a mk 2 or 3 4x4 county transit wanted

[transit4x4phil]

hi, we asked a while a go for one and r still on the lookout, this is actually phils wife, he is away till the middle of july but we are hoping to get a 4x4 transit when he comes home, it must be an older one though,any info or offers will be greatly recieved(we really shouldnt have got rid of any of his old ones, its been hardwork trying to find another one, especially one that is any good!) we may be willing to travel a small distance, as this may be the only way of getting one!! thanks

[Highlander250469]

A small distance from where?

[transit4x4phil]

northamptonshire!! so we r fairly central

[fastmower]

Hello Phil's wife! Are you only interested in a Mk2 or 3? I'm probably going to be getting shut of my Mk5 sadly. Mechanically sound - everything works just as it should - been laid up on SORN since this last Christmas - but was a godsend in the snow etc up until then! Will need a bit of welding for MOT - drivers door step and exhaust, but other than that it's very tidy underneath. Have some good back doors that can go with it and also all the turbo gubbins to fit - sump, manifolds, turbo etc. Also has a HD bullbar, cloth seats, flame start option, twin batteries etc. Located top end of Lancashire.

Andy

[transit4x4phil]

hi fastmower!
i have spoken to my hubby, we prefer the older ones because u get more ground clearance with them but that said, i personally could be tempted by the mk 5, i assume it has power steering which is an issue with the older ones(u can get power steering for them, i think nissan patrol or something fit?) and i would also be driving it,my hubby has agreed that maybe we could have a mk5 instead!
my hubby isnt home until the middle of july, so we wouldnt be looking to purchase until then anyway, what sort of figure was u looking for pricewise, we would have to trailer it back and i think you are about 160 miles from here!
thank you for asking
michelle

[fastmower]

Hi Michelle,

Not in any desperate rush to sell the old girl so no problem there. Only selling at all as I have my eye on a '51 5.7l V8 Chevy pickup and wifey says we (I) can't have both!

As far as ground clearance goes I'm guessing there's little to choose between the Mk3 and the Mk5 - the Mk5s of course have the rear axle closer to the back of the van so you can get up stuff like this whilst a Mk3 would ground out at the back before the wheels hit the slope.


Here's my old Mk3


and here's the Mk5 from about the same spot


Power steering makes a big difference - the Mk3 was bloody hard work in tight car parks and so on! I did enjoy driving it but it felt like driving a tractor at the side of the Mk5 which is a whole lot easier and lighter feeling.

As I said it will need a few little jobs for the MOT. I didn't fix the exhaust as I was planning on fitting the turbo which would have meant a new exhaust anyway so didn't seem worth it.

Cosmetically it would benefit from new wings and arches and a respray but I guess it depends on how far you want to go with the tarting up process.

I have a few other bits as well including some rev counter clocks and brand new headlights - the ones on it are cloudy.

I'd be after £1500 to let her go - you'll have seen for yourself what "done up" ones will fetch when the market is right, and I certainly paid over the odds when I bought her a good few years back. This one was originally built for the South Wales Electricity Board - I picked her up from a guy in Milford Haven which is a fair old hike from here, but you can't always pick something up on your doorstep, particularly if it's a bit of a rarity! I was searching for about two years for one before I got this, and decided in the end I'd just pay what the guy wanted as I'd been outbid a few times! Including on this particular one a couple of years earlier actually! The Milford guy bought it to go off on a winter tour of the Alps and told me he spent half his time pulling out stuck Landrovers and other modern 4x4s - could have been a bit of the old patter - but I've certainly never had any doubts about it's ability, and I know the Mountain Rescue teams seem to think they're a pretty good bet.

Just a couple more




I think the best thing about this van was just knowing it was going to start whatever the weather - it can stand for several months and then starts as soon as you turn the key - no cranking over and over - just instant go. Also knowing it would get there - I used it quite a lot through the bad winters to get to jobs when the Mk6 wouldn't have got off the street, never mind up into Cumbria! Never a bit of bother with it of any sort.

Anyway - there you go!
Cheers for now,

Andy

[transit4x4phil]

hi Andy
thank you for getting back to me, i am pretty sure we was intrested in the mk3 a while ago but was hesitant due to the distance?, but we have come to the conclusion we are just going to have to travel a bit further!
The power steering on the mk5 will help me greatly, i drive the vehicles myself, but i am only a little thing 5ft tall and 7.5 stone and i used to struggle with our mk3 sometimes, especially as you say in car parks, or turning it in a tight spot!
when my hubby gets home i will show him the pics, it looks ok to me, but i am only the wife after all, and need the expert eye of my hubby lol!
its a shame u cant keep the van and have the chevy pick-up, got to admit the chevy pick-up is a nice idea though, we are into the old american motors, hot rods and old school fords, my daily runaround is a 1955 ford pop, pretty much all standard with 3 gears, pull start and main beam on the floor, and no reverse light...i love her!!, i have also got a 5 door one that is being done up though so i will have a 'race' one too, my hubby has no end of vehicles, his pride at the mo being his ford consul estate he is doing up...we are not motor enthusiats at all lol!!
i sold my chevy dayvan back in january, it was left hand drive 4.2, and paying to get into car parks or going through drive thrus was a nitemare, i remember someone saying they did it in reverse once!!I really miss the way it sounds though!
anyway i am waffling now,i will be in touch soon,or my hubby will be, thank you for all your info

[fastmower]

No problem at all mate. I'll try and get to the van and get some new pictures in the next few days - it's parked up at wifey's parents at the moment. And of course if you have any questions at all don't hesitate to ask. Also if you want pics of anything specific.

The Mk3 ended up going down to Sussex - to another member on here.

Don't know if you were at the first Transitmania - the Mk5 van was there.

I don't know if it's common to the 4x4 Mk3 - but I also had a "normal" Mk3 twin wheeler, and the steering on that was as light as you like although it wasn't powered. The County though was real heavy - you really had to heave it around!

I'd love to keep the County to be honest - but it would be a lot better if I had a nice barn somewhere I could put her out of the way and the weather until I could get round to a proper doing up. Realistically I'm probably not going to get round to doing anything with her in the near future - original idea was to turn her into a wild camper for wifey and I to take off in once the kids have cleared off - but it's going to be a good few years yet! It does sound as though she'd be heading for a good home if she came to you though, so I could just about live with that!

Cheers for now,

Andy

[Highlander250469]

That Mk5 definitely looks a fair bit higher than the Mk3

Were they higher?

[transit4x4phil]

hi, i have spoke to the hubby, we are definately intrested in the van, could u please tell me ur postcode so that we can work out the mileage, and also could u tell me if it is a full banana or half bana engine please, unfortunately we didnt make the 1st transitmania, hubby couldnt get the time off work but have been to others since, our green mk2 we still have is on here somewhere, its midway thru and engine transplant...hate this thing with hubby having to be away, there is so much for him to finish when he gets home!
more pics would be great, i cant think of anything specific that we need pics of though
we have had many transits, includidng a normal lwb mk3, but i defo think the county was heavier, even hubby would occassionally find it hard work steering if he had been out allday, didnt help the arthritis in his wrists thats for sure
thanks again for getting back to me, regards michelle

[fastmower]

Hi Michelle,

LA5 9DU mate - about two minutes off the M6 - about 180 miles from Northampton itself. Just checked up and my journey to collect when I bought it was just over 250 miles each way!

Andy