Tuesday 16 September 2014

Land Rover Series 2 Two Restoration Project Barn Find - Devizes

Year:

1961

Engine Size:

2,286

Manufacturer:

Land Rover

Transmission:

Manual

Model:

Series 2 88"

Fuel:

Petrol

Colour:

Green

Seats:

3

Reg. Date:

19/07/1961

Drive Side:

Right-hand drive

Mileage:

98,500

View More Details:










HFO was first registered in July 1961 and is a true Series 2
not a 2a - she has a 141 chassis number, she was a demonstrator for W Holloway
& Sons, the Rover Dealership in Sidbury Worcestershire - she still has her
Holloway & Sons "supplying dealer" plate on the dash board.   Holloway's retained her until the 19th
October 1964 when they sold her to a gentleman in Crowle who retained her until
his death in 1995 whereupon his widow passed ownership to a gentleman in Martin
Hussingtree.   She changed hands again in
2003 to a gentleman in Collingbourne Kingston in Wiltshire who owned her until
2009 when a friend of mine purchased her and I then almost immediately
purchased it from him.

When I acquired HFO I had every intention of giving her a
full restoration, she ran very poorly and the chassis had had many repairs over
the years as had the footwells.  I spent
a few weekends tinkering, gave her a full service and attended to a few small
jobs and we started using her (she had an MOT when we bought her) and that has
been the case ever since.   We have done
5,000 miles in her in our ownership mostly during the summer months, I have dry
barn storage for her over the winters.  
The great restoration I had planned just didn't happen and I cannot see
myself having the time to carry it out now as life commitments grow day on
day.   We have a series one land rover
too and a modern defender so the time has come for HFO to find a new home.   Her current MOT ran out in May this year and
I have not presented her for a new one (she is still taxed until the end of
this month although will obviously have to be trailored away).   As you can see from the pictures she is
fairly straight in the body, the light streaks down the left hand side are
limescale deposits from a hole in the barn roof last winter.   The footwells have been replaced in the past
and are not particularly tidy, I have a set of new footwells with the pressed
ribs as per the originals which will go with her upon sale.   The bulkhead top corners again are in need
of repair as you can see in the pictures however this has not worsened in our
ownership (in fact, very little has).  
The doors are reasonable but do have holes in the bottom of the frames
but again this hasn't got any worse and they are not as bad as some I have
seen.

The chassis has had more repairs than you can shake a stick
at, in some places the repairs have themselves been subject to later
repairs!  When you look through the
extensive history "weld as necessary for MOT" comes up rather
frequently!   Ideally a new chassis would
be in order although I don't think there are any gaping holes at the moment, it
just looks untidy with all the previous repairs.   The original tool/draw bar is present on the
rear crossmember.

Mechanically, well she has always started no matter how long
she is left for - even after her winter holidays.  The motor doesn't seem to smoke and pulls
well, I believe it to be the original engine (it has a 151 engine number)
however it had a replacement cylinder head in 1998 and the original "swan
neck" exhaust manifold was replaced in 2005.   She has a later radiator fitted however I
have a correct Series 2 "flat top" radiator that will go with her, I
also have 2 Smiths round heaters that will go with her, one is the original
which I know had a small leak which is why it was removed.   She has her original Solex carburettor which
leaks a little from the throttle spindle. 
Her gearbox works as it should without being overly noisy but it does
leak oil at a frankly amazing rate.  
Steering and brakes have always been good and I have never needed to do
anything with ether.   I think the prop
shafts could do with attention as the sliding joints are worn.



I have lots and lots of history with her including the
original purchase receipt from Holloway's and MOT's dating back to 1993, when
her mileage stood at 85,208.  True Series
2's are the rarest series Land Rover having been made for only 4 years and I
hope from the pictures and my description you can get a good feel for what she
is like.   She is stored just outside
Chippenham in Wiltshire, 10 min from junction 17 on the M4.