JayBo's 1950 80" S1 project

**JayBoRover** · 12th December 2010, 10:27 PM

"I've now bought two series Land Rovers in two weeks!

What's wrong with me Doc?"

Two weeks ago I bought a LWB S2A as a daily driver and general hack to replace my nice, comfortable, air conditioned, heated, CD player equipped, cruise controlled Nissan ute with slide-on camper. The S2 just needs a few minor tweaks like the steering joints replaced and the handbrake to get working. Simple stuff ... not really much a of a challenge as projects go. So ... look for a series 1.

I looked at a series 1 a few weeks ago and ended up walking away from it. It was a 1953 80" with truck cab but the chassis and firewall rust was very bad and owner's price expectations were unrealistic. Researching it did teach me lots about the early Land Rovers and I loved the look of it so decided I really want an 80" S1 to restore. (Scallops really inspired me with his beautiful car too).

I have the S2A as a runabout, with a Holden 6 motor in it and on LPG, so mod's can go there while the S1 will be a true restoration ... maybe not fanatically true, but relatively true. The most important thing will be for it to be useable so it gets driven once complete, not squirrelled under wraps. I have plenty of other things going on so the restoration will be a fairly long term project, so don't start reading this if you want to see the result next week .. ain't going to happen

!

So here we go...
My first glimpse of the 1950 S1 as I walked in the shed:

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The front looked pretty good apart from one corner missing from the grille.

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Looked pretty good from the back.

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Rear cross member is in almost perfect condition.

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Middle cross member is also very good. I couldn't find any rust beyond very light surface rust anywhere other than a bubble on the very front of the rhs chassis rail.

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The gearbox is still in. The firewall looks good from here and the dash pod is exceptional. The instrument panel is perfect and still has the original gauges and switches all in very good condition.

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The drivers side footwell. I can't imagine it being much better

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The fuel tank is still bolted in. I couldn't find any patches on the skin so hopefully the tank is as good as everything else seems to be.

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The tub is in great condition except for the tailgate. The tailgate is pretty knocked about but the owner is throwing in a spare one. Maybe between the two I can get one good one together.

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I didn't get a photo of the two tailgates but they're in the pile of panels in the corner. Door bottoms, door tops, floor panels, seat box lids and a couple of seat backs. The two seat backs are different so one will be right and I'll have to make up or find the others.

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The engine sits on the floor but seems everything is there or in the boxes of parts. The carb, distributor, manifolds, etc are all still on the engine. Other bits like the distributor cap, fuel pump, etc I saw in the boxes.

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Chassis number is R06110036. Interestingly, the actual chassis number is preceded by four numbers: 8454. I've not seen or heard of this before. Any clues for me anyone?

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I won't get it home for a week or two, but that's okay as I have my hands full with the S2A at the moment. I have a couple sets of tie-rod ends on order and a handbrake kit so hopefully I'll get those fitted over the Xmas break. The S1 will just have to sit in the shed for a while but at least it won't be sitting outside and it will get the TLC it needs one day. So check in occasionally and I'll keep you all informed as to progress when I get started. God knows I've really enjoyed some other's threads on their restorations so I look forward to repaying the privilege.
Cheers
John B

**101RRS** · 12th December 2010, 10:44 PM

Now thats a whole lot better than the last one - I hope it gives you lots of enjoyment.

Garry

**123rover50** · 13th December 2010, 05:54 AM

Looks a beauty. Got the old square sump and all.
The other 4 numbers are called a build number. Mine all have it but not as easy to read as yours.

**Lost Landy** · 13th December 2010, 01:09 PM

Thats a great find and a very worthy Landy project, I do hope you buy it.

**JayBoRover** · 13th December 2010, 01:26 PM

Originally Posted by Lost Landy

Thats a great find and a very worthy Landy project, I do hope you buy it.

It's bought

. Should get it into one of my sheds next weekend.

I'm really excited about the condition of this one. It's going to be a challenge because I haven't done one before and I didn't take this one apart. A steep learning curve in front of me.
Cheers
John B

**JayBoRover** · 19th December 2010, 09:49 PM

I picked up a hired car trailer on Friday night from the local servo ... then spent 1 1/2 hours fixing all the lighting and wiring issues with it . I remember now why I bought my trailers years ago, but I've been a motorcycle racer most of life and never needed a car trailer before. Even a S1 80" won't fit on my own trailer. So I went and picked up 06110036 yesterday morning. (Sounds like one of the Beagle Boys - must be a cousin from down-under). Here she is on the trailer ready to leave her old home:

So now I have two Landys at home (... and a Nissan ute hopefully not hanging around too long):

We stuck the engine at the front of the trailer, then rolled the chassis on with just the bulkhead, front guards, radiator, front grille and the bonnet. We then sat the tub in place and piled on a heap of parts like the door lowers and uppers, spare tailgates, the transmission tunnel and other assorted panels. The seat box also just got placed where it normally goes. Then tied the whole thing down so it wouldn't move too much.

Final bits like the windscreen, grille and a couple of tubs of parts went on the tray of the ute.

A good friend came around to help me get her off the trailer and now she sits under cover until I can get my new shed built. I'm planning on 200m2 shed - 20m x 10m. That should do it ... for a start.

A couple of interesting things I discovered today in the process of collecting her and putting her away. I hadn't thought about the transmission tunnel when i viewed the car so was happy to find it in vey good condition.

Likewise for the windscreen that I hadn't spotted previously. It's also in good condition although I'm not sure about the windscreen wiper motor. The shaft was a bit rusty so there's a good chance that'll need some work.

The door tops I'd only seen leaning in a pile of stuff and hadn't got to look at them really well. One still has the perspex windows but the other doesn't. A bigger issue is that they are both lhs door tops. Bugger.

The instrument dash is missing one gauge. I'm pretty sure it's an ammeter so I'll have to do some research and add it to the shopping list. I've also since been told that the dash is from a later model S1 as the oil light is the incorrect size. This is where I'll stick to my statement of going for a "faithful" restoration as opposed to a "fanatical" restoration. I can live with it.

There is still a key in the ignition and the number stamped on the key is matched by the same number on the ignition barrel. "MRN 1". Seems this likely to be the original key. It even has "Made in England" on the other side. That was be a bonus I wasn't expecting.

More a bit later.
Cheers
John B

**JayBoRover** · 19th December 2010, 10:08 PM

The thermostat housing is pretty corroded at the pipe connection, but that was to be expected. Actually, it's not as bad as I would have expected for a 60 year old car so maybe it's been replaced before or otherwise it looks promising for the rest of the motor internals.

The rubber mount pad for the fuel pump is badly "damaged" - I'm guessing by high temperatures.

I've now been over the chassis fairly thoroughly and this is the only real rust I can find externally.

Oh yeah - and confirmation of a "sideplate engine", so predates the chassis.

So there's a shallow but wide dent in the rhs fender ...:

... and a couple of small dents in the lhs fender but only one that is at the top on the curve that will take a bit of work.

The seat box is pretty good, although I couldn't get the fuel tank filler nozzle to come up and the chain from the fuel cap has unclipped from the tab.

The passengers side is pretty good too. The hinged lid is good and the clasp clip still works. The small slide plate for the power take-off inspection hatch is missing, but might well be in the tubs of miscellaneous parts.

The bonnet is fairly good with a decent sized but shallow dent on the passengers side that doesn't look like it'll be too much trouble. I was happy to see the bonnet "rod"(?) (or "holder-upper-thingamajig"?) is there complete with the storage position clip on the inner guard.

Just an empty hole under the bonnet though.

We didn't manage to get the steering wheel off the other column that was in the shed where I bought the Landy. It was damaged but would have been good to have for a start, even if it was a '57 or something. So I'll be looking for a steering wheel at some stage too. The list has started.

Cheers
John B

**digger** · 20th December 2010, 10:40 AM

Originally Posted by JayBoRover