Thread: Got myself an Australian Land Rover

Hi there, I didn't bother with re-galvanising. It seemed like too much hassle removing and refitting. I painted them with etch primer followed by a galvanise paint from an aerosol can. I forget the brand but it was purchased from Bunnings. Seems to have properly keyed to the galvanise and hasn't come off yet! It was very bright initially but this dulls down fairly quickly.

Drove it into work today, with the hoodsticks fitted it only just fits in the parking area - just millimetres of clearance. It was nice driving in, but fairly cold. I'm not sure if I will use it every day for my commute - Sydney is not a fun place to drive in an old Land Rover with no syncromesh on 1/2 gears. You certainly have to keep your wits about you.

Originally Posted by jdobson

Those holes were for the seat supports - which I have now removed to allow the seats to fit flush with the bulkhead and provide more space.

No idea of it's history - though when I was sanding the middle seatbox lid there was something about 'Caution High Voltage' - sadly I couldn't quite make out the rest of it. Perhaps it was military?

Getting close to being road legal but have a few things to sort out:

- Seat belts (can anyone recommend a place for these? I would like inertia but understand you need to mount these on a rail attached to the back bulkhead so will go with static ones).

- Door seals (fitting these on the weekend).

- Windscreen washer jets (another job for the weekend).

- Rubber grips for the brake / clutch peddles (I've heard these are compulsory for the roadworthy test?).

- Replace brake pipes (including the flexible hoses which are pretty well perished).

- Number plate light for the back.

- Spare wheel (can someone tell me if this is compulsory in NSW? I don't really want to buy another wheel if I can avoid it, but the current spare isn't quite the same diameter as the 8-spokes.. which I intend to replace at some stage).

In our experience here in Qld, it is not a requirement of law that seatbelts be fitted when registering a vehicle if the vehicle was manufactured prior to the relevant ADR coming into effect (early '70s). e.g: our S2A Landrover was manufactured in 1963 - no seatbelts required by law.
Rubber grips on clutch and brake pedals were not required in our case, as the manufacturers' design of raised dimples suffice.

G'day Jdobson

I did a reply to your post and pic this morning,but it vanished into the ether,it looks like very nice vehicle which you have done a good job of refurbishing,the front panel interests me,as it has the looks of British MOD,as the Australian headlights were just Lucas 7" round with the chrome ring in a flat panel,not with the raised stamping,the "caution high voltage" sign and the cutdown rear wheel boxes also indicate a special purpose vehicle,also possibly Govt.,the British Govt. were carrying out tests in Aust on their "Blue Streak" rocket about that time,so it may have been one of those vehicles,with sensitive measuring equipment fitted,what was it's original colour ? That may give a clue,red or a bright yellow or yellow-green would be my guess.


Hope that might give you some leads.


cheers


P.S. seat belts were not required to be fitted in commercial bodied vehicles until 1970 in NSW,but,if it was a Govt.Dept they would have been fitted,lap-sash in hard tops/truckcabs and sash only in soft tops. But most Govt vehicles were hard roofed.

Hi 'UncleHo', thanks so much for the information, that's really interesting. I wonder if I can find out some more using the chassis number?

YUP! I would be interested in looking at the chassis No I am betting on it being RHD Home Market, as the Landrover in Aust. changed from Positive earth to Negative earth at Chassis suffix "D" they also went to the bent handbrake lever (in readiness for seatbelts) I also noted that your rego for the Holden motored vehicle was not to bad,to renew the rego on my recently purchased 1980 Series 3 Lightweight in Queensland was $695.70 and to just transfer it to my name cost $173.60

cheers

G'day Jack,
If you don't want to post the chassis number on the web, PM myself, bobslandies or lotz-a-landies and we can see what the book says. Or just post it up and one of us will post up what we find. No guarantees though, only works on Grenville delivered Landies...

isuzutoo-eh
Hi Isuzutoo-eh, I've sent you a PM with my VIN. It does have a D suffix. Would be grateful to hear any info you can find on it.

So after a couple of months back on the road the Land Rover decided to blow it's head gasket. I have removed the cylinder head and found that it's beyond redemption so I'm waiting for a secondhand item to be sourced. With a bit of luck I shall be back in action by the weekend. Rather annoying since I wanted to take it to the Land Rover Expo over the weekend.