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S3 Landie....


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Not sure if this counts as a restoration or not - been amassing the parts to repair the damage done to my Series 3 whilst in storage by the low-lifes who I thought were friends. Once - never again.

 

I digress though.

 

As I have approx 2 months worth of time under cover to work on the old girl once I get her to the store I thought I'd take the chance to rectify a couple of other issues that have been around since I bought her.

 

First job will be to get the civvy rear crossmember off and replaced by this:

 

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Having managed to get the part from Paddock Spares now I have to work out how to go about fitting it as I've never done it before!!! Feeling a bit nervous at the thought I have to admit.

 

Mean time - the other parts are slowly arriving - both the replacements for those stolen and vandalized as well as new finishing jobs. The OH is going spare right now as, in addition to the X-member, she has two complete door tops , aerials, door top seals, door hinges, side mounts, wiring looms, first aid kit, towing pintle and reinforcing plates etc. occupying her front room :-)

 

Two other snags to over come are:

 

1) Finding a way of getting the old girl from the place she was done over up to the store at Brentwood (place I hired the trailer from when I bought her no longer does car trailers that big).

 

2) Sourcing a replacement chassis plate - this is the type that was taken:

 

missing_chassis_plate.jpg

 

I've spoken to Steve at C&S Tat - they don't have the 109" ones yet, only the Lightweight but he hopes to have some in 2 months or so.

 

Thus far the total in parts alone is some £1,196 - and thats without the costs of new nuts and bolts as required AND £320 to replace the canvas tilt!!! :nut:

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Good lord..A pile of old tapes! Can you still find things to play them in? Open the doors remove the bolts along the rear of the tub and any other fixings ect and then sort of hinge the tub up so you can get to the top of the chassis. I think you need to remove the bolts holding the sils on to. Then you can tack it in place and hinge the tub back down to check the fit. you might need to slacken the bolts behind the seats to let it hinge. Just nip them up when you are checking the fit with the tub down.

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Been hunting around to find a way of moving the old girl - you would not (or then again - you might) believe what a PITA it is trying to find a self-serve way of moving a vehicle. Choices boiled down to 3 options:

 

Albert Road Service Station @ Romford - self drive beaver-tail @ £145 the day.

 

www.transporterhire.com @ Gatwick - on-line service with self drive beaver tail @ £95 the day.

 

Local trailer hire firm @ Hockley (well - relatively local) @ £45 a day inc. number plate.

 

All the above include winches - power on the vehicles, hand on the trailer - and tie-downs. Problem is the first two have a upper weight limit of 1500 Kg and I believe the Landie weighs in at 1900 Kg which means the trailer is the only viable solution as that is rated at 2000 Kg. Just need to tie-in a date with the Fort's co-ordinator that does not clash with a working day down there and we are out.

 

Scared what else I'll find missing now though...... :shocked:

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  • 2 weeks later...

Latest SitRep.

 

We recovered the Landie from the Fort yesterday - I opted to hire the trailer from the same firm I used when I bought her back in 2006. A mate gave me a hand and we ferried her from the Fort to the store at Brentwood, together with my Sankey trailer that was living down there. All went well - aprt from the winch cable being looped around a steering arm and not the axle resulting in a banana shaped steering arm (another job to do <sigh>) Luckily Lee had a spare so all well there. Some good news for this day - when we got there and opened the door the ignition keys had suddenly appeared as had the chassis plate!! Maybe talking to the police had some effect after all as these items certainly were not there last time we went down to have a look. Slightly off-setting this is the fact the N/S rear wheel centre cap has now been taken. Overall though we find ourselves ahead of the game.

 

Today I started work - only had half a day as another mate was shipping the Sankey from the Store to home. Started off by removing the old tilt which resulted in an explosion of nasty 8 legged creatures. Lucky the daughter Mk 1 wasn't there or she'd have been out cold in a panic attack; she hates them! This gives me access to the interior without anything getting in the way and will allow the rear tub to be unbolted and lifted slightly when we come to weld the rear X-member on. All the parts were moved from inside the Sankey to the nose of my OT-90 and then both the Sankey and the Landie were given a seeing to by an industrial vacuum cleaner to get the crap out. Once that was done it was too late to start removing the sticks so I made a start on removing the door tops. harder than it looks as both nuts shared off and I think the bolts have corroded within the locating tubes. Might have to cut the studs off at the top to remove the old, knackered door tops and then heat or drill out the seized bolts. I really hope the passenger side is not as bad!!

 

Loaded onto the trailer and ready to leave.

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In the new location, tilt being removed.

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Sankey loaded with Spares.

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Emptied load bed.

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Some of the damage to be repaired.

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Sankey now in the front garden - much to the wife's disgust!!.

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Best thing you could have done moving it from the fort (shame really but thats life) have fun bide you're time the kama thing always happens to those who do that kind of thing.

 

Trailer on front lawn done that... better half not pleased... managed to pacify her by saying that its was only going to be for a few days (two weeks). Now at the farm awaiting painting

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Unless I can find work Andy the trailer is going to be a permanent feature of the front garden. As indeed will a 109" Landrover when it's up and running... And yes - the OH is rather less than pleased at either concept!! So much so I've been looking for my earplugs....

 

Anyways - the work continued today. Not a good start was me leaving the camera at home so this one is text only, apart from one camera phone picture :(

 

First job of the day was to remove the sticks and framework for the tilt. This went quite easily and I soon had the hoops stacked in front of the OT together with the roof frame over the front seats. It caused yet another explosion of 8-legged critters and I'm still itching from where I was the target of the day...

 

Once they were off and stored in front of the OT I turned my attention to the steering arm - this did not go so easily.

 

 

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The only photo of the day taken on the phone camera.

 

The lower ball joint was a nyloc type of nut and came off fairly easily. The top one though had a split pin through a castellated nut and the pin would not come out no matter what I tried. So in the end I just cropped off the excess pin material from the edge of the nut then applied a large spanner together with a mallet. 5 minutes later that one too was off. A sharp tap with the mallet at each end and the defective bit was free. Reversal also was not as simple as planned. Working solo meant I was up and down like a yo-yo getting the two ends to align with the new rod ends. Once that was done I tightened up the wheel end and then tried to do the idler arm end - and the pin started turning. So I had to jack the front en up to get the weight off, turn the wheel o bring the idler arm end out into the open then drop the front end and , using blocks, gently jacked up the end of the rod so that the taper gripped. I was then able to tighten up that nut too.

 

Last job of the day was to get the door tops off. And it rapidly turned into one of those jobs from hell you wish you'd never started.. Passenger door was a doodle. I removed all the small screws from the window channels and removed the glass first so it did not risk getting broken. Then undid the two large nuts on the bottom and lifted the top panel off for scrapping.

Drivers door was a different story. Trying to undo the nuts resulted in the nuts and studs shearing off, and then I found the bolts had rusted into the tubes in the door. Again after removing the glass first I had to resort to physical means to get the door top off but I was left with the sheared off studs in the tubes, Still got to work out a way of getting the sheared studs out now. I guess I will wind up drilling them out somehow unless some one has a better idea???.

Both tops were as rotten as hell so I have replacements from Craddocks ready to go one once the welding is done and the new hinges are fitted.

 

Next job - probably tomorrow, maybe Sat - is to remove the door hinges and thus the lower halves of the doors then unbolt the rear tub so the x-member can be accessed. Still need a 24v starter for an FFR - saw one on evilbay tonight for £95 - a bit cheaper than the recon units offered by the major suppliers (£95 + P&P vs ££195 on average).

Edited by ArtistsRifles
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Third days report - well half a day actually as the Explorer was out of fuel so I had to wait for the wife to drop me off.

 

Got a bit done though - after some fairly extensive efforts I managed to get the two seized-in mounting bolts for the drivers door top. A full report is in the thread under the bodywork section for this.

 

 

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Then I got the two lower doors off just leaving the hinges to remove once I remember where I've put the impact driver; certainly can't budge them with a normal phillip's screwdriver. I have new hinges and stainless bolts to replace these at rebuild time

 

 

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Also had a look at the battery box - think at some point I am going to need a new one of these as there appears to be a hole in the base that has a lump of perspex mastic'd into place. Another snag that reared it's head was - I can't remember how the battery cables hook up to the actual batteries.. :oops:

 

 

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Lastly I crawled under and removed the bolts holding the rear cross-member to the back of the tub.

 

 

Next time I'm there - Monday - I will take a work light and release the bolts holding the tub to the chassis so we can lift it up and slide some wooden blocks under to give us the access needed to cut of the rear cross-member and weld the new one into place. This will also allow me to strip out the hacked wiring loom and fit the replacement one. Once that is done the tub can be finally bolted back into position and I can finish off rubbing the body down. Once that is done it will be time for etch primer and then rebuilding is far as is required to allow the old girl to be painted - sprayed preferably but brush or roller if I have to!

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Look forward to seeing the s3 finished! Its one of my all time favourite land rovers .

 

And a little tip for the sankey in the front garden . Put some plastic sheeting in the tub fill it with soil. And put some plants in it .Should keep the little lady happy :D No need to thank me !!!..

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Look forward to seeing the s3 finished! Its one of my all time favourite land rovers .

 

And a little tip for the sankey in the front garden . Put some plastic sheeting in the tub fill it with soil. And put some plants in it .Should keep the little lady happy :D No need to thank me !!!..

 

Yah right - then I'd never get it back to go to shows (it's by way of being a communal one right now - as my Landie has been off the road a while other members of the group tend to borrow it..) :D

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Day 4.

 

A hectic day with seemingly not a lot to show for it but at least I am now in a position where I can look at getting the old rear x-member off. having crawled under with a work light the only other bolts I could find holding the tub into position were the 4 either side at the front that were blocked on one side by the fuel tanks. So - as the drivers tank had a pinhole leak and needs treating with slosh sealant I whipped both tanks out. (note - it's much easier with a large hydraulic jack taking the weight of the tank!!)

 

Once the tanks were out I started to remove the 4 bolts each side. Passenger side came of sweet as anything. Drivers side was a different story though... First three also came out sweetly just to allay the suspicions and fear. The last one however was a bitch of the first magnitude.

 

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The nut rotated around the bolt but would not come off so I had to resort to slicing the head on the rear face with an angle grinder and then chiselling it off carefully. This was a long and bl**dy akward job but we got there in the end.

 

So - now we are ready - I hope (any one know how many bolts hold the tub on??.) - to lift up the tub enough to gain sufficient clearance to cut the old member off and fit the new one. Might have hit a slight snag there though - was told today my MiG welder may not be up to the job.... That leaves me with a "slight" problem!!! :(

 

One other thing noted today - the radio aerial side brackets - do they come in two different sizes??? Only if you look in the photo below you can see the mounts I have are not long enough to reach the lower mounting holes......

 

 

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Latest update:

 

 

Looks like the side mounts are indeed for a 90/110 so have them in the "For Sale/Wanted" section as sell or exchange....

 

 

Anyways - went to the battery supplier yesterday armed with the battery types and dimension garnered from the EMLRA forum, got two batteries marked 069 for £65 each and took them back to the store and found they were 15mm too long... They had bottom clamp lips which neither I nor the clued-up supplier noticed. Doh!! So - another 30 mile trip back to the supplier this time armed with all the measurements of the battery box and lid and came away with two type 075's for the same price. It was too late then to return so I headed home - just in time to catch the courier delivering the replacement starter motor obtained from evilbay.

 

 

Got to the store today - only had half a day as I had a doc's appointment but got the batteries fitted:

 

 

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Also got the brake switch reconnected and the centre panel refitted:

 

 

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As well as this, the replacement panel light and heater fan switches are back in and just need wiring in:

 

 

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Unfortunately it looks like they've also had my good wiper switch away and put a dud one in its place as there is no resistance when pushing for the washers and it won't turn to the two on positions.. :mad:

So now I need a new one of those.... Grrr......

 

 

Lastly I unpacked the new starter - and found that the band that covers the bushes was unclipped one side and would not clip back... so I e-mailed the supplier when I got home - they replied more or less straight away saying they were sending me a replacement band. So I will have to wait for that to arrive before I can fit it.:

 

 

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Grounded tomorrow as the OH wants the car so back on over on Sat to carry on :D

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Forgot both camera and phone today so no photos I'm afraid.

 

Popped into the local tool shop en-route to the store and got hold of an impact driver which was then used to good effect on the 7 hinge bolts left in the bulkhead. Perhaps too good an effect as only 1 came out clean. The other 6 all snapped the captive nuts off so I wound up with spinning bolts.. Cue Lee with hammer, chisel and sabre saw. 5 minutes later they are all off. :D

Etch primer arrived yesterday, main green paint, thinners and the last bits ordered from Craddocks arrived late this afternoon. So tomorrow I'll rub down the areas where the hinges were and give them a blow-over with etch-prime, same with the new hinges then when that is dry give them a top coat of green. Then the doors can be rehung.

 

Today was a bit momentous as it was the first time I turned the battery isolator on - everyone else ducked behind other vehicles just in case as the battery connections are a bit "different" to say the least..... However all was well, nothing smoked, glowed or went bang! While it was on I turned on the 6 way switch only to be told I had no head lamps and only one side light. After switching off I took the offending bulb out and tested it and to my surprise it was good. So I had a quick nose under the front wing and found the wires have all been nicely cut on the drivers side to allow the light to be stripped off. What makes it worse is - the loom was already butchered and the PO had fitted chokky bloks so all they had to do was undo two screws.. I'll check the head lamps tomorrow - luckily Blanchard have a batch of headlamp plugs/wires up on evilbay for the Military Series 3. I suspect I have two knackered head lamps though as well.

 

Also went to wire in the missing switches - and found a wire left over... Rechecked the wiring diagram and it looked like it went to the wiper swith - but there were only 3 connectors on the switch, not the 4 shown in the wiring diagram Checked with the guys on EMLRA and there should be another lucar on the green block on the end of the switch - its missing so I was right - the <censoreds> had nicked my good one and put a b*gg*r*d one in its place.

 

To get the IP out I removed the steering wheel and column shroud- and found they had a go there as well as the lock washer tabs were all bent away from the nut... Steering column shroud is busted where it's been ripped off too. As fast as we fix one thing we find something else these b*st*rds have stolen/screwed up!!

Edited by Marmite!!
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10 hours work straight through today - and it doesn't seem a lot for it. I got all 4 front lights off - for some reason I have Defender type front side and indicators. Getting them off turned into fun and games as a couple had small nuts and bolts holding the retaining plates rather then the proper self-tappers. At the rear I removed the metal covers over the rear lights and then removed the stop/tail lights. No idea what they were from - but I did notice that underneath the paint was Deep Bronze Green (you can see a bit in the photo) so they've been on a fair while.... Fitted the military spec stop &tail lights - will do the front indicators tomorrow

 

 

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Also tried to get the metal band covering the brushes to fit properly on the starter in the hope I could have fitted that as there is a planned shuffle of vehicles this coming Sunday and it would be nice not to have to push the old girl around (although just in case I upped the tyre pressures to 38 psi.

 

 

Popped out the defective washer/wiper switch ready for the replacement to arrive - same for the fan switch. Also took the photos of the oddball lighting and fan switches that I had to start with:

 

 

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This shows the panel light switch I found in the back of the tub...

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And then used a can of etch prime to cover over the bits of bright aluminium/areas that needed priming. Still got some areas to rub down but they can wait till she's up and running.

 

 

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Well - another day down - another step forwards. And another one back...

 

 

I had the new cover band for the starter motor, the new wiper and fan switches (why I'm worried about the fan switch I have no idea - I don't even have a fan unit right now!!) so I went over the store to carry on now the stomach bug had cleared through. Literally!! :D

 

 

Fitting the new brush cover band to the starter was a PITA job - we could not get the clips to fit properly with the band in position so in the end we put the clips in place and then tapped the band onto the starter with a soft mallet and then a block of wood. Touch wood it is on and holding.

 

 

Then came the nightmare of trying to get the starter into place. It would not fit through from the front or from underneath so we found out why the side-plate that carries the throttle linkage had been unbolted. That's how the low-lifes got the starter out so that's how we refitted it. Once in and bolted on and the terminals had been found and reconnected I turned the battery isolator on and turned the key in the ignition - she span over lovely and with a nice fat spark at the plug so hopefully all that is needed is fuel to get her running. Going to try this tomorrow.

 

 

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New starter in and tested - needs a coat of duck egg blue paint though!!

 

 

The step back came when I added water to the radiator - it took a fair amount and then we noticed that water was piddling out from the back of the water pump.... Looks like a seal has gone in the pump. :(

Could be new pump time - but I have the old engine sitting in the garden that had knackered bearings so tomorrow first thing I'll take the pump off that and see if it is in any better condition.

 

 

The other aggro point was that with the power and ignition on (lights on in the dash) I had no wiper or screen washer working, no panel lights, no road lights other than the O/S front side light and no indicators, BUT - the horn works and when I use the beam flaser on the column stalk both head lamps come on.. Looks like a session of diagnostics is going to be needed as everything used to work. I'm guessing the fact all the light units are hanging out right now is why I have side lights or indicators.

Oh yes - the red light on the brake test switch comes on too - that never used to...?????

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Was hoping to announce today that she lives again - but sadly it was not to be..... :(:(

 

Hooked up the fuel system to 20 litres of petrol via a jerry can adapter and span her over. Nothing... Tried changing the fuel tap over in case the low life's had moved it when they stole the handle but again nothing..

Sprayed a burst of easy start down the carb as she was spun over and momentarily there was life.

So we knew the ignition side was fine and it had to be the fuel. Disconnected every line from the tank pick-up to the pump and blew it through to ensure they were clear. Took off the filter bowl, threw out the stale petrol in there and cleaned it out. Took off the line to the carb and blew that out then tried again - still nothing! :-(

So took the fuel pump apart and the diaphragm was shot - see photo.

 

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Tried a couple of spares shops on the way home but no one holds them in stock now, all said it was "order in" only so will have to order one in - same for the radiator cap too - probably do it with the replacement water pump.

 

2011-11-19185959.jpg

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