For those interested in old cars.

[37114]

23 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

I remember now that another friend who had an LWB series 1 told me that the FWH was a nice to have thing if you wanted a classic Land Rover with all the accessories, but in practice, they were more trouble than they were worth.

Mine also has free wheeling hubs, and to be honest while I wouldn't fit them if they weren't already on it I did most of my driving on the road so any fuel saving was welcome but more so the wear and tear saving on the front diff and prop. I do have a minor oil leak on one of them and I have had one jam in 2 wheel drive mode some years ago. It would be a pain to remove them as one of my hubs has had a bolt shear prior to my ownership and so has been fitted a wider non standard bolt.....

[37114]

1 hour ago, MrWolf said:

My IIA with OD had freewheeling hubs. Never figured out how to use them or whether I needed to. I actually bought the Land Rover, a SWB full hardtop model, along with a LWB with a truck cab. Both had solid chassis and bulkheads, something that I haven't seen on any others that weren't restored. Usually a case of: Learn how to weld - Buy a Land Rover! I offered to help a friend with a series II, it needed "a bit of welding" for the MOT. I replaced almost the entire bottom face of the chassis rails, the bottom of the gearbox crossmember and had to  a

weldon the new rear crossmember that was fitted with self tappers and bitumen. 

Mine I bought for the vintage Harvey Frost crane on the LWB. The crane went on a Bedford from the mid 50s and I MOT'd the Landy and sold it. The SWB was only 30000 miles, a full MOT, had been barely used and consequently barely looked after.  The OD to transfer box seal went - fun! Followed by halfshaft seals, brakes, water pump, thermostat and the radiator was pretty much solid limescale. I eventually got sick of spending money on it and someone else got a really well sorted, low mileage late IIA with the headlights in the wings. That was something that more than one "expert" said was wrong. I would then ask them to have a good look at the grille and radiator panel and explain how it was wrong? 

I did have a lot of fun with it though and felt rather guilty about not chucking it around fields with a cattle trailer on the back. 

Then another friend said he had bought a new chassis for his wife's 1950 series one that had lain part dismantled at her parents house for a decade....

I have avoided welding the expensive way... New Galv chassis 15 years ago and had someone else repair and galv the bulkhead.  I also got most of the steel bits (including the radiator panel which is another rot trap) I could Galvanised and all the cappings regalved as well.

[MrWolf]

7 minutes ago, 37114 said:

I have avoided welding the expensive way... New Galv chassis 15 years ago and had someone else repair and galv the bulkhead.  I also got most of the steel bits (including the radiator panel which is another rot trap) I could Galvanised and all the cappings regalved as well.

 

Not expensive in real terms. I have seen some of the welding work done by so called classic car specialists. Or bodges to hide rot. Both of which could have been lethal. Just because someone can glue a patch on with a mug welder, doesn't mean that they can weld or I can't prise the repair off with a screwdriver. 

Those radiator panels are fiddly things to repair properly. I used to drill out the spotwelds and half dismantle the damned things. Bulkheads around the vent flaps are another joy to repair! 

[figworthy]

1 hour ago, MrWolf said:

I remember now that another friend who had an LWB series 1 told me that the FWH was a nice to have thing if you wanted a classic Land Rover with all the accessories, but in practice, they were more trouble than they were worth.

 

Over a period of 20 years, between Dad and myself, we had 3 SWBs (2 * IIA and 1 III).  All had FWHs (and overdrive), and I don't recall having any problem with them.  Apart from welding, most of the maintenance work was done "in house".

 

Adrian

[MJI]

I have a newer LR product a Discovery 2 and the amount of people who think

 

1) Get something newer

2) Get something foreign

3) It is worth bog all

 

I am of the opinion that the values will soon increase as Defenders are increasing  D1s are disappearing D3 & 4 breaking engines.

 

As D2s rust people scrap them, carry on and it wil be a D1 moment, all gone.

 

And yes I am considering a Galvanised chassis

[MrWolf]

2 hours ago, figworthy said:

 

Over a period of 20 years, between Dad and myself, we had 3 SWBs (2 * IIA and 1 III).  All had FWHs (and overdrive), and I don't recall having any problem with them.  Apart from welding, most of the maintenance work was done "in house".

 

Adrian

 

They weren't problematic, I just never knew anyone who bothered to use them, hence when I owned mine, I didn't mess with them. All I did was haul a car trailer with it collecting dead classic cars and vans which it never failed to do.

[MrWolf]

2 hours ago, MJI said:

I have a newer LR product a Discovery 2 and the amount of people who think

 

1) Get something newer

2) Get something foreign

3) It is worth bog all

 

I am of the opinion that the values will soon increase as Defenders are increasing  D1s are disappearing D3 & 4 breaking engines.

 

As D2s rust people scrap them, carry on and it wil be a D1 moment, all gone.

 

And yes I am considering a Galvanised chassis

 

"A" pillar bottoms, outrigger mounts and "C" pillars / rear arches seem to be the favourite bits people have asked me to weld. I think that the Disco is under appreciated, get a good one and look after it before the Discovery is "discovered". I still prefer the Series Land Rovers to the Defender, there's more room in the cab and less to go wrong, but that's just my experience.

 

It might be worth bog all. But if it does everything that you want it to, then it's worth the price of a new one.

Edited January 17, 2021 by MrWolf

[Northmoor]

10 hours ago, MJI said:

I have a newer LR product a Discovery 2 and the amount of people who think

 

1) Get something newer

2) Get something foreign

3) It is worth bog all

 

I am of the opinion that the values will soon increase as Defenders are increasing  D1s are disappearing D3 & 4 breaking engines.

 

As D2s rust people scrap them, carry on and it wil be a D1 moment, all gone.

 

And yes I am considering a Galvanised chassis

My current vehicle is a Freelander TD4 and a Disco 2 could well be my next LR.  I agree they are rock bottom at the moment.  What is this issue with D3/4 engines; I did read something about main bearing pick-up.  Is it just a case of a few vocal people trying to tell anyone who'll listen that there is a fundamental design flaw, rather than their fault for not changing their oil regularly enough?

[boxbrownie]

14 hours ago, MrWolf said:

 

I did have a lot of fun with it though and felt rather guilty about not chucking it around fields with a cattle trailer on the back. 

 

It’s not a Land Rover if it’s not got an Ifor Williams hitched up.........

[boxbrownie]

1 hour ago, Northmoor said:

My current vehicle is a Freelander TD4 and a Disco 2 could well be my next LR.  I agree they are rock bottom at the moment.  What is this issue with D3/4 engines; I did read something about main bearing pick-up.  Is it just a case of a few vocal people trying to tell anyone who'll listen that there is a fundamental design flaw, rather than their fault for not changing their oil regularly enough?

Disco 2’s are on the up, hurry and get them while you can they are beginning to get recognised........the V6 engines do have some issues with cranks snapping, the V8 version (Range Rover) of the same engine has no issues at all like that, it is suspected (but not officially) that it might be a harmonic whip when D3/4 drivetrain installed, but although it can be an issue like everything else it is a matter of degree.......even so if I was buying a D4 (which I really want but shouldn’t buy because we don’t need one) I’d make sure I had a really good engine warranty cover on it....for sure.

 

We just sold our FL2 i6 (a lovely six cylinder inline petrol engine) all singing all dancing launch vehicle.......14 years old and everything still worked and it had NEVER failed an MoT......now bobbling around in the wilds of Scotland.

[alastairq]

Sadly...I do not 'fit' behind a series steering wheel.

The only type of Defender I can fit into are the military versions.

 

Which is why I prefer, and have, a Fourtrak.  

Excellent bug-eyed pensioner-mobile.   30 mpgs, bomb-proof, no-electronic gizmos, engine.  Rots no worse then the next Daihatsu [I always need to sweep up after it]...yet I can get my legs on to the pedals, and the steering wheel doesn't crease my potbelly...Also easy for a stiff old pensioner to get in or out of, with dignity.

Mine is all welded up now.....pretty much. Not pretty [can take a good ten grand of local house values if parked outside at the wrong moment], but , hey, what do I care? I ain't pretty either!  

 

[steve1]

Ummm...might it be an idea to start a separate Land Rover/Range Rover thread?

 

steve

[MrWolf]

13 minutes ago, steve1 said:

Ummm...might it be an idea to start a separate Land Rover/Range Rover thread?

 

steve

 

You could say the same thing about Alfa's and Maserati's....

[MrWolf]

Okay, let's have a truly underrated car for a change. The Jowett Javelin.

Neat and very cutting edge styling for its time.

Flat four watercooled motor (which was a lot better than the old women say) 

IFS all round

International rally successes

What's not to like?

 

 

[Hobby]

Italian sports cars in general in fact! Or even a thread for sports cars would work. It does seem an obsession for some people!

Edited January 17, 2021 by Hobby

[MrWolf]

Hence my Javelin post. If that doesn't keep everyone happy....

[MrWolf]

As a teenager I chewed up a good few Escorts with one of these. Another underrated and almost forgotten sports saloon.

 

 

 

 

[PhilJ W]

18 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

Okay, let's have a truly underrated car for a change. The Jowett Javelin.

Neat and very cutting edge styling for its time.

Flat four watercooled motor (which was a lot better than the old women say) 

IFS all round

International rally successes

What's not to like?

 

 

They had a normal rigid rear axle. But they did have torsion bar suspension all round. The engine was all alloy mounted forward of the front axle with the radiator mounted on the bulkhead behind the engine. Their Achilles heel was the gearbox which eventually led to the companies downfall.

[MrWolf]

I had forgotten about the back axle, the big result with the one I had was that there was no rot under the back seat around the suspension mounts. The only welding it needed in fact was the front wing bottoms and both back doors. The carpets etc were all missing but the seats and door cards were nicely aged. I was extending my workshop at the time, c1995 and had it stored on a friend's farm. Some @#£* stole the hinged radiator grille and the light out of the boot. 

In disgust I sold it a bloke who had asked for dibs on it once it was MOT'd. Though I have since heard it had changed hands again and been relieved of it's registration number, DTK 61 I think. I hope that it has survived.

Oddly, nobody told me that the gearbox was weak. It was all "The crankshaft / back axle will break if you look at it funny..." 

Another car I regret selling.

[RJS1977]

2 hours ago, MrWolf said:

Okay, let's have a truly underrated car for a change. The Jowett Javelin.

Neat and very cutting edge styling for its time.

Flat four watercooled motor (which was a lot better than the old women say) 

IFS all round

International rally successes

What's not to like?

 

 

 

My father learnt to drive in one of those.

 

The day before Dad was due to take his test, Grandpa was driving the family back from a holiday on the Isle of Wight. As they drove off the ferry, they heard the chassis grounding on the linkspan.

 

Somehow it made it all the way home to Didsbury. Everybody got out, Grandpa closed the door, and the car collapsed!

[boxbrownie]

2 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

Their Achilles heel was the gearbox which eventually led to the companies downfall.

And the fact you could hardly get to the bloody thing!

[alastairq]

A big plus was, as they would say in Devon, 'made in Yarkshire'   

[MrWolf]

58 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

And the fact you could hardly get to the bloody thing!

 

Fifty years ahead of its time then!

[MrWolf]

1 hour ago, RJS1977 said:

 

My father learnt to drive in one of those.

 

The day before Dad was due to take his test, Grandpa was driving the family back from a holiday on the Isle of Wight. As they drove off the ferry, they heard the chassis grounding on the linkspan.

 

Somehow it made it all the way home to Didsbury. Everybody got out, Grandpa closed the door, and the car collapsed!

 

My uncle had an upright Ford Prefect that was nicely rotten. During a spirited getaway from a set of traffic lights, the car lurched over its own rear wheels and sat down in a heap in the road, the rear springs having ripped out of the chassis.

[MJI]

7 hours ago, boxbrownie said:

Disco 2’s are on the up, hurry and get them while you can they are beginning to get recognised........the V6 engines do have some issues with cranks snapping, the V8 version (Range Rover) of the same engine has no issues at all like that, it is suspected (but not officially) that it might be a harmonic whip when D3/4 drivetrain installed, but although it can be an issue like everything else it is a matter of degree.......even so if I was buying a D4 (which I really want but shouldn’t buy because we don’t need one) I’d make sure I had a really good engine warranty cover on it....for sure.

 

We just sold our FL2 i6 (a lovely six cylinder inline petrol engine) all singing all dancing launch vehicle.......14 years old and everything still worked and it had NEVER failed an MoT......now bobbling around in the wilds of Scotland.

 

 

The TD5 is an excellent engine.

 

One of the D2s best points