Introduction

This Blog is dedicated to my 1982 Series III 109. It rolled out of Lode Lane as a Marine Blue and Limestone 2.25 petrol hard top, and I believe it spent its first ten years in the hands of a the National Rivers Authority.

The second owner was a member of BA staff stationed in Nairobi. She intended to prpare it and ship it out to Africa, but this never happened and it stayed at her UK address unused for a short period.

I bought it in February 1992 and immediately set about a few repairs and a bit of tidying up. The steering, suspension, transmission and engine were all very worn, and the chassis and bulkhead revealed problems over the next few years. Over ten years of ownership I had replaced the engine, most of the transmission, several panels and all the chassis’ extremities.

Repairing the gearbox in 2004 revealed significant corrosion of the chassis’ main rails. More chassis repairs may have been possible, but I was sarting to go round in circles and a new chassis was the better solution.

Thus came this rebuild. The initial intention was to rebuild the vehicle quickly onto the new chassis, retaining the modifications already carried out but with no further alteration. Finding more corrosion and damage during the stripdown showed that a more thorough rebuild would be required. As this started, the specification started to creep, and many new features are being incorporated.