1975 Series III Land rover ‘Larry’
Larry, seen below towing one of our current projects ‘Latchet’, is a Series III Land Rover 109 Station Wagon. When we first got Larry, he spat huge plumes of white smoke and had practically non-existent brakes, due to a poorly-executed diesel conversion. We rebuilt the engine, fully rewired the electrical system, replaced the exhaust, added a modern, electric vacuum pump for the servo brakes, and a full custom stereo and CB setup. We do have a few considerable upgrades planned for the future, including a galvanised chassis and a 200TDi conversion.
UPDATE; Larry now has his new engine! instead of the 200TDi which we had originally planned to fit, we have fitted a 3.1 Turbo Diesel from an Isuzu Trooper- more torque, Japanese reliability, and much easier to get hold of at a reasonable price. But, we figured- what’s the point in fitting all those horses under the bonnet if they are still being distributed by an outdated and noisy 4 speed gearbox? Sure, we could fit an overdrive- but they are noisy, high maintenance, really expensive and very prone to blowing up. We could fit a Defender gearbox but they are too long, meaning we would have to cut bits off Larry to make it fit. So, we formulated a plan- a custom built, drop in 6 speed conversion, bolted to the original Series 3 transfer box. In this way, Larry is a test bed- We intend to manufacture and market these 6 speed conversions for unmodified Series Land Rovers. They would be a bolt in, straight swap for the original Series box with no changes to the bulkhead, floor pans, or even the transmission tunnel- from inside the cab, completely indistinguishable from the original. Plus, if we can’t blow it up by fitting it behind the very torquey Trooper engine and towing steamrollers with it, your average 62hp series engine won’t either.
Since his heart transplant, Larry has proven his worth as a yard shunter-moving traction engines and steam lorries as if they are not even there; a long distance cruiser- carrying us through sunny Wales; and a generally capable works van. He is still a noisy old Land Rover, with oil leaks and crunchy springs, but now he has the power and the gears to justify his squeaks and rattles.
From inside the cab, you cannot tell that Larry is any different from any other Series 3. The pedals are all the same, the floorpans are untouched, and we have even managed to retain the original Series gear lever- Although the gear layout it shows is now wrong!
UPDATE 2; Larry now has a new front hitch and winch bumper! There is a page about that here. The bodged up one that you can see in some of these older pictures worked so well that we decided it was worth making a proper one! Custom fabricated- a nice hefty Superwinch Husky, a big heavy hitch built from scratch, and a towball- ideal for shunting and loading trailers, and pushing the vast chunks of iron that we love to work on from pillar to post.
What’s next? His slightly tired and sagging leaf springs will also be receiving a boost, as we plan to fit airbag assisted suspension, powered from an onboard air system.
For more pictures of Larry doing his thing, as well as some of the engine and gearbox conversion taking place, visit our Instagram.
