Manual

Richard Hall

Land Rover Buyers Guide

A guide for the novice

Landrover Buyers Guide

All text and images copyright Richard Hall, Glencoyne Engineering (except cover image)

Book layout and design by Jennifer Farley, Laughing Lion Design (www.laughingliondesign.net)

TABLE OF CONTENTS | iII

Table of Contents

1 Buying A Land Rover 1

2 Living With An Older Land Rover 5

3 Land Rover Engines Since 1958 10

4 Checking The Chassis 13

5 Engine History 17

6 Land Rover Carburettors 20

7 Land Rover Green 23

Glossary 26

| 1

Buying a Land Rover

Are you looking to buy your ﬁrst Land Rover? Confused by

all the diﬀerent models? Bewildered by conﬂicting advice

from friends, colleagues and ‘experts’? en read on - I am

here to help you choose the vehicle that is right for you.

e ﬁrst thing to understand is that there are an almost

inﬁnite number of variations on the basic Land Rover

design. Since 1958 there have been three basic chassis

lengths, about half a dozen diﬀerent engines and dozens

of permutations of seating, loadspace and window

arrangement to choose from. anks to the bolt-together

modular construction of Land Rovers, it can often be easier

to modify an existing vehicle to suit your requirements than

to try and ﬁnd one which already meets them. at is why,

before I even think about showing you any vehicles for sale,

I like to understand what you will be asking your Land

Rover to do. Towing a horsebox? Camping holidays?

Oﬀroad adventures? Carrying two people, or twelve?

Long distances, or just local trips? e more information

you can give me, the better.

ere are many myths surrounding Land Rovers, so let’s

demolish a few of them at this stage.

It’s a Land Rover all right. But is it the right one for you?

2 | LANDROVERS BUYER GUIDE

Myth: Land Rovers are made from

aluminium, so they don’t rust.

Truth: Most of the outer body panels on a Land Rover

are indeed aluminium. But the vehicle is built on an old-

fashioned ladder frame chassis. is is what gives a Land

Rover its strength: it is made from mild steel sections

welded together, it is given a bare minimum of corrosion

protection at the factory, and it rusts very readily indeed.

Any vehicle more than ten years old may be suﬀering from

chassis corrosion: the condition of the visible body panels

provides no guide to the state of the chassis, and chassis

replacement is a very expensive job.

(However, it is worth mentioning that most Japanese 4x4s

are far more rot-prone than Land Rovers.)

e other crucial structural component is the bulkhead -

the structure to which the windscreen, dashboard, steering

column, doors, bonnet and front wings are bolted. is, like

the chassis, is a safety-critical item, and guess what? It’s

made from mild steel, and it rusts. Replacing a bulkhead is

almost as involved and expensive as chassis replacement.

simply, I will not sell a vehicle that has a rotten chassis or

bulkhead (unless it is for spares or restoration). But the

best thing you can do to protect your new purchase is to

buy a pressure washer (a cheap one will do) and make sure

you regularly power wash the chassis, especially the hollow

sections where mud and road salt can accumulate. A clean

chassis will rust only slowly: a mud and salt-encrusted one

will disappear much faster.

Myth: Land Rovers are so tough,

they go on forever.

Truth: Land Rovers are indeed tough and strongly built, but

they are not indestructible, and they do not respond well

to neglect. A Land Rover is more complex mechanically

than the average family car, and it needs more frequent and

extensive servicing. Neglected Land Rovers can hide some

quite serious mechanical faults, appearing to drive perfectly

well right up to the moment where they go bang. In addition,

there are a number of well-documented weaknesses, which

vary from model to model, and which can be very expensive

to put right.

I know all about the mechanical problems that can aﬄict

older Land Rovers. Every vehicle I sell gets a comprehensive

service and inspection before it is handed over to the customer,

and I will not sell a vehicle unless I have thoroughly road-

tested it myself. at is why I am conﬁdent enough in my

vehicles to oﬀer my own warranty at my own expense.

Myth: Only diesel Land Rovers are

worth having

Truth: It depends entirely on what you are planning to do

with the vehicle. For extensive oﬀ-road use with lots of

short journeys, I would most probably recommend a diesel,

but for some other applications the diesel’s noise, harshness,

lack of power and short service intervals may count against

it. I am particularly enthusiastic about the 2.5 petrol engine

when converted to run on LPG. is engine produces about

the same power as a 2.5 turbodiesel, it is smoother, quieter,

easier to start in cold weather and, running on LPG, the fuel

bills are about 15-20% lower than a diesel 110. Click here

to ﬁnd out more about my LPG conversions.

For heavy-duty towing applications the 3.5 litre petrol V8

cannot be beaten, and I can oﬀer LPG systems to suit this

engine as well. So keep an open mind, and let me advise

you on the engine and fuel option that best matches your

needs.

is patchwork quilt is even worse than it looks. e bottom face of the chassis

was so rotten I could poke my ﬁngers through it. e vehicle actually looked

quite smart from above...

Other areas where steel is used include the door frames,

the storage boxes under the front seats, and the protective

cappings along the top and rear corners of the bodywork.

Any of these areas can rust extensively, and often do.

Further problems can arise where steel and aluminium meet

- a chemical reaction results in the aluminium being eaten

away and turning into a crumbly white powder. is is most

common around the edges of the doors.

I check every vehicle I sell for structural soundness. Quite

LANDROVERS BUYER GUIDE | 3

Myth: Land Rovers cost a

fortune to run.

Truth: It is true that fuel consumption, even on the diesel

vehicles, is no better than that of a large family car. You

will be lucky to see better than 25 mpg in everyday use.

However, fuel costs are only part of the story. Land Rovers

depreciate (lose value) very slowly compared with most cars,

so you can expect to get more of your money back when you

come to sell your Land Rover or trade it in for another one.

ere is a ﬁercely competitive market for spares and

accessories, and you will ﬁnd that many parts are actually

cheaper than for even a small car. e vehicles are simple

to work on, and DIY routine maintenance is well within the

abilities of anyone who has ever assembled an Ikea wardrobe

without having too many bits left over. And Land Rovers

fall into a low insurance group. If you can aﬀord to run an

ordinary family car, you can aﬀord a Land Rover.

Myth: The newer the vehicle,

the better

Truth: Land Rover build quality has tended to be a bit

variable, and the way the vehicles are treated early in life

will have a huge eﬀect on their long-term durability. It is

hard to discern a pattern: I have seen mid 1990s vehicles

with advanced chassis and bulkhead rot, and early 1980s

vehicles still as solid as the day they left the factory. ere

were various key improvements in speciﬁcation over the

years, most notably in 1983/4 where the coil sprung 90

and 110 vehicles replaced the old leaf sprung ‘Series’ Land

Rovers, and then in 1990 when the TDi diesel engine was

introduced. However, as a general rule, you should choose

your Land Rover on condition and speciﬁcation, with age

being one of the least important factors. In choosing a

newer vehicle, you will undoubtedly be paying more, but

that does not mean you will get a better or more durable

vehicle for the money.

So that’s given you some idea of the questions to ask. But

the big question is - is an older Land Rover really for you?

Read on to ﬁnd out.

I get a lot of enquiries from people who have never before

owned a Land Rover, and who fancy one of the older vehicles

as an introduction to Land Rover ownership. Perhaps they

have a limited budget, only need the vehicle for occasional

use, don’t want to tie up a huge sum of money in a vehicle

that only gets used to take the dogs to the beach, like the

idea of saving £190 a year in road tax, or maybe they just like

the look of the older vehicles.

An older Land Rover, whether an early coil-sprung 90 or

110, or one of the classic leaf sprung ‘Series’ models, can

be a faithful and durable friend, but you really need to go

into the purchase with your eyes wide open and use some

common sense. Only a couple of weeks ago I was oﬀered

a vehicle very cheaply by someone who had fancied ‘an old

Land Rover’ and had gone out and bought the ﬁrst one he

looked at. It was, in every way, a bad purchase. It was a long-

wheelbase model, so he could barely get it into his tightly

curved driveway. It was a 2.25 3-bearing diesel, and he had

bought it with a view to towing his boat down to the South

Coast once a month, a 400 mile round trip for which a slow,

noisy, underpowered vehicle was desperately ill-suited. e

chassis was a patchwork quilt of plates welded on top of

other plates, and the bulkhead wasn’t much better. It had

been through ten owners, none of whom had ever spent any

money on it, and mechanically it was about as bad as they

get. Every week it broke down, he took it into the garage

and was presented with a large bill. Now he just wanted to

get rid of the thing, and swore never to buy another Land

Rover again.

What is really sad is that, for the money he ploughed into

this rolling wreck, if he had done some basic research, taken

good advice and really thought about his requirements, he

could have had a nice, well-maintained older vehicle which

would have lasted him many, many years. (I didn’t buy his

vehicle by the way, but someone on eBay did...)

So what do you need to think about, and beware of, when

considering spending £2,000 - £3,000 (the most common

price range I am asked to supply) on an older Land Rover?

General points ﬁrst. is kind of money will not stretch to

a post 1990 Defender TDi, at least not one that any sensible

buyer would touch with a bargepole. So the vehicles you are

looking at will be OLD. At least ﬁfteen years old, possibly

forty or even older. Land Rovers are mechanically complex

and incorporate some very old fashioned technology. is

means that however clean, well-maintained and low mileage

your vehicle, it WILL break down at some point, and it

WILL require money spending on it, on a regular basis, to

keep it in good mechanical condition. If that is unacceptable

to you, go and buy a new Nissan X-Trail.

A Land Rover is designed as a fairly uncompromising oﬀ-

road workhorse for farmers, the military and construction

workers. By passenger car, or even modern 4X4 standards,

it will be slow, noisy, ill-handling, with an uncomfortable

driving position, minimal creature comforts and heavy

controls. is applies much more to the older vehicles, but

even a Ninety can be a bit of a culture shock if you are used

to driving a 3-series BMW to work every day.

is rugged, uncompromising, utilitarian nature is part of

the Land Rover’s enduring appeal, but it is not to all tastes.

Make sure you understand what an older Land Rover is all

about before you buy one. It isn’t a cool-looking alternative

to a Suzuki Jeep or Toyota RAV-4. It’s more like a tractor

that you can use to take the kids to school in.

Safety equipment - you get seatbelts, and a big heavy ladder

frame chassis that will give you plenty of protection in front

or rear impacts, but absolutely none in side collisions or

rollovers. at’s all. No airbags, anti-lock brakes, electronic

stability aids, traction control or any of the other stuﬀ that

keeps drivers of modern cars out of trouble. If you drive an

older Land Rover like a modern car, two things will happen:

you will crash, and it will hurt a lot.

Now let’s look at some of the issues speciﬁc to particular

models.

Living with an older Land Rover

LANDROVERS BUYER GUIDE | 5

Series II (1958-61),

Series IIA (1961-71):

Everyone’s idea of what a proper classic Land Rover should

look like. Headlamps mounted close together in the centre

of the grille panel until 1968, when they were moved out to

the wings. ese vehicles were strongly built of good quality

materials (they predated the British Leyland era) and there

are a surprising number still around, and not too expensive

either. Only very minor detail diﬀerences between the

Series II and IIA, which means that the design of these

vehicles is now getting on for half a century old. What does

that mean?

Firstly, they are not really up to modern traﬃc conditions

without some important improvements. e main ones

are:

Brakes - these vehicles did not have power assisted brakes,

so the brakes are very, very heavy indeed. Also they had

single circuit brakes - so if a leak develops anywhere in the

system, you only have the handbrake to stop you.

Performance - the 2.25 petrol is just about powerful enough

to keep up with modern traﬃc, but the diesel engine is

underpowered, noisy and tends to self-destruct if worked too

hard. Realistically, top speed is 55 mph in a petrol vehicle,

45 in a diesel. Try driving everywhere at 45 in your car, and

see how long a queue builds up behind you. Try doing it on

the motorway, and see how quickly you get rear-ended by

an East European artic. An overdrive will raise the cruising

speed by 10 mph, but the diesel in particular will always

struggle on hills, more so when heavily laden or towing.

Ride and handling - these vehicles use very old leaf-spring

technology, and although the ride on new springs and shocks

is tolerable, it deteriorates very badly as these components

age. e steering is non-assisted, low geared and heavy. e

turning circle is fairly large on short wheelbase vehicles,

supertanker-huge on long wheelbase ones.

Controls - the clutch can be very heavy (a real pain,

literally, in traﬃc jams), the switchgear is scattered all over

the dashboard, poorly marked and hard to read, brakes and

steering as mentioned above are heavy and imprecise in

feel, and the gearchange takes care and practice to master.

ere is no synchromesh on ﬁrst or second gear (a hangover

from the Land Rover transmission’s pre-war roots) so you

will need to rediscover the lost art of double-declutching

when changing up or down. All this gives every journey a

feeling of adventure, but if you just want an unchallenging,

straightforward drive, one of these vehicles is not for you.

Comfort - you get ﬂat slabs of black vinyl-covered foam

to sit on, non-retracting seatbelts and sliding side windows

which let in draughts. Rainwater leaks round the corners

of the windscreen and drips onto your legs. e heater

is feeble. e seats have very limited adjustment and no

headrests. e driving position is strange - like sitting at

a school desk, back upright with your feet ﬂat on the ﬂoor.

ere is no stereo, and no point in ﬁtting one because you

won’t be able to hear it with the engine running.

Electrics - the vehicles have dynamo charging systems, long

since obsolete. ese do not provide enough power to keep

the battery charged when using all the electrics. Headlamps,

wipers and heater - you can have any two out of three, but

not all three, unless you want to end up with a ﬂat battery.

e problem is worst at low speeds - so if you want to use

the vehicle for winter commuting in heavy traﬃc, you need

to do something about it. And the lights are inherently

unreliable. Just remember the motto of the classic British

vehicle owner: “Lucas Electrics - Home Before Dark!”

Fuel - petrol engines will not run on unleaded without either

cylinder head modiﬁcations (approx £350-£400) or a fuel

additive. e same applies if you are planning to convert the

vehicle to run on LPG.

ere are solutions available to all these problems, but (of

course) they cost money. So you have to decide which of

these defects you can live with, and which you must ﬁx. is

will depend on the use to which you plan to put the vehicle.

Bottom line is, is you are doing more than about 3,000 miles

a year, using the vehicle as daily transport, covering a lot of

motorway miles or will struggle with heavy hand or foot

controls, one of these vehicles is not for you, unless you can

aﬀord to have it updated to a more modern speciﬁcation.

e next point to consider is that these vehicles, even when

in good order, are quite heavy on maintenance (just like any

other 40 year old car) and need regular checking, lubricants

topping up etc to spot emerging problems before they

become serious enough to immobilise the vehicle. If you

have no mechanical skills or sympathy, you will develop a

very close and ﬁnancially crippling relationship with your

local garage. I’m not saying that you need to be able to strip

and rebuild a gearbox by the roadside with a Swiss Army

knife and some baler twine - but some basic mechanical

understanding will greatly help to keep the relationship

with your vehicle a happy one.

6 | LANDROVERS BUYER GUIDE

Series IIA in original unrestored condition. A forty year old vehicle still doing the job it was built to do. Lovely.

But don’t forget the good points. ese vehicles are simple,

sturdy and easy to work on. Most parts are still available,

and very cheaply at that. You can insure them on a classic

car policy, there’s no road tax to pay, and of course you have

a genuine icon of British design, instantly recognisable the

world over.

ese are the vehicles that made Land Rover’s reputation,

and you will feel very proud to own a vehicle which is maybe

40+ years old, still doing the job for which it was designed.

ey are real fun to drive, a properly involving driving

experience, and they look great. Just don’t expect them to be

modern, because they aren’t.

Series III, 1971-84:

If these vehicles look similar to the Series IIA, that’s because

they are. ey got a new dashboard with instruments and

switchgear in front of the driver, synchromesh on all gears,

alternator charging and slightly better interior trim, but in

essence they are still the same 1958-vintage design, with

most of the same usability and comfort issues. As production

went on through the strike-bound Seventies, quality became

very erratic, with chassis corrosion in particular becoming a

major issue towards the end of the production run. But the

design was steadily reﬁned and improved through its life,

and the following items are well worth looking out for:

5-bearing engines - both petrol and diesel from 1980.

Smoother and far more durable at motorway speeds. Can

be retroﬁtted to earlier vehicles - but the older 3-bearing

engine can be ﬁtted to late vehicles as well, so you need to

check the engine serial number.

Power brakes - available on many though not all Series III

vehicles. All but the early ones had dual circuit brakes, and

LANDROVERS BUYER GUIDE | 7

post 1980 short wheelbase vehicles like the one pictured

above had the same front brakes as long wheelbase models

- much more powerful.

Deluxe and County trim - interior trim panels, more

comfortable shaped seats to cut down noise and improve

driver comfort. Later vehicles had retracting seat belts as well.

Stage One V8 (1979-83)

is was a totally diﬀerent animal, with 3.5 litre V8 power

and permanent four wheel drive. Perhaps the most usable

Series III, especially if converted to run on LPG, but only

available here in long wheelbase form.

e Series III is perhaps not quite as pure a piece of design as

the Series II/IIA, and only the very earliest (1972) vehicles

are tax exempt. But there are huge numbers about, and a

late one in good condition will still be up to pretty much

any job you ask of it.

Ninety and One Ten, 1983-90*:

A quantum leap forward in comfort and usability, despite

being initially little more than a Series III body on an old

Range Rover chassis. Ninety is short wheelbase, One Ten

is long wheelbase. Coil spring suspension gives vastly

improved ride and handling, power assisted brakes (discs at

front) on all models from the start, as was permanent four

wheel drive (which greatly aids stability). Interiors better

trimmed, wind-up windows on all but the very ﬁrst One

Tens, power steering (optional, but a common ﬁtment), a

new 5-speed gearbox for relaxed motorway cruising, better

seats, better mirrors - the list goes on. e turning circle,

though still large, is far more manageable than a Series III.

ey still need a lot of servicing, but at longer intervals than

the older vehicles. Engines are more powerful (except the

very early ones). So why wouldn’t you buy one instead of a

Series vehicle?

*Sometimes you see pre-1990 vehicles described as

Defenders. is is incorrect - the Defender model name

did not appear until the new TDi engine was introduced

in 1990.

is Series III from 1981 has had a much harder life than the IIA pictured above. I sold this one for rebuilding.

8 | LANDROVERS BUYER GUIDE

Reasons Not To Buy A Ninety

Or One Ten:

Their popularity.

Precisely because they are so much more usable in modern

conditions than the Series vehicles, demand even for older

vehicles remains high. at means that the same money

that will buy a clean, well-loved Series II or III will only

stretch to a fairly shabby, hard-worked Ninety. You don’t get

something for nothing.

Their complexity.

e coil spring suspension has lots of bushes which wear

and can be expensive and time-consuming to replace. e

permanent four wheel drive system is more complex than

the selectable system on the Series vehicles and expensive

to ﬁx if it goes wrong. Electrical systems are more complex,

and faults therefore harder to trace. Wind-up windows

and push-button door handles provide an unending source

of irritating problems which just don’t exist on a Series

vehicle.

Their (lack of) quality.

Early One Tens (sliding side windows) seem to have

been better built and painted than the last of the Series

IIIs, but it all went downhill from there. ere are major

issues, particularly on late Eighties vehicles, with chassis

rot and especially with bulkheads rotting away just below

the windscreen and around the top door hinge. Doors

corrode internally and fall apart, and cost about four times

as much to replace as the two-piece Series doors. Wiper

motors lose their self-parking function. Power steering has

unreliability built in as standard. Turbodiesels (pre TDi)

blow up. Gearboxes break expensively, losing all drive to

the wheels, due to a design fault which Land Rover took 14

years to ﬁx.

Their ubiquity.

ese vehicles are absolutely everywhere. If you want

something distinctive which stands out from the crowd, a

Ninety or One Ten is not the way to go. You can paint

it bright yellow, stick aluminium chequerplate all over

the outside, ﬁt a bullbar, huge wheels, half a dozen

spotlights and jack up the suspension, and the next day

you’ll meet another one coming the other way, to which

its owner has done exactly the same as you have to yours.

But if you plan to do a lot of miles, want a Land Rover to use

as your only vehicle, need power steering, suﬀer from back

problems or spend all your life on the motorway, a Ninety or

One Ten is probably your best choice. However, you need to

be very careful buying one of these vehicles. With a Series

Typical example of a hard-working Ninety - actually my old workhorse, now gone to a new home.

LANDROVERS BUYER GUIDE | 9

II or III, if the chassis and bulkhead are sound (and they

are pretty easy to inspect) then most other problems can be

sorted out fairly cheaply. But turning a tired Ninety into

reliable transport can become a very expensive game indeed.

ere are far more bad examples out there than good ones,

and shiny paintwork is no guide to what lies underneath.

Compare and contrast - Series IIA on left, Ninety on right

Land Rover used a number of diﬀerent engines over the

years, although all belonged to one of three ‘families’:

1. e inlet-over-exhaust petrol engines, in both four and

six cylinder variants, which were used from the very ﬁrst

Land Rovers in 1948, and which had their origins in pre-

war Rover cars.

2. e four cylinder overhead valve engines,both petrol

and diesel, which ﬁrst appeared (in diesel form) in 1957, at

the tail end of Series One production, and evolved over the

years to the TDi 300 turbodiesel, which remains in produc-

tion today for some overseas markets.

3. e Buick-sourced all aluminium V8 motor.

Since 1998 Defenders have used the TD5 motor, an all-new

5 cylinder turbodiesel which, thanks to Ford, looks likely to

be the last Land Rover designed engine. Reports suggest

that it will be dropped next year in favour of a Ford diesel.

What follows is a short guide to the various engines used by

Land Rover since the start of Series II production in 1958. e

comments are based mainly on my own experience - others may

have diﬀerent views. e list is in roughly chronological order.

1997cc Petrol, inlet-over-exhaust:

e ﬁrst few months production of Series II 88 inch petrol

had these engines, carried over from Series One production.

I suspect that most of the survivors will have been ﬁtted

with later 2286cc engines by now.

2052cc Diesel, overhead valve:

Land Rover’s ﬁrst diesel engine, and one of the ﬁrst small

high-speed diesels produced in the UK. It appeared in 1957,

and was used in Series II production until 1961. Looks al-

most identical to the later 2286cc engine, but many internal

diﬀerences. 51 bhp wasn’t really good enough even in the

late Fifties, and I would be surprised if more than a tiny

handful of these engines remain in use.

2286cc Petrol, overhead valve,

3 bearing crank:

Must be the most numerous of all Land Rover engines.

Closely related to the 2052cc diesel but with cylinders bored

direct in the block (rather than the wet liners used by the

diesel). Early engines had some weaknesses, prompting a

redesign of many internal parts for the Series IIA in 1961.

After that, carried on pretty much unchanged until 1980

when the 5 bearing crank appeared (see below).

A rugged, torquey motor with few real weaknesses: tends

to wear its crank bearings (especially the centre one) due to

crank ﬂex at high revs, but will still keep going even when

very rattly. Major bore wear is very common but doesn’t

seem to make a huge diﬀerence to power or oil consump-

tion... Series II and IIA had Solex downdraught carburettor

to 1968, later Series IIA and Series III had Zenith 36IV.

Both can give problems in old age - quickest ﬁx is a Weber

replacement, but opinions on this conversion are divided.

Some people report carburettor icing, and the Weber has a

smaller intake than either the Solex or Zenith, which reduc-

es power output (although economy is improved). A new or

reconditioned original speciﬁcation carburettor will be more

expensive but probably better in the long run.

2286cc Diesel, overhead valve,

3 bearing crank:

Appeared in 1961 alongside the redesigned 2286cc petrol

engine at the start of Series IIA production, and shared its

Land Rover Engines Since 1958

LANDROVERS BUYER GUIDE | 11

cylinder block and some other components. A big improve-

ment over the earlier diesel: power output now a half decent

62 bhp. But the three bearing crank was a major weak spot:

despite being made of better materials than the petrol one,

it ﬂexed at high revs and tended to break under load with

expensive consequences. Fuel injection pump was driven

oﬀ the camshaft by a skew gear which wore badly, giving

unstable pump timing and lots of light grey smoke on older

engines. One of these engines, if assembled properly, is still

just about up to modern use: but keep below 45 mph (55

on overdrive-equipped vehicles) to be sure you don’t break

anything.

2625cc Petrol, inlet-over-exhaust:

Borrowed from the Rover saloon range, in response to de-

mands from mid-Sixties Land Rover users for more power

and torque. e big, heavy old straight six was heavily de-

tuned for commercial use. Acquired a reputation for over-

heating and cracking cylinder heads, mainly due to operator

neglect. (Nothing much wrong with the engine, as long as

you keep ﬂuids topped up and don’t let it go out of tune.)

Also it was thirsty and barely more powerful than the four

cylinder petrol engine, although it sounds lovely and devel-

ops usefully more torque. Parts supply these days is patchy

(although the engine remained available until 1980). e

Weslake-head 3 litre engine from a Rover P5 is near enough

a direct swap and used to be very popular, so check those

serial numbers.

Mark Rumsey (Series II Club technical guru) adds: “(e

straight six) feels barely more powerful than a 2.25 when

driven in the same way, but in fact is quite a lot more pow-

erful, around 20% in fact. If you use the full rev range of

the engine you can take advantage of exceptional low speed

torque, and if you are prepared to run the revs up you can get

rapid acceleration. However, stick with the mid range (2000-

3000rpm) and its only slightly better than a 2.25. Where the

6 shows it potential most is on hills. Where a 2.25 would

start losing speed, the 6 just keeps pulling. Also the Weslake

head on either the 2.6 (Rover P4 110 engine) or 3 litre won’t

ﬁt without modiﬁcation to the clutch pedal box. However,

the early non-Weslake 3 litre drops straight in.”

2286cc petrol/diesel, overhead valve,

5 bearing crank:

In 1980, Land Rover ﬁnally did something about the crank

failures which had plagued its four cylinder engines for 22

years. e new crank was so strong that Land Rover could

(and did) get away with using the same crank for petrol and

diesel engines. ese engines lasted beyond the end of Se-

ries III production and into the ﬁrst couple of years of the

new Ninety and One Ten ranges. Well worth paying extra

for, if you are looking to replace a worn or broken 3 bearing

engine in a Series vehicle.

3528cc V8 Petrol:

e ex-Buick all alloy V8 engine appeared in the Range

Rover right from the start of production in 1970, but did

not make its way into the company’s utility vehicles until

1979. e Series III 109 V8 (or ‘Stage One V8’) was in-

tended to replace the 2.6 litre six cylinder vehicles: Land

Rover’s engineers obviously thought the new vehicle would

be too fast for its brakes and suspension, so they detuned

the engine to 91 bhp by ﬁtting restrictors in the carbs. Re-

moving these takes the engine up to Range Rover spec (138

bhp or thereabouts). e One Ten (from 1983) had the 138

bhp V8 as an option from the start, and the same engine

later appeared in the Ninety. e V8 engines were gradually

phased out after the TDi turbodiesel appeared, with only a

handful being ﬁtted to Defenders as a special order option

after 1990.

e V8, in all its applications, is a strong and reliable en-

gine, but not indestructible: camshafts wear out at around

90-100 thousand miles, head gaskets and camchains usu-

ally go around the same time. ese engines can hide seri-

ous problems very well, so be suspicious of one which has

a slight misﬁre or is a bit down on power - it is probably

overdue for a rebuild.

2495cc petrol, overhead valve:

e ﬁnal development of Land Rover’s ohv petrol ‘four’,

with hardened valve seats which allow running on unlead-

ed (or LPG). Lots of torque, and similar power output to

the 2.5TD, but without the reliability issues (see below).

A much underrated engine: works well with LPG, easy to

maintain, and 2.5 petrol Landies tend to be much cheaper

than diesels. Buy now while stocks last.

2495cc diesel, overhead valve:

Land Rover reworked the old ‘two and a quarter’ diesel

for the Eighties. e injection pump was now driven oﬀ

a toothed belt at the front of the engine (together with the

camshaft) which sorted the pump timing drift problem of

the older diesels, and the increase in capacity provided a bit

more power. Slow but strong, simple and dependable.

12 | LANDROVERS BUYER GUIDE

2495cc turbodiesel, overhead valve,

type 19J:

Given the strength and reliability of the 2.5 diesel, you can

understand why Land Rover thought it would cope with

turbocharging, but the result was a warranty nightmare.

2.5TDs can fail in any number of ways, but the most com-

mon seems to be internal cracks developing in the cylinder

block. is gives the same symptoms as a blown head gas-

ket or cracked cylinder head, but is not repairable. Due to

a defective design of crankcase breather, these engines also

tend to dump large amounts of engine oil into the air ﬁlter

housing, which turns the paper air ﬁlter into a soggy black

lump. is in turn leads to oil being drawn into the air in-

take, causing the engine to ‘run away’ and self-destruct.

Land Rover introduced a new cylinder block for the 2.5 Tur-

bodiesel (part no. ERR479) from engine number 19J27515C.

I have not been able to conﬁrm, but suspect that this block

was strengthened to get round the block cracking problems

I would consider rebuilding a later engine, but not one of

the earlier ones. In general, if the vehicle itself is any good,

the sensible thing to do is to upgrade to a 200TDi (see be-

low), or for old and tatty TDs the 2495cc non-turbo engine

is a very straightforward swap, with only the air intake hose

and exhaust system needing to be changed.

2495cc turbodiesel, overhead valve,

200TDi and 300TDi:

Second time lucky for Land Rover. e lessons learned from

the 2.5TD were incorporated into the new TDi engines

available in the Defender and Discovery from 1990. e

cylinder block still looked familiar (although strengthened

internally with an aluminium ladder frame bolted to the

bearing caps) but the cylinder head was all-new and a direct

injection fuel system was used. ese engines have gained

an impressive reputation for power and durability. Defender

engines produced 107bhp, Discovery engines (with diﬀerent

manifolding and a couple of other small changes) 111bhp.

e 300TDi has a single serpentine drive belt for alternator,

power steering etc, better soundprooﬁng and a few small in-

ternal diﬀerences compare to the 200TDi. Power outputs of

the two engines are identical. ough no longer oﬀered in

Europe (due to emissions regulations) the 300TDi remains

available in some export markets.

2495cc turbodiesel, 5 cylinder, TD5:

New and much stricter Euro emissions regulations for die-

sel engines led Land Rover to develop an all-new engine

for the second generation Discovery, and this also found its

way into the Defender. e TD5 features electronic control

of the fuel injection system (with a control unit under the

driver’s seat), ‘drive by wire’ throttle and other reﬁnements,

all aimed at minimising exhaust emissions. Early reaction

was mixed: the TD5 was much easier to stall than the earlier

diesel engines (a characteristic shared by many of the lat-

est generation of environment-friendly diesels) and there

were reports of oil pump failures, cylinder head problems

and other reliability issues - but not on anything like the

scale of the 2.5TD ﬁasco in the Eighties. In any case, these

issues appear to have been resolved, and the TD5 has turned

out to be a lovely engine - much smoother than the old TDi,

and it sounds better too.

Non Land Rover engines:

e weaknesses of some of the earlier engines re-

sulted in a thriving industry ﬁtting engines from vari-

ous manufacturers to Land Rovers. Before the 200TDi,

if you wanted a powerful, reliable diesel engine in

your Land Rover, a conversion was the only way to

go. Popular engine swaps over the years have included:

Perkins 4.203 and 4.236 - big, slow-revving industrial

engines, lots of torque but not much speed

Ford 2.5 York diesel (horrible) and 2.5Di (excellent)

Perkins Prima 2.0 turbodiesel (best bit of an Austin

Montego)

Peugeot 2.3 and 2.5 diesel - slow but durable

Almost every Japanese diesel between 2.0 and 3.5 litres

ese days, the most popular engine swap is the 200TDi.

is engine, sourced from a Defender, will bolt into any

four-cylinder Ninety or One Ten with the minimum of

modiﬁcations. e 300TDi needs more work (it is designed

to ﬁt the later R380 gearbox, rather than the LT77 used in

the older vehicles) and ex-Discovery TDis also need some

modiﬁcations to make them ﬁt. e 200TDi will also ﬁt

a Series II, IIA or III Landie with some work, and I have

developed the ‘200Di’ conversion - basically a derated, non-

turbo version of this engine - speciﬁcally for Series applica-

tions.

♦

Older Land Rovers may have a chequered past.

ey could have been rebuilt several times and end-

ed up with quite a diﬀerent conﬁguration to the one

they started with. Not a problem in itself, but it can

be interesting to discover how your vehicle began its

life. More seriously, stolen Landies are sometimes

given a new identity using the chassis plate from a

scrapped vehicle. So if the chassis number doesn’t

correspond to the vehicle you are looking at, alarm

bells should start to ring.

e chassis number is usually found stamped on an

aluminium plate which also gives a basic description

of the vehicle. is will usually be mounted on the

bulkhead - inside the cab on earlier vehicles, under

the bonnet (sometimes attached to the bulkhead,

sometimes to the brake servo) on later ones. e

list below does not include Series One vehicles -

these are very much a collector’s item nowadays, and

I would recommend joining the Land Rover Series

One Club if you are serious about purchasing one of

these historic machines.

From the end of 1979 Land Rover went over to the

modern 17 digit VIN numbers - these are slightly

harder to decode, but still no problem with the list

below. Prior to this, 9 digit numbers, or 8 digits

plus a suﬃx letter, were used.

Checking The Chassis

Chassis plate on Defender

Chassis plate on later Series III (bonnet removed)

14 | LANDROVERS BUYER GUIDE

141xxxxxx - 145xxxxxx: Series II 88 inch petrol

146xxxxxx - 150xxxxxx: Series II 88 inch diesel

151xxxxxx - 155xxxxxx: Series II 109 inch petrol

156xxxxxx - 160xxxxxx: Series II 109 inch diesel

161xxxxxx - 165xxxxxx: Series II 109 inch petrol station

wagon

166xxxxxx - 170xxxxxx: Series II 109 inch diesel station

wagon

222xxxxxx - 229xxxxxx: Series IIA 109 inch petrol One

Tonne 6 cylinder

231xxxxxx - 235xxxxxx: Series IIA 109 inch petrol One

Tonne

236xxxxxx - 239xxxxxx: Series IIA 88 inch petrol airport-

able (‘Lightweight’)

241xxxxxx - 245xxxxxx: Series IIA 88 inch petrol

246xxxxxx - 250xxxxxx: Series IIA 109 inch petrol One

Tonne

251xxxxxx - 255xxxxxx: Series IIA 109 inch petrol

259xxxxxx - 259xxxxxx: Series III 88 inch petrol

261xxxxxx - 265xxxxxx: Series IIA 109 inch petrol station

wagon

266xxxxxx - 270xxxxxx: Series IIA 109 inch petrol One

Tonne 6 cylinder

271xxxxxx - 275xxxxxx: Series IIA 88 inch diesel

276xxxxxx - 280xxxxxx: Series IIA 109 inch diesel

281xxxxxx - 285xxxxxx: Series IIA 109 inch diesel station

wagon

286xxxxxx - 290xxxxxx: Series IIA Forward Control petrol

300xxxxxx - 304xxxxxx: Series IIA Forward Control petrol

6 cylinder

305xxxxxx - 305xxxxxx: Series IIA Forward Control diesel

310xxxxxx - 310xxxxxx: Series IIA 109 inch airportable

(military)

315xxxxxx - 319xxxxxx: Series IIA 88 inch petrol station

wagon

320xxxxxx - 324xxxxxx: Series IIA 88 inch diesel station

wagon

325xxxxxx - 329xxxxxx: Series IIB Forward Control petrol

330xxxxxx - 334xxxxxx: Series IIB Forward Control petrol

6 cylinder

335xxxxxx - 339xxxxxx: Series IIB Forward Control diesel

343xxxxxx - 343xxxxxx: Series IIA 109 inch petrol 6 cylin-

der station wagon (North America)

345xxxxxx - 349xxxxxx: Series IIA 109 inch petrol 6

cylinder

350xxxxxx - 354xxxxxx: Series IIA 109 inch petrol 6 cylin-

LANDROVERS BUYER GUIDE | 15

der station wagon

524xxxxxx - 524xxxxxx: Series IIA 88 inch petrol station

wagon (North America)

895xxxxxx - 895xxxxxx: Series III 88 inch diesel airport-

able (‘Lightweight’ - military export)

901xxxxxx - 905xxxxxx: Series III 88 inch petrol

906xxxxxx - 910xxxxxx: Series III 88 inch diesel

911xxxxxx - 915xxxxxx: Series III 109 inch petrol

916xxxxxx - 920xxxxxx: Series III 109 inch diesel

921xxxxxx - 925xxxxxx: Series III 88 inch petrol station

wagon

926xxxxxx - 930xxxxxx: Series III 88 inch diesel station

wagon

931xxxxxx - 935xxxxxx: Series III 109 inch petrol station

wagon

936xxxxxx - 940xxxxxx: Series III 109 inch diesel station

wagon

941xxxxxx - 945xxxxxx: Series III 109 inch petrol 6 cylin-

der

946xxxxxx - 950xxxxxx: Series III 109 inch petrol 6 cylin-

der station wagon

951xxxxxx - 955xxxxxx: Series III 88 inch petrol airport-

able (‘Lightweight’)

956xxxxxx - 960xxxxxx: 101 Forward Control 12 volt

961xxxxxx - 965xxxxxx: 101 Forward Control 24 volt

VIN numbers 1979 on: (ﬁrst 3 digits are SAL in all cases)

LBAAGxxxxxxxxx: Series III 88 inch diesel

LBAAHxxxxxxxxx: Series III 88 inch petrol

LBABGxxxxxxxxx: Series III 88 inch diesel station wagon

LBABHxxxxxxxxx: Series III 88 inch petrol station wagon

LBBAHxxxxxxxxx: Series III 88 inch petrol airportable

(‘Lightweight’)

LBCAGxxxxxxxxx: Series III 109 inch diesel

LBCAHxxxxxxxxx: Series III 109 inch petrol

LBCAPxxxxxxxxx: Series III 109 inch petrol 6 cylinder

LBCAVxxxxxxxxx: Series III 109 inch petrol V8

LBCHGxxxxxxxxx: Series III 109 inch diesel high capac-

ity pickup

LBCHHxxxxxxxxx: Series III 109 inch petrol high capac-

ity pickup

LBCHVxxxxxxxxx: Series III 109 inch petrol V8 high

capacity pickup

LBCMGxxxxxxxxx: Series III 109 inch diesel station

wagon

16 | LANDROVERS BUYER GUIDE

LBCMHxxxxxxxxx: Series III 109 inch petrol station

wagon

LBCMPxxxxxxxxx: Series III 109 inch petrol 6 cylinder

station wagon

LBCMVxxxxxxxxx: Series III 109 inch petrol V8 station

wagon

LBDAHxxxxxxxxx: Series III 109 inch petrol One Tonne

LBDAPxxxxxxxxx: Series III 109 inch petrol 6 cylinder

One Tonne

Ninety and One Ten: Model range far more extensive to

list here, but code can be decoded as follows.

First ﬁve digits should always be SALLD

6th digit: V= Ninety, H= One Ten

7th digit: A= regular body, B= Ninety Station Wagon, H=

High Capacity Pickup, M= One Ten Station Wagon

8th digit: B= 2.5 turbodiesel, C= 2.5 diesel, D= 2.5 petrol,

F= 2.5 TDi turbodiesel, G= 2.25 diesel, H= 2.25 petrol, V=

V8 petrol

Most older Land Rovers have had at least one engine change

in the past. Land Rover engine designs did not change of-

ten, but there are a couple of key changes which may not

be immediately obvious just looking at an engine, and for

which the serial number can be very invaluable. e most

obvious ones are:

Major redesign of the 2286cc petrol engine in 1961,

when the Series IIA replaced the Series II

Diesel engine redesigned and increased from 2052cc to

2286cc at the same time

Change from 3 bearing to 5 bearing crank on 4 cylin-

der engines around 1980

2286cc petrol replaced by 2495cc in 1985 - the new en-

gine has hardened valve seats and will run on unleaded

A couple of other points worth knowing in relation to en-

gine numbers. Firstly, the 2286cc petrol and diesel engines

had interchangeable cylinder blocks. It is not uncommon

for engine reconditioners to mix and match components, so

you may ﬁnd a diesel engine with a petrol serial number or

vice versa. is should not be a problem on 5 bearing en-

gines as the petrol and diesel used the same crankshaft, but

on the earlier 3 bearing engine, petrol crankshafts were cast,

and much weaker than the forged items used in diesel en-

gines. If you put a petrol crankshaft in a diesel engine, it will

run ﬁne but may break under load. So if you ﬁnd a diesel

engine which has a petrol serial number on it, you need to be

sure that the crankshaft has been replaced with the correct

diesel type. To confuse matters more, some unscrupulous

ﬁrms have been known to put petrol cranks in reconditioned

diesels, and hope they last until after the warranty runs out.

So with a 3 bearing diesel of unknown history, the safest

check is to remove the sump and take a look inside. (Sump

♦

gaskets are very cheap, and you can clean all the old gunge

from the bottom of the sump at the same time.) If the crank

has a large letter ‘P’ cast into it, and is of smooth appearance,

it is a petrol crank. If it is slightly rough looking and has no

letter ‘P’ it’s a diesel crank.

Compression ratios: although Land Rover used diﬀerent se-

rial numbers for low compression (7:1) and high compres-

sion (8:1) four cylinder petrol engines, the cylinder heads

are interchangeable between the two, so the engine number

is not a reliable guide to the actual speciﬁcation. e com-

pression ratio is cast into the side of the cylinder head.

Also worth knowing is that Land Rover introduced a new

cylinder block for the 2.5 Turbodiesel (part no. ERR479)

from engine number 19J27515C. I have not been able to

conﬁrm, but suspect that this block was strengthened to get

round the block cracking problems for which the 2.5TD

had become notorious. Certainly the later (1989-90) 2.5TD

seems more durable than the earlier ones. If I were rebuild-

ing one of these engines I would try to get hold of a late

block just to be sure - I certainly wouldn’t bother rebuilding

an earlier one.

Finally, whereas the 2286cc petrol and diesel blocks have the

same part number, on 2495cc engines they are diﬀerent (and

the TD is diﬀerent again). So I do not know whether these

blocks are interchangeable.

Finding your serial number: On four cylinder engines, the

engine number is stamped on a ﬂat area just forward of and

below the front exhaust port, between the exhaust manifold

and the water pump housing. On V8s it can be seen by

looking down between number 2 and 3 exhaust outlets on

the left hand (dipstick) side.

Engine History

18 | LANDROVERS BUYER GUIDE

Serial number location on 4 cylinder (arrowed)

Serial number location on V8 (head removed)

105xxxxxx Series III petrol 3528cc V8

10Hxxxxxx 90/110 petrol 2286cc 8:1 CR

10Jxxxxxx 90/110 diesel 2286cc

11Gxxxxxx Series III petrol 3528cc V8 (detoxed)

11Hxxxxxx 90/110 petrol 2286cc 8:1 CR (detoxed)

12Gxxxxxx Series III petrol 3528cc V8 (Australia)

12Jxxxxxx 90/110 diesel 2495cc

13Hxxxxxx 90/110 petrol 2286cc 7:1 CR

141xxxxxx Series II petrol 1997cc

146xxxxxx Series II diesel 2052cc

14Gxxxxxx 90/110 petrol 3528cc V8

151xxxxxx Series II petrol 2286cc

156xxxxxx Series II diesel 2052cc

15Gxxxxxx 90/110 petrol 3528cc V8 (detoxed)

19Jxxxxxx 90/110 turbodiesel 2495cc

236xxxxxx Series IIA petrol 2286cc (ﬁtted to 88 inch air-

portable)

241xxxxxx Series IIA petrol 2286cc 8:1 CR

251xxxxxx Series IIA petrol 2286cc 7:1 CR

252xxxxxx Series IIA petrol 2286cc 7:1 CR

253xxxxxx Series IIA petrol 2286cc 7:1 CR

271xxxxxx Series IIA diesel 2286cc

276xxxxxx Series IIA diesel 2286cc

286xxxxxx Series IIA petrol 2286cc (Forward Control)

300xxxxxx Series IIA petrol 2625cc (Forward Control)

325xxxxxx Series IIB petrol 2286cc (Forward Control)

330xxxxxx Series IIB petrol 2625cc (Forward Control)

335xxxxxx Series IIB diesel 2286cc (Forward Control)

345xxxxxx Series IIA petrol 2625cc

361xxxxxx Series III petrol 2286cc 8:1 CR 5-bearing

364xxxxxx Series III petrol 2286cc 7:1 CR 5-bearing

366xxxxxx Series III diesel 2286cc 5-bearing

895xxxxxx Series III diesel 2286cc 3-bearing (ﬁtted to 88

inch airportable for export)

901xxxxxx Series III petrol 2286cc 8:1 CR 3-bearing

902xxxxxx Series III petrol 2286cc 8:1 CR 3-bearing

903xxxxxx Series III petrol 2286cc 8:1 CR 3-bearing

LANDROVERS BUYER GUIDE | 19

904xxxxxx Series III petrol 2286cc 7:1 CR 3-bearing

906xxxxxx Series III diesel 2286cc 3-bearing

941xxxxxx Series III petrol 2625cc

951xxxxxx Series III petrol 2286cc 3-bearing (ﬁtted to 88

inch airportable)

956xxxxxx 101FC petrol 3528cc V8

961xxxxxx 101FC petrol 3528cc V8

Carburettors on older Land Rovers seem to cause a dis-

proportionate number of problems for owners. In these

days of high fuel prices and global warming, it makes a lot

of sense to get your vehicle running as well as possible to

improve fuel economy and minimise emissions. A decent

fuel system will also make your Land Rover a lot easier to

live with.

So, what carburettor do you have ﬁtted, and what might be

up with it?

Solex 40PA - factory tment Series II

and IIA, 1958-67

ese are not especially common these days - many were

replaced with Zeniths or Webers when they developed

problems - but they still turn up. A Solex in good con-

dition works very well, with a nice progressive throttle

action. ey seem quite prone to blocked jets which will

cause poor idling, slow pickup or lack of power depend-

ing on which jet is aﬀected. e jets are accessible without

dismantling the carb, and can be sprayed with carb cleaner

and then blown through with an airline to clean them. Do

not start poking bits of wire into the jets or you will ruin

them. Float needles wear, leading to fuel ﬂooding into the

intake - parts were unavailable for a while but the supply

seems better now. A worn out Solex can usually be refur-

bished, there are several specialists who will undertake this

work. New Solexes are no longer available.

Zenith 36IV - factory tment Series

IIA and III, 1967-84

Easy to identify with its large sloping ﬂoat chamber. e

36IV is a simple, almost primitive device, but well suited to

the 2286cc petrol engine. It suﬀers from throttle spin-

dle wear, which allows excess air to be drawn in at small

throttle openings, giving hesitant performance at low

speed. ere is an ‘O’ ring between the upper and lower

body which can perish or split leading to fuel ﬂooding into

the intake. Blocked jets are not unknown - the one that

seems to suﬀer most is the accelerator pump jet, leading

to hesitation and ﬂat spots when the throttle is opened

from idle. Replacement Zeniths are widely available - the

originals are still being made, and there are several repro-

ductions also available. Beware as some of these are of very

poor quality. e ones I sell through my Ebay shop, made

by a company called PA, are individually bench tested by

the manufacturer, are made of good quality materials and

ﬁnished to a high standard. I use them myself, because

they are very good.

A new Zenith can be ﬁtted as a direct replacement for

a Weber 34ICH (see below). It can also replace a Solex

Land Rover Carburettors

LANDROVERS BUYER GUIDE | 21

40PA, but for this application you will need an adap-

tor plate and throttle linkage from a Zenith or Weber-

equipped vehicle.

Weber 34ICH - aftermarket tment 1980s

- date

is carburettor became very popular in the 1980s when

the supply of Solex parts dried up, and when the only

source for Zeniths was the Land Rover dealer network.

ey were sold as a cheap replacement which also im-

proved fuel economy. is is true up to a point, and the

34ICH is still available today at around £80, but it is not as

popular as it once was. Reasons? Firstly, the fuel economy

improvement is achieved through two things - ﬁrstly the

carb is a bit small for the application, with restricted gas

ﬂow, and secondly it is jetted to run fairly lean. Taken

together these two factors certainly improve economy, but

really hurt performance.

e Weber is also very prone to jet blockages (worse than

the Solex) and, more seriously, internal fuel passage block-

ages that can be almost impossible to clear. It can also

suﬀer badly from carb icing - it really needs a heated air

intake which the Land Rover does not have. If your ve-

hicle starts easily on cold mornings, but splutters to a halt

after a couple of minutes, then restarts and runs as sweetly

as before, carb icing is probably the cause. Oddly, not all

Weber-equipped Land Rovers suﬀer from this problem - it

varies from vehicle to vehicle, for no apparent reason.

Weber 32/34 DMTL - factory tment

on 90 and 110, 1983 onwards

is is a twin choke carburettor, ﬁtted to all four cylinder

petrol 90 and 110 models. ere are two slightly diﬀerent

versions, one for the earlier 2286cc engine and another for

the 2495cc lump. ey look identical, the only diﬀerence is

in the jetting. e 2495 carb will work ﬁne with the earlier

engine, and gives noticeably better low speed throttle

response, but not the other way round. is carb is a good

reliable piece of kit with few vices - mainly blocked jets

(easily accessible after removing the plastic air intake over

the carburettor). ere is an idle shut oﬀ solenoid mount-

ed on the side of the carb - if this fails the engine will

not idle at all. is carb uses a diﬀerent inlet and exhaust

manifold to the Series carbs, and although the manifold

will bolt to any of the 4 cylinder Series engines, you will

need to make up your own front exhaust pipe as the Series

pipe will not ﬁt. e carb also has a cable operated throt-

tle, whereas all the Series vehicles are rod-operated.

Replacing and setting up your carburettor

- Series vehicles

is is a nice easy job and should be well within the ca-

pabilities of anyone who can change a light bulb without

getting electrocuted. First things ﬁrst: before removing

your old carb, make sure that your ignition system is up to

scratch. at means plugs in good condition and correctly

gapped, points ditto, and ignition timing properly adjusted.

You will not be able to get your vehicle to run smoothly

if the ignition system is in bad shape. If your distributor

is worn out, I have brand new, good quality Lucas 45D4

reproductions in my Ebay shop.

e carb removal and replacement procedure is well-ex-

plained in both the factory workshop manual and the

Haynes manual, so I will not give a blow by blow account

here. If you do not have a manual, buy one. ere are just

a few things I would emphasise:

1. When you remove the old carburettor, make sure you

clean all the old gasket material oﬀ the manifold, and use a

new gasket when you ﬁt the new carb. Do not use silicone

sealant (“instant gasket” as it has a nasty habit of getting

into the air passages in the base of the carb. If you try to

re-use the old gasket you will probably get air leaks which

will make the carb impossible to set up.

22 | LANDROVERS BUYER GUIDE

2. Do not overtighten the nuts which secure the carb to the

manifold. e carb is made of aluminium and the mount-

ing ﬂange is easily distorted. Again this will cause air

leaks. Just tighten the nuts until the locking washers are

compressed ﬂat.

3. Make 100% sure that the fuel line is correctly connected

and the clamps done up tight. If the fuel line is split or

perished, replace it. e carb on these engines sits directly

above the exhaust, and a petrol leak is seriously bad news.

4. Ideally you need a gas analysis machine to set the mix-

ture, but you probably don’t have one. So run the engine

until it is warm, then adjust the idle screw until the idle

speed sounds about right. Note that Series Land Rovers

idle a bit slower than modern cars - around 600 rpm. e

engine should not sound ‘busy’ at idle. If you have an earli-

er vehicle with dynamo charging, the charge warning light

should be ﬂickering, but not bright. en slowly screw in

the mixture screw until the idle speed drops and the engine

starts to run rough. Unscrew it around a quarter of a turn

from this point, and readjust the idle speed if needed. If

the engine idles smoothly at the right speed, your settings

will not be far out.

Unless you have spent the last ten years on a desert island,

you will have noticed that environmental pressure groups

have got it in for big 4x4s. Greenpeace denounces Land

Rover as ‘climate criminals’ and wants everyone to drive a

Toyota Prius. 4x4s are portrayed as a major cause of global

warming, their owners as mindless status-obsessed eco-

vandals. With more and more people taking an interest

in ‘green’ issues, it is fair to ask where old Land Rovers ﬁt

into this debate, and what can be done to minimise their

environmental impact.

So what are the main problems with old Landies, as perceived

by the environmentalists? Basically it comes down to two:

fuel consumption (and the related issue of greenhouse gas

emissions), and safety of other road users. ere may be

other factors behind the current anti-4x4 campaign - anti-

consumerism, and maybe just a bit of envy - but these are

nothing to do with the big environmental issues. And

anyway, if you drive a 20 year old Landie your ignorant

neighbours are more likely to feel sorry for you than envy

you. “Poor chap, can’t even aﬀord a nice modern car.” So let’s

look at the really big issues.

Fuel consumption

OK, I admit it. Old Land Rovers, in standard form, have

really terrible fuel consumption. A 2.5 diesel Ninety might

just see 25 to the gallon. Any four cylinder petrol will

struggle to do 20, and the big beasts - straight six and V8

engined vehicles - can get down into single ﬁgures around

town. Abysmal fuel consumption - leading to the production

of huge quantities of CO2. Guilty as charged.

And yet... Fuel consumption isn’t the whole picture. What

about the energy consumed - and greenhouse gases produced

- in manufacturing a new vehicle? And what about the energy

used, pollutants released and rubbish created in scrapping

it? It has been estimated that around 30-40% of the total

greenhouse gas emissions over the life of a vehicle come

from its manufacture. Scrapping creates large quantities of

non-recyclable plastics, toxic heavy metals, asbestos, CFCs,

PCBs and rubber products, all of which have to be disposed

of. So you can argue that by keeping an old vehicle on the

road instead of scrapping it and buying another one, you are

Land Rover Green

24 | LANDROVERS BUYER GUIDE

helping to oﬀset the damage done through its poorer fuel

consumption.

You are also helping to provide a market for components

reclaimed from vehicles which really have reached the end

of their useful life. On a scrap Land Rover, very little goes to

waste. Any reusable component will most likely be reused.

Why? Simply because there are so many old Land Rovers

still on the road, which creates the demand for recycled

parts. Reusing parts on other vehicles has less environmental

impact than melting them down for scrap. Remember that

next time you are struggling in the pouring rain to remove

the back axle from a dead Landie in a breakers yard, with a

giant oily Alsatian gnawing at your ankle.

Alternative fuels

Here’s another thing. e reason that fuel consumption and

global warming are linked is that nearly all our current fuel

comes from a non-renewable source: crude oil. We pump it

out of the ground, reﬁne it, burn it in vehicles, and the carbon

contained within it, which has been harmlessly trapped for

millions of years, combines with oxygen in the air to form

carbon dioxide - a greenhouse gas. But there is another

group of fuels - biofuels - which are derived from growing

plants. e great thing about plants is that when growing,

they absorb carbon dioxide and turn it into oxygen, trapping

the carbon within their structures. You turn them into fuel,

burn the fuel, the carbon is released but then reabsorbed by

the new plants you are growing to replace the ones you have

harvested for fuel.

Old Land Rovers are mechanically simple and very easy

to convert to run on biofuels - unlike modern computer-

controlled vehicles which will need major modiﬁcation.

ere are already thousands of diesel Land Rovers running

on waste vegetable oil (a by-product of the catering industry).

Petrol Land Rovers should be easily modiﬁed to run on

the new fuel E-85 (85% ethanol) which is now starting to

appear.

Finally there is LPG - not a biofuel, but a very clean burning

fuel, and ideal for petrol engined Land Rovers. Switching

from petrol to LPG will reduce CO2 emissions by about

20%, and uses a fuel which is a by-product of natural gas

extraction and might otherwise go to waste. As a short-

term measure, LPG is probably the quickest way to minimise

your greenhouse gas emissions.

Improving fuel consumption

ere is plenty more you can do to improve the fuel

consumption of your old Land Rover.

1. Keep it well maintained. Make sure it is regularly serviced,

that fuel and ignition systems are in good condition and

properly set up, and that oil is clean and at the correct level,

not only in the engine but also the transmission. Make sure

Prime suspect for climate change crime - the Rover V8 engine.

LANDROVERS BUYER GUIDE | 25

the brakes are in good condition and not dragging, and that

the tyres are correctly inﬂated.

2. Choose your tyres carefully. Big wide chunky oﬀ-road

tyres look cool, but create lots of drag. If you use your Land

Rover mainly on-road, go for a road-biased tread pattern,

and avoid extra-wide tyres. e optimum sizes I have found

are 235/70R16 on a short wheelbase, 235/85R16 on a long

wheelbase. Unless you have specialised oﬀ-road needs, you

don’t need to go any bigger.

3. Avoid unnecessary weight and drag. ink carefully about

the accessories you bolt to your Land Rover. Roofracks,

extra lamps, snorkels, jack racks, even chequer plate, all add

weight and drag, and that hurts fuel economy. Don’t put

your spare wheel on the bonnet, hang it at the back or (even

better) put it inside the vehicle.

4. Modify for economy. Higher ratio transfer gearing (or

an overdrive) will give more relaxed cruising with better

fuel economy. Free wheel hubs (on Series vehicles) reduce

drivetrain drag a little. e four cylinder petrol engine was

designed to run on very poor quality petrol, and can be

much improved for use in developed countries by ﬁtting a

higher compression gasﬂowed cylinder head. Finally and

most drastically, if your engine needs changing, consider

ﬁtting something more modern and eﬃcient. e Land

Rover TDi turbodiesel and Ford 2.5Di (Transit engine) will

both give you 30 MPG or better, as will the Perkins Prima

2.0 turbodiesel.

Safety of other road users

An old Land Rover weighs the best part of two tonnes. It

has a square front end and a big solid bumper attached to

a rigid chassis. If you hit something smaller, whether it is

a pedestrian or a Smart car, it is going to hurt them more

than you. at, in essence, is why environmentalists object

to 4x4s on safety grounds. Much of this is governed by the

laws of physics, but there are a couple of things you can

do to help. Firstly, avoid bolting stuﬀ to the front of your

Landie unless you actually need it. at means bullbars, A-

bars, extra lights, winches, jerrycan holders, toolboxes etc.

Secondly, don’t speed in built up areas. In this day and age,

with speed cameras proliferating everywhere, one of the

really useful things about old Landies is that they are very

easy to drive slowly. In a modern car, 30mph feels painfully

slow. In a Land Rover, it is plenty fast enough. If you drive

like a maniac you will just give the anti-4x4 people more

ammunition. Slow down, relax and enjoy the ride.

When reading descriptions of Land Rovers for sale, there are many terms which might confuse the ﬁrst-time buyer. Here

is a handy guide to some of the more common words and phrases, and what they mean.

A-bar

Tubular steel front crash protection bar with mounts for spotlights. Currently very fashionable as an aftermarket acces-

sory for Defenders. See photo below.

Alpine lights

Narrow oval windows to be found in the outer edges of the roof on Station Wagons. Sometimes ﬁtted as an optional

extra to hard top Land Rovers.

Bulkhead

e structure between the engine bay and vehicle interior, to which the windscreen, front doors, front wings and bonnet

are attached. Made of mild steel and can rot badly. Very expensive to replace.

Bull bar

Large piece of ironmongery bolted to the front bumper for added crash protection. Now rather unfashionable as they are

not very pedestrian friendly. Most people ﬁt A-bars instead.

Centre dierential

Found in the transfer box in 90, 110 and Defender models. Allows permanent four wheel drive without excessive tyre

wear. Can be locked for oﬀ-road use in slippery conditions.

Chequer plate

Shiny 3mm aluminium sheet with an ‘anti-slip’ pattern. Intended for use on gangways, ramps etc, but hugely fashionable

for giving Land Rovers that tough industrial look. Now available in a huge variety of pre-cut shapes to attach to almost

every outer surface of your Land Rover. Handy for covering up minor damage to wings, sills etc., but otherwise purely

decorative.

Glossary

Chrome balls

See steering swivels

County

‘Luxury’ trim speciﬁcation, found on late Series III and early 90/110. Cloth seats, headlining etc.

Dixon-Bate

Manufacturer of sturdy adjustable-height tow hitches, very popular with Land Rover users.

Double-declutching

Driving technique which allows crunch-free gearchanges on gearboxes with no (or badly worn) synchromesh. Essential

for Series II/IIA drivers, useful on more modern Land Rovers with worn gearboxes. For an explanation of how to do it,

click here.

EP90

Heavy duty gear oil, used in the gearbox (Series II/III only), transfer box, axles and steering swivels. e stuﬀ that leaks

onto your drive.

Free wheel hubs

Popular accessory for Series vehicles, disconnects the front wheels from the front diﬀerential and driveshaft to reduce

drag, noise and vibration when running on-road in 2 wheel drive.

Hard top

Van type body, usually comes with a safari door, See photo below. Can be ﬁtted with side windows and rear seats.

Modular wheels

Popular aftermarket steel wheels, a multihole pattern with a ring of small bolts running round the edge. See photo below.

Overdrive

Highly desirable accessory for Series vehicles, eﬀectively adds a ﬁfth gear for relaxed cruising.

Parabolic springs

A desirable modiﬁcation for Series vehicles. A Series vehicle ﬁtted with parabolic springs will ride just about as well as a

new Defender.

Safari door

Full depth, side-opening rear door. Standard on all station wagons, optional (although very common) on other Series

vehicles, standard on hard top 90/110 and Defenders

Salisbury axle

A heavy duty rear axle, ﬁtted to long wheelbase Series III and One Ten vehicles. Can be ﬁtted to earlier long wheelbase

vehicles, but requires expert welding to adapt for short wheelbase ones. Almost indestructible and therefore highly desir-

able.

Stage One

e unoﬃcial name given to an interim model which had most of the features of the Series III, but permanent four wheel

drive and a V8 engine, also the ﬂat front design which became standard on the 90/110 and Defender.

Station wagon

e original people carrier. Short wheelbase vehicles seat seven, long wheelbase seat ten or twelve depending on speci-

ﬁcation. Rear seats are cramped and uncomfortable for adults but brilliant for children. Comes with alpine lights and

safari door.

Steering swivels

To be found at each end of the front axle. ey contain the driveshaft joints which run in a bath of EP90. e oil is pre-

vented from leaking out by a rubber seal around a large chrome ball. e chrome becomes pitted and rusty, the seal tears

and you get oil leaks. Replacing chrome balls is an involved and expensive job.

Synchromesh

e system which allows smooth, crunch free gear changes. Taken for granted on modern cars: but Series II and IIA

vehicles only had synchromesh on 3rd and 4th gear. e mechanism can wear badly on the newer vehicles, resulting in

crunchy gearchanges. ese can be avoided by double-declutching.

Timing belt

Rubber toothed belt found inside all 2.5 litre Land Rover diesel engines. Must be changed according to the manufac-

turer’s service schedule: otherwise it can snap without warning, which will destroy the engine. Belt replacement quite

expensive, new engine much more so.

Transfer box

A two-speed gearbox which sits behind the main gearbox, and transfers the drive to the front and rear wheels. Series

vehicles have a selectable four wheel drive system, 90/110 and Defender have permanent four wheel drive with a centre

diﬀerential.

Truck cab

is is the short roof, which just covers the front seats, allowing the vehicle to be used as a pickup truck. See photo

below.

Weber carburettor

Common ﬁtment to petrol Series vehicles, improves fuel consumption slightly but also reduces power.

Richard Hall,

Glencoyne Engineering

16 Napier Place,

Thetford,

Norfolk IP24 3RL