Articles - Land Rover Series 2a Restoration

PK
06/01/2024

Axles Refurbishment

As I thought, its been a while since the last post, for many reasons, ordering parts, buying some new equipment for the workshop, weather (not ideal when its pissing with rain in the workshop) and finally, my Mother In-Law being poorly, and sadly passing away just after New Year.

The last article was about the strip down of the Front and Rear axles. One of the major things I wanted to sort out from that was the Hubs, I had a real mix, some, actually all bar one with some studs pulled out, one that didn’t look original and one that had the studs welded in at the back.

So my first purchase of new parts was some new studs. Pull in ones with original thread size.

In my excitement at getting a Land Rover Series 2a, I joined the Series 2 club, which among many, has some side benefits, such as discounts from suppliers.

I bought enough for all 4 hubs, now all I need is to get them fitted, which requires the old ones taking out, the holes slightly widened and a flat countersink the back of the hub. Beyond my skills, and certainly beyond my toolbox.

These studs were purchased from Paddock Spares Pt No. 561886

Now, I’m fortunate enough to have a Son, who went to School with and continues to be a friend with, a chap who is passionate about classic and custom cars and has recently set himself up with an engineering and vapour blasting business. A side benefit, he lives at a Pub, who serves a great Pint. So a bit of blatant promotion of Josh and his new business, the Pub (Great Food and Beer) and the Spur Classic Car Club, run by Josh and others.

JC Vapour Blasting

The Spur Inn, Slindon

The Spur Classic Car Club

Josh went about working on my hubs, after several chats over a Pint or 2. 3 of the 4 were a great success, the welded one however was beyond saving. What to do with that one, replacements are not easy to find and expensive. So another benefit I have found with owning a Series Land Rover, is that everyone on FB groups and the Series 2 club forum are super helpful.

Cut a long story short, I posted a plea on the Series 2 club forum for anyone with a 1965 Series hub they were prepared to let go. To my amazement, a chap came back to me with “I’ve got 2 from a 1966, if they are any use”. Umm, let me think about it! Yes please. As it turned out one was complete with all studs the other with one stud out, so that one went back to Josh @ JC Vapour Blasting to fit the final 5 new studs, leaving me with 4 original hubs, all with all studs fitted. RESULT!

So, onto the next part, cleaning up all the parts I had dismantled, so I got my wallet out again and went and bought myself a Parts Washer and a Blasting Cabinet and an accompanying Compressor. It was at this point I had to drop tools for a while for lots of reasons while constantly thinking about all the stuff that needed cleaning up and all my new toys that I couldn’t use yet.

So along with the Blast Cabinet, Parts Washer and Compressor, I also splashed out on loads of new parts, all from Paddock Spares (So far so good with these guys, quite happy with the service). Below is a list of the parts, which in total were an embarrassingly large amount of money (my wife doesn’t read this blog, so I should be ok), mostly because I have gone for all OEM or Genuine stuff where it counts, and some aftermarket where it doesn’t matter so much (or could not justify the expense).

Item	Part No.	Qty
Brake Back Plate Locktab	277311	10
Aftermarket Brake Drum \| 10 S2 & 2A	591661	4
Axle Case Breather	515845	2
Axle Case Front Oil Seal \| OEM	217400G	2
Bearing For Halfshaft	244150G	2
Brake adjuster kit (set of 4)	RTC3176	1
Drain Plug Washer	FRC4809	2
Front Halfshaft Collar	90217398	2
Front Halfshaft Distance Piece	244151	2
Wheel Bearing Lock Washer	217353	4
Wheel Hub Bearing Kit – OEM	RTC3534G	4
Lock Plate	236995	1

Item	Part No.	Qty
Front OEM Brake Kit \| SWB Pre June 1980	DA6042G	1
Full Kit With Swivel Housing (LATE)	DA3181	2
Joint Washer	232038	2
O Ring for Swivel Pin Bottom Bearing	531433	4
Rear OEM Brake Kit \| SWB Pre June 1980	DA6043G	1
Split Pin \| 1/8 x 1 1/4 Long	PS608101L	10
Stub Axle Collar	599698	6
Swivel Lock Stop Plate	508175	2
Swivel Pin Bearing	217268G	2
Wheel Bearing Locknut	FRC8700	8
Front halfshaft universal joint OEM	RTC3690G	2

Before starting to fit them, and have still not started with that as I write this, my focus has been on cleaning all the parts and getting a fresh coat of paint on them, so hours at the parts washer, wire brushes and even more time at the blast cabinet I’m pretty happy with progress. Here are some before and after pictures, with some half way.

To paint, I am sure this will cause some tut’s and oooh’s, “I wouldn’t have done that” but I painted everything with 1 or 2 coats of red oxide, and then finished with Chassis Black from Buzzweld.

The next step, before assembly will be to check and clean up all the Nuts & Bolts. I did consider buying all new, but wanted shinny! Don’t want to fork out for Stainless, so am going to give Zinc Plating a go along with some new where necessary.

Update on how that goes in the next article.

Quick add…

I have gone through all the bolts, nuts, washers and matched them up to the parts diagrams.

So, another order with Paddock Spares for some replacements, where the thread does not look ideal, where the wrong bolts have been used, nuts damaged etc.

The parts diagram mostly has Nuts with split washers, except in a few places where lock nuts are specified. Question, should I replace with all Nylocs or keep it original?

Also, some ordered are Zinc plated, some not, so all that are not will be stripped and plated.

Thanks for reading, hopefully the next one will not take so long.

Front and Rear Axle strip down

I had always intended to focus on the Axles first, and do them each separately, starting with the Rear Axle first as it should be simpler that the front with the front swivel hubs. However, as I am sure will be an ongoing theme and what I mentioned in the “plan” the plan can change, but the goal stays the same!

I ended up working on both the Axles at the same time, I will explain why in a bit.

So, first thing on the agenda, strip the axles. This was a relatively simple process as I had watched endless hours of videos of people who know, or seemingly know what they are doing. So here’s a few of those videos for reference. I have to say, when I watch these, I don’t take them as gospel, I like to make my own decisions about things.

Geoffrey Coaker

These videos are both informative and amusing.

Rover Tasmania

A whole series on Land Rover 88 2a, good videos.

Half Job George

Maybe not so in-depth, but good to see the process

So after draining the Oil from the Diff (Oh, my god that stuff stinks!!), started with the brake drums, another reason to use my Impact Screwdriver.

All except one came off without too much drama, and after looking at the first figured I wont look too much at the others, I can see my shopping list getting quite large, very quickly.

After taking off the Brake shoes, springs etc looked to tackle the Hubs.

First to come off, the slotted nut and drive member. Now if your wondering how I know what these things are called, there is a complete parts list available that details every single part, its name, part number and how many are needed. This will become my bible.

Made very easy using yet another new tool, gifted to me by Peter, my brother in-law, who had this given to him by one of his friends

Once the drive member is off, its time for the hub. To get this off there is 1 locking Nut, a washer, another nut and then another washer.

These are there to hold in the bearings, and using the lock washer and tab washer keep it all tight.

Unfortunately on 2 of the 4, the tabs were all bent upwards, they should be bent backwards and upwards to hold the two nuts in-place

I have seen a few things now that suggest someone has had a go at this before, its clear now that they have, and while I don’t know much, whoever did this knows less! That also brings me to why I did the 2 Axles, not just the rear. When I got the front two hubs off, I saw something that made me got Humm, that looks Sh.t. When I took the wheels off for the first time, one or two of the studs came out. From what I understand this is fairly normal as the studs are screwed into the hub and then peaned / pressed over to hold them tight.

These are the rear hubs, and as you can see the one on the left looks like an aftermarket one, the one on the right original, but with some of the studs welded in! This is why I did the fronts, wanted to see what they were like.

These are the front hubs, both look original however the one on the right has had new studs fitted, and not fitted very well at all.

So now have a decision to make on all 4 hubs.

So what are the issues? well as far as I know, when studs do come loose there are a few options to repair them. What I do know (from reading) is that welding is possibly the worst option, welding hardened steel to softer is not great, and when replacing with pull through studs, either get extra long ones or countersink the heads into the hub. Neither of which has been done here! as can be seen in the two pictures.

Now to get original replacement hubs is not cheap. and they are a bit hard to find, and while I am not heading for concours standard I want period correct and I also want the wheels to stay on when I do get to drive it, so will be replacing the 2 rear hubs and looking to get the other two sorted with proper studs, properly fitted. Have an idea who can do that, as I don’t have the equipment to do it properly. Will cover that in a later article.

The reason for tackling the rear first was because they are simpler. Having tacked the front as well, this is why they are a tad more complicated. The front wheels need to go around, but also they need to steer, that’s where the big chromed ball thing comes in, with a universal joint inside.

Little more challenging to strip down but nothing too bad, other that stinking old oil pissing out everywhere, and the top and bottom swivel pins which were a little tight.

So that’s both the Rear and Front axles stripped, everything bagged up and put away after a little inspection and a mental note of what seems to be a rather long shopping list.

So the next step, while I am sourcing some new bits (and checking my bank balance) is to start cleaning stuff up and getting bit of paint on to stop the rust coming back before I am ready to paint properly.

So after a few hours with a wire wheel on an angle grinder, some degreasing, got one of the axles ready and then painted with a little red oxide.

Need to stop now for a couple of weeks, next weekend off shopping at the Newbury Spares day and my Nephews wedding the week after, Jonathan and Briony.

Hopefully next time, one of the first pictures you see will be a bench full of new parts..

Thanks again for reading.

3 Comments InPart 3 - Axles

PK
10/09/2023

Teardown Part 4 – Final Part

After a good weekend last week, and a few little bits during the week, it is time to tackle the final planned part of the Teardown, Engine, Gearbox and Axles.

Engine Hoist hired, I started with just the engine. Got it rigged up with a bit of rope, I learned well from Daniel, my eldest son who recently left the Royal Navy after 8 years. Got all the bolts around the bell housing out, no issues there other than one stud came out, starter motor already out, took that out a week or so ago while tinkering.

So, it all just comes apart.. doesn’t it? Nope!! tried for some time, wiggling the engine, lifting and putting pressure on the gearbox, tapping the bell housing with a mallet even tapping a length of wood through the starter motor hole. Nope, not a sign of a gap.

Re-think!

What about engine and Gearbox together!

A little more rope work, and some gentle lifting, still wont budge.

Another re-think!

Let me ask my friend, Google! Humm, someone suggested it could be seized around the clutch, now that will be awkward if it is.

Lets try the engine on its own again, this time with some more wiggling some gentle tapping, and a small blunt screwdriver tapped into the seam between engine and bell housing and I start to see a gap appearing. Finally the Engine and Gearbox are apart, and the engine comes out.

Gearbox in comparison was a piece of cake.

Now you can see from the pictures, and previous goings on, I laid stones around the workshop. I knew a Hoist would not work on stones, so laid down some ply sheets. What I didn’t consider was that the wheels of the hoist would decided to make their own holes in the ply. Hey, Ho, its done now.

Onto the Axles then, starting at the front dumb irons. One side came out a treat, the other side not, so out came the Angle grinder again. The front ones are done, back of the springs next.

Now, I have said that I am a beginner at all of this, and there is a bit of advice I have often passed onto others that I should have listened to myself.

RTFM
Read the F’ing Manual

What I didn’t realise until I did RTFM, was that the rear spring hangers are threaded, so no amount of banging with various weighted hammers was going to get them out.

Back to it in the morning, and guess what, they undo with a socket! well most of them had to cut one side out, no amount of extension bars on the socket would budge that one.

Pleased with progress, both axles no off.

So next lesson of the day, make sure you prepare for what could going to happen before it does!

For those that have seen leaf springs before, the leaf’s are held together with brackets, with a single bolt up through the middle to hold the final 2 or 3 leaf’s on, and the whole lot together. Now these things are under a bit of pressure and what I didn’t expect was that these centre bolts would either be missing, or so rusted that as soon as the U bolts are cut it will all go POP!

That was a bit of a wake up call! So the next ones were all clamped together just incase.

5 Cutting disks later, and a few squeaky cheek moments later they are off.

Bit out of sequence, but thought I would get Daniel in the blog, Needed a bit of help wheeling the back axle out.

So I now have everything other than a few bits and pieces off the chassis. I have been anxiously waiting for this moment so I can see the real status of the chassis top and bottom. So leant the chassis on its side and got my first proper look at the under side. I knew some work would be required to make it good, but, and its a big but, I don’t think I’ll bother, I think it will be a new chassis.

Now a new Galv chassis is around £2k, that’s a lot to add so early in the project, but is one of the most important parts, so lets break it down, lets say £2k, its a 2 year project so its only about £2.77 per day. Doesn’t sound so bad now.

The final two pics of this article are a close up of the chassis (if you think its worth saving leave a comment), and the final state of Isobel after this weekends work.

That’s It, TEARDOWN COMPLETE. Now I think it will be a little while before the next article, so please be patient, it will come. That’s because I will taking some time out, I need to keep the wife sweet, and it will be the start of the restoration, bit by little bit. The first of those will be the Rear Axle.

Thanks for reading, hope your enjoying it, maybe having a little giggle now and then and maybe finding it a little informative even though this was never intended, and never will be a tutorial.

Feel free to comment below, be good to hear your views on what I’ve been upto.

Leave a comment InPart 2 - Tear Down

PK
03/09/2023

Teardown Part 3 – Bodywork

Short one this time, the goal was to get the chassis to the point where the engine, gearbox and axles can all come off. Goal Met!

Before we start, Thanks Reuben, 1.5 tons of gravel wheel barrowed and laid, Finally.

That should, be the end of that part of the story, however the roof I concocted was a disaster, every bit of rain turned it into a swimming pool on top.

So I have ordered some corrugated, clear roofing, which should solve that problem and make it easier to see what is going on.

So, back to the Tear down. The bulkhead came off relatively easily, perhaps would have been easier with the steering column out, but had a couple of issues there, mostly lack of tools. But its off after removing Accelerator, Brake and Clutch pedals.

Bulkhead stripped of everything I need to keep, plus a few bits I don’t, but got it all anyway

On the note of the Bulkhead coming off easy, part of the reason was that it wasn’t actually connected to the chassis as I expected. There have been a few things along the way, missing bolts, loose bolts and other things that makes me think someone has had a go at this truck before. That could be good or bad, lets hope if they had, it was because of the amount of work needed, rather than something fundamental. I would imagine the former, as everything I have seen so far is doable, but not yet seen what’s inside the Engine, Gearbox and Axles, lets hope there is actually something in there and its half decent.

Did’nt get upto much else, other than stripping down some of the parts I had already taken off, Wings, Foot Pedals, Brake and Clutch cylinders and a few other odd bits.

I did however try something I have seen online, which is to use Vinegar to clean off rust. I did’nt do it properly, but the results are not too bad, and with a little more cleaning after they have been neutralised I think this will work.

I said this will be a short one, I’ll finish up with a couple of images some of the other parts that came off, me in action with an angle grinder and where Isobel is at the end of the weekend.

Next Step, is to get the Engine and Gearbox out, and the Axles off. Now that’s quite exciting, because as soon as that’s all done we will be into the next phase of restoration and maybe even a little bit of Paint.

Before I conclude, worth mentioning bough myself another tool. This time a Impact Screw driver. Bought it in anticipation of taking of the wheel drums (I know the screws are super tight) but got some good use already. My latest fav tool 🙂

Taking off the rear handles, and tow hitch. Not particularly interesting, but hoping this is one of the last times I have to use it.

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PK
28/08/2023

Teardown Part 2 – Bodywork

After struggling with the sills I left Isobel for a week, actually not because of the sills, but we went away for a few days to the Peak District. Great place, wish I had Isobel up and running for the trip.

Not entirely wasted time, I managed to find a, if not year correct, period correct radiator on FB Marketplace, not too far from where we were. So one day, While the boys were at Alton Towers, I took the wife on a road trip to collect a 1966 Series IIa Radiator.

(It was actually our wedding anniversary, which I realised when the wife reminded me over breakfast, oops!)

£20, it has to be worth a punt, even knowing it will need some work to the top tank.

After a fabulous few days away, it was time to start thinking about how to tackle the sills, wings, tub and other bits a pieces I wanted to get removed, and the struggles with rusted, in-accessible nuts and bolts playing on my mind.

Time to Spend some money, I mentioned I have a very limited tool kit for this type of stuff. So went off and purchased the following:

2 Ton trolley Jack and 3 Ton axles stands from halfords to start, things will surely be easier with wheels off.
Imitation Dremel from Amazon
Nut Splitter and some other bits from Amazon ( this rapidly became my best friend, worth every penny).

Started with the Tub this time, tired of struggling with rusted solid bolts, decided to cut off the bolts across the back, and used the Nut Splitter on the 4 nuts at the front. Job done, its off! Should have perhaps waited for some help to lift it off!

Back to those dreaded sills, this time with the truck on on axle stands and wheels off (Only one stud came out, happy with that and will deal with that later).

With the Nut Splitter, mole grips and a little angle grinder, they finally come off, and mostly intact, certainly re-usable.

Time to tackle the front wings, but before I do that, spent some time on the bits I had already taken off, stripping them down to component parts, including the Seat Box, Windscreen and Front Grill. Started the day with a little sustenance, clearly being more focused on a radiator rather than our anniversary hadn’t completely lost me all my benefits.

Back to the Front Wings. Now I knew this was not going to be easy, the mud guards inside are completely rotted out, I can already see that lots of the nuts are more rust than metal. So radical moves needed.

Cut out the mud guards, get them out of the way, need new ones anyway, and started to tackle the easily accessible nuts, with a degree of success….. UNTIL, it came to the 4, attaching the wings to the bulkhead.

I tried every socket I have, NONE of them fitted, how the hell am I going to do this?

So, I knew when I bought this truck, it would have its problems, one of them quickly became apparent. The Bulkhead, even in my un-educated view it is toast, I would need every repair panel going and more, so a new, galvanised one will be ordered at some point! So rather than buy more tools, just for 8 bolts, decided to have some angle grinder fun, If I cant undo the bolts the right way, I’ll do it my way!

Wings off, making good progress now

Have you spotted my nice new shinny trolley jack and axle stand?

The goal of this step is to get all the body panels off (Tick), Next step will be to remove the bulkhead, but to do that need to remove steering column. Now, for those that have read previous articles, you will know about the debacle of getting some gravel to put down, rather than just mud and weed mat. I was promised that they would be delivered while I was away on Hols, however got back to an empty drive, no stones. I’m generally a patient and forgiving sort of person, but not now, ordered from somewhere else, they are arriving tomorrow. That means I need to evict Isobel from her forever home in preparation, so cant taking the steering out just yet.

Don’t like sitting idle either, so cracked on with removing lots of other bits and pieces in preparation for later stages. So removed the wiring harness(s), battery tray, exhaust, suspension straps & hand brake.

Isobel is now ready for the next stage, Bulkhead removal, engine and gearbox out, axles off and chassis completely stripped. What I have ended up with however is a kit of parts, quite a lot of parts, some in the workshop some in the garden still, some behind the workshop, some in bags, some on the work bench, which at some point will be re-furbished or replaced and all put back together.

Come back soon, for the bulkhead removal and if I can beg steel (not really) or borrow a engine hoist, the engine and gearbox, and maybe even the axles. Bye for now, got “proper” work to do for a few days.

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PK
18/08/2023

The body starts to come off

Before I get into the detail, it should be said that most of the tools in my toolbox are for cutting up wood and screwing it back together in various shapes, with the exception of one little box of tricks that turns out to be a god send.

This socket set was my Dad’s (who sadly passed away many years ago) and is the same set I used in my late teens, early 20’s to tinker (destroy) my cars. That was some 40 years ago, which must make this set nearly as old as the Land Rover they are being used on today.

It was my Dad that taught me most of what I know, and gave me the confidence to have a go, he would turn his hand to anything. Thanks Dad.

(Notice the rubber mat on the wing, to protect the paintwork 🙂 )

So where to start, well at the top, or rather the back, off comes the back door, off comes the roof with a little help form Son No3 (Reuben). So far so good, probably due to most of the bolts being missing.

Now, not all the bolts came out easily, but that was solved with the remains of a cutting disk on my angle grinder.

That was pretty painless. Hum, this is going to be easy.

Back door bolt was interesting.

Time to take the front doors off. Now I watched a few videos, so know there are captive nuts in the Bulkhead pillars. Both doors off, 1 bolt sheered, 3 captive plates no longer where they should be, 1 all good. But the doors are off.

Good progress so far, even though Isobel is not yet in her forever home, next the windscreen comes off and the bonnet, all pretty straight forward.

As I have mentioned, Isobel’s forever home is not ready, but thought I would move her anyway, so enlisted the help of sons No 2 and 3, Caleb (yes he is the one that face planted the wing moving it to the back garden) and Reuben. Bit of pulling, pushing, adjustment and she is there.

Now, I have watched so many video’s of various people doing stuff to Land Rovers, I always wondered why they would sometimes become distracted, and start tinkering with less important stuff. Now I know, oh, maybe that can come off, oh, where does that go, wonder what that looks like cleaned up. STOP! focus.

I did re-focus, but only after I had taken the Horn off, the Air-conditioning vents and various other bits and pieces. I need to keep track of what I have taken off and what it is, so everything/most will get bagged up and labeled, even the stuff I don’t really need to keep

Back to it, Floor comes out, well the drivers side anyway, passenger side kind of took it’s self out, and then onto the Seat Box. Now, this is where my thoughts of “this will be easy” came back to haunt me.

After struggling for some time, it did come out, but not without a few lessons for me.

This is not going to be so easy, even with copious amounts of WD40! Might need some more of that.
When you have spent most of the last 40 yeas in front of a computer, using spanners, sockets and the like use different muscle groups.
Patience
Not all bolts are coming out without a struggle

Seat box out, lots of sheered bolts, lots of bolts cut off, some bolts with the help of a cold chisel, and a few in-tact.

That was first day and half done, pretty please with progress, even with the struggles.

Wake up early next Morning, keen to start again. Oh, its rained and my make-shift car port has a problem. Its turned into a swimming pool on top (I knew this wasn’t going to work, but hey, wanted to crack on)

So after a bit of tampering, getting very wet and a bit more of a bodge until I can get some proper roofing for it.

Next on the agenda, the Tub, but a few things first.

Out comes the Petrol Tank, Next Lesson learned.

The old Fuel filler pipe with the old jubilee clip wont fit through the hole in the tub.

And while we are at it, and little clue as to the history of the truck, Farm vehicle most likely, with resident rodents.

(No rodents were found or harmed)

Final part for the day was supposed to be the Sills, this is where it got really tough and frustrating, got most of the bolts out, but there were some that were really challenging. Would have been easier with Wheels off, but I don’t yet own any axle stands (as I mentioned, my tool box is fairly limited currently, so Ebay, FB Marketplace and Car boots will be my friend).

It soon dawned on me that if I don’t want to cause more damage with the angel grinder I need to add to my tool box, maybe a Dremel, maybe a Nut breaker, but I cant continue for another week, so the sills will now have to wait for another day, and when I have some new toys to play with.

But, even with the challenges, I have really enjoyed getting stuck in and can’t wait to get back to it.

To be continued in part 2…..

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PK
16/08/2023

First proper look & Isobel settles in

So after a few weeks of looking at Isobel, unglamorously sitting in the middle of the garden, its time to move her to where she will stay for the next 2 years, well that was the plan.

New fence along the back to stop the dog getting out, and a new “car port” attached to what will become the workshop, weed mat laid, just waiting for the stones to arrive as promised at about 10:00 before we move Isobel. 10 came and went, 11 came and went, although time was not wasted.. Congratulations Lionesses, 3-1 against hosts Australia and now into the World Cup Final. 12, 1 PM all came and went, no stones!

Need to crack on, so start pulling Isobel apart.

Before I start, lets have a little look at what I have actually bought. Don’t mind the oo’s and ah’s, sharp intakes of breath and mutterings of “That’ll be expensive”. I kind off knew most of what I was getting..

So jumping ahead a little, here is Isobel in here not quite forever home, ready for work to commence, in fact after a little work already. Oh, and Jessica, the escape artist.

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PK
31/07/2023

Isobel Arrives home

After an anxious night waiting, John from Car Delivery Service turned up perfectly on-time.

Time to offload Isobel.

I think it is also time to explain why “Isobel”. I have said I want this to be personal, and how much more personal can it be than naming it after my Mum, Isobel is my Mum’s middle name, who sadly passed away pretty much 12 years to the day this Land Rover arrived.

So from now on, rather than Land Rover Series 2a, piece of crap, pile of rust and other names she has recently been called, I will refer to her as Isobel.

Time to move Isobel to her resting place for the work to commence.

First challenge, how to move a 2 Ton truck, down the side of the house, into the back garden without any power. Surprisingly, with a little help from the young ones it was pretty easy, even if we did give No1 sons partner, who volunteered to steer, a bit of a scare, pushing Isobel in reverse through some tight spots at quite a speed!

That was after Son No2, face planted into the front wing, when his feet gave way on the wet path. Sorry, no pictures of that, all happened too quick, but gave us all a good laugh, and will do for some time to come. Sorry Caleb! He was demoted to taking Pictures, rather than pushing & pulling, safety first and all that.

A bit unnecessary, but let the Kids play a little, out comes the Jet washer and Isobel gets her first wash, I did ask them to not get the inside wet, no chance, as wet on the inside as the outside, but I guess that’s a typical Land Rover for you.

To be continued….. as I need to build her a carport on the side of the poorly placed workshop/garage, after I finish the new fence and any other jobs wife wants in return for allowing me to own Isobel.

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PK
28/07/2023

Found a Series IIa

I found one I was interested in, but need to follow the rules when buying!

This one was a long way away, a good 8 hour round trip (430 miles), so not wanting to leave things too long, given pervious experiences, I asked for the afternoon off at work, yes they said, so I arranged to go see it, taking with me Son No. 2.

Then it all changes again, work needs to get done, so can’t leave until much later… Damn, what now! I didn’t want to get there too late in the evening, and patience is running low.

This is when I decided to break every rule in the book, especially something everyone will tell you DON’T DO IT, even my mate Neil, who by the way was sent endless pictures of Land Rovers, with the question “What about this one?”

I messaged the seller, with “I can’t make it today until much later, are you open to an offer without me seeing it?” Gulp, basically asking the chap if I can give him loads of money, for something I haven’t seen.

Of course he said yes, why would he not? what’s the offer? After a little bit of back and forth, we agreed on a price.

I HAVE BOUGHT A 1965 LAND ROVER SERIES 2a, that doesn’t run, been off the road for 20 years, not the best pictures in the world all without seeing it!

“What have I done” (is what I said to myself) “

“It will be absolutely fine” (is what I said to the wife)

Now I need to get it down here, I don’t own a trailer, I don’t know anyone who could transport it that far… OK lets try Shiply..

Put the details in, got a couple of Quotes in less than 10 minutes, looked at one, and thought this guy knows what its all about, he has done LR’s before, so accepted his quote. I didn’t think £379 was too bad.

Got it booked in and timing worked perfectly, they would pick it up “tomorrow” (26/7/2023) and deliver it to me early morning the day after.

I would certainly use Mark and John from Car Delivery Service again. Thanks Guys!

Excited? yes for sure, anxious? absolutely, “what have I done”, still ringing in my ears?

I comforted my self by asking the question, “what could you have seen that would have made you say no”, and to be honest there wasn’t much, probably becuase I dont know much about what I’m looking at, remember, a complete novice at this.

I figured that however bad it is, I could still make it work, and if it really was that bad, would probably be able to re-sell some of the parts and get some of my money back, and worse case, I tell the wife I need to buy another one, because this one I only bought for parts for the real one!

So, while writing this, I sit anxiously, waiting for the morning of its arrival.

In the Meantime, I needed a way to get it to its final resting place (bad terminology perhaps), in the back garden, where I stupidly put the workshop so a bit of gentle pruning needed!

As I mentioned before, I wanted this to be personal, not just a car/truck, just so happens I can.

Its Birthday is 2 days after my eldest sons, it is 8 days before mine. I bought it in my 60th Birthday year, and given this is a 24 month project, it will be on the road for its 60th Birthday, hopefully. Finally, I bought it 12 miles down the road from where I spent my formative years. Tenuous perhaps, but close enough for me.

So, my new toy is on its way, come back to see it arrive and it be put away until I get all the Jobs the wife wants done, done.

2 Comments InPart 1 - How it all begins

PK
27/07/2023

Why would I put myself through this?

I have dreamt of “doing a car” since my early 20’s. I did mess around with cars, re-built a Morris Minor, hacked around a few Fords, changed clutch’s in the road with the car parked up on the kerb and various other reckless things that would be frownded upon today.

My original dream was to build a Kit car, starting with a Jago Jeep and later a AC Cobra kit car.

But that all changed when I met Neil at work, who I now consider a good friend who is a passionate Land Rover Advocate. His wife was “Lead instructor at Land Rover experience Solihull” and is now an engineer developing the new vehicles.

After seeing his Defender 110 go through a complete rebuild,

I got to thinking!

“What about a Land Rover, that could be a lot of fun..“

So the journey began late 2022.

I started quizzing Neil EVERY DAY, reading loads of articles, watched loads of videos (all will be credited in later articles) about Land Rovers, joined LR Series forums, and have to say was completely sold immediately, the history is fascinating, the attention to detail some people go to is phenomenal, the community seems friendly and helpful, so that’s it, it will be a Land Rover, even though I have never so much as sat in one.

The first question for me was how do I make it personal, how can I make this project much more than just a car?

I decided on a Series 2a as close to my Birthday as possible, how cool to have a Land Rover pretty much the same age as me. So the hunt began early 2023.

I set the bar quite high, not too fused about the amount of work needed or to a large degree the amount of money, but importantly it needed to be close to SWB, Petrol, as original and not messed with as possible, the right age, and if possible the original engine and running gear and so on.

I asked everyone I knew who might come across one to keep an eye out, I scanned the Classic car sites, auction sites, Facebook, eBay and anywhere else I could think of to find the right one. That’s when it dawned on me, as someone else commented in one of the forums I read, “It’s Like looking for Hens Teeth”, but also felt patience would pay off.

I came across a very few, tried for a couple, didn’t follow through on a couple for various reasons, until I found one, not a 1963, but April 1964, that’s close enough, and it seemed pretty close to what I was looking for. Spoke to the seller, planned the trip to go see it, pretty much convinced that there was not much that would stop me buying, only to receive a message that morning, “sorry, I’ve sold it”, I was gutted, and really did start to think I’m looking for Hens Teeth.

Then one came up on FB Marketplace, advertised as a 1964, humm, that’s close but on further investigation, it was a 1965. Had a chat and it seemed pretty close to what I was looking for, mostly complete, chassis & engine numbers looked good, and I was sure I could make it personal, so my mind was made up, I’m going for this one.

So that is where it really started..

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