New Landy Owner.. ..what have I done?!

I've got little of any value to add, other than to say well done.

ps the smile doesn't come off!

Martin S3 109

I'll echo that, and also suggest you try to find a local Land Rover Club, most areas have them, and you'll learn a lot from listening to what others do together with trying it for yourself at play-days and social events.

It does when your free wheeling hubs jam, your husband goes out side with his grips to turn the thing on the hub, and the cap that fits on the end disintegrates. This is the first bit of oil this car has put on the drive!

Not all LR clubs promote sensible green laning, some are downright irresponsible.

Try to find one that has a RoW officer, who is also a member of GLAss.

Alex

On Thu, 10 Jul 2003 00:04:02 -0000, "Mark Gowans" made me spill my meths by writing:

The AA?

Ho Ho Ho Ho Ho

Alex

It's funny how they have that effect, eh?

I find driving my tatty S2A/3 so much more fun than the wife's Discovery. It doesn't go fast so you don't have this tendancy to race everything, it doesn't stop too quickly so you're a bit more careful about allowing space betwixt you and the car in front, and it makes a lot of noise.

You'll still see me grinning like a loon as I hurtle along the A14 at

55mph, getting let out at junctions by articulated lorries, given a wide berth by rep's, bemused looks from passing mums and kiddies...

All in all, a much more relaxing way to travel.

Of course, then you have all the added fun of taking it off-road....

On that score try finding a local Landrover or green-laning club. They'll break you in gently and you'll soon learn what all the bits do or don't do.

Cheers Gary

In article , Alex writes

That's what they say on the phone when you ask them to 'recover' it 200 miles to Billing :)

Finally got it home to rural Fulham .. first observation.. SWB's and speed humps dont mix! Either way couple more questions've sprung to mind somebody here'll know the answer to..

1) Do I have a 3 or 5 bearing Diesel Engine? Its the original for the vehicle (1980). The guy in the garage mentioned something about the location of the oil filler. Mines on the end of a tube that goes into the side of the engine.. ...what're the practical differences between the 2 types?

2) My new found fun is a 1980 SWB Station Wagon - Being a 1980 it would seem as though it cant be a 'county' .. what additions did the county have over the regular?

M.

On one of my first drives in ours, the kids ended up in a heap on the floor in the back, laughing.

In article , Mark Gowans writes

As far as the 5 bearing petrol engines go, I think they have a nice shinny 'regular' screw cap type oil filler which says 'engine oil' in big letters instead of the oily breather, but could easily be wrong.

Again for the petrol supposedly more power (80+hp over 78hp?) and possibly smoother running and longer life?

Mine's the same (and I probably need new shocks too). I can only imagine that it's worse with a GS, as at least the ambi has a bit of weight over the rear axle.

Tim Hobbs

'58 Series 2 '77 101FC Ambulance '95 Discovery V8i

I suppose a GS would behave like a normal series, ie bloody hard bang, wheras an ambi tends to bounce over it like a ship in a storm. It's a good job there's a lot of headroom in an ambi, at least you don't bang your head on the roof.

Alex

It's pretty academic at the moment, as mine doesn't have the guts to climb a bloody speed hump!

Tim Hobbs

'58 Series 2 '77 101FC Ambulance '95 Discovery V8i

No, but I could be wrong.

Standard advice is that overdrives should only be used in third and fourth. Lower gears carry a lot more torque, which the o/d is reputedly not engineered to handle. So I would suggest using the o/d as a fifth gear, change out of it before you leave fourth then use the gearbox as normal.

I should say that I don't have an overdrive - I'm just parroting what I've heard said before....

Tim Hobbs

'58 Series 2 '77 101FC Ambulance '95 Discovery V8i

On or around Sat, 12 Jul 2003 22:54:41 -0000, "Mark Gowans" enlightened us thusly:

you can improve the ride quite a lot by fitting parabolics. But they're not cheap.

..oh yes, and whilst I'm brain picking...

Overdrives..

1) The guy who sold me the vehicle said that if overdrive is engaged then current speed = speedo speed + 10mph does that sound about right?

2) I seem to have developed a tendency of getting up to (not that there's much 'getting up to' of course!) 4th gear, engaging overdrive and then just leaving it engaged always (i.e. downchanging with it still engaged etc). is this bad?

Off down to the Kent County show this morning. Should look a little more 'in place' there at lease :o)

In article , Tim Hobbs writes

It's been a long time since I drove mine with an overdrive, I think Tim might be right, I can't remember ever adjusting speed for the o/d. Although today with speed cameras it does become a much bigger issue.

Yes, this sounds about right. It should only be used in 3rd & 4th, but there's little point using it in 3rd, I'm not even sure how o/d 3rd compares with 4th on the gearing.

IIRC you must use the clutch to change up and down as well (fishing for clues since it years since I drove mine!).

(snip) The speedo cable drive is off the back of the transfer case, after the overdrive, so it will read the same error regardless of whether the overdrive is engaged or not. Mind you, an error of 10mph would not be abnormal, but usually will read higher than the speed you are doing. There have been a couple of threads on speedo errors lately so you may be interested in going back and looking at them. JD