NPOCP Land Rover 2a

"Frank Grimes" (FrankGrimes)
11/04/2014 at 18:07 • Filed to: None

1970 Land Rover 2a

some rust by rear spring mounts

only engine block transfer case and transmission are there.

$2100

I really always liked the Land Rover and I think it would be a fun easy vehicle to fix up and get driveable body parts are availible and whole chassis are manufactured because they all seem to rust out. Of course a new galvanized chassis is $2300.
Am I wrong or would this be awesome with a buick nailhed V8 and some new bits to get running. Or is theres something about these that makes restoration complicated.

DISCUSSION (24)

TheHondaBro > Frank Grimes
11/04/2014 at 18:12

That's a scary thing to look at. You'd have to put a lot of money into it to keep it running.

I'd rather do up a Toyota Land Cruiser.

-More reliable.
-Extremely capable.
-Plenty of aftermarket parts.
-Instant street (trail?) cred.

Frank Grimes > TheHondaBro
11/04/2014 at 18:16

I prefer the land rover and toyota are more common. I have read that the 2.25 petrol engine is very reliable as it was designed off the diesel version and over built and can last as long as 250k miles if taken care of. They are very simple and I dont mind doing things like replacing points and checking valves and rebuilding carbs or changing oil so I dont think it will be a pain in the butt. I am sure I would be putting money into it but I dont see how things will keep failing on it since these are very rugged trucks.

Maybe I dont understand something you do?

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Frank Grimes
11/04/2014 at 18:17

*Puts on "tore down five of these and finished rebuilding two so far" hat*

This is better being a IIa and not a III, because the dashboard is not made out of crumbly foam and vinyl. $2100 is quite reasonable for one of these, generally. Does the description mean that the head has gone walkabout with the driveshafts? One of the easier swaps for somebody not going back with the stock engine would be a Mercedes OM616 (240D) engine, but the parts for that conversion I think run around a grand. If one could find the parts to put the original engine back, it's not hard to do so. We've got a couple complete diesel engines for these sitting on the shelf, actually.

If this one truly does not have any firewall rust, it's worth every penny for that alone. It's also got the more uncommon DualMatic locking hubs, which are kind of neat but leak like crazy unless recently rebuilt. The frame repairs are very easy. It looks like it's got a whole Kodiak fresh air heater, which is nice as well. It presumably needs all the brakes gone through, but that's all pretty easy stuff.

I assume by Buick Nailhead you actually mean the Buick 215V8. That's not as easy a swap as you'd think, and a more modern Rover V8 is way more available. That being said, there are parts available to do either. Not terrible. Anything heavier than a 215 (read, pretty much any smallblock) is going to do bad things to balance, but there are fairly easy ways to put in an SBC, or so I've heard. Several Isuzu diesels are also possible, IIRC, and plenty of other options given enough time - the bottom line is keep it light.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > TheHondaBro
11/04/2014 at 18:22

You're more wrong than you'd expect. Parts for these are, for the most part, extremely cheap due to a worldwide parts market making most pieces aftermarket brand new: Allmakes. Reliability I'll give you, if you don't run it regularly, but the actual moving parts stresses are very low. It's effectively a tractor engine - not fragile in the least - and most of them are carbed with standard downdraft setups, no SU bullshit. Electrics are comically simple, so that Britcar risk goes mostly out the window. Aftermarket is also pretty robust. This is the same basic car that was built from '59 to '85, and seeded the Defender - it was mechanically pretty much identical for 25 years.

Also, more street/trail cred driving what Landcruiser? Short of an FJ40, this gets more attention.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Frank Grimes
11/04/2014 at 18:22

No, he's just wrong.

TheHondaBro > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
11/04/2014 at 18:27

Fair points. I was basically going off the notorious BL build quality, but I suppose that doesn't apply with this truck.
That being said, I'd still go for a Land Cruiser, but that's just my opinion.

TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
11/04/2014 at 18:27

Came here to say this.

TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. > Frank Grimes
11/04/2014 at 18:30

As the owner of a IIa with the ORIGINAL engine I can attest to the reliability. Also you only need a hammer and a screwdriver to fix the engine, if you can't fix it with that. You need a bigger hammer or aren't hitting it hard enough.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > TheHondaBro
11/04/2014 at 18:31

The Land Cruiser is probably going to be more reliable by a nose, but these are so simple you can proverbially fix them with a screwdriver and crescent wrench. Parts are MGB-level common, as there are a decent number in the US semi-dead from long term neglect and frame rust more so than general failure to run. The design predates British Leyland ownership of Rover, so you have Lucas and Smiths/Jaeger gauge and electrical goblins sometimes but very little to harm the running.

TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. > Frank Grimes
11/04/2014 at 18:33

These are some of the simplest vehicles to work on, as long as the frame and bulkhead haven't got rust issues you're not looking at a lot of money getting this thing back up and running. Heck if I were you I'd keep that patina, it gives it character.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > TheHondaBro
11/04/2014 at 18:34

Sorry, neglected to add: also, the engine is so puny that the transmissions and diffs last pretty much indefinitely if taken care of, with the only weak link being rear axle half-shafts. Cooling is pretty oversized as well - I had one that I couldn't diagnose a dead water pump on for a while because it took so long to overheat. The hydraulics are all done in aluminum, which mostly means DON'T LET THEM SIT, but that's true of all hydraulics to greater or lesser degree.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts.
11/04/2014 at 18:35

Aluminum = repaint? what repaint?

TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
11/04/2014 at 18:45

I don't know, sounds like a lot of work (and a waste of money) people with steel body panels do.

Suby555 > Frank Grimes
11/04/2014 at 19:13

where is this? link to the Ad?

4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
11/04/2014 at 19:44

Hey! I love my crumbly foam and vinyl dash.

There was something I wanted to ask you, but I can't remember what. I'll get you next time.

Frank Grimes > TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts.
11/04/2014 at 21:43

Me too until I got sick of it. Also I am good with a welder and fabricating so I have experience fixing rust. and building a new frame out of sheet steel seems pretty simple.

Frank Grimes > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
11/04/2014 at 21:43

maybe just strip it and polish it? might look kinda tacky. but a repaint would be a piece of cake single stage doesn't have to look all shiny and perfect makes it a lot easier.

Frank Grimes > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
11/04/2014 at 21:52

How hard is it to find parts for a 2.25?

The way I read the ad the engine is pretty much missing except for the block I assume someone started tearing it down and the head went missing. I have never rebuilt an engine but these things look as simple as it gets and I dont think it would be any problem for me I think it would be super fun.

No I meant something like a 425 V8 from a riviera or something. I dont know much about doing this swap I just know the rover v8 shares something with the buick and would be easy and cheap to find and rebuild and look amazing and be immensly more powerful than the stock motor. thats as far as I got thinking about it.

Kinja'd!!!

Assuming I do all the welding and metal work and all the mechanical rebuilding on a a Land Rover what do you think a resto on one of these would cost to get it in top mechanical shape?

TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. > Frank Grimes
11/04/2014 at 23:22

It's a basic box frameframe so it shouldn't be too hard. If you get the frame and bulkhead galvanized, that truck would probably out live your grandkids.

Frank Grimes > TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts.
11/04/2014 at 23:57

yeah I would or powder coat it.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Frank Grimes
11/05/2014 at 09:17

There's not really quite enough room for a Nailhead, sadly. What it shares with the Rover V8 is more the general plan and layout than anything useful like a bellhousing pattern. Like I was saying, though - there are parts for a Chevy swap out there, and some of that might carry over to some other engines. People also do 302s, apparently.

As to fixing what's there - it's not too hard. It comes down to whether you want to piece it out one part at a time as you rebuild:

http://www.roversnorth.com/ProductDesc.as…

Or whether you just want to buy a whole engine:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/76-83-2-25…

They're out there too. There used to be (as in, less than a year ago) a source for completely fresh rebuilt engines with support/warranty/etc., but that may have dried up. As to rebuild difficulty:

http://www.landroversonly.com/forums/f7/diff…

If your transmission and axles are good, a rebuild of the brakes should only run a couple hundred at most. The wheel cylinders are pretty cheap and readily available, as are shoes, master cyl, lines, etc.. Clutch is going to depend - might be okay, might need $350 worth of freshness. The driveshafts, if missing, might be a wildcard, because they're not often replaced, but your local driveline shop ought to be able to make something up for a few hundred. IOW, the rest of the mechanical job other than the engine should be well under a grand if the truck's in decent shape overall, so the trick will be coming up with an engine solution. Remaining wildcards would include the condition of the swivel housing balls and seals - kind of a pain in the butt to redo, but not amazingly. I kind of wish I could subcontract myself out on this one in person - there are a lot of things to look for that I can't just tell you.

One thing: you will absolutely need the Rover shop manual for anything fancy. They're available from Atlantic British or Rovers North, which are your two go-to sources for most stuff. Pricey stuff that they ask too much for, you order from Paddock Spares in England.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Frank Grimes
11/05/2014 at 09:20

Both of ours repainted so far were with single-stage: urethane and acrylic enamel. People have done the strip and polish thing too. The firewall and radiator support being steel need some kind of paint, of course, or galvanizing, though I cant' say I recommend galvanizing All The Things, as you have to drill lots of holes in stuff you're getting dipped to keep it from exploding.

Now, if you have a source that will electro-galvanize it, that's a different story.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > 4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30
11/05/2014 at 09:22

Kinja'd!!!

I'm usually around somewhere. Just send out the signal as needed.

Frank Grimes > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
11/05/2014 at 21:55

HAHA I love calvin. Thanks for taking the time to share your knowledge.