collected my series 3 today

In article , snipped-for-privacy@larry-arnold.com (Larry) growled:

IME it's sometimes considerably better to take speed humps faster rather than slower in a leaf sprung land rover. Certainly we found that the ones near up were comfortable at 30mph and painful at 20mph.

mmm, i had a slightly similar experience. i am 17 (in australia so still on learners license which means i am not allowed to drive in a car without a full-licensed driver) and my brother is 19 who still only has an L-license. he decided he wanted a land-rover and we went off and paid for a lwb series

3 with a 3.3l holden engine (that's a 202 to the aussies).

this thing had been sitting in some dudes front yard for about 2 years so it had no number plates and obviously wasn't registered or anything. we headed over at about 10pm with the idea that i could drive it home at about 12pm when there is very little traffic. i was the only one who had ever driven a land-rover (a series 2a on a paddock) and was reasonably confident. so we got the car about 10:30 but the bastard wasn't working. took us till about

6pm to work out that it was the ignition coil, this was after putting in lot's more petrol, changing the distributor and a lot off "it might be this it might be that." the car didn't have a battery either so we had to jump-start it every time.

anyway, it was 6pm when we headed off in the dark during peak hour traffic in an unregistered 2-ton truck with an "unlicensed" driver, without a battery. it was only about 3kms but it was a very very nerve-wracking 3kms, with the constant thought that if i stall it we would have to jump-start the bastard in the middle of the road. to add to this, i stalled it in the first

5 metres. it was about half way through the journey that i realised the indicator stalk wasn't very good so i also had to hold the stalk up while indicating otherwise it would just drop back into the middle. first is also very tricky to get into, gotter give it a real shove! i also came to the realisation that driving in the city is a lot different to puttinng around in a paddock. the beast felt very claustrophobic in the tight twisting roads and you really feel the lack of power-steering.

but we got home in the end, and i know have the story to tell, and warn people not to do it themselves, knowing full-well that they'll do it anyway. GO ROVERS!! they are tops arn't they.

cheers. sam.

Go and visit Tescos on a Sunday afternoon (after 4pm) to get used to the gearbox in their empty car park - just watch out for the skateboarders...... The indicators should self cancel in an SIII. The column stalk should feel tight with a good positive click. Remember not everything is fused in an SIII - I've have smoke comming from the column stalk before due to it being on it's last legs.... Jon

What?? Why bother looking out for skateboarders? What possible damage could they do to a SIII? :-)

Well, okay, they could get lodged up behind a wheel, or somewhere that's awkward to clean out, I suppose...

Andrew

I've never found them a problem - however - families that are trying to teach their offspring to cycle are a problem as they don't stay in a group, although no one has ever complained to me each time I RedEx the carb, or repeatedly adjust the brakes so it doesn't pull to one side...... If you ever see a sign saying "Skateboarders Welcome but No Home Mechanics", you'll know I once lived there..... Jon (Also 2 x SIII 88")

Having had my SIII for 3 months now, here are some thoughts..

1) 1st gear is completely useless. Stick to starting in 2nd. 2) Changing down is seldom necessary. Use 4th the whole time unless: a) you've slowed for a roundabout or similar that you're not going to stop at, but you need a little more oomph to accelerate through. In which case - you should be going perfectly at 3rd gear speed and the down-change should be fine b) For all other occasions - I go 4th to 2nd.. 3) 2mph is the optimal speed for my landrover over Fulham's speedhumps :o) You can take them faster - but then the Station Wagon seats in the back make a dreadful noise..

..just some thoughts :o)

M

On or around Mon, 29 Sep 2003 23:07:58 -0700, "Mark Gowans" enlightened us thusly:

not completely true.

1st gear low range is absolutely brilliant for very slow traffic jams, and for pissing off the tinbox-drivers behind you. It'll trickle along at about 2 mph at idle. For added amusement value (other traffic etc permitting), you can set it rolling like this, open the door, get out, and walk alongside. This last procedure is not recommended if dibbles are to be seen, and only for use when there's a decent gap in front of you, to give you enough time to jump back in and stop it...

I have a handbrake like that..... Jon

Our Discovery does that - without the engine running, when the handbrake isn't quite on.

Yes I have now found out that first is handy for traffic jams

As for the other gears, I think that for economys sake it is usefull to be in the right gear. It has one of those vaccuum gauges fitted and you can see when it is at its most thirsty.

Those with auto's please remember to lock it in 1 before attempting this ...or it could be sprint time.

:-)

Lee D

On or around Wed, 1 Oct 2003 13:37:54 +0100, "Lee_D"

enlightened us thusly:

hehehehe. Actually, mine goes noticeably faster one the flat than a manual even locked into low-1. summat to do with higher gear ratios, I'll warrant, it gets away with taller ratios on account of the torque converter.

low-1 is 28.5:1 overall, as compared to 39.02:1 for a manual 5-speeder.

On or around Wed, 1 Oct 2003 13:37:54 +0100, "Lee_D"

enlightened us thusly:

I can imagine the insurance claim forms...

driever-less car, hit rear of ford escort. disco kept pushing forward as no-one to apply brakes. pushed escort 3kms before owner could catch up.