Land (Rover) Reclamation or (Land R)over the Hill! Rover's Return!

[kevins]

I'd be inclined to cut both dumb irons off, repair the crossmember with plate steel and fit a new pair of dumb irons.  

[warch]

9 hours ago, kevins said:

I'd be inclined to cut both dumb irons off, repair the crossmember with plate steel and fit a new pair of dumb irons.  

Having seen the damage (and provided my welding expert agrees) I think this is exactly what I'm going to do.

[comfortablynumb]

Of course @warch, there's the 4x4 and vintage sort out coming up, first weekend in April, you'll get practically everything you need there. Are you anywhere near Newbury? It's held on the Showground at Chieveley.👍

[warch]

3 hours ago, comfortablynumb said:

Of course @warch, there's the 4x4 and vintage sort out coming up, first weekend in April, you'll get practically everything you need there. Are you anywhere near Newbury? It's held on the Showground at Chieveley.👍

Unfortunately not sadly, I’m Welsh borders. I can get most of the bits I need online though. Luckily they’ve started making replacement radiator/front panels, mine is pretty rotten.

[captain_cal]

The thing about a galv chassis is that it's one of the only things in the whole world that doesn't lose value - i.e. a £2.5k chassis will immediately bump the value of a truck up by £2.5k. You might not get a return on the labour of doing it yourself, mind!

[warch]

After a few months sat looking sad on my driveway things are starting to happen for my Series 2a. 
 

The great thing about getting my mate Will to do this is that he isn't interested in merely welding bits back on, he wants to do things properly, so he's really gone to some lengths to make the repairs as strong as possible. This is the easier side, the other side is slightly complicated by the steering mechanism, but it is possible to work around that. 

I'll feel a lot happier about tackling my new project with this back in one piece, find it impossible to focus coherently with multiple projects on the go. 

[warch]

Finally got to grips with the electrical issues on this (thanks to my dad coming around to help me). Not only was he the previous owner (early 70s to early 90s) but its much easier to test electrical circuits with two people. 

The principal issue with this is that the wiring loom (which is about as basic as you can possibly get) is partially made up of braid covered wires, which have faded over the past 6 decades so identifying/chasing wires is quite tricky. 

1. Headlights, turned out to be a dead connection in the wiring between the ignition switch and the dip switch (which was also faulty), probably caused by a failed connector under the vehicle.

2. Sidelights, I think I've connected these to the wrong terminal on the ignition switch, they should be powered on positions 2 and 3, not just 3 which is the headlights. Found a suitable terminal on the switch so I should be able to be move it to that. 

3. Stoplights, oddly both rear bulbs had furred up and were therefore inoperative despite the fact that same two bulbs also function as sidelights which were working fine. 

Pretty straightforward really, with most issues down to user error or the vehicle having stood unused for about half a year.

When I've put this back together and started work on my Series One (which lacks any loom at all) I'm going to build it from scratch, factory made looms are quite dear on something without any proprietary plugs or connectors (just spade or bullet type connectors) plus I can wire it as I go along. I will stick to the wire colours in the manual though.   

[warch]

It’s back! Now to start on the new old one…

 

[warch]

Hurrah, finally found an engine for my Series One Landrover project. 

Eagle eared Landrover experts will notice that that isn’t a Series One side valve engine, it’s a Series Three ohv engine but they’re cheaper, components and sundries like gaskets and seals are pocket money prices and I’m more familiar with them. Plus this one isn’t seized or stuck so hopefully it’s serviceable. I’ll use the bits off the one I acquired earlier in the year to build this back up that was out of a Rover saloon so might have fancier manifolds.

My other Landrover seems to be suffering from fuel problems, probably the full tank of E10 it’s been carrying since the start of the year. My bike and my digger are similarly afflicted, had to strip the carb on the latter because the fuel had crystallised. 

 

 

 

[warch]

It's too cold to do any serious (non essential) car work. 

However I have been busy buying bits and pieces.

The engine pictured in my post above will receive a complete set of new seals and gaskets before installation. I have acquired a two ton engine crane to manage this and the gearbox (need to change either the entire box or the bellhousing to fit a Series One gearbox to a Series Three engine. 

Meanwhile I've been sheeting my Series Two down over winter under a large tarp purchased for the princely sum of £9.99. It's a revelation, especially as the poor thing has spent most of the preceding 60 years out in the elements. The interior is all nice and dry and therefore warmer as well.

I've only used it a couple of times since it was repaired it last year, but I will need it to access some forestry land shortly so I thought I'd better give it the once over. It started and ran ok (always started easily in cold conditions). The radiator was a bit low but hadn't frozen. The water pump is getting a bit tired and noisy though. 

One thing I've long struggled with on this vehicle (and we're going back to the 90s here) is the doors. The passenger door had a disconcerting habit of opening unexpectedly unless you pushed really hard on it from outside, plus you could open it (whether locked or unlocked) by lifting the handle. A new lock mechanism (complete with external barrel) took about twenty minutes to fit but cured both those particular issues. 

Next up is the door tops. Old Landrovers have two piece doors so you can remove the upper glazed section, presumably for use in really hot conditions. The ones on mine are in a shit state, so the window runners are all rusty and manky and full of moss. Again they've looked like that since I can remember. You can buy glazed or unglazed replacement door tops with the former costing about £115 (each) and the latter about £70 plus a fitting kit containing channels and screws costing about £20 a side. Obviously it makes much more economic sense to fit the glazed ones so I bought the unglazed ones instead, mainly because I thought it would be easier to paint them with the channels and glass off. 

I may well consider fitting new door bottoms as well (c. £100 each) if it transpires that they're a bit ropey as well. 

[comfortablynumb]

Another plug for autojumbles @warch, three counties showground 1st Feb, I'm supposed to be going with MK1 son in his RRC, but we're not selling this time, hopefully parts hunting for the range rover of too many wheels.

Good day out anyway 

[Paul-l]

On 05/01/2026 at 16:08, warch said:

gearbox (need to change either the entire box or the bellhousing to fit a Series One gearbox to a Series Three engine. 

I have a S3 bellhousing if you want it - somewhere. And the engine it was attached to as well

[warch]

On 06/01/2026 at 23:43, Paul-l said:

I have a S3 bellhousing if you want it - somewhere. And the engine it was attached to as well

Thank you, so sorry I didn’t see this post for some reason. Where are you based?

[warch]

I went to a meeting of the Shropshire Classic Land Rovers Group (for it is they) yesterday at Ludlow Farm Shop. I’ve never actually taken my Land Rover to a meeting before, mainly because I have a slightly uneasy relationship with various tribes of Land Rover ownership (olli types are usually a bit rolling coal/moronic to the extent that they give greenlaning a bad name and river counters can just fuck off as far as I am concerned). Happily there was little of either of those in evidence, just lots of nice people united by their love of well made* dependable* British cross country vehicles. 

Here are some highlights; 

My Landy parked third from left next to a Minerva (a steel bodied 80” Landrover built in Belgium in the early 1950s for the Belgian Army). Very smart 1965 2A on the right of shot.

Lovely Series 2A (left) and ex RAF 3 Lightweight Landrovers. The official designation was 1/2 ton because of the payload but the Lightweight thing stuck because they were designed with easily removable bodywork to allow them to be airlifted by helicopter. They were heavier than the standard version when not stripped down. 

Really lovely very early Land Rover 90 

Two 101 Forward Control GSs (General Service). Probably my favourite Land Rover of all.

Beautiful very early Series 3 hardtop. 

Mid 90s Defender 90 hardtop with big tyres, quite liked how subtle this looked.

Interesting coil sprung hybrid with 107 Series One bodywork (centre) and a 101 (right) with radio van body. 

A Series 2 and Series 2a from the early 1960s

A V8 80 inch and 88 inch Series One Landrovers from either end of the 1950s.

An 86” hardtop (front) and earlier lights behind the grille 80 inch Land Rover (rear). Hardtops are a bit less common on surviving Series Ones which are usually soft (canvas) tops.

Would definitely go again.

[captain_cal]

1 hour ago, warch said:

Looks like a good day out, lots of Series motors looking fairly unmolested. The plate on that SII is absolute patina perfection, whereas that grey SI restomod is about as far from perfection as possible. The LED headlights take the fucking biscuit, though.

I've bought (bloody expensive) repro plates in the same style for my 1960 S2 which I'm trying to weather like those - plenty of time though as this is the current state of mine:

Along with the sacrificial SIII chassis which arrived yesterday, ready to donate back axle, gearbox and springs:

[warch]

The best one there (couldn't get the all important side on view) was a glorious 100" hybrid, built using a Range Rover chassis, shortened Series 2 109 bodywork and a tuned 3.9 Discovery engine. It looked great, bronze green, standard wheels so no spats needed and was a proper sleeper, 240hp from something that looked to the uninitiated like a 60s vehicle and apparently 70mph in second. 

I think if I could have any Landrover it would be a 100", the proportions are perfect, they aren't too small like an 88/90 or too big like a 109/110. See below, for one of the Dunsfold Collection 100 inch Land Rovers, one of several built by Landrover in the early 80s shortly before the 110 and 90 were introduced. 

[Paul-l]

3 hours ago, warch said:

Thank you, so sorry I didn’t see this post for some reason. Where are you based?

Somerset, just south of Shepton Mallet

[warch]

UPDATE

Actually got around to doing something about my Series One Landrover

As per the description in the post footer its the 1955 86" model in the usual Landrover green with panoramic roof*

It's supposedly ex army, but unlike later versions the army appears to have just used civvie spec vehicles so I'm not sure how anyone would be able to tell. 

It's in fundamentally good condition (translation I've seen worse) so at least the chassis and bulkhead are in good nick so I shouldn't need to have any welding done.

A more accurate and less rose tinted assessment would note the complete lack of a wiring loom, absence of quite a few small fiddly and rather expensive parts to do with the hopelessly Heath Robinson clutch and brake linkages, the utterly seized engine and the lack of a canvas tilt. 

Anyho, I decided to start with the engine. The engine it came with isn't the original, its from a Rover 60, so is essentially the same type of engine as it would have had originally, 2 litre, side valve, but with an alloy head giving it an extra 10 horsepower.

I did try to unseize it but I concluded that it would probably need complete dismantling to achieve this (and a complete rebuild). The water passages were completely blocked in places so I suspect this properly overheated and may have seized. Given the cost of parts to rebuild these engines I decided it wasn't for me and looked for an alternative.

After a false start involving a similarly seized engine from a Rover 80, I finally managed to acquire a non seized 2.25 litre engine probably from an early Series III Landrover. These were used between 1960 and the mid-1980s so they're pretty common (though getting rarer now and more expensive) but crucially quite cheap to get bits for. A replacement headgasket for a Series One 2 litre engine costs about the same (60 quid)21 as the complete engine rebuild kit I bought for my 2.25. A new exhaust manifold would have cost 330 pounds which is more than I paid for the working engine.

This engine swap is quite popular, (people put all sorts of motors in old Landrovers, including 200 TDIs, Rover V8s and the Mercedes OM606). Contrary to popular belief they don't 'just drop in'. For starters the clutch mechanism is different on a Series 3 to a Series 1 (or 2). Also the bellhousing is completely different, so you need a gearbox or a bellhousing from a later Landrover. I've got a later gearbox so I think I'm going to use that, rather than mess about trying to swap them over (you have to remove some of the gears to replace them).

The first job I've done is to replace the flywheel housing on my engine which cracked due to a handling error*. To do this you need to remove the clutch and flywheel then unbolt it from the back of the engine. Whilst I was there I decided to swap the flywheel and clutch for the ones that came with my Rover 80 engine, which was basically the same as an early Series 2 Landrover engine and had the correct clutch for the release mechanism in the earlier gearbox I am going to use. Obviously I should actually have fitted a new early type clutch but these last for decades and there was no discernible wear so I just cleaned everything up and stuck it in anyway.  

Next job is to replace the front crank oil seal and the timing case gasket, then all the other main gaskets (sump, gallery whilst its off the vehicle). Then I'll remove the old engine and gearbox.