[Brucklay]

I have come to the decision to start doing a bit of work on my old landy. Some things will need doing sooner rather than later and I do realise this is going to be ongong but I like a challenge 


There seems to be (having read Landy forum posts) some not good reviews on Britpart with certain things and again another prominent one seems to be Bearmach.


I need a new Speedo cable and both of the above haven't got great reviews - has anyone bought this type of thing any ideas where I can get one that fits. All well and good if you are used to hitting things with a hammer to change from a round end to oval but I would rather pay a bit more an get a part that I don't have to butcher - thanks

[Womble]

I think it's worth paying the small premium to get Bearmach instead of Britpart. Generally those little blue Britpart boxes mean nothing but trouble in my experience.

For instance, the Britpart key for my locking wheel nuts fell apart as I was putting the third wheel nut on (i.e. not exactly repeated use).I had to drive around for two weeks with no way of changing a wheel until they sent a replacement key. I returned the sh1tpart set and bought Bearmach instead - much, much better.

Get hold of a copy of the Haynes Manual and workshop manual if you can. There are also step-by-step how to guides on various websites and forums  .

[cloddopper]

I put  " genuine series 3 landrover speedo cable " into eBay is it worth looking through them to see if one looks like yours?
 One thing we used to do when in HMF was to slip some hose over one end and pump a mix of oil and grease into it out of a pump grease gun .
 

Take care with the routing of your cable when you replaceit and how acute you bend it as well as keeping it from heat , use plenty of securing clips /ties .

Sometimes just a slight deviation from a gentler route to one with a tighter bend or passing near hot spots will often kill the cable fairly quickly .

[Brucklay]

Thank you Womble - so really the Bearmach are the better - ok. Got the manual - although I seem to have misplaced it since I last looked something up and got the renovation one on order as I am hoping it may be a bit more basic/job related. Dad rebuild one 30yrs ago but if I ask anything I've lost half a day   

Thank you Cloddopper - have read and noted about the heat issue - due to the fact it's kaput - think I will remove existing and see what come to light.As if I don't have grubby enough hand - here goes 

[Buttermilk]

We get spare parts from here http://www.pablanchard.co.uk/ they are really helpful too.

[marka]

Claire,

Some britparts ( or as Womble rightly calls them sh1tparts ) are awful its true but they do offer the complete range of parts, they are cheap and are readily available so some plus points there.

The key is to decide whether the part you need is a critical part or not and if it is, dont use britparts.

I have used them and when we first got our S3, I replaced the complete exhaust system for about the price of a takeway, admittedly I DID have to hit it with a hammer a good few times to get it all to fit together but once in, it worked fine - that was 3 years ago and its lasted well although we had to replace the back box but that bit gets all the spray and mud from the back wheels ( especially when you get it stuck in a field and have to leave it for a few days until you can get enough people together to get it out ! ).

I bought a window seal kit for both doors from britpart and they were also fine - installed with no hammers required at all !!

Happy to help....

[Brucklay]

Thanks @marka - I guess my worry is being a Landy newbie or newbie landy fixer I am not sure what I can hit with a hammer and what I can't!!!   But I guess as she is in great need of some tlc I can't do too much harm - will start of with straight forward things.


Thanks for the link @Buttermilk - although have just spent too long looking at vehicles rather than parts

[Womble]

IME you can pretty much hit any of it with a hammer. If any bits fall off and it still runs, you probably didn't need them anyway  .

I'm quite comfortable buying Britpart for consumables like filters, but would always now go for another make for critical parts if I have the choice. For example, I recently had Terra Firma shocks fitted, even though they cost more.

Another Britpart experience - you know the two wee brackets that connect the windscreen panel to the bulkhead on a Defender? They're anodised aluminium, and the only place I could get them from was Britpart. They started off a nice matt black. 12 months on and they're a rather glaring copper-bronze for some reason! 

[marka]

IME you can pretty much hit any of it with a hammer. If any bits fall off and it still runs, you probably didn't need them anyway  .

That is soo true