The Range Rover Classic thread

[DonkeyApple]

squirdan said:

there have been some interesting project cars on eBay lately which have looked quite cheap to me - but what do I know! I saw this 1980 2 door when it first came up, called the vendor who was spectacularly unhelpful. I was trying to understand why his photos showed a later interior... subsequently I worked out he had mixed his photos up and they were of a different car.. some people just cant help themselves. It went for £1500. A few weeks later and it has popped up at a dealer..fair play to them. Who doesnt like a 2 door in tuscan blue



http://www.heritagevehiclesales.com/vehicles/uk/19...

meanwhile what about £700 for a fairly rare early 4 door in silver..obviously a project but a complete car for that money that in some respects is rarer than a 2 door. OK its not an In Vogue, but really??

Yup. Market peaked last year and has spent all of this year on a breather. Key parts are hitting new highs on EBay and selling which suggests plenty of people are working on personal projects but I think a lot of the fast buck projects are being ditched which is what we have been seeing dropping into the market steadily this year. Projects which would have cost 20-30k to complete and sell in a market where the price is probably 20-30k are being sold off.

That grey 4 door looks great. Early 80s 4 doors are climbing in value well.

Also, JLR Heritage are putting lots of rare parts back into production as well as backing the firms and specialists who are currently remanufacturing parts so in about 24 months these cars are going to become much easier to restore properly.

[DonkeyApple]

JNR77 said:

I am thinking of selling my 'J' reg 1991 Vogue (Non SE so doesn't have the bits that go wrong!)It a 4 owner car with 80,000 miles with a huge service history file. Very good original condition commensurate with its age (nice details like original dealer supplying number plates, window stickers etc) but not concourse. Plymouth Blue with Grey cloth interior.

Any ideas what its worth? is ebay the best route or a classic car auction?

Anything between £2-12k depending how many times you mention Prince Charles in your advert. Or maybe more if you can claim you once saw a VELAR.

[DonkeyApple]

CAPP0 said:

Rangeroverover said:

Have a look at the e dog guard type thing in the back of the bahama gold one, never seen anything like it before, if its removable looks like a good idea

It looks homemade out of a few bits of 1" x 1", a sheet of hardboard and a handful of tacks?

Also, it's a French car so it's probably for the wife rather than the dog.

[DonkeyApple]

CAPP0 said:

Rangeroverover said:

Have a look at the e dog guard type thing in the back of the bahama gold one, never seen anything like it before, if its removable looks like a good idea

It looks homemade out of a few bits of 1" x 1", a sheet of hardboard and a handful of tacks?

Was looking at this car again yesterday and a colleague was pointin out all the errors under the bonnet but we also wondered just why they had sprayed all the areas prone to rotting with that textured paint? I wonder how much metal there actually is under all of that?

[DonkeyApple]

Yup. My first thought was that ClaphamGT had put his out to stud.

[DonkeyApple]

soxboy said:

After a few glasses of red I keep on coming back to pondering about what good value the Sith Ifrican Rangies look.

The only issue is that being thousands of miles away I wouldn't know where to start in getting one sourced from over there.

I don't suppose anyone knows of the best way to get one? I've seen some online but I'm not sure I like the idea of sending someone the cash and telling them to take it to the nearest container terminal.

My colleague has an absolutely mint one that he imported a few years ago.

We also did all the research and calculations for bringing panels and parts in as most of the old Rangies have already been stripped down by breakers.

The chap on the ground who was to source and oversea the filling of the containers is a scouser and a good chap. Your risk of importing from SA is that you think you're buying a car that's lived up on the velt but was is shipped is some rotten junk from the coast.

Mk1 Escort shells are also very available along with lots of other interesting things as the locals all want brand new Mercs as its now a new money economy.

But the cost of a container door to door meant it was only viable to fill it with other things to sell on.

[DonkeyApple]

squirdan said:

Edited by squirdan on Monday 12th September 11:37

Wow!

At a very basic glance, the obvious full respray is £4k, replacement seat fabric £2k, replacement carpet set, £2k, hamper & straps £500-£1k, engine out, rebuild, refurb of engine bay to correct set up, £4-5k, refurb cappings £1k and then there is any welding up and mechanical work on top, plus labour. And finally, the new two tone stripes, which as we're the only people with sets: £1m

If that's being done to be sold on and they are paying near that asking then they have to be confident of getting over £50k for it to make it worth while.

The buyer of mine would be very happy if this one appears next year at that sort of price.

[DonkeyApple]

Will give that a shot. We can then reconvene here and try and out nerd each other finding the errors in the article.

[DonkeyApple]

Wrong places, I think.

The problem is that it's actually a mine field. There are some excellent, solid cars being sold for under £5k and some rotten dogs for £25k.

I think if you hunted well and knew what you were looking for there are still cheap cars out there. But I think the early 80s 4 doors are the next to go up exactly because their exterior trim makes them look far more 'classic' than the more ubiquitous later cars.

[DonkeyApple]

desolate said:

This is true - I bought an ebay special thinking it would be a skip run car and it is superb.
Have also looked at some superficially shiney ones that are nowhere near as good one you look past the paint - for 5 times the money.

They're like Chelsea & Kensington MILFs. Many look great on the surface but under that surface veneer lies rotten bag of bolts, falling apart rapidly.

[DonkeyApple]

desolate said:

So is it an easy change to do things like the bumpers and grill?

Bumpers, yes. Although sourcing the older style end caps both 70s & 80s is now costly and using the later bumper would mean no crank handle hole etc. Profile is ever so slightly different I think but I really don't think it would be noticed.

Grill is harder. The later ones are one piece clip ins whereas the early style is three piece and screw in but it's not hideously complex. You almost certainly won't be able to source an early front valance.

Door frames would be wrong as they lost the quarter light in the big mid 80s change. As would the internal tailgate lever but it would be interesting to see how a late model looked with the 80s grill/ letters and bumpers.

[DonkeyApple]

squirdan said:

Would the PH brain trust agree this looks like Lincoln Green? the car has been resprayed in a different green metallic that you can see on the fuel filler pipe. And that looks like a lever for an overdrive?

An X reg 2 door that needs a v8 putting in it and some TLC...

It looks more like the Land Rover green of the time doesn't it?

[DonkeyApple]

SDB660 said:

Have a 1993 Vogue SE. Need five tyres. Any recommendation for a standard size tyre? Car is mostly used on motorway and zero off-road, so ideally would like a quiet and reasonable long lasting tyre.

Online tyres suggest one of two sizes being 235/70R16 / 106 / H or 255/65R16 / 109 / H. 7J factory three spoke wheel.

Edited by SDB660 on Friday 7th October 10:28

Why go wider than the standard 225? I've never been convinced that their road handling is enhanced by wider rubber.

[DonkeyApple]

Yes, sorry I meant 205 on my earlier post.

Had 255's on the Overfinch and it reduced the turning circle.

I've Continentals on the EFI at the moment, they seem fine.

[DonkeyApple]

Steering snagged? Like suddenly became heavy for a moment? It sounds like the belt slipping? K ref would be pre serp usually so separate belts for the ancillaries. I had one go at the bottom of the M1 just on the turn in to the north Circular. My God was it hard work to get it round the bend, it really loads up without assistance.

[DonkeyApple]

SDB660 said:

DonkeyApple said:

Steering snagged? Like suddenly became heavy for a moment? It sounds like the belt slipping? K ref would be pre serp usually so separate belts for the ancillaries. I had one go at the bottom of the M1 just on the turn in to the north Circular. My God was it hard work to get it round the bend, it really loads up without assistance.

Exactly that! Attention getter I can tell you. Thanks for the tip. Will mention at service.

If it is a belt slipping rather than an issue with the pump then it's a very simple job to retention it but one of the first things I do when I take delivery of an old car is to quickly change all the belts anyway. They are dirt cheap and simple to change and in my experience the root cause of most motorway picnics.

[DonkeyApple]

Trouble is that it's had a respray and a total retrim, is sitting in another country and has been resisted due to a 'time waster'.

It could be a great car but it could also be a pile of dust.

[DonkeyApple]

Hi Simon, long time no speak. Hope all is well. I think the last time I saw that car it had a Lexus engine?

Tim (Horse_Apple)

[DonkeyApple]

Mr Honychurch I presume?

[DonkeyApple]

vanquish spirit said:

Well that could be correct! but we all use pseudonyms I thought?

Indeed. Lovely car. Have been told much about it. Really hope you get a good sale for it.