westycapri
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 266
Club RR Member Number: 105
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I've got a new ride to add to my fleet and thought you forum folk would be interested in it. I'm super excited to share and this has been a vehicle I've always wanted to own and luckily am in the fortunate position to realise that dream. My landrover dream started with vivid memories of bouncing around in the back of my grandads early 70s Series 3 as we cruised round his farm and to his neighbour’s farms with cow feed, straw bales etc... The smell of cigarrettes and polos. So good. It was a Marine Blue 88", and my Grandad used to leave the key in it. I remember it got taken by a joy rider once and was then abandoned on the farm with no harm done. What a great car that was. Unfortunately I was to young to ask/think about it but when my grandad sold up his farm and retired 20+ years ago. He sold it for less than £1k and now think it would of been awesome to of asked him for it as sure he would of given it to me. Not sure what my parents would said at the time, but if I had his old landrover my car history may of been rather different than the Ford route I ended up going down. I don't have any regrets but its definitely something I’ve thought about a fair bit. I also had the pleasure of working my summers away on a friends farm, driving around a variety of hiluxs, Mitsubishis, daihatsus and of course landrovers, a green 90 which had extremely worn steering linkages and a beast of a blue 110 with an Isuzu 3.9 motor in it plus some discos which were a bit nicer and not just field vehicles. Another vehicle type I love is Tractors, I've always wanted to own a fergie or another small tractor. No real reason apart from that everyone loves a tractor. Now a Landrover Series is one step above a Tractor and potentially enabling me to kill 2 birds with one stone. Finally the rise of YouTube has meant I've really been able to specialise what I watch, and for the last few years have been pretty obsessed with Overlanding videos (alongside car vids and model train videos). I love all the gear and I love the idea of 4wd and exploring a bit further off grid. So to cut to the chase, I wanted a landrover series. It had to be a series 3 as per my Grandads, ideally Marine blue as per my Grandads and because of the overlanding obsession i wanted a 109 station wagon, that I had dreamt of throwing a load of expensive tat over and turning into a overlander, then this turned up.... Its a 1975 Landrover Series 3. Its Marine Blue, its a 109 station wagon, its got a POP TOP ROOF! Unbelievable... I didn't need 10/12 seats so I can cope with the reduction to 4 seats and the fact its a Dormobile (one of less than 100 S3's converted :-)) means its got a pop top roof, a stove, can sleep 4 and has a mahhoosive roof rack. To top it off its got the 2.6 engine, meaning 6 cylinders and ultimately meaning its awesome! I put a deposit on it blind a few months ago after watching a youtube video on it. I picked it up over the weekend and drove it home. its got some rusty doors and a rusty bulkhead going around the A pillar, but on the flip side I didn’t call the AA out, the engines been recently refurb, and seems to run sweet and it is sitting on a galvanised chassis. It keeps getting better the more I drive it as the gears and transmission loosen up, it sounds like a sports car however its performance makes my Mk2 Transit feel like a sports car. I love it It hasn’t done a lot of mileage since the chassis swap 20 years ago, so like a car that’s been laid up I’m sure a lot of service type items will need replacing and sure some of the gaskets etc… will of dried out. My immediate items I need to sort are to replace the rotten door tops (Galv ones on order as we speak), to patch up the door pillars so it doesn’t flex when the passenger door is open(this won’t be pretty and include fibreglass filler but will be a temp fix until I stump up for a full bulkhead), to sort out a few electrical gremlins with the lights (think it’s a dodgy indicator stalk), to fix a oil leak (think it’s the sump gasket), to get it as watertight as possible with new door seals and plenty of sealant, to do a massive interior cleaning session, to check the engine over (inc valve clearences and tune it up) and most importantly to use and have fun with it being a 4wd so I’ve contacted a few local clubs that hopefully won’t be to long until they are up and running again greenlaning! Anyway enough with the waffle… some pics of it As I saw it with my eyes the first time:  The first fill up:  When I got it home and gave it, its first clean.     My first Landrover face off pic…  The worst bit of rust that isn't just bolt on....  This was the Youtube Video I used to buy it with.. And incase you didn’t watch the video, shes called Tess. Cheers Josh |
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Last Edit: Apr 7, 2021 12:34:50 GMT by Rich
@fantasticmrford
1984 Ford Capri 2.0s
1978 Ford Transit Autosleeper
1975 Landrover Series 111 Dormobile
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Well done for getting exactly what you desired. I can’t remember the last time I saw a landie dormobile, either in the flesh or in print. Are the interior fixtures all present and correct? Can’t wait for updates.
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westycapri
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 266
Club RR Member Number: 105
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Well done for getting exactly what you desired. I can’t remember the last time I saw a landie dormobile, either in the flesh or in print. Are the interior fixtures all present and correct? Can’t wait for updates. Cheers pal, I didn't clock that these existed until I saw the advert for this. I'm lucky to say its better for what I want to do than a standard station wagon The interior fittings seem to be there, in my excitement I didn't take any pics bar the rubbish one of the inside of the pop top. Like the whole thing its a bit tired and needs a bit of tlc. The table for example is barely hanging on to its existence. Plan is Just goimg to get it clean and functional by replacing the gas hose and getting the interior light's working. I'm unlikely to do a lot more to the interior this year due to getting married and my other campervan needing some tlc itself. Cheers Josh |
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@fantasticmrford
1984 Ford Capri 2.0s
1978 Ford Transit Autosleeper
1975 Landrover Series 111 Dormobile
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raumer
Part of things
Posts: 138 
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Superb buy. The galv chassis is the biggest plus point. Looks in good condition overall and sounds like it fits your want list exactly. The 6 cylinders are nice if looked after, although a bit thirsty. But more than worth it for the sound of a 6 cylinder.  Cheers Ed |
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Mine: 1938 Scammell Pioneer R100, 1944 Scammell Pioneer SV2/S, 1959 Kraz 255b tractor unit, 1960 Unipower Industrial ballast tractor, 1960 88 Landrover Series 2 SWB, 1983 110 Landrover CSW
Look after:
1935 Scammell Rigid 6, 1951 Scammell Scarab, 1961 Landrover Prototype, 1985 Landrover 110
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Great buy! very rare, these original dormobiles.
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jamesd1972
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,921
Club RR Member Number: 40
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That's lovely, the more you use it the better, especially brakes etc. On LR's I think the rule is just top everything up and put a drip tray under it - we've replaced all sorts of seals and it still leaks 500miles later.
Being a 6 is special, take good care of it I understand they are pricy for bits so if its been done that's even more of a result.
Not sold on the bling wheels, if it takes your fancy standard defender rims can be got for next to nothing to paint limestone to match up, might also fit on the bonnet so you can loose the rear mounted spare.
Enjoy and keep the updates coming.
James
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westycapri
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 266
Club RR Member Number: 105
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That's lovely, the more you use it the better, especially brakes etc. On LR's I think the rule is just top everything up and put a drip tray under it - we've replaced all sorts of seals and it still leaks 500miles later. Being a 6 is special, take good care of it I understand they are pricy for bits so if its been done that's even more of a result. Not sold on the bling wheels, if it takes your fancy standard defender rims can be got for next to nothing to paint limestone to match up, might also fit on the bonnet so you can loose the rear mounted spare. Enjoy and keep the updates coming. James Haha yeah definitely was prepared for oil leaks I'm sure I'll be chasing them round. We've got a black tarmac drive so at least I don't have to be to precious about it. Like any car a bit of use will help it out and will look to replace what I can with new if it fails (a weird novelty bonus of being able to buy near enough everything for it new) Wheels will be something for the future, I definitely prefer the more standard wheel look on these. Cheers Josh |
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@fantasticmrford
1984 Ford Capri 2.0s
1978 Ford Transit Autosleeper
1975 Landrover Series 111 Dormobile
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autojumbled
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 226
Club RR Member Number: 106
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That's cool.
Interesting to see some of the Dormobile stuff. They've just setup a new workshop/forecourt round the corner from me in the New Forest. They've got some cool projects on the go currently.
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glenanderson
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,357
Club RR Member Number: 64
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Nice. Bookmarked. 👍
My only suggestion would be to remove the roof rack if you’re not actually using it. They have a noticeable effect on economy and can do an awful lot of damage to the bodywork they’re mounted to if you inadvertently clout them on a height barrier (don’t ask me how I know).
The sixes sound glorious don’t they? 😃👍
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My worst worry about dying is my wife selling my stuff for what I told her it cost...
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spacekadett
Part of things
F*cking take that Hans Brrix!!
Posts: 838
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That looks like a cool project. As said a galv chassis is a definite plus, and even if it’s thirsty the six pot is nice too. Came close to a series three; bought some tools from a customer who was packing up due to age and health, as he thought it would be a good idea for me to start my own garage. His work vehicle was a blue S3 swb diesel with overdrive, with proper old sign writing on it as well. Sold for about £800 a couple of days before I saw him 😩
Still gutted!
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Mechanic's rule #1... If the car works, anything left on the floor after you finished wasn't needed in the first place  |
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westycapri
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 266
Club RR Member Number: 105
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That's cool. Interesting to see some of the Dormobile stuff. They've just setup a new workshop/forecourt round the corner from me in the New Forest. They've got some cool projects on the go currently. Yeah they've ressurected the name after Dormobile originally went under in the 90s. Its great as they are remanufacturing all the roof components so if something does break I can get spares :-). Also they are doing equivalent conversions on defenders which I'm sure they'll get a lot of take up on. |
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@fantasticmrford
1984 Ford Capri 2.0s
1978 Ford Transit Autosleeper
1975 Landrover Series 111 Dormobile
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westycapri
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 266
Club RR Member Number: 105
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Nice. Bookmarked. 👍 My only suggestion would be to remove the roof rack if you’re not actually using it. They have a noticeable effect on economy and can do an awful lot of damage to the bodywork they’re mounted to if you inadvertently clout them on a height barrier (don’t ask me how I know). The sixes sound glorious don’t they? 😃👍 Oh yes to the Sixes, I'm so glad its still running it rather than having been swapped out for something else. Looking forward to getting to know the engine as only been used to the Ford Pinto that resides in my Capri and Transit. Re height, my transit has a pop top and sods law the only time I've hit it was just after i fitted a solar panel... i put a nice scratch down the middle of the fibreglass roof and the panel, needless to say not my greatest moment, but thankfully no serious damage. The worse thing about the landrover is that the roof rack isn't the highest point, theres a small openeing window that portrudes slightly higher than everything else... thankfully dormobile do replacements but at £80-90 a pop I'm not looking forward to the first time I do it. I plan to remove the rack this weekend, my neighbour doesn't know I'm going to ask him for his help to lift it off yet. Cheers Josh |
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@fantasticmrford
1984 Ford Capri 2.0s
1978 Ford Transit Autosleeper
1975 Landrover Series 111 Dormobile
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westycapri
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 266
Club RR Member Number: 105
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That looks like a cool project. As said a galv chassis is a definite plus, and even if it’s thirsty the six pot is nice too. Came close to a series three; bought some tools from a customer who was packing up due to age and health, as he thought it would be a good idea for me to start my own garage. His work vehicle was a blue S3 swb diesel with overdrive, with proper old sign writing on it as well. Sold for about £800 a couple of days before I saw him 😩 Still gutted! Thanks mate, gutting for you, although never to late to pick one up albeit you'll be paying a little more than the £800 now Cheers Josh |
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@fantasticmrford
1984 Ford Capri 2.0s
1978 Ford Transit Autosleeper
1975 Landrover Series 111 Dormobile
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westycapri
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 266
Club RR Member Number: 105
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I did take some photos of the interior and had some fun last night arranging the seating, I thought I'd add them to here so you guys can see what they look like inside. So you open the door to table on the door... you will see how this fits in later  view down through the landrover   There is a wardrobe on the RHS with a clothes hanging rail + room for a couple of Jerry cans for water   On the LHS there is a hob/grill and a sink, No tap on the sink, it drains through the smallest plug onto the ground under the landrover. I was told the hob works but yet to try it as want to replace the gas line and add some jubilee clips which are currently missing.   Theres a small cabinet under after which has the gas tap and a bit of storage for pots and pans etc...  So orignally all the cabinets of been silver in colour as per this small cabinet above the sink, a previous owner has painted all the other cabinets blue which I think looks quite smart. You can also see the stowage position for one of the 2 top bunks.  Because of the height of the rear window the hob is really low, so this is one of my favourite features... a small stool that folds out so you can sit down and use the stove. The idea being that you reach over your left shoulder and fill the kettle then put it on the stove, take a mug and a tea bag from the top cabinet, add some milk then you have your tea, when done rinse out in the sink and put away. Brilliantly simple design.  Going down to the seats, these are special Dormatic seats that rearrange into a number of different ways. Option 1. Normal Driving postion  Option 2. Fold flat and you can have 2 single beds (I struggled with the drivers side so hence only done the passenger side)  Option 3 You can shift the seats into the middle of the landrover so you end up with a double bed, look at the rear LHS seat and its more central in the Land Rover. You can do the same (I think with all the other seats) & Option 4 Flip the front seat (the base becomes the back and the back becomes the seat) so you have face on seating. The Special Dormatic Seats coming into play  And when you have the seat in that position you have another favourite feature that is using the table from the rear door. I'll be remaking this at somepoint as the chipboard is de-laminating  You are meant to also fold flat the drivers seat as well as rear RHS seat so you have seating around the table for 4. I was struggling with the drivers seat although its definitely possible as seen it done already The other 2 berths are up in the roof with one of these bunks either side.   Closing the rear doors I had these little piles appear of red gold, so think i'll have them off at sometime in the distance future. Either I can repair or if simpler to replace with galvenised versions  I also did do some bits on the engine over the weekend. I removed and flushed the radiator and cooling system. I removed and checked the thermostatat and added a spare radiator cap I had off to replace the more ropey original. Also replaced the fuel filter Overall Engine view all 6 cylinders of glorious power! KandN for extra hps  I've been spending money this week as well, have some front door tops and paint already, plus some gaskets, new radiator hoses, an overflow for the radiator, gear/engine oil plus loads of other little bits and pieces. Our house is like a postal sortation office as a result. Hope to fit some of these bits this weekend. Finally booked it into a Land Rover Specialist (Gumtree 4x4) to give it a once over. They are reassuringly busy so Tess is not going down there until the end of the month Cheers Josh |
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@fantasticmrford
1984 Ford Capri 2.0s
1978 Ford Transit Autosleeper
1975 Landrover Series 111 Dormobile
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In the past I've had 88s and 90s, never being a 109/110 fan, but gotta say, I do like this, especially in 6-pot flavour. Bookmarked, as it's a LR! |
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Apr 11, 2021 20:41:57 GMT
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Like that Looking forward to reading where you go and what you do |
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westycapri
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 266
Club RR Member Number: 105
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Apr 13, 2021 21:39:24 GMT
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Thanks for all the comments folks, Firstly I did miss off one of the seat configurations in the above post, so just for completeness here is the final config, the rear seats folding up and out the way so you have a big load area:  This is very useful as currently have a couple of door tops and a miriad of spare parts stored in the space that it gives me. I was originally planning on fitting the new door tops at the weekend, and had everything to hand except I didn't order any T-Solution to prep the galvenised frames, so this meant I put the fitting on hold. When it rained yesterday It highlighted the need to fit them. I guess not really suprising for a landrover it was as wet inside as it was outside. One of my key goals for the near term is to get it as watertight as possible but will wait and see how successful I am with that. So one of the first things I noted when I drove home was the passenger wiper didn't like to stay in contact with the screen, so I had some new wipers and arms or order and fitted them. No idea how they passed an MOT but they did only a few months ago. Next on the list was that I noticed the steering wheel was loose. This ended up being the nut had not been tightened on. Secondly the indicators would come on with the full beam and the interior light switch on the dash that worked intermittendly. I had diagnosed/guessed the indicator issue as the indicator stalk and the switch as some some dodgy contacts in the switch so had a spare indicator ordered in and planned to dismantle the dash and spray everything liberally with contact cleaner. Also I'd noted the speedo had stopped working (Replaced by a garage in the last few months so expect they also left the steering wheel loose) so wanted to get that working again. On dismantling the dash it was a bit or a mess with wired seemingly going everywhere and what I can assume were some aftermarket relays. There was only one live wire that had been twisted together so think I got off relatively lightly     I speant a good few hours in the dash sorting out the various connections, removing seemingly dodgy earths fitting the indicator stalk and generally making sure I was at least the one who had bodged it together. Unfortunately i didnt fix the problem, however the headlight loom was a bit of a mess, and the cause of the indicator issue after another hour or so down to a poor earth. Example of some dpdgy electrics r someone had earthed the lights against the panel  The battery was so close it really was no issue running it straight to the earth. Thankfully after all the time I spent and the unwrapping of the loom I eventually got working lights  the wiring is still a mess at the front but at least it works mow. I do plan on rewiring it all, ive just got to order the correct wire colours so i match the loom and rewire the lights, indicator and washer bottle Couple of last bits, the speedo cable had come loose, and in fact the retaining clip was no longer on the clip that holds the cable into the clocks... new cable on order so will be fitting soon. Finally the remediations in the dash have meant the temp and fuel gauges no longer work. I think its an earth issue, as I did remove a dodgy wire screwed to the back of the clocks because I couldn't think at the time why the clocks would need to be earthed. Finally for this post I did take Tess up for the Insurance valuation pics so here she is with the mast at CP park in the background. I did a little more on the sunday so will have another update out soon.  |
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@fantasticmrford
1984 Ford Capri 2.0s
1978 Ford Transit Autosleeper
1975 Landrover Series 111 Dormobile
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Apr 13, 2021 23:32:35 GMT
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Having owned a few, I'm of the belief that Land Rover wiring is actually organic, with the ability to grow and reproduce in the most random fashion. It's all I can think of to explain why, on every one I've owned (Range Rovers included), they all look like that behind the dash!  |
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westycapri
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 266
Club RR Member Number: 105
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Having owned a few, I'm of the belief that Land Rover wiring is actually organic, with the ability to grow and reproduce in the most random fashion. It's all I can think of to explain why, on every one I've owned (Range Rovers included), they all look like that behind the dash! Haha yeah I was a bit like wtf is this, when I removed the dash and was greated with this mess... then realised that it probably is just how they are, thanks for confirming. It is rather commical, especially the fuses involved (or lack of). I guess to take a positive at least its colour coded :-). I've got to go back in soon when I fit the speedo cable, replace the top steering bearing, redo the earth to get the temp and fuel gauge to work and Also I thought it would be a good idea to install hazard warning lights, you know just in case this isn't the most reliable of things :-) There were some pretty major oil leaks from under the LR but I had wanted to make sure I could make a cup of tea, so thats what I prioritised next. So first thing I had to do was re-run some gas pipe. The pipe on the stove was of unknown vintage and also was just pushed on the connectors rather than held by jubilee clips. So I got under and re-run through the underneath following the path of the old one. The Gas bottle actually sits under the drivers seat, so had to remove the seat to reinstate it and installed it there. After about 1hr of faffing around finding the right size jubillees etc... I got it to the point where I was cooking on gas (just realised the pic the gas burner doesn't look alight, trust me it was :-))  and able to have the first tea... not quite the greatest view, but will do  The other jobs I got up to were chasing down some oil leaks and check levels in stuff. There seems to be multiple leaks and it definitely was worse after it had cooled down off the 100mile ride back home. I assume this was because it was the first time its got properly hot in a long time. I think that is the furthest its been in a long time (10+years). Checkign the old MOTs would confirm its done a cpl of hundred miles a year for the last 4/5 years and going back 10+ years its done a few thousand. So not to many pictures but I think my suspicions were correct as a lot of the access covers were very wet and it was easy to tighten up the bolts on the top of the Overdrive unit (level was Ok), the bolts at the bottom of the transfer box (level took a somewhere up to half a litre), the gearbox looked good and didn't take any fluid and finally the engine sump was pretty loose and taken a fair bit of oil. I hope with the engine its not a rear seal or anything else gone but will see how the leak progresses over the next week or so. It does seem a few days later to be dropping a lot less oil, but i've also not driven it so probably to early to tell One thing I did forget, and remembered whilst typing this was check the diff, the front looked dry, but the rear was weeping out of the pinion seal. That can wait as can do the check when I add in the correct bolt for the prop shaft (I found 2 very loose bolts one of which was the incorrect size) Last up on the leaks was there was a fair bit on antifreeze leaking out. I had taken the radiator our and flushed it the week before but the hoses were a bit old so weren't sealing well, so I fitted new hoses and also reinstatated an overflow bottle (cheap addition from Ebay, save me money from the £60+ genuine part). You can see it on the right of the radiator below. On the drive home I did think OMG when there was a liquid over the engine bay.. it turned out to be just water from the overflow. Hopefully both those items cure the antifreeze leaks. I am however bracing myself for having to get the radiator rebuilt as seemed to be a bit moist in an area I wasn't expecting. Excuse the double jubilee clip bodge on the overflow. New good jubilee clips are inbound.  And just to finish off, ended up in a bit of a mess doing all this stuff. But it was fun playing with the new toy :-)  |
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@fantasticmrford
1984 Ford Capri 2.0s
1978 Ford Transit Autosleeper
1975 Landrover Series 111 Dormobile
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That looks really nice, and like it won't need a lot of time spent on it. Is there any extra insulation added? What about heating other than from the engine? Just wondering how cold it will be inside when parked up in anything other than a good weather.
I have never understood how land rover wiring gets so bad considering how little electronics is in one of those old things.
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