1981 Land Rover Series 3 Airportable Lightweight Restored 200tdi conversion

  

I've owned it for four years now, and in that time it has been heavily restored and regularly maintained. For 2 years it was in use as my daily driver, and was completely reliable in that time.

The only reason I stopped using it daily was because I changed jobs and was given use of a company vehicle. It starts with no problems and no smoke, runs perfectly and hasn't been off the road whilst I have owned it. It also passed the last MOT with one advisory, which was'minor oil leak'. This is on the sump gasket, and I was going to change it at the next oil change.

(If I can find the gasket, I'll include it, but if not, it's only a few pounds) The Car. The Land Rover itself is fairly stock in appearance, externally and internally, with very few visible modifications. The engine, however, is a rebuilt 200tdi engine from a Defender, and it has a 5 speed LT77 gearbox matched to it, running in permanent 4wd, with both the engine and gearbox in great condition. When I bought it, I was told it had also been fitted with Range Rover differentials to make it more usable on the road, and it will easily keep up with traffic, up to and including motorways. It will happily albeit noisily! Cruise at 60-65mph all day, so you're not being overtaken by lorries, something that was frankly terrifying with a 2.25 petrol engine running at 50mph tops. It also has a (manually operated) electric fan mounted in front of a Defender radiator. I've only had to use this once or twice, and that was in standing traffic on very hot days. In order to know how fast you're actually going, I've replaced the original speedometer with a visually similar Smiths one from a Triumph, but with the correct ratio, so it's now pretty much spot on to my satnav's speed reading. Because it's now running on diesel, it only uses the one fuel tank (to avoid air getting into the system whilst changing tanks), which. Gives around 150-200 miles of range.

He second tank is still fitted, but now has an open top and can be used as useful, lockable underseat storage I kept my tools in there! Over the four years I've owned it, I've repaired/replaced the following.

New galvanised heavy duty (driver's side) fuel tank. Rear side facing bench seat.

New shock absorbers all round. Air/oil filters & oil (yearly).

Brakes refurbished - new master/slave cylinders and shoes all round. New tyres all round inc. Spare 80/20 on/off road type. There's probably much more as well, anything that needed doing, I did. The roof is a vintage Series 2 hardtop (apparently these fit lightweights better than Series 3 versions) with the rare and desirable'cat flap' back door, meaning that the lower tailgate can be retained.

So if you want to fit a soft top it can be fitted very quickly and easily just by undoing a dozen or so bolts and fitting the hood sticks (not supplied). As with any Land Rover of this age, it has had rust develop over time, but I've systematically gone over the chassis, bulkhead and crossmembers during the time I've owned it, and removed any trace that I've found. Any rust that has been discovered has been properly cut out and replaced with heavy duty metalwork, rather than just patched over, though there are some pre-existing patched pieces that I haven't replaced, as they're solid. Then been primed, painted and undersealed over the top. As far as I'm aware, this vehicle is now practically rust-free on the chassis and bulkhead.

Although I've done a large amount of work on the vehicle, there are a few things that any new owner might want to consider doing at some point. The doors are starting to get'tired'. They're not rotten, but the metal frames have some corrosion, and both could do with being replaced at some point. There is a minor leak on the sump gasket, as mentioned earlier. I was going to replace this at the next oil change.

There is also a minor leak somewhere on the gearbox. Having said that, it's a 35 year old Land Rover, they all do this! The vehicle was originally a 224v FFR variant, though at some point in the distant past it has been converted to 12v, but retains some of the 24V kit. I have some of the military history for this vehicle, including a set of reproduction military number plates (for use at shows etc), and they show that this vehicle saw service in Northern Ireland from 1989 to 1993. During this time it was fitted with a VPK (Vehicle Protection Kit) armour plating set.

There are still assorted holes from the installation visible on the vehicle, including the bolthole on the top of the rear crossmember for the rear doors showing it still has it's original rear crossmember! It finally left service in 1994, and was auctioned off, eventually making it's way to me.

I've made the vehicle to look pretty much as it would have done in Northern Ireland, albeit without the VPK. Hardtops were slightly more common over there, and it has been freshly painted in Nato IRR Matt green. Viewing is welcome (and recommended) by appointment, please drop me a message to arrange this, I'm based in the Nottingham (NG3) area. I feel I've been as honest as I can be in this listing, but please bear in mind it is a 35 year old Land Rover, and so is not perfect, but I do think it is a very good example of a lightweight, which are getting rarer and starting to appreciate in value. As with all these, they will benefit from continued work, but all of the hard work has been done already. Please feel free to message me with any questions. I've tried to take photos of as many angles and parts as I can, please check them below. As mentioned earlier, I would strongly recommend viewing. The item "1981 Land Rover Series 3 Airportable Lightweight Restored 200tdi conversion" is in sale since Sunday, July 03, 2016.

This item is in the category "Cars, Motorcycles & Vehicles\Classic Cars\Land Rover". The seller is "evo666" and is located in Nottingham. This item can be shipped to United Kingdom.

• Year: 1981
• Manufacturer: Land Rover
• Model: Lightweight
• Doors: 2
• Colour: Green
• Engine Size: 2500
• MOT Expiry: 201707
• Transmission: Manual
• Fuel: Diesel
• Seats: 2
• Drive Side: Right-hand drive
• Safety Features: 4-Wheel Drive
• Exterior: Tow Bar
• Type: Four Wheel Drive