John's Series III 88"Hardtop
 
- John is yet another neighbour with a Land Rover. He was a professional fisherman for
many years and the very sad looking T****a Landcruiser on the right was used to tow his
fishing rig. Unfortunately, the work beside the saltwater gave it a galloping case of
tinworm and he was forced to retire it. It was a damn shame because these smaller
Landcruisers aren't a bad Oriental attempt at a Land Rover copy and this one had a good
diesel engine in it.
- Then this tidy little Series III 88 came along at a very attractive price. The paint was
good (apart from the colour), it had good tyres on aftermarket rims and it had no rust in
any of the usual places. Unfortunately it had a hole the size of Bluey the dogs head in
the engine block. That's why it was cheap! All you boys and girls out there in Roverland
must remember to torque your con-rod bolts up properly when you do an engine rebuild. The
PO of the green 88 didn't and lost heart when the newly rebuilt engine expired with a bang
after only a few hundred miles.
- Well, as it happened, Steve (see Feral Cheryl) had a
leftover 2286cc four from our jointly owned parts Rover which we presented to John. The
green 88's engine was thoroughly knackered with a damaged crank, scarred camshaft etc etc,
but it did have a newly reconditioned cylinder head. John rebuilt the block of the donated
engine, fitted the good head and was mobile. Since then it has served him well with only
the usual minor Rover problems. His only complaint is that it is too short to sleep in the
back of when he's on an overnight fishing jaunt in crocodile country.
|
