First off thanks for the amazing site with great info! I have learned quite a bit before pulling the trigger on this impulse Craigslist purchase yesterday. It was a beautiful weekend in Austin, TX last weekend and we not doing anything so I rounded up the kids, hopped into the car and drove 2 hours to see this gem. My kids freaked out upon arrival about the "Piece of junk car" that I was admiring. I was 100% sure that this was a waster of time. The car looked a bit rough online and while the owner promised it was great, we all know how that goes! Upon arrival I confirmed that it had no visible rust. Bottoms of doors, underneath, etc that this site had warned could be hiding rust seemed to be absent. Overall the body is really clean. The car has 176,000 miles, which is a ton (aside from the 1971 Beetle I restored with my dad as a kid and I am not sure that that one broke 100K). I could not get it out of my head and when I got home I showed my wife the photos....to which she replied "Are you out of your ever-loving mind?!?"....Wait actually she didn't say that, but that is what I expected. She said, "I have always liked that car"...I had no one else to save me from myself. I knew I was sunk.
Why this car? Recently, I spent 2 weeks 4WD + Camping in the Australian Outback. It was a fantastic experience. My buddy had a brand new Landcruiser (the old school one) with an Aluminum Canopy, Portal Axles, new suspension, bars, bumpers, lights, etc. It was awesome. I didn't think that it was fair that he had something that cool and I did not.
I was doing some late-night craigslist shopping under Craigslist -> For Sale -> Cars and it just sort of spoke to me.
Today I finally sent the money. Tomorrow at 8 am a uShip unknown will pick up my non-running, flat tired beast via a wench and drag into on a trailer. The car has not been registered (run - According to the carfax report) since 2006! Sitting for 13 years. Wonder what the chances are first-turn start? 0.00001%? It is like I am buying a car + puzzle + project + who knows what else is buried in this thing.
He will drop it off tomorrow at 7 pm. We have a neighborhood parade scheduled in honor of the new car.
When I work on a project like this (which I last did when I was 8-16 years old with my dad) I like to have a master plan so I am not doing things twice. After doing some late night reading here is an early plan concept with the following use case: 80% taxi service for my children, 5% by myself on the road and maybe, just maybe 10% off-road somewhere in Texas. I don't need a beauty queen, but I would like it to be somewhat reliable. This will not be my DD.
In order:
Determine if I am going to keep the engine or swap with LS (LQ4, LQ9, LS2, LS3) & transmission - I apologize ahead if I offend the purist. I demand reliability (We drive Toyotas and Hondas). Seeming good adapters at Marks 4WD (https://www.whichcar.com.au/reviews/custom-4x4s/custom-lsa-1993-range-rover ) - If I did do this swap I would love to ditch all of the existing electronics so that I do not need to tie in, but not sure what is the bigger effort, connecting old and new or just going all new
Are you planning to conduct most of the work yourself? If not, your to do list is at least $25K.
I would get it home, drain the fuel, install a new fuel pump/filter, change the engine oil/filter, top off any remaining fluids, install a fresh battery, and attempt to start.
If it starts; fantastic! Run a leak down test and determine the condition of the motor.
My guess is the cam is tired and the top end will need a refresh.
You can spend endless amounts of money on these trucks – your list covers the basics.
Congratulations on your purchase, and best of luck!
Lockettc - Thanks for the response and suggestion. I don't want to throw good money after bad but I would like to run it for a while to see if it is my thing and getting the engine running would allow that. If I could spend $500 to test start it then by all means.
Yes I was planning on doing most if not all of the work. It will be a hobby. I sit in front of a computer all day so turning the wrench is fun. While I have never torn apart an car engine, I would not hesitate. i regularly do our brakes, restored a 1971 beetle with my dad over years (amazing experience). Obviously beetles are a lot easier to work on.
When I went through an BMW E39 Wagon a few years back I ordered most of my parts fcpeurpo and ecstuning. Just built my list and pulled the trigger. Any suggestions on where I can get competitive pricing on RRC parts? If that question is better answered offline totally understand. Thanks!
My first rover was a 91 ..
It ran great till it rained
Then it wouldn’t start
It was a rusted out junker
At first... it was ....what did I just do....
Then I got it running ... and loved it
Till it was just to gone...
Your looks really nice
Good luck
Great advice. I am thinking about it the same way. I’m also thinking it’s an opportunity to show my kids how to become mechanical. I’m able to fix almost anything and I attribute that mostly to the time I spent working with my dad in the garage.
I get a lot of personal satisfaction out of understanding how things work and fixing them.
Lockettc - Thanks for the response and suggestion. I don't want to throw good money after bad but I would like to run it for a while to see if it is my thing and getting the engine running would allow that. If I could spend $500 to test start it then by all means.
Yes I was planning on doing most if not all of the work. It will be a hobby. I sit in front of a computer all day so turning the wrench is fun. While I have never torn apart an car engine, I would not hesitate. i regularly do our brakes, restored a 1971 beetle with my dad over years (amazing experience). Obviously beetles are a lot easier to work on.
When I went through an BMW E39 Wagon a few years back I ordered most of my parts fcpeurpo and ecstuning. Just built my list and pulled the trigger. Any suggestions on where I can get competitive pricing on RRC parts? If that question is better answered offline totally understand. Thanks!
Competitive pricing for running gear stuff is done through the major UK retailers and eBay if you need stuff fast. Island, Paddock, Rimmer, LRDirect are some of the well known suppliers.
@xalt thanks for the references. Just got a notice from uShip (and the seller) that my new-to-me RRC is coming home. I think the shipper said it would be here this evening. Since it does have two rear flat tires it may have to be parked in the street 😬 for a few days until I can make a decision on tires. Leaning towards BFG All Terrain K02 235/70-16. I have always preferred a wider tire on my cars purely for aesthetics. Found this @ Atlantic British for tire sizing for the RRC https://www.roverparts.com/FAQ/TireSize.cfm - Since I will be updating/upgrading suspension its a hard choice on which size to go with.
Neighbors already think I am a hillbilly - This should close the deal. 🤣
225/75/16 was what I had on my 95. With a 2in lift you’ll want to run 31s, you’ll run out of flex around 265/75. Always a good idea to buy everything in bulk soon, 3 week+ wait for it to arrive. If it ain’t broke, fix it anyway because parts are cheap.
Buy Land Rover &, Range Rover Spare Parts & Accessories at Paddock Spares. Massive range of Land Rover Parts online today. We won't be beaten on price!
Thanks! According to a tire size calculator 235/70-16 vs 225/75-16, the 235 is 0.4" wider and only 0.1" less sidewall. The 245/70-16 is even wider than the 235 by another 0.3" and is 0.3" taller. In the Atlantic British table if you are running "Old Man Emu Medium Duty Suspension/Springs" you can select the 245. Not sure where I will end up on suspension but isnt wider better 😁
So I had an interesting revelation today. The tires that are on the car are 245/75/60. According to my research you would need to have a 2 inch lift on the car to be able to use a size that large. Three of my four tires are flat due to rot so it is really hard to tell if the car has a lift. Also the car hasn’t been driven in 13 years which means the springs may have lost some of their spring. I will be replacing the suspension so I guess it doesn’t matter what size the tires are on it now but was just curious if anybody had any ideas how to determine if there is a lift Installed
So I had an interesting revelation today. The tires that are on the car are 245/75/60. According to my research you would need to have a 2 inch lift on the car to be able to use a size that large. Three of my four tires are flat due to rot so it is really hard to tell if the car has a lift. Also the car hasn’t been driven in 13 years which means the springs may have lost some of their spring. I will be replacing the suspension so I guess it doesn’t matter what size the tires are on it now but was just curious if anybody had any ideas how to determine if there is a lift Installed
245s are the absolute max that fit with no lift. We have slightly more rear wheel well clearance than the D1 guys who cut their rear quarter just a bit to get some flex back.
Can't immediately find it, but there should be ride height data for centres of hub to underside of body wheelarch which would check out flat tyres or not.
If you put up a measurement for yours someone else can post same to compare.
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