Curious Questions about IIA identity

[COFFEY76]

G'day

Started rebuilding our old land rover about 12 months ago, while i believe its a 1969 series 2A ive always been put off by the head lights being in the wings.

I know that Series III had lights in the guards but they had a surrounding light mould, mine doesnt its just the head lights flush with the rest of the guard. The indicator and parker lights are also fixed flush with the guard.

The fitment of the lights look neat and there is no evidence of lights ever being mounted next to the grille

Chassis number is 34704247 D

I have heard 68 and 69 have sometimes been described as transitional phases of design and so the lights moved to the wings before they recieved the SIII light surround....

was wondering if anyone could help me out???? hahah

cheers James

P.S. this is an old photo and car looks much healthier now.

[drifter]

I would suspect that someone has put those lights out there.

I have a '71 2a with headlights in the mudguards and they have the full 'recessed' mounting system.

If you look at your 'grill' in that picture, you can clearly see where headlights could have been mounted.

My '71 grill/radiator support doesn't have those holes - but my '63~66 2a does.

This is the '71:

[series3]

Are there any 'bugeye' series 2a's in Australia?

[drifter]

Are there any 'bugeye' series 2a's in Australia?

What do you call 'bugeye'?

[series3]

I think the 'bugeye'was some kind of transitional model when the lights moved from the rad support panel to the guards. Fairly rare model..

[BigJon]

Yep, someone has retrofitted the lights into the wings, and don't they look shocking! My Series I has had that particular "improvement" and I hate it!

[COFFEY76]

Yeah i see how next to the grille there are clearly holes for the lights. but lookin closer i cant honestly see how lights could ever fit in there cos the battery covers up the right hole and the catch can covers up the left side.

(of course that could be because not original engine and has 202 and different radiator)

ive heard of 'bugeye' and thats what i had thought mine was. along with the lack of evidence that the lights were mounted anywhere but the wings (not bolt holes or rubber seal left over on grille)

[Mick-Kelly]

Your original lights would have been in the radiator support grill area. The holden motor has caused some bodging of this grill and the battery etc. were not there from factory. I much prefer the lights in the original position.

[COFFEY76]

did SIIA utes ever come out with an extra petrol tank in the rear right of the tray? as ive noticed faint outlines of bog overing what i would assume to be a petrol filler. i was under the impression this petrol tank only come out in station wagons......

[JDNSW]

As said, you can see where the lights originally were. The "bug-eye" Landrovers were NAS (North American Spec) Series 2a, to meet US light positioning requirements, and looked quite similar to yours. They were sold in the late sixties, before the setup introduced in 1969 and continued into the Series 3.

The rear petrol tank is not listed as an option for the four cylinder models but is standard for the six (and station wagons), so there is no reason why it could not have been fitted. However, I would guess that you have an original four cylinder chassis, but it has had the tub replaced with one from a six.

John