This page contains
some information about Series I and II Land Rovers but most of it relates
to Series III Land Rovers.
Having said that a lot of the information is interchangeable.
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I am not a Land Rover expert, this is a page of opinions, in the end if you decide to buy a Series Land Rover talk to those who own them, it's a good idea to join a club and get their advice, read magazines and books and do not go off and buy the first one you see.
Use Gromet's Calculator
The first decision you need to
take is whether you really do want a Series Land Rover.
They are:-
Many people have Series Land Rovers as weekend play things and they are truly superb vehicles for off roading, they are equally at home as serious competition vehicles or for the more gentle green laning but if you decide, as I did, that you want it as an everyday vehicle, one that has to cope with the occasional foray off road along with plenty of short and long journeys on tarmac, you need to take into account that they were developed as utility vehicles, designed to go to market, cross fields and to carry out a variety of jobs on the farm that tractors do. Later many were adapted, very successfully, as expedition vehicles but, and it is a big but, they were not designed for comfort.
GROMET is different - I have had the leaf springs replaced with coil springs and that makes a huge difference on long road journeys,(this is a major job requiring a new chassis).
We have driven many thousands of miles up to Scotland, over to Wales and down to Cornwall in Gromet, in fact Gromet covers about 10K miles a year.
Series Land Rovers are slow and when it rains you discover that they are not water proof, nor are they wind proof, nor does the heater work very well in the winter and in the summer they can get quite hot
I was not happy when I had to drive my wifes Granada. It was a big, comfortable, car with gadgets but even so I got so fed
up with it we bought the Tank, our Range Rover.
We did take the Granada up to Scotland once, a few years ago, in January and it was very boring, I could not wave to other Land Rovers, then we came to the long stretches of road covered in ice!
One more thing, unlike the Defenders, the 90s and 110s the Series Land Rovers do not have permanent 4 wheel drive it needs to be selected.
Finally remember to put a reasonable amount of money aside for repairs. It is easy to spend all your hard earned cash on a wonderful Land Rover (or any other kind of vehicle) only to find that it requires more money to repair it! If it does not need the money immediately it might well require it when the MoT comes along.
Price as at 2006
Soft Top - A soft top Land Rover (rag top) has a removable canvas top which goes over the driving compartment and the rear (load area) of the Land Rover. It is supported by metal poles known as hood sticks.
Tilt - The canvas top is known as a tilt. A full tilt covers the driving area and the rear, where as a three quarter tilt only covers the rear. This requires the Land Rover to have a metal truck cab.
Truck Cab - Truck cab models are the Land Rover equivalent of a pick up.
Station Wagon -
Station Wagons are passenger-carrying
versions of the Land Rover utilities. The short-wheelbase models usually seat
seven, and the long-wheelbase ones seat 10 or 12.
All Land Rovers make excellent off road vehicles but the short wheel base models
have an advantage over the long wheel base models as they are more agile and
less likely to belly out. If you are using your Land Rover for off roading remember
that it can be damaging and you will sustain anything from a few scratches on
the paint work to far more serious problems like smashed differential housings
or damaged steering components. These are obviously extreme examples but a certain
amount of damage is inevitable.
Window hard top - For some overseas models, Land Rover has built hard top models with windows in the van sides, which allows the load bed to be used for carrying passengers. They are rare in Britain.
Window soft top - the difference is that this has a canvas tilt either full or three-quarter type with windows.
Wheelbase - The wheelbase is the distance between the axle centres. Land Rovers have traditionally been known by their wheelbase sizes: thus, the names of 80", 107", 130", and so on refer to this dimension. Since 1953, there have been both long and short wheelbase Land Rovers (and some special types have had ultra-long wheelbases, too). The longer the wheelbase, the longer the vehicle and therefore the more room it has for passengers or cargo.
The Land Rover goes
back to 1948 and there are
still a huge number of older examples on the roads today.
The Series 1 was created by the Wilkes brothers and first introduced to the
public at the Amsterdam Motor Show. Their brief was to produce a simple vehicle
for the farmer to use and since steel was in very short supply aluminium became
the chosen material for the body panels.
1958 saw the introduction of the Series II. This model had a bigger engine
and a diesel engined variant. The vehicle was produced in 2 wheel bases the
swb 88" or lwb 109" a wheel base that was still used on the Series
3. The 2a had a revised head light layout to conform to new European regulations.
SPARE PARTS
do not present a major problem, but do not go to Land Rover dealers for parts
for the older Series vehicles, if they have them they will cost a fortune.
Prices of Land Rovers are mainly governed by the
condition of the vehicle and the body type.
BODY, look for rust
in the:-
Hinge pillars
Footwells
Bulkhead
Door frames
ENGINE
Diesels are slow (max 55mph) and noisy but give better fuel consumption.
Later 2.5L 4 cylinder petrol engines have 5 bearing crankshafts.
The 3.5 V8 petrol engine (detuned) was also put into the early Range Rovers.
2.6 L straight six petrol engines are very thirsty and parts are harder to find, being designed for the American market.
Look for leaks, particularly oil, although virtually all Series Land Rovers leak a bit.
Excessive smoke, but again a cold diesel will produce a lot of smoke for a little
while.
Timing chain noise.
Mountings must be secure.
CHASSIS, it is rust
and cracks you are looking for in the:-
Outriggers
Rear Crossmember
Rear Spring shackles
Plating, poor welding
Accident damage
SUSPENSION AND STEERING
Listing to one side
Broken or splayed springs, also rust binding the leaves together
Hub swivels
Loose steering components
Steering kickback
Excessive wandering
GEARBOX AND DRIVELINE
Jumping out of gear
Worn differentials
Worn UJ joints
Engagement of 4WD and low ratio
BRAKES
Loose pipes
Pulling to one side
