1966 early Series IIa 88

[stomper]

Beautiful example of an enthusiast's rover. Galvanized frame with a custom galvanized front bumper with a Warn 8274 winch with synthetic line. It has Defender front seats with custom canvas seat covers, rocky mountain door tops, a custom locking aluminium center cubby, a Fairey overdrive, Pangolin4x4 rear receiver, an aluminium fuel tank, and galvanized rock sliders. The engine was rebuilt about 15,000 miles ago, it has an SU carb conversion, and a full 4 wheel disc brake conversion using off the shelf defender parts and a series III brake pedal assembly, master cylinder and brake booser, all running with silicone brake fluid. It has the rare tropical roof with excellent headliner and porthole seals, with a custom built aluminum roof rack that can be used as a full rack, a 3/4 rack, or a 1/4 rack. it was the prototype design of Zuni Racks, which were made by a fellow rover enthusiast named Mark Masse in New Hampshire.

This vehicle has been sitting indoors for the last 2 years without being started. When I parked it, it had just completed a trip across the Mohave desert, and was serviced with fresh oil in all diffs, transfer case, transmission, engine oil, and overdrive oil. During the trip, I bent the selector shaft for second gear, and it currently will not shift into 2nd. It also has a sagging rear rocky mountain parabolic spring from sitting, which is common, but needs replacing. This vehicle has graced the covers of Rovers North Magazine, and won a few car shows, but it is not a garage queen. it has the patina of a well loved and cared for vehicle.

It also comes with two full front fenders that are for the inward headlight models, a tailgate, and a complete hoop set for a soft top conversion, minus the canvas. I also have a file full of the receipts for most of the work performed on this vehicle, along with the shop manual and parts books. I repaired the bulkhead with new repair panels and it is rust free from its time in Maine. There is some rust in the steel door frames, but it does not affect the door function. I have several boxes of extra parts I have accumulated over the years, and with a full price offer, I will even include an unobtanium oil bath air cleaner for a snorkel. This is new overstock, and has never been fitted to a series Rover. I am only selling due to health issues, as I had planned to keep this vehicle forever. $22,000. located in Scottsdale, Arizona.

[stomper]

There is so much to this truck, I knew I would forget things. It also has a 2 meter HAM radio installed with the antenna, ready for trail communications. I have plenty of pictures, but they are a challenge to upload on this site. I will share with any serious parties. It is still running 10 spline axles without issues, but I have 2 spares for expeditions. I have never broken one.

[stomper]

Update: It is now running. The deep cycle battery will hold a charge, and i have replaced the fuel. It has some flat spotting on the tires from sitting, but it is running smooth, minus second gear, and the rear parabolic sag. I have a much more in depth advertisement on gunsandrovers.com with many of the people there willing to vouch for this truck. They have seen it, wheeled with me in it, and you can search my past posts both here and over on Gunsandrovers. I have been a very active person in the Land Rover community.

[stomper]

here is a link to the cubby box. It is a Series Guy model from long ago. https://www.gunsandrovers.com/forum/...-options/page2

I tried to find the old thread about the aluminum fuel tank which was from a group buy safeairone did sometime back in like 2014, but I can't find it. they were made as a one time group run from a company out of New Hampshire.

The roof rack is the original prototype for Zuni Racks which were made by Safeairone here in the forum many years ago. Those threads are lost to the old site unfortunately..

The SU carb set up came from HNJ Engineering out of the UK. https://www.hnjengineering.co.uk/pag...286su4cyl.html

The Disc brake conversion. https://www.forbynbros.com/

The rock sliders and front bumper were built by someone in Maine. It was another group buy we did here on the forum when Ike's front bumpers were unavailable. My search skills suck, because I can't find the thread.

The HAM radio came from Safeairone here on the forum. It is this model Yaesu 2800. I have the users manual, but it is easily downloaded online also. https://www.eham.net/reviews/view-product?id=3077

Some info on the Fairey Overdrive can be found here if you are not familiar with them http://landroverwriter.com/thelandro...verdrives.html

The Warn 8274 winch was built in 1992 according to the serial number. Damn those are getting expensive! https://www.warn.com/m8274-synthetic-106175

Parabolic springs and door tops are Rocky Mountain. https://parabolicsprings.com/products.html

Tree savers, snatch block, winch line damper are all ARB https://store.arbusa.com/recovery/winch-accessories/

Current tires are Treadwright Mud Terrains. There are remoulds, which I picked up from a fellow Land Rover enthusiast here in Arizona to try out on the Mohave Trail. They is plenty of tread, and they are a BFG mud terrain knock off. They are pretty flat spotted from sitting, I'm not a fan of them. they are too heavy, and the 2.25 engine doesn't feel as nimble trying to turn them. I much preferred the 215 size, which are narrower, but lighter.

Alternator is a standard delco 10SI conversion http://www.expeditionlandrover.info/...ternators.html

radiator was recored about 4 years ago. it is currently not running a thermostat with straight water and water wetter to deal with the Arizona heat. I have an 88 and a 72 degree thermostat in my parts stash for someone if they want to reinstall one, and it will need to be flushed and antifreeze put in if you are going back to a freezing climate.

Synthetic winch line is 125' of Warn brand winch line. It was the cheapest price at the time when I was looking to puchase. there in no fraying or splices in the line.

Swivel balls are in excellent condition, and they are holding with 90wt oil in them since they were rebuilt in around 2014. I know this is a topic of contention with grease vs. oil in the swivels.

Headlights are Grote LED replacements. I searched forever to find an LED replacement that still looked like the traditional lights. https://www.ebay.com/itm/40427284504...d49f96e0961c1f

All the rest of the LED lights were sourced through www.superbrightleds.com, and there is an electronic flasher unit to make everything work properly. the only incandecent bulb on the vehicle is the rear spotlight. The rear spotlight is a no longer available unit from Rover's North. I searched forever to find this one, as it swivels in all directions, and I believe was an original option on the NAS Defenders.

The exhaust is just a mild steel setup, and it is rusty and flaky. it is not leaking, but a stainless steel setup would be nice. I was waiting for this one to rust through before I replaced it.

It has new one piece defender door seals on the doors. I still am not sold on them, as you have to really slam the drive's door to get it to shut fully. it still has the original series IIa door latches, not the series III ones. I do have the key to lock the driver's door, which is keyed different than the rear and the ignition. I was planning on getting new lock cylinders all keyed alike, but it has always been a "someday" project.

If you want to convert it to a soft top, the rear tailgate it there, but because this is a station wagon model, there is no hardware on the rear tub for a tailgate. you will need to source the chain fasteners, the latches, and drill the body to fit them. the lower hinge mounts are on the rear cross member already. I am pretty sure the hoop set is all there. there may be a piece or two that needs replacing from being lost in the moves. the weather seals for the doors are also needing to be replaced. All of this stuff is readily available through Rover's North reasonably. The canvas is also up to you. Exmoor trim or otherwise, they are available through Rover's North, Badger Coachworks, or other Land Rover Suppliers.

The front defender seats are the early type seats, and were a direct bolt in without any drilling. If you wanted to put it back to original you can buy replicas through Rover's North, or where ever. The vinyl has a tear in the driver's seat, but they have Escape trim canvas covers on them, so it is not really an issue. https://escapegear.com/

The rear seats are perfect. no tears, no damage.

The rear sliding windows still have the original canvas slider rails.. I have sprayed them with WD40 annually to keep them from rotting away or growing moss. They are stiff to slide the windows open, and I was planning on replacing the window tracks with the rubber replacements, but it functions just fine as is, and it was another thing on the "someday" project list.

The front scuttle vents have the one piece defender seals in them, as well as the screens to keep bugs from surprising you as you are driving down the road. they close fine, and seal, but it takes some force to get the seal to compress to latch them fully closed.

The bonnet. Somewhere along this truck's life, someone did a bulkhead repair and the passenger side portion of the bonnet hinge it slightly off. It works just fine, but you can't fit the cotter pin or a nut on the end of the hinge pin like you are supposed to. You do have to be careful when you open the bonnet if the truck is on a side slope to the passenger side, as the bonnet could slide out of the hinges. This has happened to me once, but with the spare on the bonnet, it is a PITA to reinstall. I have searched everywhere for a bonnet hinge with a longer hinge pin, but it would be a custom job for someone with basic fabrication skills to weld on a longer pin to the existing hinge. Again, this is not a huge deal, but a little quirk specific to this rover.

I do have a hand crank starter handle, but the new front bumper does not have a hole for it to be used. You would need to make some modifications if that is important to you for some reason.

The hand throttle is currently not hooked up. I have all of the parts to hook it back up, but when I fitted the SU carb conversion, it is using a throttle cable rather than the Ruby Goldberg mechanical linkage design Land Rover invented. I have all of the parts to go back to original in a box that will come with the truck, and a webber carb and a different intake manifold should you have the aching desire to switch it back to a Webber, Rochester, or whatever else. The current SU carb setup uses an ACR intake, which is on the truck currently.

There is an electronic hall effect distributor in the truck, eliminating the need for the points ignition. I do carry a set of points and condenser in my tool kit should something happen on the trail, but it has never given me issues.

The individual windshield wiper motors were torn apart and rebuilt probably 10 years ago. Mil Spec gun lube was used to lubricate the gears at that time, so there is no old grease or binding in them. they work perfectly.

It has been upgraded electrically to modern fuses, and many more of them than the original festoon bulb style with only two fuses for the entire truck. This is just smart safety, but again, this is not a concourse truck.

there is some galvanic corrosion in the drive's side seat box panel from where the steel under seat box attaches to the aluminum seat box. It is still very structurally solid, but if you wanted to replace the seat box side panel, have at it. it was never a pressing issue to me. Same with the door frames. There is some galvanic corrosion from where the steel frames touch the aluminum door skin.. Ideally the doors should be taken apart and new frames put in, or new replica doors could be installed for that concourse restoration. You would need to then convert it to the series III style door latches at the same time. again, not something pressing, but I'm trying to be detailed and honest about what the condition is.

Someone asked what it needs to be ready by summer. Well, that is a loaded question. It runs and drives, and can be ready as is. It is all what you want to do with it. I would go through and straighten the selector shaft, and probably reseal all of the shafts while I was in there. I would probably buy a set of Alcan Springs to replace the rears, but if you don't mind the sag, you can leave it as it and still drive it. You can replace the one spring with another Rocky Mountain parabolic, or you can do something different. I would probably do an oil change just because it has been sitting for 2 years, and check all of the other fluids, which were fresh when I put in in storage, and there has been surprisingly minimal leakage. I would replace the tires, but that is a preference thing. The current ones are not weather checked, bald, or leaking.

While some of this may be trivial to a true Land Rover Enthusiast, I am directing interested parties to this thread for details, so it may not be common knowledge for someone new to Series ownership.