[sundog kid]

I am 90% sure I am buying a 89' Range Rover classic tomorrow, and being an experienced car forum guy, thought I would join, and start to ask all the questions that keep me up at night! This RR will not see any hard core off roading, and will be a company back up vehicle.

I am a very loyal VW enthusiast, having owned 12 now, none with any major breakdowns. A highlight of my vw ownership would be my current 71 Squareback, and a 83 mk1 Rabbit I owned previously, that had 870 000 km's on the original drive trian and body. No rust! ran great!

First off, the range rover

The rr Im looking at is in pretty good condition, white, auto 3.9, very little rust of any kind (typical chassis spot rust, thats it), interior is rough, but the body is clean. It will need an exhaust, bat, all the electrical gremlins in the interior, and some other small things fixed. I dont know when the odometers wrap, but it reads 50k. which I dont think the old guy who owns it is lying, but 50k? thats not realistic!

Here's my questions (yes Ive searched a ton of forums and done my searches on this one also)

Wheels and brakes
So I have found that the bolt pattern on rr's is quite rare, with bmw and s10 chevys carrying the same. I cant seems to find a straight answer on offest for the oem rims, is it +40mm?

Is there a company that makes blank rotors? I have access to a machine shop, and being a long time euro enthusiast, we have drilled out our own rotors before, to get what ever bolt pattern we want. Has anyone done this before?

Because I live in Canada, most of the info I find online is either based on U.S. rr's, or brit rr's. If I were to look for an engine to drop in this RR next year, whats the best motor I could find on this side of the pond? I would like to go diesel preferably.

Well, thats all my questions for now. Im sure if I do end up with this gem, I will be on this forum alot more!

Thanx for your time

 

[93sport]

Welcome Sundog,
First I must say my '79 Rabbit was one of my favorites. 200K miles on original engine till it fell out (engine mounts) new engine mount and back on the road.
My '93 RR shows 140K but I am not sure if the earlier ones wrapped at 100K
Wheels and Breaks? the Classics have a pretty wide bolt pattern so I do not think the s10 or the BMW will work.
Engine? I am being told to upgrade to the 4.6 from the original 3.9. More reliable than the 3.9 and the additional ponies wont hurt.

Ted

 

[sundog kid]

Well the s10 is a 5x120 rim, although the offset wont be +40mm (?), but you might find a custom set that will work.

Im more concerned about finding blank rotors to drill out to an easier bolt pattern, and I dont believe in drilling out more holes into already predrilled rotors.

Im hoping to find a NA engine to put in the RR for next season, hoping that the 3.9 will last the winter/spring.

anyone know when the odometers wrap on the rrc?

 

[Danny]

My speedo shows 200k, so wraps at a million, but not sure about the older ones.

I don't really understand the point about drilling out rotors (I assume that's brake disks) - why not just buy the correct part? You'll find Range Rover keeps you busy enough without making extra work for yourself.

 

[sundog kid]

I dont think you understand what I mean.

the rr bolt pattern is extremely rare, so if you were to take a pair of blank rotors, and drill them to say, 5x100, your options for rim choice is alot more extensive.


it takes a machine shop about 30 mins to drill out rotor blanks. and a normal person wouldn't pay more than 100 bucks.

I can get them done for free.

I dont know what the rim selection for 5x120mm is over the pnd, but here its basically limited. This would make life easier all and all.

 

[piprover]

So essentially, what you would be accomplishing by drilling out the rotors is making a set of wheel adapters so that you could then use, say, chevy wheels on your Range Rover. Is that correct?

dave

 

[sundog kid]

Pretty much.

I would be taking oem RR rotors and making them has a more 'user friendly' bolt pattern, so that I wasnt limited to the style of rim I want.

This way, if its a common bolt pattern, I can buy rims practically anywhere, while retaining a factory oem look, without having to run adapters/spacers

 

[sundog kid]

I go to test drive one more time today, before I make the decision

dun dun dunnnnnnn

 

[93sport]

If you are talking about disk brakes then your idea will not work. It is not the rotor that sets the bolt pattern. It is the hub that sets the bolt pattern.

 

[rufant]

So I have found that the bolt pattern on rr's is quite rare, with bmw and s10 chevys carrying the same

Can't comment of the Chev but RRC bolt pattern is not the same as BMW 4wd. Later LR products such as the P38/L322/Sport/D2/D3 use the same PCD as BMW 4wd (BMW used to own LR).

RRC shares it's bolt pattern with the Defender and D1 and that's about it. It's a pretty wide PCD, lots of LandRovery offroad type wheels but not so much bling. If you want that you might want to consider a conversion to P38 axles, a bloke called Stuart460 on here has done it. However as Danny said you may find yourself quite busy with just 'normal' repairs and maintenance. These aren't built quite like a good VW, but if you'll either get it or you won't.

Welcome to the forum. You can search for a fair bit of engine conversion chat too. Post some pics if you do the deal.