Thread: I think I want a II/IIA. Don't I?

Originally Posted by Ozdunc

G'day folks,

This is my first post so go gentle.

I'm thinking of having a mid life crisis, and rather than go for a sports car and/or wild women, I was thinking of getting a 1968 IIA SWB.
Only reason for the date was I thought it would be nice to have a car the same age as me (but thats not written in stone).

I learnt to drive in a IIa SWB and a ser3 LWB when I was about 11/12, which is probably why I've got this idea in my head. I've driven petrol 90s and 110s, and a turboD 90 when working as a road engineer in the early 90s in the UK, and owned a 200TDi Defender for a few years before I moved to Aus. So I've got a fair idea of the pleasures and pitfalls of Land Rover ownership.
I've currently got a 1994 80 series 1FZ-FE Landcruiser which I'm very fond of and do all the maintenance/ repairs/ mods on that, but there's a little voice in my head thats bringing me back to LR.

I have a romantic notion of driving around in a IIa SWB with the roof off in the sunshine, but am I letting myself in for standing around in the pouring rain with the bonnet up?

So my question is really - what should I expect from owning a series 2/2a?
If I get a petrol am I constantly going to be trying to keep it in tune (never worked with carbys/points), are the drum brakes going to need constant adjustment (like my old Mini), is the Prince of Darkness going to commandeer my headlights every time I flick the hazard lights on (like on the Defender)?
And most importantly, will I be able to let my wife drive it without expecting a irate phone call saying it won't start. I want her to say 'Let's take the Landy' rather than "Are you working on that ****** car again!!!'.

I enjoy swinging the spanners, but not every time I pop down to the shops...

Having said that, I understand its a 40+ year old vehicle and stuff wears out and I may need to do an initial body off rebuild/ chassis/ bulkhead repairs depending on the vehicle I find, and thats part of the appeal, but do you need to be an obsessive tinkerer to keep them running once they've been restored, or is scheduled maintenance every X kms enough?

I'm not talking concourse here, just to original workhorse spec.

Any insights/ comments gratefully received.
Cheers
Duncan

Wash your mouth out with a dirty finger go on..

Im a bit biased I recon any series is the best..No more work then any other car if well maintaind..

Why specifically a 2A? For the looks?

Or do you really enjoy the weak gearbox and 3 main bearing engine?

If the former, I reckon a 2A 88" body on a D90 chassis could be a beautiful hybrid.

There is no reason you can not own a reliable series vehicle, if fit is well maintained

My daily driver is a series 3 and it gets me to work every day, except when the windscreen broke

Mrs hh

Duncan, out of my IIA, 110, and Discovery, the car that is the most fun to drive is my 1968 IIA ute. I drove it from Brisbane-Perth and it didn't let me down.

I would consider a 109 instead of an 88 though, the ride is a lot better with the longer wheelbase.

Originally Posted by jakeslouw

Why specifically a 2A? For the looks?

Or do you really enjoy the weak gearbox and 3 main bearing engine?

If the former, I reckon a 2A 88" body on a D90 chassis could be a beautiful hybrid.

The IIA box with a late model (radiused) layshaft is stronger than the S3 box.

The 5MB engine is almost nonexistent in AU, as by the time they arrived almost everyone was buying Stage 1s.

my daily drivers a series as well and it gets me to work with a broken windshield and whether it wants to or not

Originally Posted by isuzurover

The IIA box with a late model (radiused) layshaft is stronger than the S3 box.

The 5MB engine is almost nonexistent in AU, as by the time they arrived almost everyone was buying Stage 1s.

And the 3 bearing engine, while not as smooth as the later 5 bearing, won't let you rev the ringer out of it.

Just do it! Don't think too much about your decision, thats what a mid life crisis is all about
You might find you enjoy the tinkering as much as driving a series landy

Cheers Simon

There is no reason why a Series 2a cannot be reliable - you just have to realise that it is at least forty years old, and has probably not been maintained properly, so cherck everything and make sure it is in good shape.

Points/carburetter do not need adjusting every time you drive anywhere, just checking and replacing as necessary every service, same with plugs and plug leads. Do it and you will have no on-road problems.

Brakes need adjusting every service, but it only takes a few minutes.

John