What have we here? A mysterious (Stage 1?) Landrover...

Skye Stage 1 · Post by **Skye Stage 1** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 7:49 pm

An advert in our local free-ads paper caught my eye:

'Landrover 1979, 109 V8, 3 door, no tax or MOT, galvanised chassis, has gearbox problem, safari roof, very solid, comes with overdrive and winch.'

I thought this mught be a Stage 1, and if so, might yield a stack of useful parts for my own vehicle, or it it really was as solid as suggested in the advert could be put back on the road quite cheaply.

Well, I phoned up; and hung up, mystified: the guy said he had been told it was a Stage 1, but ex-army, converted from 24v to 12v after it had been de-mobbed, and that the galvanised chassis had come from the factory. He explained he wasn't knowledgeable about Landys, and wasn't able to e-mail some pictures. Obviously, it was the following points that puzzled me:

i - an ex-army, 24v Stage 1?
ii - factory galvanised chassis?

Can anyone shed any light on this? I could be wrong, but I didn't think the military ever used Stage 1s, nor did Landrover ever fit galvanised chassis. My best guess is that he has an ex-army series III, that has had a V8 fitted - had it been a later year, I might have thought an early one-ten, but not at 1979.

The best thing to do would be to go and see the vehicle, but he's quite a distance from where I am.

Thoughts, please...?

Londoner · Post by **Londoner** » Sun Jul 22, 2007 3:15 am

The Kiwis used the Stage Ones and I am pretty sure that some of them were FFR so would have been 24v. I think that I have read about UK armed forces using the Stage Ones but can't remember where, so I can't be sure, however, rest assured you will get an answer here.

Gary in NZ has an ex Kiwi army 24v Stage One:
http://stage1v8.org.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic ... ight=#2083

I wonder why it has a safari roof on a three door? If it is a Stage One or it has an LT95 gearbox it might be worth it just for the overdrive alone (depending on price of course) - those things are as rare as rocking horse poo!

Good luck on getting answers.

Alan.

Raggylad · Post by **Raggylad** » Sun Jul 22, 2007 1:36 pm

If you do buy it to break for bits, I would be very interested in the overdrive linkage ! Have been after one for months.

Skye Stage 1 · Post by **Skye Stage 1** » Sun Jul 22, 2007 4:35 pm

Londoner - thanks for shedding some light on the mystery, I guess that's what it could be.

I think if I do have it for bits, I'll need the o/d linkage myself, sorry. Have you had no luck finding/fabricating one yourself?

landdani · Post by **landdani** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 10:20 pm

Hi, My landy is an ex-army 109 V8 stage 1 bouild 1984 , the tech said to me that it was 24v , it was a radar car.

disco2hse · Post by **disco2hse** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 11:49 pm

In 1979 it is unlikely that it was a Stage 1. They went into production then, but I would doubt the military would be buying them. At least I have never heard of it. It is more likely to be a later conversion of a series III.

Mine is an ex-army FFR and is still 24V. I intend to keep it that way for as long as possible. 24V is very common in army vehicles, mainly due to the strength of spark achieved and the heavy electrical loads they come under with radio gear, etc.

It is less likely that the army put the galvanised chassis in. Their standard production requirement was for it to be painted, in fact you will find very little or no bare metal for security reasons, for example all galvanised parts on mine are painted NZ Army Green. So the chassis is probably also a later addition (perhaps at the same time that the engine work was done).

Gary's originally had a rag top but he put the hard top on. The roof rack is a NZ invention. They are for camo nets but tended to be used for general carrying, making the vehicle very top heavy and causing more than a few to roll over (which mine had done at some point). I have the rag top and roof rack but I have taken them off in favour of a ute cab and, at the moment, 3/4 canvas.

landdani · Post by **landdani** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 3:07 pm

Pleas correct me:
A- the overdrive is for (1- saving fuel, 2-better gearing).
B- the overdrive was in the SIII and NOT in the stage1?

choc-ice · Post by **choc-ice** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 4:52 pm

landdani wrote:Pleas correct me:
A- the overdrive is for (1- saving fuel, 2-better gearing).
B- the overdrive was in the SIII and NOT in the stage1?

My 1982 Stage 1 has overdrive.

It was an option in 1970s Range Rovers so probably the same unit was used on the Stage 1?

disco2hse · Post by **disco2hse** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 6:55 pm

It is fairly common for Stage 1's to have overdrive. It is a third party addition,for exanple the one provided by Fairey.

The purpose is to increase the top gear ratio. This provides a higher top speed with a slower running engine, and that means less fuel being used.

sebking · Post by **sebking** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 8:01 am

and if anyone has one spare I'd like one...

gary_in_nz · Post by **gary_in_nz** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 9:29 am

hey, yeah they rag tops are all good but leaked. look at the alternator on this thing, bottom left corner of photo.

heres a nice little conversion some engineering shop did to enable them to carry larger loads i think.

landdani · Post by **landdani** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 11:00 am

Hi gary, the old soft cup used to give the car its 4x4 sight.

Did you put a longer rear axel? the rear tiers seem to be "out" the car, while the front ones are "in" the car.

disco2hse · Post by **disco2hse** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 6:26 pm

Gary's last photo is of a specialist army vehicle used in NZ. They were built by the army and were never certified for legal road use.

landdani · Post by **landdani** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 12:50 am

Ok, I relise now that the number is different on both cars.