With no prior experience, I rebuilt the 4-speed manual transmission of my 1970 Land Rover IIA 88″, on the floor of my college dorm room.
Labelled all the parts in little baggies, replaced the bits I needed to, put it back together. It ran — but apparently I didn’t torque something down right or something, because it grenaded a few hundred miles later.
I went on to do a frame-off restoration, and while I took apart almost everything I didn’t do all the reassembly myself on parts like the engine and transmission, since I bought rebuilds. But I did remove all the body capping and have it regalvanized, and beadblasted the body panels, repainted and reassembled them. It was a major project.
If you choose a solid vehicle that hasn’t been in rusty conditions and has been used regularly, 15–40 years old shouldn’t be a major problem. And these older vehicles — I’ve had 1960s and 1970s Land Rovers, a 1972 Pinzgauer, and a 1962 Haflinger — I was still able to find parts and mechanics that knew how to work on them, especially now that most information as well as buying and selling can be found on the internet. Probably the reason the value of some old vehicles has gone up.
The IIa was my favorite. I’ve owned three of them — a 1962 109″ pickup, a 1965 109″ station wagon, a 1970 88″. Still simple enough for anyone to work on, nearly anywhere. Everything comes apart — whether you want it to or not. Controls are simple. Very little plastic; metal dash. No A/C, that’s what the vents and the tropical roof are for. Sliding windows. Canvas top. 4-banger with the oil bath air cleaner.
The IIa also has the most classic look — the Is have odd angles, the IIIs have odd curves.