Land Rover Woes

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Big Bad Stu

Nomad
Jul 18, 2006
251
0
54
Shropshire
Well I have just had the results from the MOT back and it is not good. It turns out that I have an enormous crack in my Series 3's chassis. The rest of the chassis is not good either.

So I am faced with an unforseen bill for about £2000 to fix the thing, I think I have spent so much time on her that I should not give up on her now. After all she had a new wiring loom less than a month ago.

I have owned her for three years now and have fixed so much, this just seems like a collossal kick in the spuds.

When she is done she will have a new gearbox, galvd. chassis, new exhaust and new brakes, she will not be like new but pretty close. The only problem is that the chassis swap people have a six month waiting list so I am being forced to drive around in my infernal Skoda work car :banghead: .

So now I am sitting here under my own little thunder cloud.

Sorry it's not bushcraft but I just need to sound off a bit.

Boo Hiss

Stewey.
 

Soloman

Settler
Aug 12, 2007
514
19
55
Scotland
Chassis must be realy bad to have to rebuild.
Ive welded a few in my time so why not try it yourself.
A sip mig welder at 250 quid will see out you rover.
Ive just finnished welding a 88"series 3 ok they allway require more than you think but have a go.
Soloman.
 

rik_uk3

Banned
Jun 10, 2006
13,320
24
69
south wales
Well I have just had the results from the MOT back and it is not good. It turns out that I have an enormous crack in my Series 3's chassis. The rest of the chassis is not good either.

So I am faced with an unforseen bill for about £2000 to fix the thing, I think I have spent so much time on her that I should not give up on her now. After all she had a new wiring loom less than a month ago.

I have owned her for three years now and have fixed so much, this just seems like a collossal kick in the spuds.

When she is done she will have a new gearbox, galvd. chassis, new exhaust and new brakes, she will not be like new but pretty close. The only problem is that the chassis swap people have a six month waiting list so I am being forced to drive around in my infernal Skoda work car :banghead: .

So now I am sitting here under my own little thunder cloud.

it's not bushcraft but I just need to sound off a bit.

Boo Hiss

Stewey.

I have a mate working for LR/Ford, when I asked him what 4X4 he would buy if he won the lottery, he suprised me by saying "A Toyota" They are the only vehicles LR can't wear out on the test track:(
 

Philbert

Tenderfoot
Jun 11, 2004
60
1
43
Northern Ireland
Breath in.......... breath out and count to ten.

These things are sent to try us but just think when you are finished you will have a tidy Landy with a virtually indestructible chassis.
 

Chris G

Settler
Mar 23, 2007
912
0
Cheshire
Stewey,

I don't want to sound like a mercinary, but I have a book on welding, a welder (90 amp), and welding accessory stuff (mask, gloves, wires, tips, splatter spray, etc) that I can let you have for £150. I'll also email you a few web links which show you how to weld (including video clips) if you're interested.

Don't give up on your LR; it'll leave a hole in your heart and you'll only miss it! I still miss both of mine an they both cost me ££££.

Chris
 

Big Bad Stu

Nomad
Jul 18, 2006
251
0
54
Shropshire
Thanks for all of the words of encouragement.

I didn't explain before but I know how to weld and have the use of a 160Amp MIG any time I want it. It would appear that the chassis has gone beyond this now. Dave, the mechanic, knows me well enough to tell me like it is and if he says it is trashed I believe him.

I have spoken to a firm called Chassis Specialists in Co. Durham. Chassis replacement on Landies is all they do. It looks like I will have a new gearbox while they have it apart. I have just asked Dave to do the diff nose oil seals and sort out a persistant oil leak on the engine.

After the chassis replacement I will have a new Marsland Heavy Duty Galvd. chassis, a new gear box, new brakes incl. pipes, drums, cylinders and shoes, a new exhaust, new bump stops. They will also swap my parabolics and shocks onto the new chassis as well as the steering guard.

I have only recently sorted her electrics out with a new loom, starter motor, alternator and fuses.

In short she will be like new.

All I have to do is sort out about £2500 - £3000 to pay the bill. In all honesty that should not be too hard if I don't buy any more kit or anything, at all.

I know it makes sense, I will be booking her in tomorrow to get her in the waiting list. When she is done she will last for ages, I want to teach my son to drive in her.

Regards

Stewey.:D (smiling now)

PS My mate Alan's Toyota just had to have an engine rebuild costing £3600 so I am not on my own with expensive offroaders.
 

Rob

Need to contact Admin...
Stick with it mate.

I was lucky that a couple of friends were able to help me with a rebuild on our defender. Chassis was starting to look too ropey to rely on, so I had a galvanised one delivered and away we went.

It took a week, and this is more due to the fact that we had a top notch kiddie with lots of knowhow, tools and space amongst us.

It is well worth getting other things sorted whilst you have it in bits.

Now I am happy that it wont be rust that makes it fail the MOT ;)
 

Big Bad Stu

Nomad
Jul 18, 2006
251
0
54
Shropshire
Cheers Tagnut,

I have looked at Richards Chassis but everyone on the orums seems to think that Marsland have the edge.

I rang Paddocks who quoted a 1 week wait for the chassis and this was down to hauliers. The problem that I have is time, or more specifically lack of it so my only viable option is to pay a specialist to sort it out.

Thanks all for the words of wisdom, things don't seem as black as they did a few days ago.:)

Stewey.:D
 

sionnach

Member
Jun 15, 2006
38
0
Maidenhead
I know how you feel.
Th independent LR mechanic I became quite friendly with (!) said "the good thing about LRs is that you can replace everything... the bad thing is you will probably have to"
Good luck, you will have a nice one when you've done this work.
 

Big Bad Stu

Nomad
Jul 18, 2006
251
0
54
Shropshire
Just a quick update.

I have found a specialist locally to do the work.

We are looking at a new bespoke chassis, the same pattern but thicker metal than standard, galvd. of course. A salvage gearbox which is in good nick. A replacement salvage bulkhead. Reusing all of my other stuff.

It's all about the same budget too. The bonus is that I can get in the car an arrive at his workshop within half an hour from home.

My cousin has used him extensively on his cars and rates him highly.

Things are definately on the up!

Stewey.:D
 

Burnt Ash

Nomad
Sep 24, 2003
338
1
East Sussex
My wife has an M-reg'd Discovery which we use to tow trailers from time-to-time. It is quite the worst car we have ever owned. The catalogue of faults and failures has been endless. Just one example: the buttons on the radio (LR original equipment) fall out like autumn leaves. We've just had to have a new floor welded in under the back seats (and we've been told the sills will need replacing in a year or so). I've never had to replace a floor pan on any other car I've owned. It has cost us more to maintain this than all the other cars we have owned put together and by some margin. Our experience has been so awful that I would never have another Land Rover again -even as a gift.

Burnt Ash
 
May 12, 2007
1,663
1
68
Derby, UK
www.berax.co.uk
My wife has an M-reg'd Discovery which we use to tow trailers from time-to-time. It is quite the worst car we have ever owned. The catalogue of faults and failures has been endless. Just one example: the buttons on the radio (LR original equipment) fall out like autumn leaves. We've just had to have a new floor welded in under the back seats (and we've been told the sills will need replacing in a year or so). I've never had to replace a floor pan on any other car I've owned. It has cost us more to maintain this than all the other cars we have owned put together and by some margin. Our experience has been so awful that I would never have another Land Rover again -even as a gift.

Burnt Ash

get your self a Mitsubishi pajero import, cheap as chips now ,ive owned a disco and only had problem after problem,landrover not for me anymore
 

gorilla

Settler
Jun 8, 2007
880
0
52
merseyside, england
My wife has an M-reg'd Discovery which we use to tow trailers from time-to-time. It is quite the worst car we have ever owned. The catalogue of faults and failures has been endless. Just one example: the buttons on the radio (LR original equipment) fall out like autumn leaves. We've just had to have a new floor welded in under the back seats (and we've been told the sills will need replacing in a year or so). I've never had to replace a floor pan on any other car I've owned. It has cost us more to maintain this than all the other cars we have owned put together and by some margin. Our experience has been so awful that I would never have another Land Rover again -even as a gift.

Burnt Ash

i feel your pain mate - my first disco(k reg) was a swiss cheese - way more rust and rot than you mentioned! lost £1200 in less than a year
however.....the engine was bombproof, so i decided to risk another one!
my current disco is also m reg - got it for £1500 after crawling underneath and hitting everywhere with a hammer - no rust in sight. spent another grand on the engine , brakes, clutch and timing belt - flew throught he mot without a single fault, and i've now got a disco with a book value of £3500+ for £2500 - there are good ones out there, but you have to buy right
 

JonnyP

Full Member
Oct 17, 2005
3,833
29
Cornwall...
get your self a Mitsubishi pajero import, cheap as chips now ,ive owned a disco and only had problem after problem,landrover not for me anymore

I had a mitsi shogun....Cost me an absolute fortune, it was always going wrong.... My 1986 landy keeps on going though with no real problems...
 

Landy_Dom

Nomad
Jan 11, 2006
436
1
50
Mold, North Wales
I'm not far from you in Flintshire, North Wales and I have to say I'm a complete Landy nut.

Contact me if you need anything (especially a laning partner!)

Dom.
 

Aaron

Need to contact Admin...
Dec 28, 2003
570
0
42
Oxford/Gloucs border
It seems to come with the territory with owning any 4x4 that the maintenance and running costs are going to be higher, let alone having something from Solihull on your drive (where it would seem to be staying for the moment.....). Was it on here I read:

Did you here about the man who Land Rover didnt p*ss oil?
- The factory took it back and fixed it so that it did

Why did Land Rover scrap the release of their own brand PC's?
- Because a range of home computers that leaked oil all over the carpet wouldnt be popular with the punters.

Had endless trouble with the transmission on my old '90. Thats why I got rid of it and bought an estate car.
 

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