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Steve's Land Raft

Steve Swan

Well-Known Member
I have been looking for a Tow Vehicle/ General purpose carrier for some time. I had a sort of Schedule of attributes that I needed to follow. 1. No tech allowed 2. The more basic the better 3. It's got to live out in all weathers 4. I will be doing any repairs it needs as I'm too tight to pay anybody else.
I had been daydreaming about old yank pickups, but size was the problem here , most are ridiculously large and no Diesel options. I was idly Daydreaming over a real nice 1973 International Stepside, which at nearly 20 foot long was a touch impractical, when on closing the ad down on Car and Classic an advert for a Blue Defender 300TDI popped up. A Vera Landy. I had made the joke every time my wife was watching Vera on telly, that what I really needed was a Vera Landy and here I was looking at one
"Wonder where it is" I thought
"Perth" Said the Advert
"you're Shittin Me" I Thought
The Ad didn't reveal anything more, but a quick call revealed it was indeed in my Local area, so a viewing was organised with Mark, an old friend who has only ever driven Land Rovers!!! and the Vehicle purchased.
I'm not really a stranger to Landrover. When I fished as a younger man, we had one to get us up the hill to the Loch. I actually has a Series 3 Lightweight that had a 2.4 Ford York conversion fitted , this had to go due to impending Marriage (old story) My Mate Sandy had a nice 2A which he actually got the length of getting a Range Rover Chassis and cutting a Foot out of it down to 88". I was quite Enthusiastic about it and was sad to see it go as 2 separate lots unfinished, but was not in a position financially to do anything about it.
Here it is

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I Drove it to my mate's place to keep it out of the way until the 1st Mar. It was Raining heavily and those 7.5x16 tyres got very special at speed and not in a good way, so a rummage in the World's dustbin (e-bay) unearthed locally a set of 8 spokes with a set of 265/75x16 nearly new tyres for not a lot of money, so these were got and fitted

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Better for sure, I forgot to mention the Chicken coop came with it and the easiest way to move it was to fit it , plus it gives a secureish place to keep things............
I have been looking it over this past week and making a list of what needs doing to make it useable and amassing the bits needed. From the paperchase that came with it it appears to have had 2 owners for the first 14 years of its life and the rear load bed has no paint on the n/s wheel box meaning that's where the Keeper or Shepherds dog sat, so it was an Estate or Farm Vehicle It Failed it's MOT for corrosion in 2011 and there is a receipt for supply of a new Galv Chassis in 2011. It looks like the then new owner re-Chassis'd it and did the springs dampers and bushes at that time and kept it until 2021-22 then it was sold to someone who kept it a year 2022/23 and put a fuel tank , steering box and steering Damper on it for it's MOT in sept 2023, then sold it to the young Chap I bought it from, who had bought it on his journey up from England to take up his job, post Uni, on one of the North Perthshire Estates. Prior to this it had been in the South West Scottish borders since new. The need to raise a house deposit had made him put it up for sale and now it's my problem.........
 
The War of the Land Rover.
Pt. 1 The battle for the brakes
It is Mot'd until the end of Sept, so I have a bit of time to sort it out. Since getting it I have roughed out a plan of attack. 1. Do something about the Driving position. Defenders are not Roomy and Truck cabs are worst, so to this end I have fitted Riser Rails which I first thought were expensive, but on getting them have realised they are a much more subtle shape than I thought, so ultimately worth the money. Then there is the Drivers door handle which is always trying to dislocate your Right Kneecap, that's gone and a soft handle fitted. Finally the 16" steering wheel is gone and replaced with a 14" with a flat bottom, doesn't look right, but what a difference in the comfort dept.
Next up is a full service , belts, fluids, lubricants, brakes, some plumbing, radiator, breathers, sort leaks and a windscreen rubber n wipers. Then I can look at a better intercooler, lose the EGR and a few other tweaks.
Having got all the bits together I decided to fix the fuel leaks around the new tank and look the brakes over before going on the road.
The Garage that fitted the tank re-fitted the old filler and vent hoses which were shot, must have been working on the cheap as possible model.
Easy win to replace them



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It's too expensive to waste, wonder if it needed a tank at all.
Next up was the rear brakes. Last serviced in 2011 by the look of this.....

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I thought that new calipers were going to be the order of the day, but shockingly it freed off with minimal persuasion and went back together no problem .
More like this

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Sometimes I surprise myself. Funny to see how there's an invoice for freeing off the brakes owing to lack of use for Mot in 2023 think he must have taken it to the nearest big road and pressed the brake pedal hard until you could smell them then tested it ........

Just got the fronts to sort out Tomorrow and we are good to go. Then the Steam cleaner, then straight through the Front panel and radiator to the timing belt, rocker cover and tappets...................
 
Thing about old stuff is it's not unreliable if properly maintained. Those back brakes were a joke, nobody's looked at them in years. It took about 45mins. Priced 4 calipers last night £165 for the 4! Might just do that. If I rebuild them when they arrive, I'll not need to do anything other than an annual clean for years to come.
 
Thing about old stuff is it's not unreliable if properly maintained. Those back brakes were a joke, nobody's looked at them in years. It took about 45mins. Priced 4 calipers last night £165 for the 4! Might just do that. If I rebuild them when they arrive, I'll not need to do anything other than an annual clean for years to come.
I think on these is just the chassis in terms of rust thats a pain? A galvanised chassis sorts it out?
 
I think on these is just the chassis in terms of rust thats a pain? A galvanised chassis sorts it out?
Not Quite The Bulkhead is also a problem area, now you can get galvanised versions of these too, if you were buying a project to change the Chassis on I would do the Bulkhead at the same time then your pretty much Rot free for the next 30 years. The Bulkhead on this appears to be good, but the corners need attention, when I get the wings off to know for sure, I'll either repair it or change it. No point spending money repairing if it's going to get out of hand. Changing it is a pain in the neck job, but would certainly add to it's value.
 
looking good, i can see the attraction though I have no need for one at all....hmm, looking forward to further updates
 
Awesome little unit you've got there @Steve Swan !! Please add a picture of the interior modifications you've made, so i can connect the dots. :grin.gif:
Would hardly call it an interior. More like, out of the rain, just.
Awesome little unit you've got there @Steve Swan !! Please add a picture of the interior modifications you've made, so i can connect the dots. :grin.gif:
Not really an interior, more, out of the rain, just.

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Riser rails lift the seat up and flatten it off slightly, it's a long taper thing, so not just some bits of Box Section

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Smaller wheel keeps your wings in a bit and I've dropped the clutch pedal , Every little helps. If it is a keeper I'll convert from pickup to hardtop which lets the seat go back another 3 inches.
 
The 2nd battle for the brakes
The fronts were not really much better than the rears, but the N/S Freed off and got put back together

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The O/S was a different story the outer freed off, but the inner refuses to move, so I've put in a slightly thinner used pad and will go to the airfield to see if heat and pressure will crack them off, then I can sort them out. Don't want to rush into this as really want to put 130 Front brakes on (vented) Looks like I should be able to do all of this for under £200, but need to check for definite..
 
Looks like I will be seeing a few of these boxes over the coming weeksIMG_20240306_112408149_MFNR.webp

My Dodge for the front brake didn't work, so as all the calipers are tired/knackered, this was the solution

IMG_20240306_113546727_MFNR.webp

I have elected to put 130 Front brakes on and replace the rear calipers, this changes the fronts from solid to vented disk, a useful upgrade. It was a complete front kit at £200 plus a pair of rears for £75.00.
The box was Effin heavy.

Popped the pistons in the rear calipers and there was the slightest trace of grease

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It all got greased and put back together with finger pressure only..

Fronts were Dry........ No real surprise there

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These have all been lubed and are ready to go. I am taking bad with the weight of the bits....
More Soon.
 
The Main battle commences tomorrow with a visit to the steam cleaner. I have been over it with my cold machine and got about 80% of the crud off, so should only take an hour or so to go over it, then it starts in earnest. I'll be down at my old mate, Mike's workshop. I hope this will not be the end of a long friendship...
The plan after washing it off starting at the rear is as follows
Change rear axle oil and exchange rear calipers grease rear propshaft U/J's
Change oil in Transfer box and Gearbox.
Change front axle oil and one shot lube front swivels, grease front propshaft joints and fit front brake kit.
Go in through front Grille, remove rad and intercooler and strip front of engine, relpace timing belt and idlers, oil seals, water pump , t/stat. While I'm in that length the rocker cover is off to do the tappets and injector sealsl. Disc and remove EGR system
Re-assemble and replace Aux belt, all the water hoses and the radiator for a custom Ally one.
Oil+filter change plus fuel and air filters.
If that all goes smoothly and I doubt it will, it will be mostly ready to use and abuse.
There are a few other bits and pieces to pick off that I have already got the bits for, under seat panels, battery box, windscreen seal and 2 new seat belts.
That will leave, a bigger intercooler, an exhaust modification and a couple of small patches on the bulkhead for the Mot at the end of the Summer.
If it's going to be a keeper then I may fit a Galv. Bulkhead and convert to hardtop to make it more practical.
The faster you say it the easier it sounds.......
 
The Main battle commences tomorrow with a visit to the steam cleaner. I have been over it with my cold machine and got about 80% of the crud off, so should only take an hour or so to go over it, then it starts in earnest. I'll be down at my old mate, Mike's workshop. I hope this will not be the end of a long friendship...
The plan after washing it off starting at the rear is as follows
Change rear axle oil and exchange rear calipers grease rear propshaft U/J's
Change oil in Transfer box and Gearbox.
Change front axle oil and one shot lube front swivels, grease front propshaft joints and fit front brake kit.
Go in through front Grille, remove rad and intercooler and strip front of engine, relpace timing belt and idlers, oil seals, water pump , t/stat. While I'm in that length the rocker cover is off to do the tappets and injector sealsl. Disc and remove EGR system
Re-assemble and replace Aux belt, all the water hoses and the radiator for a custom Ally one.
Oil+filter change plus fuel and air filters.
If that all goes smoothly and I doubt it will, it will be mostly ready to use and abuse.
There are a few other bits and pieces to pick off that I have already got the bits for, under seat panels, battery box, windscreen seal and 2 new seat belts.
That will leave, a bigger intercooler, an exhaust modification and a couple of small patches on the bulkhead for the Mot at the end of the Summer.
If it's going to be a keeper then I may fit a Galv. Bulkhead and convert to hardtop to make it more practical.
The faster you say it the easier it sounds.......
20 minutes work for a man of your calibre Steve ..
 
The Main battle commences tomorrow with a visit to the steam cleaner. I have been over it with my cold machine and got about 80% of the crud off, so should only take an hour or so to go over it, then it starts in earnest. I'll be down at my old mate, Mike's workshop. I hope this will not be the end of a long friendship...
The plan after washing it off starting at the rear is as follows
Change rear axle oil and exchange rear calipers grease rear propshaft U/J's
Change oil in Transfer box and Gearbox.
Change front axle oil and one shot lube front swivels, grease front propshaft joints and fit front brake kit.
Go in through front Grille, remove rad and intercooler and strip front of engine, relpace timing belt and idlers, oil seals, water pump , t/stat. While I'm in that length the rocker cover is off to do the tappets and injector sealsl. Disc and remove EGR system
Re-assemble and replace Aux belt, all the water hoses and the radiator for a custom Ally one.
Oil+filter change plus fuel and air filters.
If that all goes smoothly and I doubt it will, it will be mostly ready to use and abuse.
There are a few other bits and pieces to pick off that I have already got the bits for, under seat panels, battery box, windscreen seal and 2 new seat belts.
That will leave, a bigger intercooler, an exhaust modification and a couple of small patches on the bulkhead for the Mot at the end of the Summer.
If it's going to be a keeper then I may fit a Galv. Bulkhead and convert to hardtop to make it more practical.
The faster you say it the easier it sounds.......

200.gif
 
At the Renault dealer?? The Duster put a failure light on and went into limp mode with Liz today. Lucky for me my main dealer buddy had a theory and he was right. It's split the impulse pipe from the dpf at the the turbo, pipes are on order, so who knows. Might have to rummage in the box of silicone bits if it's on back order.....
 
At the Renault dealer?? The Duster put a failure light on and went into limp mode with Liz today. Lucky for me my main dealer buddy had a theory and he was right. It's split the impulse pipe from the dpf at the the turbo, pipes are on order, so who knows. Might have to rummage in the box of silicone bits if it's on back order.....
Holding my water , until it's off the car and I can have a good look at it, consult the hive mind on here probably, the piece that was given to us that is clearly snapped is a fresh break of a substantial looking piece of nylon bush, no evidence of gradual failure and it just 'letting go , unfortunately whilst in their care' what's more the remainder of the bush is sat under the gaitor area, so it's wait and see when it's off.

Even then, it be my opinion/best guess.....what will that prove if I confronted them?
I would think a politely worded email with photos sent to the multi franchise dealership and head office , with expectations of fuck all is the sensible option, although I'm tempted with a box of Roses and take them in thanking them for their excellent work coding the new card.....with a mention of no hard feelings of trying to rip us off, what's goes around , comes around.
No mental benefit of getting wound up, I may be wrong, but I can read people pretty well and it didn't sit right with me.
But someone may chime in and say "Yeah, they do that" so I'd be wronger than a wrong thing.
 
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