In my taking the top off post, I forgot to grab pictures of the actual top after it had been removed, so here they are:

Station Wagon Top – Side View

The roof has tabs on either side that were not fastened to the truck. The top was quite heavy, so the tabs made roof removal difficult as we had to lift the tabs over the body. The rack is not an original piece. It is in pretty good condition with a little rust on a few spots. Otherwise, the rack galvanized finish has held up well.

Staion Wagon Top – Rear View

The prior owner applied some stickers. I’ve seen a few other sites where the restorer copied the stickers and replaced them. This is something to consider.

Station Wagon Door with Tire Carrier

As discussed in a prior post, the door hinges were in good shape, but the bolts were so corroded that they could not be loosened. After cutting the nuts off, the door was easy to remove.

Station Wagon Top – Rear Door Hinge

Station Wagon Top – Matching Roof Hinge

We took the roof off of the Rover this weekend. Removal was straight forward, but not easy. We encountered some expected challenges including fasteners that hadn’t seen a wrench for decades. And some unexpected challenges; the roof was exceptionally heavy. I’m attaching a few pictures for my own notes:

Most fasteners were 7/16. We found a few metric fasteners, which I am assuming were added by the previous owner(s) as repairs. Note the moisture on the bolt. The post in the right rear corner was full of water. Something to watch in the future.

The front edge of the top was fastened to the top of the wind screen.

There were plenty of odd wires (installed by prior owners) to contend with in addition to the factory applied fasteners.

Once all the fasteners were removed, Spencer and I carried the top off and placed it on a pallet. There are a few tabs to be considered and other items interfering with setting it straight on the ground, so having some pallets around was definitely helpful.

With the roof removed, the Rover had a totally new look.

Below you will find pictures that were posted on E-Bay that led me to purchase this ’69 Land Rover. The truck was purchased in June of 2016 in Highland California from a gentleman who had owned the truck since 1984.To validate the condition of the truck, I flew to LA on June 5, 2016 to inspect the truck. It was advertised; relatively rust free and operable.

The truck started easily and ran with the choke off quickly. There were signs of several oil leaks, but nothing unexpected for a truck of this age that hadn’t been driven in 10 plus years.

The only significant visible body damage was observed on the passenger side rear fender. The primer was an easy indicator and the surface has visible signs of body filler. However the rear of the panel didn’t appear badly deformed suggesting that the damage was minor or that the body work was passable.

The battery box wasn’t original but otherwise, the engine compartment looked to be all there. There were a few retrofit items, but nothing that cannot be sourced and replaced as time goes on.

The dash plate confirms that the truck is a North American model, not an import.

The truck is fitted with 16″ wheels, but the owner has included the original 15s in the sale.

It also comes with some spare parts and odds and ends collected over 30 years of ownership. What is not shown is a complete shop manual and receipts for the various replacement parts and upgrades made over the years – invaluable!

The drivers side seat has been replaced and the replacement is worn. However worn, it remains the best part of the interior which is otherwise in need of attention. The passenger seat is held together with duct tape and none of the instruments appear to function correctly. There is tachometer afixed to the steering column which appears to be the only working gauge Minus the turn signals, none of the lights work which could be a wiring issue or failed bulbs.

Overall, the truck is a great starting point for a project.

Tracking my time spent with a ’69 Land Rover Series 2A Bugeye. Purchased in Highland California in June of 2016.

I recently purchased what I hope to be a ’69 Series IIA “bug-eye” Land Rover. The bug-eye is distinguished by headlights mounted in the fenders (not the grill) but not mounted into a flushed headlight bucket. In Land Rover parlance the headlights are mounted in the “wings” rather than the “breakfast”.

Depending on whom you believe, the bug-eye was produced from mid 1968 to sometime in 1970 or 1971, but officially it was produced from April of 1968 to August of 1969 when the bug-eye was replaced replaced with a model featuring a unitized headlight bucket incorporating a flush mounted headlight and integrated market and turn lamps.  The bug-eye was created to address safety regulations in the US and Northern Europe. The US and European trucks had slightly different marker and turn lamp configurations, but featured similar headlight configurations with the headlight protruding out of the wing and finished with a chrome bezel.

In the US, the 69 was further distinguished by other changes to address specific US regulations resulting in Land Rover offering a single hard top 88″ configuration. The required additions drove up the cost of the offered 88″  model to which Land Rover responded by introducing cost saving features. The easiest to spot change was the elimination of 4 inward facing jumps seats in the rear, replacing them with 2 folding benches.