1958 88 Series II - taking the previous owner(s) out

[8745jack]

Hi everyone. New to these forums, new to Land Rovers but not new to cars. I live in Norcal and come from a world of old Volvos. Got this 58 from a friend of mine who after bringing it home decided it was too much of a project for him. I was told the previous owner got this car in Washington with no engine and then proceeded to add everything that was missing....got it running and then drove to Socal.

Plan is to make it stock again. I will be looking to buy YOUR parts and make this car look right again. Im a noob with LR so lots of questions coming your way


this is how it looked when I bought it.





Arrival at home and first look in person














diamond plate for days..... I quickly proceeded to remove the fiberglass wheel arches and some of the plating.
Yes thats an auxilary tank under there, yes those are power outlets in the rear... yes that is a ford carb on there, yes that is some crazy steering box... OMG

[8745jack]

All of this was about a month ago. Last week GF and I were bored, found someone selling parts in Santa Barbra. We decided to make a day trip out of it (980miles round trip) Picked up a NOS driver side wing, carbs and a bunch of small parts.
Later that week I saw another ad on CR, someone in Eugene OR (Greg) was selling more parts. We made another day trip of this (got to do something during Corona) meet Greg then stopped by and meet IKE at Pengolin.









more work has been done, I will post later. I hope I can make this car as it should be and Im looking forward to reading what you have to say.

[series guy]

Looks like a nice solid truck to start with. That steering box mod looks a bit scary. Rover parts are plentiful as is good sound advise on this forum.

[rover03]

Holy diamond plate Batman!

I'm envious of that minor surface rust. Most of your fasteners will likely come off without heat and nary a spritz if PB Blaster.

Looks like a solid start. As a relative noob, my one quick word of advice is LISTEN TO THESE GUYS. Especially 👆

[xplorUtah]

Headlight guards are for a late 2a or a 3. Looks like a cool truck with story behind it. Good luck.

Have you joined the Mendo email list?

[east high]

Quite a project you have there. Where in NorCal are you? I’m up in Humboldt.

[cnfowler]

You're a braver man than I am.

Looking forward to this one.




Colin

[saskseries]

Welcome along, looks to be a great project.

If you need some literature to help you along, this link is just the thing...as are the helpful forum members here and in the series2 club (uk).

http://smithies.co.nz/land_rover/

Ian

[8745jack]

Looks like a nice solid truck to start with. That steering box mod looks a bit scary. Rover parts are plentiful as is good sound advise on this forum.

Thank you, Im really happy with it. I hope the column (looks original) can be salvaged and i'll just need an original box to bolt it up to... fingers crossed

Holy diamond plate Batman!
I'm envious of that minor surface rust. Most of your fasteners will likely come off without heat and nary a spritz if PB Blaster. Looks like a solid start. As a relative noob, my one quick word of advice is LISTEN TO THESE GUYS. Especially 

Thanks, just wait until you see the bulkhead. almost no rust. Frame has a few spots but that's just given

Headlight guards are for a late 2a or a 3. Looks like a cool truck with story behind it. Good luck.
Have you joined the Mendo email list?

Thank you. I think they're just whatever the PO had around. they're weirdly tapered. (already taken off)

for how questionable most of the mods are on this thing the stainless grill is actually quite nice, not keeping it but someone did a nice job making it
No, what's Mendo list ?

Quite a project you have there. Where in NorCal are you? I’m up in Humboldt.

Thanks, Oroville Ca. I use to live in Eureka and work at Mid-city

You're a braver man than I am.
Looking forward to this one.
Colin

or dumber

Welcome along, looks to be a great project.
If you need some literature to help you along, this link is just the thing...as are the helpful forum members here and in the series2 club (uk).
http://smithies.co.nz/land_rover/
Ian

Thank you, I been looking for a link just like that!!


Update
removed the non salvageable wing along with air box and installed one original roller, just to stop looking at the ugly Isuzu(?) wheel


cut the bumper sides off (for now) and removed the driver fender so I can see exactly whats been done




close up of EnGiNeErInG done to the brake pedal and box


home made fuel tank


GF and I removed a bunch of wiring , most of it wasn't even hooked up, and other junk (the cat is not my GF)


Gloryhole where the power outlet(s) were located.. They didn't even have any wiring going to them. I dont get it


removed the added tie down anchors - apparently the stock ones weren't enough



Removed the diamond plating from the dash and floors. placed "originals" down.


Installed (after a quick clean) a LR speedo that was actually on this truck, into a cluster I got from Ike


What's a good source of correct slotted round bolts for floors and dash... I saw a guy on ebay selling kits from UK but there's got to be something "cheap" here in the USA. Fastenall etc?

[Contractor]

I had Ike send me a bag for the dash not that long ago.

Otherwise most of us use:

https://britishfasteners.com/index.php/

Fastenal

McMaster Carr


Cool project......damn the holes you gotta fix.

[series guy]

Most all the usual vendors sell a floor screw kit with all the correct fasteners and clips. I know RN has the correct dash screws. One great thing about a Series truck is that you can cut some patches out of your old wing and rivet them over the extraneous holes and they just blend in. If you are going all Rover you may want to find a Series III brake pedal tower, booster, and master cyl. to retain the dual circuit power brakes that the p. o. did. Also on a Series truck the steering box and column are one unit and you will need to source one that way as the steering shaft was most likely cut by the p. o. During his modifications.

[LR Max]

What was that pump/compressor bolted to the engine?

Also the engine block looks like a series, but the valve cover and Thermostat housing look different!!??

Heck of a project but looks like its going in the right direction. Keep going!

[series guy]

Series II engines had some major differences in the thermostat/waterpump area.

[Rich Lambert]

I spent many hours taking the PO(s) out my truck, but that pales in comparison to yours. Looking forward to seeing how this turns out.

[loose gravel]

Welcome to the campfire! One of the more modified 88's I've seen. What are you going for? Stock resto? Up and running? Concourse? You would be surprised at how much of a beating these panels can take back to original. The whole steering column/wheel is not stock. Get a parts book. Ike and Ivan on this forum have lots of parts as does others, There is a Resource sticky.

PS are the outlets 12V?