I'm buying a 1966 Series 2 Land Rover to keep me out of mischief for a while. It's a complete wreck but I am paying someone to fully restore it for me using a galvanised chassis. It will cost me £5000 with most parts renewed or renovated. I shall keep it as original as possible but am having the later Series 3 engine put in as most enthusiasts reckon it's a tougher engine.
I shall try and post some pictures but I will need one of those photo account things first.
Slow, noisy, uncomfortable, thirsty, crash gears. Happy days again - can't wait :-)
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Slow noisy uncomfortable thirsty crash gears. Happy days again - can't wait :-)
You must have done something really bad to deserve a Landie.
Land Rover - giving one a keen interest in finishing a journey.
Good luck with the project.
Hawkeye
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Stranger in a strange land
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Well done Xileno - I look forward to seeing the pictures.
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Good luck, did you think about buying one that someone else had already done? Or is having it restored part of the fun?
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Make sure the men in white coats tuck you up properly in bed.:-)
madf
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One can only await the saneness of a rteply from MM on this one?
dvd
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One can only await the saneness of a rteply from MM on this one? dvd
Which MM? Surely not me... While I'm here though, this doesn't sound like fun. Each one to his own, though. :-)
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How does this avert your MLC? I daresay I'm missing the point, but wouldn't £5k buy a reasonable one to begin with?
FWIW, my Dad bought one new in 1966 for £710. Mind you, the heater was extra...
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It's a bit like the axe - two new heads, three new shafts, but still the same old axe.
New chassis, many new parts, different series engine - not my idea of original.
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Buy a car for £600 spend £5000 on it and end up with a car worth £600 there has to be some logic somewhere,you could buy two minters for that money and have two weeks in majorca for all the family.I suppose love of a motor car knows no bounds a bit like people buying football clubs now lets me get back to rebuilding that lancia Betra saloon.
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But it will be worth £600 only to someone who doesn't want it. To Xileno it will be worth £5,600, and for that he will have a brand new vehicle he really loves and it will be good for another 40 years. Name any current production car that you can buy new for that price that will last as long?
Not a LandRover Defender that's for sure. I was looking at friend's 10 year old model recently. All the brackets and trim round the bodywork were rusting badly. I remember it all once being properly galvanised, not pressed steel covered in paint.
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Actually the 60's and 70's landies rusted far worse and faster than the later models,having said that none are brilliant even to this day.Also my comments were a little tongue in cheek.
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The Landie would n't be my choice but a restored classic for this money looks a very good buy. Good luck with the project!
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I meant to add that our neighbours at our last place had a 1972 Landie. Moss growing in the odd corner and needed welding from time to time but seemed to fire up whenever required. They treated it like an ageing member of the family. (.........Not that grandad had a moss problem).
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If its having a full chassis up resto then it would be rude not to put a V8 in it, wouldnt it? Then it will still be uncomfortable, thirsty (not much more than a 2.25?), unreliable, but not so slow, and pleasantly noisy!
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£5000 grand does seem a lot of money in one respect. It could have been £4500 but I have added some extra features such as full length canvas which needs a different windscreen. Good Series 2 Land Rovers are very hard to find now and prices are rising. Yes you can get basket cases for under a grand but good ones start from about £2500 and even then it will still need some minor work and at this price is unlikely to have a new chassis. The chassis and bulkhead are the weak spot on these old Land Rovers.
I understand the point about it not being strictly original. However, the chassis on it is shot and instead of spending ages patching it up it makes sense to use a nice new galvanised one painted in black.
They renovate as many parts as possible but if they're too far gone they get replaced.
The Series 3 engine is the same 2.2 petrol as the Series 2 but has a five bearing crank.
I had one in 1989 and kept it for about two years. I very much regret letting it go but at the time I was really skint.
This is what I will get:
Standard cab and short canvas
Frame and full length canvas for summer
Body colour traditional dark green (bronze green)
Wheels in limestone with ?600? tyres.
Galvanised chassis
Bulkhead acid dipped and repaired if necessary
Original number plates (i.e. not a ?Q? plate)
Series 3 petrol engine (five bearing crank)
Free wheeling hubs
Spare wheel on bonnet
Alternator
Two wings mirrors
Seats belts
Traditional full length mud flaps on rear
3 months warranty
12 months MOT
I am using a local group of enthusiasts for the restoration. They do old Land Rovers up for the cost of the parts. There is no labour charge, although they will of course make a margin on the bits. Fair enough.
I have some pictures of it in its current state and I will try and post them here this weekend. The restoration will commence in October and will be completed by March.
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"£5000 grand does seem a lot of money"
It is! :-)
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"I am using a local group of enthusiasts for the restoration...There is no labour charge"
Are these the men in white coats?
Nutters..
madf
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Not nutters at all - there are thousands of volunteers out there keeping machines far more complicated than an old Landy going. Heritage steam railways spring to mind, most of which operate with no paid members of staff.
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This is what I will get: Wheels in limestone
Which quarry are those coming from? ;)
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Sounds to me like an absorbing and rewarding project Xileno - good luck with it.
My V8 comment was somewhat tongue in cheek. ;o)
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No, not bothering with an overdrive - at least not to start with. I shall only use this Landy for pottering around, mainly in the summer with the roof down. I have no plans to go off road in it, don't want to get it dirty :-)
I can always fit an overdrive at a later date if circumstances change.
I think a V8 would be a bit OTT for the use I will give it. Nice engine noise though...
These are the people who will restore my Landy:
www.landroverorphanage.co.uk
NB - I have no connection with them.
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Xileno
600x16's? Seeing as 750x16's were a contemporary option on the SWB and transform the drivability; [particularly if radials] what's your reasoning for going for the skinnies?
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The restorer suggested 600s as I will only use it as a hobby vehicle. They're easier on the transmission apparently (or something like that).
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They're easier on the transmission apparently (or something like that).
The transfer box on the IIA was by far the strongest until recent times and the two-synchro main box wasn't usually a problem behind a two-and-a-quarter; so I can't see what he's on about. [Unless he's got a lot of unwanted "take-off" 5" rims lying around from people that couldn't wait to see the back of them....]
Revving the nuts off the engine to get over 45 would be a far worse thing than any transmission wear anyway - or so I'd have thought.
The difference between 600x16's and Rangemaster radials is about 10-15% on the petrol bill - which will be quite substantial anyway. [600's look poxy too.]
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Thanks for the advice, I will speak to him soon. The restoration isn't starting until October so there's time to sort these things out.
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Enjoy it, i can happily re-assure you that the driving position has been retained in the latest Landie purely to remind you how uncomfortable they are - I still love them though.
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Here we are, pictures of my old truck. Look, she's smiling at me, begging to be restored rather than scrapped. Old Land Rovers should never be left to decay. I am looking forward to driving her.
s234.photobucket.com/albums/ee249/Xileno/
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Quite remarkable - totally correct; one of the most original that I've seen in years. Couldn't see anything that's been "got-at" or changed for a later bit anywhere. [Maybe a later bonnet mount for the spare; but it's a genuine L/R accessory.]
Has it got a heater at all? No flat-panel one present and I couldn't see a drum one in the shot.
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Cracking happy looking landie.....
A heater (you wimp :-) )
Welcome to that unique love/hate world of Land Rover ownership.
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I think it has a drum heater. I will have to check. The restoration should start next month...
I will post some more photos as the work progresses.
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