What to expect

[Badger110]

Still in the decision to buy a S2a with a 2.25 petrol engine in it, what am i looking at driving wise?

The owner laughs about it hitting 45mph downhill and it is carrying a marshall's ambulance body on it ( all original ) with 40k on the clock so i'm not expecting rocket speeds, but surely cruising should be a tad better than that!

I've owned 19J, 200Tdi, Td5's and currently drive a 2.4TDCi but i like the simplicity of the older petrol engines even though i've not owned one.

My other thought is to drop a V8 in it and be done with worrying😈

[Gazzar]

Umm.

That's difficult to answer.

It's easily 50 years old.

 

Large body, 60 hp engine, low gearing. Not fast.

50 year old engine?

Not likely to be faster.

Plus drum brakes, steering box and relay, 6 ball joints, etc.

Very different driving experience. Think 1930's bus.

[Bowie69]

50 would be max cruising speed realistically, noisy and harsh at that.

An 88 will get you 17mpg generally, so very thirsty.

Add a V8 and cruise at whatever speed you want really, add soundproofing and will be a whole lot better again. Raise gearing if fitting a V8, and on a LWB, use a proper gearbox {my preference would be auto) and not the series box. Essentially moving up to disco /rrc engine /box and axle ratios work well.

and don't mess about, fit a 4.6.

[lo-fi]

Having driven a 2.25 petrol Marshall, Bowie and Gazzar are right on the mark. A V8 would make it a lovely vehicle. As it is, the 2.25 is fine if you're pootling cross country at twenty something, but it's hard work on the road. 

[FridgeFreezer]

Only problem with fitting a V8 is the brakes will immediately become the weak link as it will be possible to gain momentum far quicker than you can get rid of it ask me how I know

The bigger 6cyl/V8 drums & shoes work well enough in good nick with a servo, and are a fairly nuts & bolts upgrade.

A stock 2.25 or updated to 2.5 will at least run like a sewing machine when in good nick and they trundle about very nicely, but not ideal for cruising. In-cab noise is largely transmission related, and adding a Fairey overdrive makes that much worse. The roamerdrives are better but not silent, and for the money you can buy a complete R380+LT230 setup and change.

A V8 plus five-speed and LT230 will give you a far better, quieter box and better overall ratios without swapping diffs, and you'll get better MPG. Being 109" you have the length for it easily whilst retaining the Series front end - my 109 (re)build thread shows a lot of the deets.

Steering shouldn't suck too badly if it's in good nick & adjusted up but it will meander a bit, especially with the extra weight & surface area, and it'll be heavy when manoeuvring.

[Badger110]

This has given me some food for thought.

 

In it's current state, it will become borderline tedious driving long distances, although have great character.

 

Dropping in a V8 of worth will require upgrades that will add to the overall expense and if i'm going that far along then i'm going to be stripping the chassis back and no doubt i will find more that needs doing and will become a full rebuild rather than a conversion.

 

I'm thinking more of a 88" small project, do up the Bedford camper and continue to use the TDCi camper, then sell it later on with the bedford and look into a 300tdi pulse or similar.

i do like the s2 & S2a's but with additional bodywork and weight, this one will struggle

 

 

 

[Gazzar]

Wise. 

[Bowie69]

I see rose tinted have been removed

[Badger110]

Indeed Bowie....that is until a 88" passes me by

 

 

[Gazzar]

Walking, were you?

[Bowie69]

Somewhere down memory lane?

[FridgeFreezer]

That was pretty much the point we came to with the 127 vs the original 109 ambulance we saw - the 109 ambulance would've wanted a lot of upgrades to be civilised, whereas the Defender had most of them out of the box as standard; V8, 5 speeds, disc brakes, coils, PAS.

I've driven my 109 to Russia and back and I've driven the 127 to the arctic circle and back and I know which one I'd rather do a long distance in.