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bringing a neglected series back to life


ian_s

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I'm finally getting round to resurrecting my 1980 series 3 that I bought back in 1995. Over the years its gone through a lot of changes, I think the (short) list is:

rebuilt 2.25 diesel

replacement factory recon 2.25 diesel after a few years

upgraded front brakes to 11 inch

parabolic springs

pro comp dampers

defender 200tdi fitted, which died

discovery 200tdi replaced the defender version, but kept the defender manifolds/turbo

 

so now I'm looking at getting it back on the road.I got as far as making sure the brakes are free, which they are ( 15 year old britpart cylinders still working! )

engine starts better than any other car i've ever had, even with 6 year old diesel in the lines.

what should I be looking to refresh/renew/replace?

current list is:

  1. cam belt
  2. engine oil
  3. coolant
  4. gearbox oil
  5. transfer box oil
  6. brake fluid
  7. clutch fluid
  8. axle oils, front and rear
  9. swivel oils / one shot
  10. lucas wiring harness smoke
  11. blinker fluid

Can anyone tell me what else i need to look at?

Edited by ian_s
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8 hours ago, ian_s said:

I'm finally getting round to resurrecting my 1980 series 3 that I bought back in 1995. Over the years its gone through a lot of changes, I think the (short) list is:

rebuilt 2.25 diesel

replacement factory recon 2.25 diesel after a few years

upgraded front brakes to 11 inch

parabolic springs

pro comp dampers

defender 200tdi fitted, which died

discovery 200tdi replaced the defender version, but kept the defender manifolds/turbo

 

so now I'm looking at getting it back on the road.I got as far as making sure the brakes are free, which they are ( 15 year old britpart cylinders still working! )

engine starts better than any other car i've ever had, even with 6 year old diesel in the lines.

what should I be looking to refresh/renew/replace?

current list is:

  1. cam belt
  2. engine oil
  3. coolant
  4. gearbox oil
  5. transfer box oil
  6. brake fluid
  7. clutch fluid
  8. axle oils, front and rear
  9. swivel oils / one shot
  10. lucas wiring harness smoke
  11. blinker fluid

Can anyone tell me what else i need to look at?

I'd be spending a lot of time looking at the state of the bulkhead and chassis along with body structural supports.  These are probably the most likely things to prevent a successful MoT test.  Has it been covered?  Why's it been off the road?

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I'd have all the drums off and not assume everything is OK, really not worth risking it.

...and Britpart cylinders... well... they may not be leaking now, but at that age you will be lucky to get a few miles out of them.

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Thanks guys.

I originally took it off the road when it failed the MOT on some welding, which I actually fixed at the time, but then my Son arrived and as it's hardly baby safe I never got round to getting it back on the road. Since then more of the chassis has rusted in the front and rear cross members, which I am currently fixing. The Front cross member I have already done, but for the rear I think I might buy a complete rear 1/4 chassis. the bulkhead is solid. 

The tires are shot, I forgot to include them in the list. At the moment as I've got the front end apart most of the water hoses are disconnected and I can inspect them, i didnt see any sign of any deterioration.

Inspecting inside the drums was almost the first thing i did, as the driveway it was on was pretty steep and i didnt want to try moving it without knowing it would stop!

wiper blades are a good idea! i had completely forgotten about those.

steering relay is good call. the steering is much heavier than i remember. I'll also look at ball joints.

Edited by ian_s
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5 hours ago, ian_s said:

Thanks guys.

I originally took it off the road when it failed the MOT on some welding, which I actually fixed at the time, but then my Son arrived and as it's hardly baby safe I never got round to getting it back on the road. Since then more of the chassis has rusted in the front and rear cross members, which I am currently fixing. The Front cross member I have already done, but for the rear I think I might buy a complete rear 1/4 chassis. the bulkhead is solid. 

The tires are shot, I forgot to include them in the list. At the moment as I've got the front end apart most of the water hoses are disconnected and I can inspect them, i didnt see any sign of any deterioration.

Inspecting inside the drums was almost the first thing i did, as the driveway it was on was pretty steep and i didnt want to try moving it without knowing it would stop!

wiper blades are a good idea! i had completely forgotten about those.

steering relay is good call. the steering is much heavier than i remember. I'll also look at ball joints.

Fan belt, air filter ( oil level ) and wiper blades oh brake and clutch fluid aswell :)

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Hi.  I've just had a beast of a time replacing my Series 3 steering relay (rust welded into the chassis) as the shaft was sheared clean.  I don't know what caused the shaft to fail and am worried that next time it may happen at more than 2MPH.  She's a recent acquisition and I suspect that the relay may not have seen oil for ages and the steering certainly was (and actually still is) pretty heavy.  That, however, doesn't quite stack up as it sheared just above the bottom lever arm as I turned the steering wheel so the break is after the relay effectively.  Maybe I also need to go to work on the ball joints but I think that requires a special puller...  Can anyone please inform as to what else might cause the relay shaft to shear like that - it's a bit of a worry as at 55MPH a shear like that will hurt someone I reckon.  It may just be metal fatigue but I can't identify the brand on the broken relay - I nearly bought a Bearmach branded one but didn't and my new relay now in is unbranded but has Part No. NRC1269.

Many thanks in advance.

By way of contribution to the above discussion: the Haynes manual I have has an extensive list of what bits need regular maintenance and if I were putting a Land Rover back on the road after a long break I'd go through each of the items listed, including the stuff that only needs doing every 10k miles or more.  There's also a good YouTube video showing how to get oil into the steering relay.  I should also mention, for those having grief getting steering relays out, that heavyweight pullers must be the best (I used an 8 ton bottle jack but had to rely on the weight of the vehicle front right, maybe 1 ton, for pressure) and I had days of squirting ACF-50 (much better than WD40) in there to degrade the just weld inside the chassis sleeve.  After much banging and bashing I did eventually get the old one out but tore a gash in the top of the sleeve and had more grief getting the attaching bolts to line up on the top side...

Cheers

Buzz Heard.

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17 hours ago, Cornish Rattler said:

Fan belt, air filter ( oil level ) and wiper blades oh brake and clutch fluid aswell :)

fan belt added to the list

haven't got the oil bath filter anymore, so thats not needed, though it will get a wash.

 

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so current list:

  1. cam belt
  2. engine oil
  3. coolant
  4. gearbox oil
  5. transfer box oil
  6. brake fluid
  7. clutch fluid
  8. axle oils, front and rear
  9. swivel oils / one shot
  10. wiper blades
  11. steering box/relay oils
  12. steering ball joints
  13. fan belt
  14. tires
  15. damper bushes
  16. check chassis again
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While you're changing the steering box oil, adjusting the backlash would be a good idea. There's a bolt and jam nut on the side under the cover, just undo the nut and tweak the bolt in gently to take up any play between the wheel being moved and the arm moving. Lock back up with the nut. Doesn't want to be tight, just a tiny tweak. You'll find a better explanation in the manual if you have one. 

Check the tappet clearances too :)

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Thanks, I've had to do that a few times over the years, it does make a massive difference.

Tappets might be a good idea. 

 

I've got the front end apart at the moment to do the cam belt, what is the best way to make sure the timing doesn't shift out of place? is it just a case of marking all 3 gears where they are, or should i line them up to a certain point? it's been so long since I've done a cam belt I cant remember how to do it!

20180908_142338.jpg

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20 hours ago, Buzz Heard said:

Hi.  I've just had a beast of a time replacing my Series 3 steering relay (rust welded into the chassis) as the shaft was sheared clean.  I don't know what caused the shaft to fail and am worried that next time it may happen at more than 2MPH.  She's a recent acquisition and I suspect that the relay may not have seen oil for ages and the steering certainly was (and actually still is) pretty heavy.  That, however, doesn't quite stack up as it sheared just above the bottom lever arm as I turned the steering wheel so the break is after the relay effectively.  Maybe I also need to go to work on the ball joints but I think that requires a special puller...  Can anyone please inform as to what else might cause the relay shaft to shear like that - it's a bit of a worry as at 55MPH a shear like that will hurt someone I reckon.  It may just be metal fatigue but I can't identify the brand on the broken relay - I nearly bought a Bearmach branded one but didn't and my new relay now in is unbranded but has Part No. NRC1269.

Many thanks in advance.

By way of contribution to the above discussion: the Haynes manual I have has an extensive list of what bits need regular maintenance and if I were putting a Land Rover back on the road after a long break I'd go through each of the items listed, including the stuff that only needs doing every 10k miles or more.  There's also a good YouTube video showing how to get oil into the steering relay.  I should also mention, for those having grief getting steering relays out, that heavyweight pullers must be the best (I used an 8 ton bottle jack but had to rely on the weight of the vehicle front right, maybe 1 ton, for pressure) and I had days of squirting ACF-50 (much better than WD40) in there to degrade the just weld inside the chassis sleeve.  After much banging and bashing I did eventually get the old one out but tore a gash in the top of the sleeve and had more grief getting the attaching bolts to line up on the top side...

Cheers

Buzz Heard.

by the sounds of it, your steering has had a massive hit at some point in the past, which has weakened the relay shaft, which has then over time got worse until its sheared. 

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There was a fair bit of talk a while back about aftermarket relay shafts being of poor quality and prone to failing like that. Not sure how much of it was based upon fact though. The alternative option for those rebuilding intact relays is to use a speedisleeve or similar on the seal lands.

When I rebuilt a relay a few years back I went to great lengths to get a new-old-stock shaft in order to avoid the issue.

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Thanks both (Ian S & Retroanaconda) - very helpful but only mildly comforting, I'm not looking forward to a repeat of the shaft shearing...

Maybe I'll start digging for a new old stock shaft or, better given I don't have the kit to compress that spring loading, a new old stock relay.

Very best

Buzz Heard

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On ‎9‎/‎13‎/‎2018 at 7:52 PM, ian_s said:

It's got me worried now, I replaced the relay about 20 years ago with an aftermarket one, it was an absolute b****rd to get out. 

The bearmach ones are pretty good I have yet to fit one to mine as before I decided to keep the 2a for myself I was rebuilding it to sell and fitted a new BP one but since its for myself I've removed all the BP stuff and replaced them with bearmach or similar, I also wonder it the ratio of a cheap relay is the same as a genuine one.

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The Relay has no gearing, it just relays the angular rotation through the chassis and through 92 degrees. It's a simple bar made from a variety of materials. Strong steel if you buy genuine, cheese if you buy from a brand that rhyme with Git.

G.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've spent today cutting out the bad metal in the rear cross member, it actually isn't as bad as I thought it would be, but i know I'm never towing anything again with it if I don't beef it up a bit! i'm slightly annoyed at myself as I forgot my phone so couldn't take any pictures.

I was slightly shocked to find that the bolts holding the drop plate on didn't use crush tubes through the chassis. 

the majority of the rust was in the lowest inch of the cross member, almost everything upwards is intact, and still about 2mm thick as it should be.

So, on to beefing up the tow ball. I'm basically replacing the complete underside of the cross member and a few inches up the rear, plus a 12 inch wide section on the front side about 2 inches high, right in the centre. So I lost the original bolt holes for the drop plate, which wouldn't too hard to re-drill, but I want to put tubes in spread the load. 

I also thought about putting in bracing arms from the front side of the chassis, similar to the setup on a RRC or disco where the arms meet up to the chassis further forward, but not as low down. I'm still not towing much with this, my license doesn't cover it, but if I have to be recovered backwards I want it to be strong

 

 

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If you want a hitch for recovery, get a NATO hitch.  There is a special mounting system with two thick plates for civilian spec cross members.

As you have a Tdi, replace the braided fuel hose (4mm) leak off pipes between injectors - they perish and split, not only spilling fuel when really bad, but initially leaking air in while shut down, making starting harder.  300s seem to be worse than 200 for some reason.  You haven't got filters on your list (air, oil, fuel), but I presume you're doing them with the fluids.

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@lo-fi i replaced the crossmember 25ish years ago, with the cheapest i could find. and I didnt waxoil it. Lesson Learned!!

@Snagger i'd love a nato hitch, if one comes up locally i may well go that way, but i'd still like to brace it more with arms going forward. filters have already been bought, but i forgot to buy oils! @Bowie69 mine had 2 plates about 1/4" thick stacked

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