Series Magic Shop

Part numbers: ERC2886 554149

Disassembled, inspected, modified, and reassembled at our workshop.

Then road tested on our workshop Series.

The problem

Aftermarket copies of the Zenith 361V or 36IV carburettors are notoriously unreliable, thanks to casting defects, poor quality parts and assembly errors. Quality varies widely across different suppliers and manufacturers, and between different carburettors in the same manufacturing batch. Few work properly and reliably without modification.

The Weber 34ICH carburettor is more reliable out of the box. It’s marketed as a Series carburettor and it's a workable solution, but not ideal. Unlike the Zenith, which was specified by Land Rover and is very well matched to the 2.25 engine, the Weber is a generic carburettor that happens to work acceptably on a Series. A good Zenith in good tune is better. The difference is not night and day, but it's real and pleasant.

Our solution

We source the aftermarket Zenith copies with the highest quality alloy castings. We disassemble them, modify them and turn them into carburettors that are as good as our restored Genuine Zeniths. We then road test each carburettor before shipping it. We back it with a one-year Series Magic warranty.

The details

The best Zenith copies have excellent castings, but their assembly surfaces need to be lapped flat (as the CNC head passes over them at the factory, it releases stresses in the castings, which cause them to distort slightly). We replace the nitrile float bowl O-ring with one that's more resistant to the additives in modern fuels, which are a common cause of Zenith deterioration. We bench test numerous components, replace any faulty or substandard ones, and rectify any assembly errors. We then road test it on our workshop Series.

Part number: RTC3258 (modified by Series Magic)

Price is for one seal.

Our RTC3258 split seal is a modified high quality oil seal that can be installed without having to detach the swivel hub assembly.

Our split seal can save you hours of disassembly and reassembly work.

Here’s the illustrated installation guide, which explains when it’s appropriate to use a split seal and when it’s not, depending on the condition of the swivel housing.

If all you need to do is replace the seal, you can use our split seal.

The problem

Replacing the swivel seals on a Series the usual way is a big job—you have to detach the whole swivel hub assembly just to replace a seal.

Newly installed seals typically weep oil immediately, because most new seals are a poor fit on the swivel sphere.

We don’t recommend filling swivel housings with grease to slow leakage past old or poor quality seals. Oil is the lubricant specified by Land Rover, for good reason.

The solution is not grease: it’s seals that actually work and that are easy to install.

Our solution

High quality swivel seals, modified by our workshop for easy installation as a split seal.

These seals are so good they can accommodate shallow rust-pitting of the spherical sealing surface with negligible leakage, provided that any such pitted areas are lightly sanded with ultra-fine wet-and-dry sandpaper to restore surface smoothness.

The details

You can install one of our modified seals without any disassembly.

Cut the old seal to remove it, prepare the spherical surface and the new seal, stretch the split seal over the swivel housing neck, fit the modified seal spring and apply RTV silicone to the split.

We've fitted these split seals in our workshop with excellent results. They don't leak, as long as they're correctly installed and the spherical sealing surface isn't deeply pitted. What you can and can't get away with in terms of pitting is explained in our illustrated installation guide, which you can download here.

The problem

Land Rover Special Tool 605863 is unobtainable

The Series Magic solution

Our diesel timing tool

The details

This is a precision-engineered tool for setting the injector pump timing on a Series 2a or Series 3 2.25 litre 4 cylinder diesel engine. Precise pump timing is critical to the performance of these engines. This tool aids spur gear installation (an improvement on the Land Rover tool) and accurate pump timing.

Designed and manufactured by Series Magic, these multi-use tools are 3D printed from durable polycarbonate reinforced with carbon fibre.

Each tool comes with a set of detailed instructions.