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98 Posts
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:
Thanks again for pages and pages of great info!
Ryan
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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
- If yes, pull the engine and post for sale, if not
- Start the completely blind process of trying to start the beast (a great article that I bookmarked - https://www.rangerovers.net/threads...lassic-thats-been-standing-a-long-time.37646/ )
- Replace all brake lines
- Rebuild all axles (not interested in the death wobble)
- Brake job (Rotors, pads and freshen calipers)
- Tires (maybe sooner than step 7) - Need to determine if I am going to lift
- Springs (engine dependent) + Shocks front and rear
- Frame to Chassis bushing replacement
- uality of existing paint + Paintless Dent Removal in a few small areas
- Order new seals for doors and windows + Struts for Rear Window
- Considering welding in a sunroof blank - Don't need to the headache, especially if I am going to replace the headliner
- Reupholster seats and bench (maybe)
- Sound proof interior
- New carpet
Thanks again for pages and pages of great info!
Ryan
