Looking for my perfect series

rivarama said:

Although this car looks lovely on the surface, I am not sure it works for me (diesel, no overdrive, and non sync gearbox), I wanted to get what your thoughts for future reference:
https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1288227

The lovely owner emailed me pictures of the renovation work... some of the welding looks a bit tatty..
Is that the sort of work to be expected when working on old steel? Or is it the “my friend billy knows a guy who can weld for a good price” sort of thing?

Would this sort of details make you run away?

Your opinion really helps me calibrate the cars I can eliminate from the get go and not waste anybody’s time and money.

Thank you

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Strange colour, but it is an early car for sensible money, sounds like it has the original chassis? no heater, one wiper only, very nice.
I would buy that any day over any series 3.
Plus being an early s2 88 soft top, if you cant live with it, it will sell well, apart from the colour!
Did you notice it is a diesel?

EDIT, scrub that just noticed your pics, chassis no worries, but that bulkhead!

Thanks for the replies - it really helps. As mentioned I had discounted the 1959 due to the fact it was a diesel, and I wanted the extra power (let alone not being 100% sure they are allowed in central london while the petrol are), but it’s good to see what is considered an acceptable chassis / Bh repair.

I have seen a few Series that have been upgraded with a 200TDI engine for extra power (some having also received a RR differential to help cope with the extra power)... what’s the thought on that? Outrage or acceptable practically mod??
I personally like my cars stock (esp for cars like 2/2a) but was curious as I have seen quite a few moded car for sale.

Thanks

PS - I have reached out to the sellers of the eBay links you sent me.

Updates and modifications are a matter of personal choice. My old landy is pretty original but I have fitted a smaller steering wheel to give me more elbow room and defender wheels to allow tubeless tyres. All the old stuff taken off has been kept so it can go back to original. If you want an old landy to drive regularly on fast roads, a more modern engine makes sense but many have been fitted/bodged by non professional mechanics. As these vehicles rise in value, the all original ones will be more sought after. I only use mine for local journeys, to drive it 100 miles on national speed limit roads would, for me, be a major undertaking. They are slow but compared to modern cars even mgb's from the seventies are slow and a bit wayward without major modification. Buying a 40 odd year old vehicle is a risk financially no matter what it looks like in the sales advert, you just have to go into it knowing you may need to be spending more on it than you would on a modern car. The difference is, a half decent 40 odd year old landy will go up in value whereas a 5 year old Ford Focus will go down. In the 5 or 6 years I've had mine, it has broken down twice and both times I have been able to fix it at the side of the road with minimal tools.

Col

I've put wolf rims on mine so I could fit modern tubeless tyre sizes, replaced the dynamo with an alternator, fitted halogen headlights.

Fitted a Clayton heater core as the original leaked and put high back seats.
Oh and electronic ignition and a ali-cool radiator.
Apart from that it's stock.
Even a 40 year newer defender isn't like a modern car in traffic.

rivarama said:

(let alone not being 100% sure they are allowed in central london while the petrol are)

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The diesel will also be ULEZ exempt if it is over 40 years old.

However, classic cars are not exempt from the congestion charge, which is different to the ULEZ.

Both the current ULEZ and congestion charge zone cover the same geographic area.

I have been in touch with the owner of that car:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Land-Rov...756314?hash=item28a66b85da:g:JzAAAOSwZeBf-zOC

Very honest car. He sent me 10min worth of videos going all around the car. He’s an engineer at rolls Royce and has been tinkering w series for nearly 20years. That car is mechanically sound, and although the chassis and BH are still original it doesn’t show sign of serious rust.

Not sure whether the price feels fair - pretty much everything on the power train has been changed, new brakes, tyres, suspensions (parabolic)... list is quite long.

What I like about that car is that it’s a good base to build on... and leave me a chunk of money to improve it overtime if I want to. I am just not sure whether I can live with the idea of a car that has a modified engine.

I have also contacted the shop selling that car:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LAND-ROV...-/274643434221?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292

Love chap - the guy who sells it spend nearly £10k sorting the car overtime on chassis, engine and lots of power train items and brakes, etc... the car needs nothing mechanically.
However it is FAR from being a beauty queen - very tatty body, lots of superficial rust throughout. Doors frame is OK but the door panels are rusty and rust holes at the bottom.

I like that car cosmetically. It doesn’t have an overdrive though. The owner would let it go for a price that starts with a 9... not sure whether that’s fair or not

rivarama said:

What I like about that car is that it’s a good base to build on... and leave me a chunk of money to improve it overtime if I want to. I am just not sure whether I can live with the idea of a car that has a modified engine.

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Why not? It is hard to get that much worse than a Land Rover diesel, the petrols are a bit better, but still room for improvement.

Well - looks like the modified engine one just sold...

rivarama said:

Well - looks like the modified engine one just sold...

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Yes, it was removed when I looked at the link.

The Series 2a on eBay looks like a fair bet. The galvanised chassis is a real plus. I spoke to the seller when I was looking for my series. As you say a nice guy, and a small Land Rover specialist who has been around for a good few years. Knows his stuff and seems trustworthy. He has a basic website: classicoffroad

The paint looks ok to me. He may be able to do some work for you to tidy up after you’ve bought this: he was going to do a respray on a series I considered buying from him. The galvanised chassis and everything else being mechanically sorted could mean you could justify spending a little more on the cosmetics. He may also source and fit an overdrive for you.

Just to add my 50p worth . If I were in your position I would be looking for a Series II , rather than a IIa or III ,as they are rarer , having only been built from 1958 to 1961 . They are essentially the same as a IIa but with slight differences . If you have ever sell it again I think it will provide a better return .

Reading your intended use of what ever you buy I don’t think buying a diesel would be a sensible move . If you are only going to use it mainly for shortish local journeys a diesel would hardly ever warm up which would lead to problems down the road . I would go for a 2 1/4 petrol . By all accounts they are a pretty decent engine and fairly quiet ( definitely compared to a diesel) and readily upgradeable to get more power from it from somewhere like this
https://www.automotivecomp.com/prices/. It is possible to upgrade the brakes if you so desired with a disc brake conversion .

If you do have spare money after buying one and you need to get an overdrive I would suggest looking at Roamer Drives as they are supposed to be the best , though not cheap, and well regarded.

Good luck

Remora107 said:

Just to add my 50p worth . If I were in your position I would be looking for a Series II , rather than a IIa or III ,as they are rarer , having only been built from 1958 to 1961 . They are essentially the same as a IIa but with slight differences . If you have ever sell it again I think it will provide a better return .

Reading your intended use of what ever you buy I don’t think buying a diesel would be a sensible move . If you are only going to use it mainly for shortish local journeys a diesel would hardly ever warm up which would lead to problems down the road . I would go for a 2 1/4 petrol . By all accounts they are a pretty decent engine and fairly quiet ( definitely compared to a diesel) and readily upgradeable to get more power from it from somewhere like this
https://www.automotivecomp.com/prices/. It is possible to upgrade the brakes if you so desired with a disc brake conversion .

If you do have spare money after buying one and you need to get an overdrive I would suggest looking at Roamer Drives as they are supposed to be the best , though not cheap, and well regarded.

Good luck

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Agreeing with all of that. And would add that there is no such thing as a perfect Series.
Expect imperfection, expect trouble, expect expense, expect a bad back.

That way, disappointment is avoided!

Turboman said:

Agreeing with all of that. And would add that there is no such thing as a perfect Series.
Expect imperfection, expect trouble, expect expense, expect a bad back.

That way, disappointment is avoided!

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Agree with you about there not being a perfect Series Land Rover , unless you spend lots of money and leave it in the garage (it won’t break down there ) .

Turboman said:

Expect imperfection, expect trouble, expect expense, expect a bad back.

That way, disappointment is avoided!

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Ha ha ha - sounds like you know my life with italian cars already ha ha

rivarama said:

Ha ha ha - sounds like you know my life with italian cars already ha ha

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Not really. I have had several Fiats, but a long time ago.

Don't expect a Series to be anything like as trouble free as a Fiat.

@rivarama
https://www.lrfaq.org/FAQ.2.Ident.LR.html

Well worth a read. Due to previous road tax rules there's plenty of series 3's masquerading as series 2a's.

On the subject of background reading, this is well worth a look:
http://www.glencoyne.co.uk/liveguide.htm

Written by Richard Hall, Land Rover specialist in Norfolk. He writes a monthly column in Land Rover Monthly. It’s also worth buying his book...

Green88 said:

On the subject of background reading, this is well worth a look:
http://www.glencoyne.co.uk/liveguide.htm

Written by Richard Hall, Land Rover specialist in Norfolk. He writes a monthly column in Land Rover Monthly. It’s also worth buying his book...

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He is a good guy. And that is one of the most realistic articles about owning and driving Series that I have seen.

Green88 said:

On the subject of background reading, this is well worth a look:
http://www.glencoyne.co.uk/liveguide.htm

Written by Richard Hall, Land Rover specialist in Norfolk. He writes a monthly column in Land Rover Monthly. It’s also worth buying his book...

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Nice read indeed. Very knowledgeable. Obviously some of the pages were written a while ago when I read prices referred (£2-3k for a nice example... not anymore)