¡Ay, caramba!
This great workhorse of the Central American jungles, looked pretty decent on the surface, but under the surface… The client brought us this project to make it mechanically perfect while preserving the well-presented patina of this Santana-built 1969 Series II Land Rover. Upon inspection the situation was grim: cracked engine block, brakes failing, gears not working in the transmission, dual fuel tanks with alarming wiring and plumbing - just to start. Set to resurrect this Series II and allow it to create many new memories down the road for our client, we built an entirely new 2.25L 4-cylinder engine like the original from what was probably the last original new old stock engine block available on the UK islands, new rotating gear, cylinder head and all ancillaries to make to the “two and quart” power plant humm once again. Transmission, including transfer case, was rebuilt together with all major mechanical bits under the car: suspension with parabolic springs, brakes, drive shafts, axles, differentials, steering and fuel.
It ain’t so easy with Santanas
To the untrained eye, the Santanas and Land Rovers look the same. But when you get into it, there are many - mostly undocumented! - differences. As the license-built Santanas rolled off the line in Spain or as CKDs (Complete Knockdown Kits) re-assembled in Latin America, they were made to be low cost. That meant that many parts that evolved in Land Rover’s engineering in the UK, didn’t make it into Santana cars in an effort to exhaust parts bins and keep costs down. This means that you never quite know what parts you need before you open things up and can compare. For instance, intros case, surprises included speedo cables from a Series I and many bearings and brake drums from earlier model Series II. These restorations are not for the faint of heart!
Feature highlights:
Newly assembled engine (block, rotating assembly, cylinder head, cam shaft, valves, valve springs etc) with new old stock (NOS) engine block
New carburetor installed and tuned
Rebuilt transmission and transfer case with synchros, bearings, gears
New suspension with parabolic springs, new shackles, shocks, bushings and bolts
Rebuilt brakes with master cylinder, brake drums, pistons, springs, shoes and new brake lines
Replaced full electrical wiring harness with new
New old stock speedo and multi-function gauges and switches
New weather stripping, door and window seals
New fuel tank, pump, sender and fuel lines
Rebuilt front and rear differentials with replaced u-joints
Rebuilt axles, steering knuckles with new bearings, seals etc
