"I've now bought two series Land Rovers in two weeks!
What's wrong with me Doc?"
Two weeks ago I bought a LWB S2A as a daily driver and general hack to replace my nice, comfortable, air conditioned, heated, CD player equipped, cruise controlled Nissan ute with slide-on camper. The S2 just needs a few minor tweaks like the steering joints replaced and the handbrake to get working. Simple stuff ... not really much a of a challenge as projects go. So ... look for a series 1.
I looked at a series 1 a few weeks ago and ended up walking away from it. It was a 1953 80" with truck cab but the chassis and firewall rust was very bad and owner's price expectations were unrealistic. Researching it did teach me lots about the early Land Rovers and I loved the look of it so decided I really want an 80" S1 to restore. (Scallops really inspired me with his beautiful car too).
I have the S2A as a runabout, with a Holden 6 motor in it and on LPG, so mod's can go there while the S1 will be a true restoration ... maybe not fanatically true, but relatively true. The most important thing will be for it to be useable so it gets driven once complete, not squirrelled under wraps. I have plenty of other things going on so the restoration will be a fairly long term project, so don't start reading this if you want to see the result next week .. ain't going to happen
!
So here we go...
My first glimpse of the 1950 S1 as I walked in the shed:
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The front looked pretty good apart from one corner missing from the grille.
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Looked pretty good from the back.
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Rear cross member is in almost perfect condition.
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Middle cross member is also very good. I couldn't find any rust beyond very light surface rust anywhere other than a bubble on the very front of the rhs chassis rail.
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The gearbox is still in. The firewall looks good from here and the dash pod is exceptional. The instrument panel is perfect and still has the original gauges and switches all in very good condition.
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The drivers side footwell. I can't imagine it being much better
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The fuel tank is still bolted in. I couldn't find any patches on the skin so hopefully the tank is as good as everything else seems to be.
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The tub is in great condition except for the tailgate. The tailgate is pretty knocked about but the owner is throwing in a spare one. Maybe between the two I can get one good one together.
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I didn't get a photo of the two tailgates but they're in the pile of panels in the corner. Door bottoms, door tops, floor panels, seat box lids and a couple of seat backs. The two seat backs are different so one will be right and I'll have to make up or find the others.
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The engine sits on the floor but seems everything is there or in the boxes of parts. The carb, distributor, manifolds, etc are all still on the engine. Other bits like the distributor cap, fuel pump, etc I saw in the boxes.
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Chassis number is R06110036. Interestingly, the actual chassis number is preceded by four numbers: 8454. I've not seen or heard of this before. Any clues for me anyone?
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I won't get it home for a week or two, but that's okay as I have my hands full with the S2A at the moment. I have a couple sets of tie-rod ends on order and a handbrake kit so hopefully I'll get those fitted over the Xmas break. The S1 will just have to sit in the shed for a while but at least it won't be sitting outside and it will get the TLC it needs one day. So check in occasionally and I'll keep you all informed as to progress when I get started. God knows I've really enjoyed some other's threads on their restorations so I look forward to repaying the privilege.
Cheers
John B
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R.I.P.
Originally Posted by JayBoRover
"I've now bought two series Land Rovers in two weeks!
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