Thread: My 1955 86" Restoration Project

Originally Posted by Lotz-A-Landies

Does your 48 Land Rover have a rubber cased battery with exposed lead connections between the cells and Dunlop T28 Trak Grip tyres? If it doesn't have both those items then by your definition it's not a Land Rover.

hello sorry to say but I disagree with you Diana I see tyres and batterys as consumable items and do not see them affecting the originality of the vehicle.

Originally Posted by Lotz-A-Landies

What about a 48 Land Rover with an Aeroparts capstan winch, is it still a Land Rover? We do know that the capstan winches didn't start arriving as an option until the 1950's.

This was an accessory option and could of been fitted later to a 1948 land rover.

Sorry Diana I have to disagree with you on this issue. Holden Motors are just plain rubblish and have destroyed far to many front cross members for my liking....

Len - read Diana's post again. She was making the same point you made, that these things don't stop an LR from being an LR. The intent seems to have gone over your head.

I'm sure Diana prefers a LR motor over a Holden one like any of us but the fact is, a HUGE number of LRs were converted to holden motors during their life and so there is nothing wrong with restoring it that way. Sure - you won't be restoring it back to "as it came out of factory" but what does that matter? There is no set of rules as to what time period you have to restore your vehicle back to. If you want to restore it back to it's mid-life state then go for it... Holden motor, roofracks, radial tyres and all!

The real negative about a Holden motor conversion these days is the strict RTA laws ( in VIC ) . If the car is unregistered ,you have to go through the labourious and expensive process of getting a engineers certificate in order to qualify . In the past, the RTA would accept a Holden mod., if you could provide proof of previous registration with the Holden in situ or a old engineers cert. But I've been told , currently, they require a new certificate , they won't accept an older certificate...

For a stock Series 1 drivetrain..in the case of a red motor, you are doubling the bhp and increasing the torque curve markedly as well - compared to the original motor . Fine for relaxed everyday driving ... but off road , broken axles and so on may be problematic.
Mike

Originally Posted by series1buff

.........
For a stock Series 1 drivetrain..in the case of a red motor, you are doubling the bhp and increasing the torque curve markedly as well - compared to the original motor . Fine for relaxed everyday driving ... but off road , broken axles and so on may be problematic.
Mike

Actually, for most Holden motors, the biggest problem is gearing - they do not rev as high as the Rover motors and are less likely to tolerate it for long. For anything other thaan local poking about you really need higher gearing, such as an overdrive or higher ratio diffs. The increased power and torque is less of a problem - after all, with the exception of the rear diff in lwbs, it stood up to the six.

And if used offroad, steep slopes are likely to cause carburetter and engine lubrication problems. Despite these drawbacks, Holden engines have, as Diana say, a long and often successful history in Landrovers. They were mostly fitted as the cheapest solution to a Rover engine in need of overhaul, with the bonus of easier to find and cheaper parts and a bit more power, certainly a lot more compared to the clapped out engine they replaced.

John

Originally Posted by series1buff

That big flat rivet place in the USA require a minimum order of 1000 rivets or something like that ..that's what they told me anyway .
Mike

FYI

Bob Jones in the UK who remanufactures Series One parts through ebay, sells Aluminium dome head rivets for the body cappings and bifurcated real brass rivets, not plated, and also door top rivets for the 86"/88"/107"/109" models in any quantity. You can email him at jj354a@btinternet.com

g'day,

Thanks for your replys and opinions, always an interesting read.
Well here's a vid of my Landy on first start up.

I know it has 2 extra cylinders but its part of our LR history here,
and is why i have chosen to leave it that way. I nearly put a rover 3.5 V8 motor in it LoL........
i think that would of ticked Ian off......bigtime!

As for my next resto ive got the 1950 which will be restored to its origional condition
as it came with the matching no.'s eng & gbox! split rims, etc!

anyways enjoy the Vid!

Cheers,

Chris

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fy1WBGHxPFU"]YouTube - Land Rover Series 1[/ame]

Hi Chris
Enjoyed the vid very much. Ill keep my thoughts on red motors into L/Rs to myself. Very interested in your next resto as Im just starting on a 1957 86" myself, its as original so Ill keep it that way

Have fun Syd.

with the whole restoring it back to factory or with a holden motor.this is my view i do prefer it with the LR motor how ever a restored seies 1 with a holden motor is better then one not restored at all