Does anyone have any info on this vehicle, please?

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Originally Posted by clubagreenie

I'm actually curious about the heater. When I restored my S2 I couldn't find a round heater so ended up with a wide flat panel the same but it was the only one I've ever come across until now.

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The one I am restoring didn't have a heater in it at all and the one I was wrecking (see signature) did so I swapped it over - along with the cable wipers and demisters:

http://kiwi-in-oz.com/pictures/photos/800/1D322325.jpg

Yeah, I know, wrong door tops :D

The door tops in this 'new' one are OK but the channels are shot.

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Originally Posted by clubagreenie

I'm actually curious about the heater. When I restored my S2 I couldn't find a round heater so ended up with a wide flat panel the same but it was the only one I've ever come across until now.

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Round heaters were widely used in cars other than Landrovers, but not the flat one. For example, Holdens did not get heaters from memory even as a factory option until the mid sixties - but there were a lot of aftermarket ones sold, and they were either the round Smiths ones or copies of them. Landrovers rarely got heaters fitted until Series 3, so the most common heater available for S1/2/2a was the one sold for fitting to Holdens.

The first two Landrovers I owned, S1 and S2, were ex-SMHEA and were fitted with (round) heaters. The next one I got, a 1961 S2a, did not have a heater, but I fitted one (round) after driving from the Simpson to Sydney in 1966 - through snow in the Blue Mountains!

John

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Originally Posted by Lotz-A-Landies

Not that it's relevant, in NSW engineering certificates were required by 1978, my first 253 conversion was a breeze, basically just an engine number change. Unfortunately when I transferred the engine from the hard top to the station wagon in 1978 it turned into a nightmare.

Diana

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The vehicle is not in NSW - to have registration in the ACT at the times when it got its registration plates the ACT RTA would have had to know about - up until about 98 all rego inspections were done by the ACT RTA not garages.

If it was illegal it would have been jumped on immediately. However as said if the conversion was done after yearly rego inspections stopped the definitely a certificate will be needed.

Garry

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Originally Posted by drifter

Sadly, the engine swap was done while it was registered and they let the registration lapse - so it's gonna be an engineers certificate and pits and all...

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So I take it that Dickson was not advised of the engine change :(.

In that case a certificate will be needed - but if the V8 engine number is in their system then you may be right.

Garry

Well, I suspect the seats may need engineering approval, too. I note the compliance plate says it is a 10 seater (and the seats are in the back) but only 2 in the front makes it a 9 at best.

What were the front row of seats like? Anyone have any decent pics? Without the front end of a tub to stop them collapsing backwards, how did they fit?

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Originally Posted by garrycol

So I take it that Dickson was not advised of the engine change :(.

In that case a certificate will be needed - but if the V8 engine number is in their system then you may be right.

Garry

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One of the negotiating points on the price was because of the lack of certification for the current engine ;)

Another question.

What did the back seat passengers do to get in? Take a running jump? It has steps under the front doors and another one at the rear door (tailgate door).

Am I missing two or was it something you bought singly?

Now you all come out, where were you 23 years ago (yes I was 14 when I started all this obsession). Is there a spacer under each mounting point for the heater, I seem to remember that the "legs" if bolted flat against the firewall would not allow the fan to rotate or draw air in.

On the one I moved across, the 'legs' provided the space between the heater and the firewall.

L shaped bits of metal where the long leg of the L was on the top and bottom of the heater and the short leg was against the firewall.

You can just see the bottom right leg in this pic:

http://kiwi-in-oz.com/pictures/photos/800/1D322327.jpg

Actually, the only thing I ever broke was a RHS engine mount because it was made without a web down the side of the chassis and the long RHS had too much of a moment on heavy bumps.

I was actually running 4.3:1 Rover car diffs both front and rear with Leon Braxton's superaxles (similar to but earlier than MaxiDrive axles) I had to sacrifice the Salisbury rear from the SW to do it. The plan was to go to 3.9:1 Rover car axles when I got two but that never happened. It had soooo much power down low you just idled up obstacles off road so the high ratios didn't affect it as much as they did on the 186 and 202 conversions. These days you'd keep the salisbury and go to a high speed transfer case instead.

The suffix D SIIa box is stronger in 1st and 2nd than the strongest of the SIII boxes, but you have to put up with non synchromesh on 1st and 2nd. Yes I did run a Fairey overdrive and never broke it, but always kept oil up to it and always had a standard mainshaft gear and the rear bearing support plate stored in a biscuit tin in the tool box.

Fuel was cheap back then (29¢/l) and with 46 gal onboard who cares about consumption, although because the V8 wasn't working hard it wasn't that poorer than the OEM 2.6.