It's Not You, It's Me - For Sale - 1973 Land Rover Series III 109"

[amcordo]

Questions: anthony.cordo@yahoo.com

Hey folks,

I think you'll all know how hard a decision this is to make.

I've really enjoyed being a Land Rover owner for the last three years, but I just don't have the time or resources to continue pouring into this right now, and I don't see it happening anytime soon. Maybe in a few decades I'll circle back and find me a Rover to start on.

For now, I'd much rather see someone who has the time to get the rover up and running park it in their garage. Before placing it on eBay or Craigslist I wanted to give you folks a crack at it.

$4,500, OBO.
1973 Land Rover Series III 109" Station Wagon w/Safari Roof


Mileage: Odometer says 70K something. It is not accurate (doesn’t work).

Why it’s worth it: comes with all of the large parts you need to make a really robust off-roading vehicle, as well as one that can hit 65 on the highway easily. With a small amount of work you can have it running right away; with more work you can have it running for 40+ years without rust. In addition, this GM motor is extremely low-maintenance.

Update: I did some basic work on it this Sunday and found that the engine will not start. The starter just clicks - could be that it has a bad ground or the starter has gone bad.


Highlights:

• Galvanized just about everything except the frame. Bulkhead, door frames, rad support, etc. all galvanized.
• Comes with the frame it's on (rusty), AND
• Comes with a new-old-stock frame (rust free)
• Four new tires on the rims (purchased a couple of years ago before I put it into storage), plus six (6) spare rims/old tires.
• V8 Conversion
  
  • Comes with a 283 GM Short Block mated to the stock rover transmission. This setup is not adequate - the transmission is missing second gear as it was stripped by the power of the V8. SO:
  • - Comes with the new Advanced Adapters plate to mate a GM SM465 transmission to the stock rover transfer case
  • - Comes with a GM SM465 transmission
  • - Comes with the bell housing, adapters, pressure plate, and clutch to get the engine and transmission together and to connect them to the stock rover clutch MC. You may need a couple of little bits, but all of the major parts are there.
  • Transfer case has the Ashcroft High Ratio kit installed.
  • Engine has an Eidlebrock carburetor installed, but also
  • Comes with a Howell CPU and wire harness to turn the engine to EFI. Will need a 500CFM 2bbl carb from Howell to finish and install it.
  
  
• Stage 1 V8 axles on both front and back
• GM bucket seats with inertia belts.
• Comes with giant piles of rover parts including two SIII windshield wiper motor/assemblies, lots of OEM transmission parts, and assorted other random stuff.
• Most fasteners on it are stainless now. Talk about easy to take apart!

The vehicle will not drive home. The last time I drove it was about two years ago; I was in the middle of galvanizing parts on it and I needed a truck for something so I put it back together with a very temporary wire harness. Since then I took apart the dash and removed the wings. In the process I removed much of the temporary wire harness. In addition, having sat in gear with the parking brake on for two years the clutch and pressure plate, as well as the parking brake are all stuck on. To get this on a trailer/flatbed you will need a winch.
That being said, it’s not dead in the water – to get it running immediately all you would need is a day or two with a wire harness and some brute force to unstick those parts. (as well as replacing oils – routine maint.).
For the long term, though, you’re going to need to do some work. Here’s what I had on my to-do list:

• Put in a professional working and looking wire harness complete with fuses.
• Fabricate a custom seat-box. The seats I put in don’t fit right on the original set box, plus I wanted to build one from steel that I could anchor directly into the frame.
• Galvanize (optional) then swap the new-old-stock frame.
• Decide:
  
  • fix the original transmission and find an original motor to put in it, or
  • Pull the original transmission and put in the SM465 ß the way I was headed, but both would work especially since you’re putting the new-old-stock frame on so the original mounting brackets are all in place on that.
  
  
• Dip strip, then repaint the whole thing – and do a good job.
• Put in a new headliner on the safari roof.
• Replace all nuts/lock washers with nylon locking nuts

http://www.flickr.com/photos/3974844...7630450797718/

[jac04]

Suggest moving this to the "For Sale" section.