Thread: early series, project for the dad and kids?

Looks great! Get whatever spares you can thrown in, if you buy it, because some of them could be rare - for example I've seen the horn centre for an 86" advertised for the same price as an entire similar vehicle! Unless your daughter is going to be driving it on the freeway (or you live in steep hilly country) I wouldn't worry too much about vacuum assisted brakes. Repair and adjust the original brakes properly and they are quite light - or at least with my 86inch they are.
Good luck with it.

I would certainly fit seat belts. Roll bar - unless planning offroad use I doubt it is necessary - the modest performance, plus the alarming body roll and relatively low centre of gravity make these very difficult to roll in normal circumstances.

By the way - you do know the gearbox has synchromesh only on third and fourth? This I would think is a plus for a young driver - encourages skilled gearchanging, plus a real sense of achievement when mastered.

I would not consider a non-standard drive train - any improvement will not be worth the amount of work involved. Same for fitting a diesel, unless a lot of mileage is intended, you'll never recover the cost - and let's face it, a Series 1 is not ideal for high mileage! Since the engine is all there, do it up as necessary - the chances are there is little wrong with it that can't be fixed by a top overhaul and fix the carburetter and distributor, perhaps rings and bearings.

May be worth considering fitting an alternator (although this is not as easy on that engine as on the 2.25), and certainly change polarity to negative earth.

John

Originally Posted by JDNSW

the gearbox has synchromesh only on third and fourth? This I would think is a plus for a young driver - encourages skilled gearchanging, plus a real sense of achievement when mastered.

Still trying to get..crunch...it..grind..right myself

Originally Posted by Sleepy

Still trying to get..crunch...it..grind..right myself

Both my boys managed to learn it within a few months after we got the 2a, only a year or three after they got their licences. (The first two vehicles I drove with conventional gearboxes, long before I was old enough for a licence, had NO synchromesh or even constant mesh, so for me it was not a matter of going from synchro to no synchro)


John

Originally Posted by procrastination inc

maybe an isuzu drive train?

YES! Do it!


...and then give me the 2L!

Originally Posted by procrastination inc

...........I'm not fussed about originality. I think I might even offend a few enthusiasts

I wouldn't be offended, my 80" has a Series 3 gearbox & 2.25 ltr diesel & I think it's perfect.

As others have said, lots of interchangeable parts if you don't want originality.

Go for it.

Originally Posted by JDNSW

May be worth considering fitting an alternator (although this is not as easy on that engine as on the 2.25), and certainly change polarity to negative earth.

John

This vehicle already has an alternator, as shown by the lack of mechanical alternator, and the external solid state regulator (as used by older alternators) mounted on the right inner guard.

The oil filter fitted to the the left inner guard would take a R4P insert. This is a usual conversion to earlier SI's (when sold through Champions of Adelaide) that would have originally had the disposable ZS1 canister. By the time this Land Rover was made, disposable inserts were already being used mounted on the right side of the block. I don't know why this would have been converted to take a military junior (R4P), but it would make it easier to change.

Does anybody else note that the distributor cap appears to be on the wrong way around? Is this possible, or is the complete distributor 180 degrees out?
Aaron.

Originally Posted by Aaron IIA

.....

Does anybody else note that the distributor cap appears to be on the wrong way around? Is this possible, or is the complete distributor 180 degrees out?
Aaron.

I hadn't noticed. I don't think you can put the cap on the wrong way round, but either the distributor is 180 degrees out, which is perfectly possible, and will work perfectly well, or it is also quite possible that there was a distributor cap made (for some other vehicle) that had the leads coming out the opposite way.

John