? or somewhere in between?

3. You are certain to find issues that are not apparent. Some of these are likely to impact roadworthiness and some could be expensive.

4. The costs seem to add up a lot quicker than you think they will - for example, if new tyres are needed, there won't be much (if any) change left out of $1000 - there is 20% of your budget.


Apart from that, $5,000 seems to be a reasonable figure looking at the pictures.

Brakes pulling to one side - two likely reasons - if it has been standing for some time (even a couple of days in some climates) the working surface of the drums will have a light rust coating, which can be practically guaranteed to not be even. A few brake applications will wear it off. More expensive is also likely - contaminated brake shoes, with either oil from a leaking hub inner seal or brake fluid from the wheel cylinder. Not a big job, but you will have to replace brake shoes both sides, as well as fixing the problem. Other less likely possibilities are excessively worn drums and faulty brake adjusters. Probably the cheapest issue, but unlikely, would be a seized wheel cylinder.

Welcome aboard, and have fun.

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Originally Posted by JDNSW

How much it costs to get it on the road will depend on a number of factors - most of which we do not know; and probably neither does anyone else!

1. Labour is likely to be the major component, so it makes an enormous difference whether you do the work (unpaid!) or pay someone to do it!

2. Do you just want to get it roadworthy, or are you a perfectionist? or somewhere in between?

3. You are certain to find issues that are not apparent. Some of these are likely to impact roadworthiness and some could be expensive.

4. The costs seem to add up a lot quicker than you think they will - for example, if new tyres are needed, there won't be much (if any) change left out of $1000 - there is 20% of your budget.


Apart from that, $5,000 seems to be a reasonable figure looking at the pictures.

Brakes pulling to one side - two likely reasons - if it has been standing for some time (even a couple of days in some climates) the working surface of the drums will have a light rust coating, which can be practically guaranteed to not be even. A few brake applications will wear it off. More expensive is also likely - contaminated brake shoes, with either oil from a leaking hub inner seal or brake fluid from the wheel cylinder. Not a big job, but you will have to replace brake shoes both sides, as well as fixing the problem. Other less likely possibilities are excessively worn drums and faulty brake adjusters. Probably the cheapest issue, but unlikely, would be a seized wheel cylinder.

Welcome aboard, and have fun.

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Thanks John, you raised some really good points.

Took "Old Mate" out to the mechanics today - its still an enigma to me how a simple drive can turn into such an awesome experience. If this keeps up I may just become the first Land Rover series taxi driver.

Attachment 144675

Attachment 144676

Hi Guys,

Just had feedback from a couple of mechanics,

Mechanic 1: chassis is too far gone don't spend another cent on it, unsafe to drive a child in the car, would cost $15k to get it roadworthy.

Mechanic 2: Quote from body repairer = $2500 to repair chassis with an engineers certificate, and the large list of things needed for the road worthy below.

- front diff seals leaking
- engine mounts split
- radiator support rusted
- gearbox mount split
- rear diff hat leaking
- grill and apron support rusted
- whole exhaust rusted
- gear box housing leaking
- oil filter housing leaking
- steering damper bushes split
- brake lines stiff
- drag line ball joints leaking
- steering damper ball joints split/leaking grease
- body mounts rusted

Not sure what to do?

Any thoughts on what the cost of that list would be, the mechanic didn't have time to price it up.

Looks like my budget of $5k is blown. Looks like my hopes for getting her on the road for summer is a pipe dream.

Assuming a standard restoration am I liklely to be in the $5k-$10k range or $10k-$15k range? Is it worth finding another series 3 and starting from a cleaner canvas?

P.S. Took a cool pic today - beauty (Land Rover) and the beast (Ferrari).

Attachment 145316

hey guys, forgot to ask, would it be cheaper to find a clean chassis rather than spending $2500 on the existing one? I'm guessing putting my car on a clean chassis would cost some coin, any ideas how much for the lift and drop?

Reading through you defects list things mightn't be as bad as you think. Rust is a big issue with old Land Rovers it would seem your bulkhead is OK, and chassis doesn't seem to bad I'm assuming rusted radiator support refers to radiator support panel which you should be able to source readily.I have one surplus to needs here
weld in chassis repair parts are available for most of the common chassis rust areas perhaps your mechanics weren't aware of this
oil leaks new seals and gasgets.....brakes you should go over as a matter of course in my opinion again parts readily available
plus side car drive train and engine seems solid, and you've got a complete car
If you've got space a pull apart and put back together it is well within the scope of a novice mechanic and support and advice is on this forum, have a look at Timnz,s series 3 rebuild
you obviously love the car and doing work yourself saves$$$$$
I would think 5/10k would be ballpark for a vehicle you could really be proud of at the finish, the journey is fun most of the time and you get a real understanding of how every thing works
Sadly don't hold your breath for a summer drive[bigsad] but a new old car to drive when it's finished[thumbsupbig][smilebigeye][smilebigeye]

Cheers Paul

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Originally Posted by bemm52

Reading through you defects list things mightn't be as bad as you think. Rust is a big issue with old Land Rovers it would seem your bulkhead is OK, and chassis doesn't seem to bad I'm assuming rusted radiator support refers to radiator support panel which you should be able to source readily.I have one surplus to needs here
weld in chassis repair parts are available for most of the common chassis rust areas perhaps your mechanics weren't aware of this
oil leaks new seals and gasgets.....brakes you should go over as a matter of course in my opinion again parts readily available
plus side car drive train and engine seems solid, and you've got a complete car
If you've got space a pull apart and put back together it is well within the scope of a novice mechanic and support and advice is on this forum, have a look at Timnz,s series 3 rebuild
you obviously love the car and doing work yourself saves$$$$$
I would think 5/10k would be ballpark for a vehicle you could really be proud of at the finish, the journey is fun most of the time and you get a real understanding of how every thing works
Sadly don't hold your breath for a summer drive[bigsad] but a new old car to drive when it's finished[thumbsupbig][smilebigeye][smilebigeye]

Cheers Paul

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Thanks Paul, thats actually very similar advice to that which I was given this evening from a member of the Land Rover club.

You guys are inspiring me to take the plunge and start tinkering.

Cheers,
Adam

To me your list does not look too daunting, nor surprising.

Most of the items fall into the category of rubber seals, rubber bushes and rubber hoses and lines. I reckon you have got to expect a 40+ y.o. car to have every bit of rubber gone hard, brittle, cracked, and leaking. So I would think any one you find will need these same set of seals done, unless the previous owner has done them. This is what I'm currently doing on mine.

I can't comment on the chassis rust, as again I would expect there to be some, mainly the more exposed/thinner pieces I guess. But hard to comment on the basis of a written description or even a photo, as there is such. range of possible severity of damage and difficulty of repair. But as said above, spare pieces seem readily available and not prohibitively expensive.

Maybe your not going to get a much easier path in any case.

Mark