The Range Rover Classic thread

[stevehg1]

It’s all hypothetical, as I’ve not seen either one in person, but personally unless I had good documentary evidence plus pics that all repairs had been done to a good standard, I’d rather save the £3-4K and do the welding and repairs to a proper standard on the lower priced RR.

There is another LSE, that on the surface looks in ok condition here...
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2...

[ClaphamGT3]

stevehg1 said:

It’s all hypothetical, as I’ve not seen either one in person, but personally unless I had good documentary evidence plus pics that all repairs had been done to a good standard, I’d rather save the £3-4K and do the welding and repairs to a proper standard on the lower priced RR.

There is another LSE, that on the surface looks in ok condition here...
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2...

That's a sensible strategy (and what I did with mine) but just bear in mind that £3-4K may be a little on the light side

[Robmack]

NomduJour said:

Don’t think this sold, looked a lot better than most:

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2...

This does look ideal, though it’s on air suspension and has all the bells and whistles that can go wrong.
I like the sound of the work that has gone into it but Exeter is about as far away as it’s possible to be!

[stevehg1]

ClaphamGT3 said:

That's a sensible strategy (and what I did with mine) but just bear in mind that £3-4K may be a little on the light side

Personally, I’d consider a basket case to need the following cutting out and replacing...
Crossmember
Sills
Wheel arches
Footwells
Inner Wings
Headlight surrounds
A & B posts
Body Mounts
Rear window frames
Windscreen frame

For that you’d be talking about £1300 in replacement sections, £200 consumables and odd bits of material for fab, £300 paint and obviously your own labour

Obviously, if you take it to somewhere it’s going to be a lot more.

[Robmack]

stevehg1 said:

It’s all hypothetical, as I’ve not seen either one in person, but personally unless I had good documentary evidence plus pics that all repairs had been done to a good standard, I’d rather save the £3-4K and do the welding and repairs to a proper standard on the lower priced RR.

There is another LSE, that on the surface looks in ok condition here...
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2...

I was watching this as it’s my favourite colour combination.

[Robmack]

stevehg1 said:

Personally, I’d consider a basket case to need the following cutting out and replacing...
Crossmember
Sills
Wheel arches
Footwells
Inner Wings
Headlight surrounds
A & B posts
Body Mounts
Rear window frames
Windscreen frame

For that you’d be talking about £1300 in replacement sections, £200 consumables and odd bits of material for fab, £300 paint and obviously your own labour

Obviously, if you take it to somewhere it’s going to be a lot more.

I’m sorry to say it’s not an option for me.

[NomduJour]

Robmack said:

This does look ideal, though it’s on air suspension and has all the bells and whistles that can go wrong.

I wouldn’t want an air suspended one which has been stuck on coils - it’s not a complicated system to keep working, so what else has been skimped on?

[CAPP0]

akirk said:

CAPP0 said:

NomduJour said:

CAPP0 said:

Happily, the gas installation is properly certified and registered, which means I can drive it in london without lining Comrade Khan's T-charge pocket.

There's no LPG exemption.

Interesting. I thought there was. if I put my reg in the T-Charge checker, it says mine is exempt. However, if I put the reg in of a similar, but petrol only RRC (reg number randomly lifted from an eBay listing) it says that car is liable to pay.

If there is no LPG exemption then why are two otherwise-similar cars treated differently?

my classic is exempt (94 LSE petrol - no. lpg)
The t-charge website is so flawed I confirmed each of my cars and have had written confirmation back that the RR is exempt

I was thinking about this again earlier. If I take a print of the T-Charge page which says mine is exempt, then drive into London, can I either expect not to get a fine letter, and/or produce the screen dump as mitigation and not have to pay the fine?

[RobXjcoupe]

RobXjcoupe said:

Ideally look at one of the special editions if you go that way, westminster, csk and the LSEs have a certain following, well I like them!

Sorry for interrupting but the Westminster edition classic. Was a classic available in that colour anyway or just as that as the Westminster edition.
Reason I ask is my old 92 j reg is Westminster grey but no chrome bumpers and regular 3 spoke wheels. Is it a just a regular vogue se a?

Does anyone know what makes the Westminster spec special other than chrome bumpers and 5 spoke wheels?

[DonkeyApple]

NomduJour said:

Robmack said:

This does look ideal, though it’s on air suspension and has all the bells and whistles that can go wrong.

I wouldn’t want an air suspended one which has been stuck on coils - it’s not a complicated system to keep working, so what else has been skimped on?

I must admit that for whatever logic, maybe none, when I see a car that’s been changed from air to coils it triggers an assumption that it’s been done as a cheap fix because the owner didn’t want to upkeep the car and that the rest of the vehicle will be infected similarly. It’s the same with LPG conversions.

I may be being hideously unfair and probably am in some cases but it hits me as a warning signal.

[DonkeyApple]

Robmack said:

stevehg1 said:

Personally, I’d consider a basket case to need the following cutting out and replacing...
Crossmember
Sills
Wheel arches
Footwells
Inner Wings
Headlight surrounds
A & B posts
Body Mounts
Rear window frames
Windscreen frame

For that you’d be talking about £1300 in replacement sections, £200 consumables and odd bits of material for fab, £300 paint and obviously your own labour

Obviously, if you take it to somewhere it’s going to be a lot more.

I’m sorry to say it’s not an option for me.

At that point I would reshell the car. But that is because of personal choice and ability. For me it would be quicker to strip the old shell and refit everything to the new one. Plus I would feel that I had simultaneously fixed many potential and current niggles in the process.

[krusty]

One of my Christmas jobs is to fit a new compressor... The Valve block driver took the best part of a year to source and within a month the compressor then failed.... so it's been sat since September waiting for the compressor.... (which I now have) .. all in my stubbornness to maintain originality.... (and not go to springs as everyone I know keeps trying to tell me)

Anyway..... whilst I'm here..... Is fitting a new Compressor a be-atch of a job? Do I need any LR Specific tools?

[NomduJour]

You can buy refurb kits cheaply:

https://x8r.co.uk/products/land-rover/range-rover-...

[krusty]

Mine's a '93 Classic. The air suspension is different and the valve block driver specifically was a nightmare to find as It was hard wired.
They changed it all, I think post '94 to the stuff that appeared on the P38.

[NomduJour]

As far as I know the compressor bits in that kit fit both.

[RobXjcoupe]

So does anybody know of the spec or not of a Westminster classic please?

[stevehg1]

DonkeyApple said:

At that point I would reshell the car. But that is because of personal choice and ability. For me it would be quicker to strip the old shell and refit everything to the new one. Plus I would feel that I had simultaneously fixed many potential and current niggles in the process.

I would agree, and anything more and it’s likely to be scrapped, unless it was something special.

I was just posting up as an example of worst case, and illustrating that it doesn’t have to cost the earth to fix, especially if you’re able to do the work yourself/have friends that can help etc.

Fortunately for me, mine was a lot less, rear seat belt mounts, rear window frame, a footwell and minor welding on an inner wing. A lot less to fix too, probably about £300 panels, materials and paint for body frame and chassis.

[NomduJour]

RobXjcoupe said:

So does anybody know of the spec or not of a Westminster classic please?

It was a European, not UK, special edition as far as i'm aware.

[DKL]

RobXjcoupe said:

So does anybody know of the spec or not of a Westminster classic please?

I found this:
http://landrover-center.com/news/Range-Rover-Class...

and this
http://www.wods.dk/rangerover/hi/limited/r-limi.ht...

a friend of mine has one but I thought it was green. might be me, I'll check. ETA ah may be a Brooklands one, I'll get my coat....

Edited by DKL on Thursday 21st December 19:13

[DKL]

DonkeyApple said:

NomduJour said:

Robmack said:

This does look ideal, though it’s on air suspension and has all the bells and whistles that can go wrong.

I wouldn’t want an air suspended one which has been stuck on coils - it’s not a complicated system to keep working, so what else has been skimped on?

I must admit that for whatever logic, maybe none, when I see a car that’s been changed from air to coils it triggers an assumption that it’s been done as a cheap fix because the owner didn’t want to upkeep the car and that the rest of the vehicle will be infected similarly. It’s the same with LPG conversions.

I may be being hideously unfair and probably am in some cases but it hits me as a warning signal.

I know what you mean and I would be reluctant now.
But it wasn't that long ago that a usable rr classic was a cheap old workhorse. A bit scruffy around the edges but serviceable. annoying recurrent faults like air suspension were more easily fixed at the local garage by simply replacing it with coils. Car works, no annoying lights no huge labour bills (which were basically peeing in the wind hoping it might work)
Not all cars were serviced by specialist garages, MD or not (less so of late) who had both the knowledge and interest to get them going again.
Fixing the air suspension may have been a £50 part yet they swapped it all for 500 worth of dampers, they just didn't know better!