xychix Posted December 22, 2013 Share Posted December 22, 2013 I've seen an ex army series III LIght Weight (it says 1/2 tonne) which is completely rotten to the bone. Most of the chassis is rotten (holes you can stick your hand in) and the chassis has a thick coating (read: Likely way more holes than can be seen with bare eye). Floor is so rotten you can see the road trough the footwells. all wiring looks molten (shorted??) it's at a dodgy dealer for 'fair offer', it's been there for a while, it's in a poor area in france where the series III likely is abused as tractor. I wouldn't be supprised if it starts and drives..... What would be a fair offer? I was considering to start at 150 Euro's and max at 300 Euro's if the engine can be started and it drives. That would mean I'd have to weld a lot over the next 5 years but I wouldn't have to look for rare parts on the engine/drive train. If I offer 300 Euro's would the salesman hit me with a hammer because I insult this historical vehicle or is it more likely he's happy form someone to take the load of rotten @#$% from his driveway. As a restauration project it's a crazy action. What would such a car be worth if one sells all seperate parts? series III 1/2 tonne army hardtop series III 1/2 tonne army removable doors some non turbo perkins diesel. 5 series III wheels. Would that price alone be above my 300 offer or are these parts plenty on the market? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted December 22, 2013 Share Posted December 22, 2013 I don't know the market over in france, so can't help with money on things. But the 'army hard top' I would say is not original, as IIRC they were all supplied as soft tops, my guess would be it would have been fitted after de-mobbing. It could also be a dutch lightweight, as it's over the channel, makes it more of an oddball, but not that many parts that are that more valuable than a regular series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CwazyWabbit Posted December 22, 2013 Share Posted December 22, 2013 Phone a scrap yard and ask how much you would get weighing it in as scrap, that would be your starting price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazzar Posted December 22, 2013 Share Posted December 22, 2013 It also depends on the documentation, is it registered? Is there difficulty registering such vehicles in france? Is the engine on the registration? These things can cost money to get right legally, so factor that in as well. The less legal, the less money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taurion Posted December 22, 2013 Share Posted December 22, 2013 In a poor area in France it will be worth a fortune ! Rare, restoration project, etc etc., but you may be lucky. Has it got a carte grise (reg doc) and if so check that it is not 'barré'. If it has a c.g. check that it is correct with regard to the engine i.e. an old homologation. There is a possibility that you could have a' carte grise collection' but you risk a lot of administration. There is nothing like the SVA over here. If the documentation is not perfect it is scrap , but cut it up so that it is not identifiable as a vehicle because some scrap dealers will not accept a vehicle without the correct papers....stupid...yes...French administration!! ( Sorry about the french technical terms.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xychix Posted December 23, 2013 Author Share Posted December 23, 2013 ok that helps I'll go there and check papers. I'll offer max 300 if: - it can drive - it has Cart Grise I'm not going to buy it to scrap or split it up. Id park it in a corner and practise my welding skills for a few years. Hoping that one day I'll get a Controle Technique on it and it becomes road legal again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xychix Posted December 23, 2013 Author Share Posted December 23, 2013 In a poor area in France it will be worth a fortune ! Rare, restoration project, etc etc., but you may be lucky. Has it got a carte grise (reg doc) and if so check that it is not 'barré'. If it has a c.g. check that it is correct with regard to the engine i.e. an old homologation. There is a possibility that you could have a' carte grise collection' but you risk a lot of administration. There is nothing like the SVA over here. If the documentation is not perfect it is scrap , but cut it up so that it is not identifiable as a vehicle because some scrap dealers will not accept a vehicle without the correct papers....stupid...yes...French administration!! ( Sorry about the french technical terms.) The french tech terms help now I know what to ask for. I was planning to ask if it had CT (controle technique, like MOT) but that seems very unlikely. Additionally I was planning to ask for papers to get it back on the road. That should be the Card Grise, also good to know that Card Grise Collection means trouble Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xychix Posted December 23, 2013 Author Share Posted December 23, 2013 bullocks, the engine seems the same as on this thread: http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/forum/phpbb/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=85163&sid=95a3ba9ba0830da1dfadc5d9c544edf8 Since this is a nicely cleaned enginebay I assume the engine isn't the diesel engine..... The car is ex-army. Dit some country order series III lightweight (1/2 ton) with hardtop and gasoline engines? of is it completely modifies (which makes it even more carp) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 All supplied lightweights were 2.25 petrol (so it is probably original), except for the Dutch which had the 2.25 diesel and some other options. As above, AFAIK all lightweights were soft tops, even the radio trucks. I assume it looks like a very rusty version of one of these? http://www.ljacksonandco.com/ljdbase/files/10013_photo1.jpg Or is it one of these: http://images.hemmings.com/wp-content/uploads//2011/01/1984LandRover_700-700x531.jpg (again, a rusty version of...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
secondjeremy Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 The ordinary civilian hard top fits as does the hood. Some Belgian military Land Rovers were 2 WD with a limited slip rear diff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xychix Posted December 23, 2013 Author Share Posted December 23, 2013 France Telecom has fixed my broken phoneline!!! I will upload pictures within 2 hours! pictures posted below. This thread just got a lot heavier Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xychix Posted December 23, 2013 Author Share Posted December 23, 2013 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon White Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 That's a pretty much big standard ex military lightweight, with a stock 2.25 petrol engine. It was an FFR so has the shielded ignition leads. The hardtop and rear door have been retro fitted and are just standard civilian parts. About typical rust for the ago. Not beyond saving, but it's not worth a great deal, and frankly isn't worth an awful lot in parts either. I'd offer scrap money and negotiate from there. It's neither rare, nor particularly desirable. lightweights are a bit like marmite - you either love em or hate em! (I hate em) I understand that some parts (especially bulkheads) are now getting extremely hard to find. Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xychix Posted December 23, 2013 Author Share Posted December 23, 2013 ok, I don't want to go looking for parts. I want to get it on the road, if needed with mad max repairs. I can weld, I can hammer sheetmetal into shape (if not to round). So I'd be able to patch the bulkhead on the go. I can't weld TIG (yet) and have never welded aluminium. I've got a crappy FERM mig welder + 0.6mm wire and 20liter bottle and a 5-40A Arc Welding kit, invertor also .. thereby not suitable for alu. Basically I was hoping for a good drivetrain (engine, gears, diffs etc.) and patch up the rest. Maybe fit some new springleaves (noticed the ones on the back are messed up) maybe even from another vehicly be just welding a new mount on the already 'to be improved' chassis. However.... I've got 0 experience with gasoline vehicles. I'm more happy with diesel. If compression + fuel + air it will do BOOM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 Chassis is in a very bad state, I see it still retains it's military ident plate with the reg number stamped in, some LW's got Series 3 hardtops for specific roles, RAF ones used in bomb dumps & on aircraft flight lines had side windows to improve drivers visibility. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon White Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 Bulkhead is steel as is the chassis. I'd be very surprised if you ended to weld any aluminium parts. Might make an interesting project, and your best bet on the bulkhead would be to cut out the rot and fabricate repair sections. It's all flat panels so pretty easy to repair. Mechanically they're pretty simple and parts availability is good for mechanical parts. Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 ot has the standard engine too, not a perkins diesel, just has a perkins badge on the front grille, apparently the design means -- all round square.deal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taurion Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 La Nièvre is not that poor ! ! I see it is in 'depot vente' i.e. garage selling on behalf of owner. If the carte grise is in the name of the owner no problems for registering. Weld it up , get the c.t. and then change the carte grise to your name. The most important is that all the chassis numbers and carte grise numbers match . The paper is more important than the metal ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 I think welding it up might be a bit optimistic, more probably a chassis swap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 If a new chassis for a LW can be found, don't know the French rules for a chassis change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CwazyWabbit Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 Well you wanted 5 years of welding practice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 Chassis are available for lightweights, from Richards: http://www.richardschassis.co.uk/series-chassis/series-iii.html#S3Airportable Your bulkhead top panel looks in rather good nick to me, this is the most costly/difficult bit to repair, as above the rest of it is just flat plates, so pretty easy. It was a 24V FFR truck, also as above, but someone has stuck either a regular 24V alternator in it and binned the charging system, or converted it all to 12V. Lamp guards are non-standard. It appears to be missing the 6-way lighting switch, these are expensive, but can be re-wired to use the normal LR toggle switch. I would doubt very much if that hard top was original, certainly doesn't look like it has been in the hands of a squaddie for 2 decades. Rear crossmember is non-standard, it has no tabs connecting it to the body, so guess it has been replaced with a lump of steel rather than a proper crossmember. It seems to have both fuel tanks, which is a bonus Check for pinhole leaks of course... Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xychix Posted December 24, 2013 Author Share Posted December 24, 2013 left fueltank is leaking for sure (can push my fingers in) right one looked ok) What would the miles per gallon be on such a vehichle? What would an acceptable driving speed be? I'm not so keen on gasoline, and if its for sale on behalf of the owner it's likely still having a pricetag... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 17-20mpg 50mph 'cruise', though you can't really call it cruising in a lightweight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xychix Posted December 24, 2013 Author Share Posted December 24, 2013 17-20mpg 50mph 'cruise', though you can't really call it cruising in a lightweight. uhm ok.... zo basically Its a tractor that drinks expensive fuel. Buying this would then likely make my wife hate a landrover that much that my defender dream is gone and I'm stuck in my transit mk5 for another era. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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