New Member - Ex Military Series 3 109

[LandyJam]

Hello.

I’m Jamie and from Staffordshire.

I’ve had Landrover Defenders for a while in the family now. Had my first 90 when I was 19.

I’ve recently bought an Ex Military Series 3 109.

It’s not to bad condition wise but will need work. The first things to sort are the footwell panels as they’re rotten.

And the brakes are very vague as well as the steering.

I’ll be trying to use the forum and see previous posts to help aid me in my research for new parts and how to do it haha.

Thankyou

[FridgeFreezer]

Welcome - post up some pic sof your pride & joy for us to pore over!

[Snagger]

Welcome!

 

For the steering, start with the basics.  Get someone to rock the steering wheel from side to side while you systematically look over the whole assembly for play where it shouldn’t be.  The six ball joints  (two on each of crack rod and drag link in front of the axle and longitudinal rod along the top of the driver’s side chassis rail) are obvious places to start, but also look for movement of each of the three arms on their shafts on the steering box, relay through the front cross member and the axle swivel housing arms relative to the swivel housings themselves (new bottom studs often fix that).  Next is steering box adjustment.  Then you need to start looking at wheel bearings and swivel pins and bearings.

Brake weakness is usually air, and a very thorough bleeding sorts that out.  Some brake shoes are dimensionally incorrect and that causes trouble, so get decent brand replacements.  Likewise hydraulic parts - avoid the cheap ones and but new Lucas brand in lieu of Girling and GKN).  Absolutely do not fit any Britpart brake components!  Goodridge make good stainless braided hoses that help with a firm pedal and efficient brakes if all the other problems are resolved.

[LandyJam]

On 5/25/2022 at 4:50 PM, Snagger said:

Welcome!

 

For the steering, start with the basics.  Get someone to rock the steering wheel from side to side while you systematically look over the whole assembly for play where it shouldn’t be.  The six ball joints  (two on each of crack rod and drag link in front of the axle and longitudinal rod along the top of the driver’s side chassis rail) are obvious places to start, but also look for movement of each of the three arms on their shafts on the steering box, relay through the front cross member and the axle swivel housing arms relative to the swivel housings themselves (new bottom studs often fix that).  Next is steering box adjustment.  Then you need to start looking at wheel bearings and swivel pins and bearings.

Brake weakness is usually air, and a very thorough bleeding sorts that out.  Some brake shoes are dimensionally incorrect and that causes trouble, so get decent brand replacements.  Likewise hydraulic parts - avoid the cheap ones and but new Lucas brand in lieu of Girling and GKN).  Absolutely do not fit any Britpart brake components!  Goodridge make good stainless braided hoses that help with a firm pedal and efficient brakes if all the other problems are resolved.

Thankyou for the information, I’ve replaced both Dumb Irons and also Replaced Both Footwells. 
 

Brakes are next on the list. I’ll try a thorough bleed and also make sure they’re adjusted right on the snail cams, am I right to make them bind and then back of 1 or 2 clicks? 
 

Regards to steering it has definitely improved since I drove it before the dumb irons and I’ve also removed the damper as I’m not sure if that was causing the issue? Can you run these without a damper? 
 

Here is a pic of most recent progress with it mostly back together.

 

[Snagger]

That is some patina! 
 

Your new dumbirons look very neatly fitted.  Nice work.
 

If the steering is better just for replacing the dumbirons, then you must have had movement in the old ones. 😬

The steering damper is optional,  but it is helpful in reducing steering kick back should you hit potholes, stumps or other uneven obstacles.  It’s worth having, but setting up the rest of the steering is important.  The reputation for Land Rovers having poor steering and poor brakes is down to abuse and neglect by so many owners.  If you go through the systems carefully, you’ll be surprised at just how good they are.  It’ll never handle like a sports car, but the steering should be responsive and have no play.  There will be a tiny amount of residual wander while driving, needing occasional corrections of around 1/2” on the wheel to account for varying road camber, but it shouldn’t be like the 50’s movies with big and continual inputs that so many LRs need.

What does work badly against standard Series LR steering for ease of input, precision and feel is going to non-standard wheel and tyres.  Keep the original spec wheels and 7.50 tyres and the steering will be quite light with reasonable feel, but go to aftermarket wheels and just 235/85 tyres (similar diameter to 7.50s but wider) and the steering will become much heavier and lose almost all of its feel.  Get offset rims (like 8-spokes or Modular’s) or spacers and it becomes very heavy and will not only have no feel, but will also pull to one side any time you have uneven braking (not just faults, but uneven grip on the surface) or hit an uneven bump as the tyre will be outboard from the swivel pins, giving the tyres leverage over the steering.  Wolf rims should be OK, but otherwise stick to SIII or Defender steel wheels for best results.

[LandyJam]

6 hours ago, Snagger said:

That is some patina! 
 

Your new dumbirons look very neatly fitted.  Nice work.
 

If the steering is better just for replacing the dumbirons, then you must have had movement in the old ones. 😬

The steering damper is optional,  but it is helpful in reducing steering kick back should you hit potholes, stumps or other uneven obstacles.  It’s worth having, but setting up the rest of the steering is important.  The reputation for Land Rovers having poor steering and poor brakes is down to abuse and neglect by so many owners.  If you go through the systems carefully, you’ll be surprised at just how good they are.  It’ll never handle like a sports car, but the steering should be responsive and have no play.  There will be a tiny amount of residual wander while driving, needing occasional corrections of around 1/2” on the wheel to account for varying road camber, but it shouldn’t be like the 50’s movies with big and continual inputs that so many LRs need.

What does work badly against standard Series LR steering for ease of input, precision and feel is going to non-standard wheel and tyres.  Keep the original spec wheels and 7.50 tyres and the steering will be quite light with reasonable feel, but go to aftermarket wheels and just 235/85 tyres (similar diameter to 7.50s but wider) and the steering will become much heavier and lose almost all of its feel.  Get offset rims (like 8-spokes or Modular’s) or spacers and it becomes very heavy and will not only have no feel, but will also pull to one side any time you have uneven braking (not just faults, but uneven grip on the surface) or hit an uneven bump as the tyre will be outboard from the swivel pins, giving the tyres leverage over the steering.  Wolf rims should be OK, but otherwise stick to SIII or Defender steel wheels for best results.

Thankyou for all the information.

Wasn’t too bad even for a welder of my calibre. 

In regards to wheels, I’m hoping to keep it all completely original and standard (I think they look better this way)

Another question I had was would Boiled Linseed Oil rubbed over the panels protect them enough if I wasn’t to paint? I love the patina of the panels. If not would you recommend anything else?

[Snagger]

I have no idea about using, linseed oil for that.  If you try, do it on a small and hidden patch or panel to test for adverse reactions with the paint, especially the suspicious looking darker green covering the olive drab - that could be any kind of paint.

[LandyJam]

The Wrestler is about ready for the road again minus the lights and the refitting of the bumper (They’re on order) 

Brake trouble after a good few hours tinkering led me to the Master Cylinder letting in air on the up stroke, so new one was fitted today and brake pedal now much improved!