Anyone here own a series 3 rover?

[4to8m8]

Have always loved these vehicles and am starting to research for a future buy. Anyone have any info on a Rover BBS or best places to look?

Ray B.

[911-m5]

try the land rover exchange. I believe it's www.lrx.com. My dad has a series ii.


Allan

[jyl]

I had a Series IIA 109".

Try Rovers North, British Pacific, they both have for sale boards. Also try the lro mailing list (which you can find via Google). Also buy the James Taylor book on Land Rovers.

They are great vehicle if you need/want what they are good at and don't need/want what they aren't good at. The former includes off-road work, rugged simplicity, and a unique style. The latter includes even minimal comfort, enough power to pass or climb hills at 55 mph.

Perhaps surprisingly, they are not particularly reliable. Mine broke a lot. However, it never actually stranded me. When the rear drive-shaft snapped, I drove in front-wheel-only mode. When the starter failed, I crank-started it.

[4to8m8]

Thanx for the info guy's. I will be using it for HD runs and to take the kids surfing. No long commuting. Also I figure I'm doing such a goof job hiding $ from my wife for upgrades on the P-car why not fix up a Series 3!

[jyl]

You probably already know that there are three main body styles available in the US - 88" (Jeep-like), 109" 3-door (pickup truck like), and 109" station wagon (four doors). The 109"s have an inconveniently large turning radius, but they carry a lot more. I had a 109" 3-door w/ hardtop and side-facing seats in the bed - this was a pretty versatile setup.

The 109" series 3s also offered a 6-cyl engine. Even though this would seem like an advantage over the underpowered 4 cyl, I heard bad things about it - not that much more power and harder to get parts.

If you have the funds, the D90 and D110 that Land Rover imported for a while in the late 80s (I think) are very neat vehicles. Coil springs, v8 motors, modernized. But they are not cheap.

If I were you, I would plan on some safety upgrades. The stock LR barely has lap belts, which will simply help your face be crushed by the hard steel dash. It also lacks any real rollover protection, since the body structure is aluminium.

If I got back into 4x4s someday, I'd like to take an old S2 or S3, drop in a V8, and have the chassis adapted to coil springs. Some guys have dropped a LR body on an older Range Rover chassis (stretched).

Ah, the pleasure of old LRs. I still remember a trip I took from LA to Monterey, up Hwy 1. Pitched races with the motorhomes, mirrors folded in to reduce drag, fighting and drafting to eke out a pass at 45 mph . . . I also remember taking the buyer for a test-drive (I had to sell it, to help finance a year of travel). I drove him down into a deep canyon, then turned up the exit route and watched his eyes bug out as we scrabbled our way up the steep, loose trail, fighting for traction and spraying rocks. He was impressed, which was good since I was slightly worried about whether we were actually going to make it out. I realized later that all that extra drama was because I'd forgotten to lock the front hubs.

[jyl]

Oh, by the way, why a S3 instead of a S2 or S2A? There's not much difference, really, unless you want a 6-cyl. The S2/2A grille can be used as a campfire grill and the S3 plastic grille cannot.

[4to8m8]

Good info, I'm still learning about the diff models. Needs to have lots of cargo space though. Thanx again.

[joehahn]

If you have not actually sat in or driven one of these DO IT before falling in love w/them. If you stare too much at the uniqueness, ruggedness, spare on the hood, bare bones just plain "coolness" of the whole thing you may become obsessed and you just might buy one of these old things. That's right, you may just drive 3 hours and be smitten and just HAVE to have one. Then you might not EVER get it to run right. You might spend a fortune at RoversNorth and on Ebay. You may just lose your frigggin mind trying to figure out the Lucas electrics and reverse polarities. You might not ever get the breaks to work right and have to pump the pedal 40 times to come to a complete stop. You may start buying kitty litter at costco for all the leaks as you just can't keep up with them. You may just end up throwing in the towel and selling the whole she-bang to someone on the internet for about half of what you have in it (not including sweat equity). And as the flatbed leaves your house taking the thing to Boston where someone else will suffer over it, you look in the back which really has no room as the "bench seats" take up the majority of space and you might think to yourself..."what in the Hell did I get this for". This is all just a hypethetical of course.

joe



(it was '67 IIA 88 and truth be told, if I didn't get rid of it I wouldn't have bought the 914 that I then sold to buy the 911 so it was "kinda" happy ending.)

[4to8m8]

Joe, Your freakin funny! I've never been one to learn from others mistakes but i will think long and hard on this one.

[jyl]

Oh, find a local LR club and go to a get-together, someone will invite you for a ride and then they'll all talk your ear off. Good way to learn if these beasts are really for you.

Good magazines include Land Rover World and LRO, should be available at a Barnes & Noble.