Welcome to my Series III Restoration Site

This site is dedicated to my eternal fiddling and tweaking of my 1972 Series III 109 inch Land Rover. I bought it in February 1992 and immediately set about a few repairs and a bit of tidying up and all these years later I’m still working on it! After years of minor rebuilds, in 2004 the discovery of some major corrosion led to a full ground-up rebuild. As this started, the specification started to creep, and many new features were incorporated in order to make it a highly usable combination of daily driver, family vehicle, expedition vehicle and general utility.

This multi purpose use leads to many compromises and is why the vehicle still continues to evolve after the rebuild as new ideas or new frustrations reveal themselves. I have acquired two more vehicles (the Range Rover and the Lightweight), which also have their own jobs.  They are not subject to the level of work or alteration that the 109 has been,  so they have their own smaller, more generalised blog sections.  The “how to” guides on popular repairs or modifications to all three vehicles are included in the FAQ section. Please note, I am not a trader in vehicles or parts, and am not a garage providing repair services. This site is to offer inspiration, technical information and ideas to other Land Rover enthusiasts, helping others learn from my experiences over twenty years, both positive and negative.  I write about what has and hasn’t worked for me – I cannot promise that the same ideas will work for your vehicle.

The vehicle is still an ongoing project and still gets the occasional new accessory or modification, but below is a list of alterations that make up the basic specification of the vehicle and are covered in posts in the respective subsections on the site navigation bar and menu:

• Galvanised heavy duty (3mm) chassis, 1-Ton/MoD suspension mounts, Tdi engine mounts, front and rear fuel tank mountings;
• Galvanised bulkhead;
• Protective side sills (bolted to chassis);
• Bulkhead removal bar behind front seats.

Body

• Defender doors, wheel arches,  bonnet and front grille;
• Bulkhead removal bar;
• MoD 110 Jerrycan side lockers;
• Masai rear windows;
• Defender side windows, Alpine Lights, sunroof;
• Bonnet mounted spare wheel and pioneer tools (MoD/Camel Trophy);
• Chequer plate wing top protection and rear wing protection;
• Fixed rear steps and folding side steps;
• Toughened tub floor and wheel arch tops (3mm hardened marine grade alloy).

Engine

• Fully rebuilt Discovery 200Tdi;
• Defender 200Tdi manifolds and turbocharger;
• Kenlowe Hotstart;
• Arctic spec fuel filter heater;
• 300Tdi radiator, oil cooler and intercooler;
• Mantec plastic snorkel;
• Oil temperature and pressure gauges.

Fuel

• Original rear 18 IGal tank, twin MoD 12 IGal front tanks with MoD type selector taps and gauge changeover switches;
• Engine coolant powered fuel pre-heater for vegoil and extreme weather use;
• Arctic spec electrical fuel filter heater.

Transmission

• SIII suffix E gear box (Suffix A rebuilt with Suffix D main shaft compknents and lay shaft);
• Standard 4-cyl transfer box modified with SII suffix B low ratio gears (17% lower);
• Roverdrive;
• QT wide angle + extended slip joint front prop shaft;
• 4.71:1 differentials in modified 110 rear and Discovery front axles.

Suspension

• Heystee 3 leaf front and 4 leaf rear parabolic springs;
• 1-Ton/MoD extended chassis brackets and shackles;
• ProComp ES9000 dampers front, Armstrong standard 1-Ton rear;
• 109 ambulance rear anti-roll bar, reconfigured to clear rear fuel tank.

• RR P38 steering box, lower column and pump, Defender Td5 upper colum and steering wheel;
• Steering damper;
• Extended drag link for longer axles;
• Discovery front axle with much greater steering lock/reduced turn radius.

Brakes

• Discovery brake system;
• Goodridge stainless braided hoses;
• Zeus Engineering stainless calliper pistons;
• Transmission longitudinal tie rod to improve standard hand brake efficiency.

Axles

• Discovery I front axle, 110 rear Salisbury axle converted to leaf spring suspension;
• Rear axle disc brake conversion;
• Rear axle hub alteration to accept alloy wheels.

Off Road Equipment

• Mantec snorkel;
• QT diff guards;
• Steering guard;
• Side sills;
• Rear corner protection;
• Roof mounted lighting;
• Bull bar with brush wires to roof rack (wires not fitted on road);
• Warn XD9000I electric winch, front 3.5T recovery points, rear NATO hitch.

 Expedition equipment

• Full length galvanised HD Brownchurch roof rack with end braces and ladder;
• 235/85R16 BFGoodrich ATKO tyres, with 2 spares;
• 42IGal fuel tank capacity;
• 20L water can (carried in side locker);
• Servicing kit (incl. fluids and filters) carried in side locker;
• Pioneer tools on bonnet;
• Interior storage with cargo rails and movable ties, 2x Barebox custom lockers, cubby box, stowage beneath cubby, storage nets;
• Farm jack stored internally;
• CB radio with quick release antenna (normally stowed, not fitted);
• 3x fire extinguishers;
• 10 internal power sockets and 240V transformer/inverter.

Interior

• Protection &Performance bulkhead removal bar;
• 4x Defender cloth front seats (front pair heated) and seat belts;
• Wright Off Road matting throughout;
• Noise Killer sound proofing throughout engine bay and inside bulkhead;
• LaSalle head lining, insulated;
• Side panelling with sound proofing and stowage nets;
• Defender heater;
• Quick access for first aid kit, 2x emergency triangles, glow-sticks and 4x hi-vis jackets;
• MudStuff centre console with CB, DAB stereo, extra engine instruments and Carling Technologies accessories switches;
• 3x door activated courtesy lights

Electrical

• Twin 82AHr batteries with split charger;
• Quick access Anderson connectors to main battery;
• 14″ electric radiator fan;
• 9500lg capacity Warn winch;
• Heated screens (front and rear), wing mirrors and front seats;
• Halogen head lights;
• Twin rear fog lights;
• Twin reverse lights;
• Hazard lights (incl. wind side repeaters);
• Rear work light;
• Twin spot lights on bull bar;
• 4x spot lights on roof rack;
• Intermittent front and rear wipers;
• Reversing sensors;
• 10x power sockets, 240V inverter;
• Towing socket in rear cross member PTO hole.