What the law regarding rear bench seats in series landies??

[CSLmarson]

Hi there
We are moving out of London to the country side for the good life and apart of that is getting an old series 3 Land Rover, loading the kids and dog in the back and going out on adventures.

My question is what’s the usability of the rear bench seats regarding the law???

Are they ok as long as seat belts are fitted or do all seats have to be forward facing??

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

[bakerstreet]

I investigated this in detail and its a minefield.

Lap belts will do more harm than good in an accident, but that combined with bench seats ad dickie seats from a Defender/Series Station wagon certainly look the part.

However, I'd probably prefer the folding fwd facing seats from a 90. They are expensive at £900 for a set and some fettling will be required to make them work in a series.

If memory serves, kids can go in the back at 120cm or over 12 years old for side facing seats, but please don't take my word as gospel on this. You also have the thorny issue or the number of seats that the cars are plated for. I reduced mine from three to two and had plans to convert to 6, but just reading the DVLA side of it was a headache alone.

This subject has come up several times on the FB groups and there is always many and varying answers on this topic.

I don't know if you have ever driven or ran a series and I of course your desire to have a bit of the Heartbeat/All Creatures Great ad Small lifestyle, but they require almost constant attention to keep them running in a good state and usable.

Feel free to peruse my thread which spanned over 10 years and I eventually got fed up with the constant to do list.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[LooneyTunes]

bakerstreet said:

I don't know if you have ever driven or ran a series and I of course your desire to have a bit of the Heartbeat/All Creatures Great ad Small lifestyle, but they require almost constant attention to keep them running in a good state and usable.

When you may “driven” you mean “attempted to give it a clue about the direction in which you’d prefer to (slowly, noisily, and uncomfortably) travel”? My son drove one for the first time a couple of weeks ago and was horrified at how vague the steering is (this was in a sub 20k miles from new example!), but you do get used to it.

Watch for other quirks too, OP. Little things like ice on the inside of windows in winter and, come to think of it, on the inner surface of the roof (if unlined) that passengers will think is great (until it melts)… trapping the seatbelt in the door catch… forgetting to grab the buckle before you shut the door… candles instead of headlamps… the obligatory (factory installed?) spider… leaf sprung suspension… and various other things that will torment you.

Yup, they’re total crap. So terrible in fact that I want to add another (fancy a V8 pickup).

Anyway, back on topic: The forward facing seats from the back of a more modern vehicle are better but take up a lot of boot space. I run benches in mine but only have people in them for short distances.

[CSLmarson]

Hahhha
Thanks for the comments gents
I do have some old cars so am aware of the issues, have never driven a series Land Rover so look forward the the comical ride.
To be honest it will be a trip to the pub on a sunny day car possibly will live without a roof in the garage ect ect
The bench seat issue looks like one that will run and run unless there is a cement answer.
Cheers

[bakerstreet]

CSLmarson said:

Hahhha
Thanks for the comments gents
I do have some old cars so am aware of the issues, have never driven a series Land Rover so look forward the the comical ride.
To be honest it will be a trip to the pub on a sunny day car possibly will live without a roof in the garage ect ect
The bench seat issue looks like one that will run and run unless there is a cement answer.
Cheers

Its not just the comical ride you have to consider. Mine was a 83MY and the best and biggest brakes they ever fitted to a Series and were completely rebuilt using all new parts and they still required a very good shove to stop.

There is also the noise from the engine and gearbox. I spent about £200 on sound deadening and probably needed another £800 on a Write Off Road Kit and it was still loud.

Looneytunes has a good point about alternative seats. I have seen some decent conversions using minibus seats on unwin rails and they looked pretty good and certainly much cheaper than using LR fwd facing flip up seats. Some minibus seats also have built in seatbelts and that makes things much easier.

I even added a stereo to mine and it was a very neat install and you could use it a town speeds. Probably didn't have enough grunt for motorway speeds, but I never took mine on the motorway as quite frankly it was horrible at those speeds and dreadfully slow.

[LooneyTunes]

bakerstreet said:

Its not just the comical ride you have to consider. Mine was a 83MY and the best and biggest brakes they ever fitted to a Series and were completely rebuilt using all new parts and they still required a very good shove to stop.

There is also the noise from the engine and gearbox. I spent about £200 on sound deadening and probably needed another £800 on a Write Off Road Kit and it was still loud.

Looneytunes has a good point about alternative seats. I have seen some decent conversions using minibus seats on unwin rails and they looked pretty good and certainly much cheaper than using LR fwd facing flip up seats. Some minibus seats also have built in seatbelts and that makes things much easier.

I even added a stereo to mine and it was a very neat install and you could use it a town speeds. Probably didn't have enough grunt for motorway speeds, but I never took mine on the motorway as quite frankly it was horrible at those speeds and dreadfully slow.

My Lightweight is an '83 and the brakes are indeed terrible.

My first S3 (quite some years ago now) had Fiesta XR2 front seats... a change made by a previous owner. And pretty much the smallest steering wheel that I could find (cheaper than a replacement steering box to pass it's MOT!) that rendered it quite heavy to manourvre.

Indicated 50mph was absolute top speed. No extra sound deadening. Still did 250 miles in a day on more than one occasion, but probably wouldn't advocate anyone new to a Series doing that.

Btw, OP, when you drive one, the gearshift will feel like this (stolen from elsewhere on PH):

[bakerstreet]

LooneyTunes said:

My Lightweight is an '83 and the brakes are indeed terrible.

My first S3 (quite some years ago now) had Fiesta XR2 front seats... a change made by a previous owner. And pretty much the smallest steering wheel that I could find (cheaper than a replacement steering box to pass it's MOT!) that rendered it quite heavy to manourvre.

Indicated 50mph was absolute top speed. No extra sound deadening. Still did 250 miles in a day on more than one occasion, but probably wouldn't advocate anyone new to a Series doing that.

Btw, OP, when you drive one, the gearshift will feel like this (stolen from elsewhere on PH):

They are really low geared as well. You kinda get used to changing into second half way through a junction exit.

I had a quick shift kit fitted to mine (Syncro Gearboxes) and that made it much easier to live with as the throw was about half what it was and much less vague compared to the standard gearbox. Well worth £80 in my view.

Basically what we are saying is you should possibly try one before sinking £10-15k into a good one...

[CambsBill]

LooneyTunes said:

My Lightweight is an '83 and the brakes are indeed terrible.

My first S3 (quite some years ago now) had Fiesta XR2 front seats... a change made by a previous owner. And pretty much the smallest steering wheel that I could find (cheaper than a replacement steering box to pass it's MOT!) that rendered it quite heavy to manourvre.

Indicated 50mph was absolute top speed. No extra sound deadening. Still did 250 miles in a day on more than one occasion, but probably wouldn't advocate anyone new to a Series doing that.

Btw, OP, when you drive one, the gearshift will feel like this (stolen from elsewhere on PH):

Also got an '83 lightweight and the brakes have always impressed me. Need a decent shove of course but no issues in terms of efficacy.

Max speed 50 yep.

Big tip for the OP - if you get one then keep a bag of sand in the back as it helps the ride quality no end.

[BertBert]

Is not a 110 a much easier solution and very nearly as romantic?