making a Series 3 more driveable??

Same as everyone else . Go with the overdrive and maybe taller profile tyres if you can get them. I have fitted VK calias seats to my landy and feels like sitting in an arm chair . But it's a land rover so love it for it's roughness:D

Mate.

Get around the vehicle and work out what needs what to get it going as good as you can first. the, as Incisor said:

1. overdrive (if you can get a decent fairey as the rover drive is about $2600)
2. Parabolics (but dont get the cheap crap - unless you want to change things again in 12months). Rocky Mountain do a good set and can also provide Pro Comp shocks with them.. Good stuff.

See how you go after that, remembering that it is a series Landy.

Good luck ;)

The steering can be good if everything is tight. The best one I ever drove a Series 1 with 6.00 x 16s, until then I thought they were meant to wander everywhere. You can fit a hydraulic ram off and early Fairlane in place of the steering damper.

I had a 2A with an overdrive and wouldn't have one again, the noisy whine is as annoyong as the revs. If you don't tow heavy loads I'd go with high ratio diffs, and soundproofing. There used to be a 5 speed Nissan gearbox conversion available, you might pick one up second hand, much stronger than the Series 3 one.

I had a 202 in one 2A that would 145 kmh without overdrive but it was an exceptional engine with a lot of compression and would rev all day. the 186 in my 2A wagon would struggle to 100. The wagon was much quieter due to door trims and headlining, they made a huge difference.

Jeff

:rocket:

Used to have SIII 109 Hardtop with a Holden 186, had a rover 6 in it before, should have left it that way, but at that time getting a 2.6 Rover engine rebored and rebuilt would have cost me far more than the conversion to a holden red motor.

I had a overdirve fitted to it at one stage, it did not make much of a difference, they work best on a 4 Zyl. really transform those vehicles, and yes the rockymountain ones are good, we sell them our selfs.

Steering, fit 7.5/16 at the correct pressure, make sure your steering relay and box is not running dry, we have a female customer running a 109 she is quite small but after we did all of the above she can even park without to much effort.

Suspension, dismantle your springs, clean grease and assemble again, makes a huge difference on most Series Rovers, and as said before make sure your bushes are all ok. Parabolic are a option, make sure you replace your shocks as well, as they need to be longer.

Seats, see if you can get hold of some defender seats, they are a big improvement to what you've got now.

Noise and heat was the biggest drawback with ours, we cut up some heavy old rubber mats about 15mm thick to fit the foot well, seatbox and the transmission tunnel, made a big difference.

And on long distance runs we used to wear earplugs:), for some reason you can hear your stereo better with them in, maybe it is just me. Cruising speed was around 95kmh measured with a gps.

happy series rovering,

Richard

If you are on a budget, your options are a bit limited, but there is quite a lot you can do that will improve it out of sight in most cases without costing the earth.

Suspension. As said above - remove, strip, clean and lubricate all the springs. Replace the bushes, shackle pins etc as necessary. Ditch two leaves from the rear springs if not carrying heavy loads.

Steering. Make sure everything (box, relay swivels) are properly adjusted and have oil. Ditch any tyres over 7.50 wide, fit radials and run the correct pressures.

Gearbox. Sounds as if you possibly have gearbox/transfer problems, but usually a lot of improvement can be made with ensuring all prop flanges are tight, u-joints in good shape. You may have a dragging handbrake, due to adjustment, seized mechanism or, most likely, oil on the linings due to a leaking seal. All can be fixed with little cost and a bit of work. Also check for soft or broken engine mounts. Of course, check the quantity and type of oil in both. Make sure the clutch is not dragging due to a problem with either the master or slave cylinder. And a bit of insulation (see the thread on this subject) is a big help.

Not much to add on the engine subject, the others have said most of it.

Overdrive. If an opportunity comes to get a cheap Fairey overdrive, be very cautious - as mentioned above, they are prone to wear, often offered for sale with key bits missing, and although all parts are available, they are expensive.

John

thanks for all the great advice everyone. Looks like I will be hitting the workshop for a few hours and then after that we will see what needs doing.

cheers
jimmy

My standard series 3 with a landie petrol engine would cruise at 110kph on the highway with a top speed of about 120. Even my old series 1 with a holden 161 would do the same so if you are only getting 80 -90 there is something wrong. Even with the original 2 litre engine, the series 1 still did 55-60mph with a long, long, long, long, long runup.

Both were my everyday cars that were used to travel from Newcastle to Canberra or Nowra each weekend - so "high speed" driving on expressways was the norm for both of these. The series 1 with the 161 fitted and the the windscreen down was limited to about 75mph indicated on the speedo by the wheel wobble from the slack front end.

Oh - speeds were not based on the speedo - based on passing other cars on the freeway with large LCD speedos that I could see as I zoomed (well crawled) past them.

Garry

Trust the Navy to fit a speedo that's too small.:D

My s3 can manage about 90 to 95 cruise, top speed is not much better.
I'm hoping for a bit better, once the diesel and five speed conversion is finished.

Another point with the noise. Large flat panels act like drum skins. Adding stick on carpet to your doors and the inside of the roof will make a huge difference in noise levels. Throw a heavy duty rubber mat down in the tub floor and your laughing. Might even be able to hear your passenger.

make sure all the boots are on the gear stick, Transfer selector and hand brake, and that they are secured properly, I didn't have any on mine but recently put some on and it makes quite a noticable difference, stops a lot of hot air coming in as well :p Putting a foam or rubber strip along the rear edge of the bonnet that mates with the firewall stops lots of engine noise when you have the vents open. I also stuck foam in the space around where the wireing looms pass through the fire wall.