Thread: Mods/Standard

depends for me the best series rover is a hybrid...

you want the SWB springs up the front with the late 2a gearbox pushing a sIII tcase (the lower ratio'd 1 tonner version if you tow a lot) the twin tanks + the tank from the 5 door wagon

1 tonner springs on the rear with the 8ha pushing from the back and a 6 gear diff in the front.

I've heard a lot of people say that the IIa was the best of the lot. I don't know though as I've only had II's and IIa's.

I would have thought the S3 stage 1's.

Mods....
3.9V8, ZF, LT230, LC axles, LC PAS, LC PAB, 1310 propshafts, Mil cut guards, 16x10, 37x13.5-15 Creepys etc etc etc.

A lot of the stuff you will hear about this subject is personal opinion. However I don't mind people knowing my personal opinion on this matter.

The Series 2a was built by the Rover Co Ltd. The Series 3 was built by the nationalised British Car Industry British Leyland.

The last of the series 2a had experienced all the continuous improvement over the 15 years of Series 2/2a production. The problems of layshaft breakages, rear axle breakages and poor service brakes had been basically been sorted at least on the 6cyl 109" models. There were trim options to make the vehicle a little human friendly.

The series 3 came along and the designs went backwards. The shape remained un-changed but the new windscreen mounts snapped off the screen. The door tops leaked water onto your knee and rusted out with a speed even an F1 racing car would be pleased. The plastic dash, while it looks nice, rattles and shakes and starts falling apart first time your off the bitumen, to top it off there are steel panels that harbour the water and moisture that comes in through the windscreen vents that don't seal, they rust out with a little less speed but you may not be aware because it's hidden.

The all synchromesh gearbox is sort of nice to drive but has a quite high reverse gear so when you try to reverse out of the gully that you got trapped in, it's like starting off in second gear. So you give it a little bit of revs to get moving and the reverse idler gear shaft pops out the side of the casing. The wheel studs have changed to 16mm metric thread with a shallow pitch, and are only right hand thread so the left hand wheel nuts come undone and the wheels fall off. Something that didn't happen with the 55deg pitch of the 9/16 BSF threads.

Originally Posted by Blknight.aus

depends for me the best series rover is a hybrid...

you want the SWB springs up the front with the late 2a gearbox pushing a sIII tcase (the lower ratio'd 1 tonner version if you tow a lot) ....

Just a little on that, you can't fit a regular "late 2a gearbox" pushing a 1 ton gearbox. The mainshaft is too short.

A 1 ton gearbox is designed for 9.00 X 16 tyres (36") if you use it on standard tyres you will be flat out at 80KPH untill the engine blows up from over-revving. There is no Fairey, Toro or Rocky-Mountain Overdrive manufactured to suit the 1 ton transfer box. I know I have them.

Diana

Ok so you are saying the Series III is best avoided?

You mentioned only a little on the series II i am sure it has its faults as well? So you believe my best option is to look for a late Series II?

Originally Posted by Grover-98

Ok so you are saying the Series III is best avoided?
<snip>

No I'm saying I prefer the very last of the series 2a 109" 6 cyl. Just my preference.

Also I have a series 3 and I like it, but they have problems, which given that the vehicle is now around 30 years old, have probably been sorted. The gearboxes you want in the S3 are the ones from around 1976 or later. You can identify them by looking at the case over the reverse idler, RHS of the gearbox, there should be a lattice pattern in the casting, this is reinforcement and solved the problem. If you have S3 door tops, make sure that you treat inside on the door with a rust preventative or even fish oil regularly. Even treat the door bottoms and remove any trim for inspections on a semi-regular schedule to check for nasties. The S3 anti burst door locks are an improvement on the old ones that would occassionally burst open as you are going around a corner.

Use something like anti-sieze on the wheel nuts and torque them up correctly they should stay on, but be aware they can come loose (as can any wheel nut).

Enjoy your series Landy what ever you have.

Diana

P.S. Do you want me to describe the problems of the S2a or should I go the S2 s2a forum to do that?

It all depends on how you define "best".

I tend to agree that the best is probably the late 2a for the reasons Diana gives, although I would favour the petrol four rather than the six, although I have to admit to never having owned a six.

On the other hand there would be a very good case to be made for the best being the Series 3 Stage 1 with the Isuzu engine.

The Series 2 is, of course, very similar to the Series 2a, but there were quite a few improvements made in the next ten years or so, and unlike some of the 'improvements' made under Leyland, just about all of them were worthwhile.

John

put a 2a swb body on a shortened range rover chassis. winsor v8 and c4 auto with series 3 transfer case. Good suspension, good brakes, good gearing, heaps of grunt, that classic body shape and unlimited available mods to personalise... excuse me while i burn the cheque book

Originally Posted by wozapinin

put a 2a swb body on a shortened range rover chassis. winsor v8 and c4 auto with series 3 transfer case. Good suspension, good brakes, good gearing, heaps of grunt, that classic body shape and unlimited available mods to personalise... excuse me while i burn the cheque book

Might have to be a project one day, i have a 84 Range Rover sitting on the property...