Abandoned Range Rover P38... Resurrection or Bust
Discussion
Thanks Spinaker, my major concern is emissions and cost wise it could be the death of it.
It runs really well on gas but it is more lumpy on petrol (the original petrol level was V low and I've only put in a gallon I had in a can so far so it'll be a run to the petrol station first) and its only been driven less than a mile so far so my plan is to put £50 of SUL in it and go to the MoT station the long way around.
Also need to get the brakes to clean up a bit.
It runs really well on gas but it is more lumpy on petrol (the original petrol level was V low and I've only put in a gallon I had in a can so far so it'll be a run to the petrol station first) and its only been driven less than a mile so far so my plan is to put £50 of SUL in it and go to the MoT station the long way around.
Also need to get the brakes to clean up a bit.
Griff74 said:
If she passes her MOT, I would personally buy a windscreen removal kit from EBay, Amazon etc (they are cheap) and as yours is already coming out by itself it should be easy to remove, you can check for and treat any issues under the screen and then pay a mobile fitter to put it back in properly, my brother paid a fitter to fit 2 of the windows to his Pug Boxer when he was converting it to a camper (after we struggled with the first one so much ourselves), was cheap and the guy made a quick and perfect job of it.
Loving this thread btw, have always loved the facelift P38s like yours.
Good advice Griff74 I'll take it on board and see what it turns up when I remove the headlining and do it then.Loving this thread btw, have always loved the facelift P38s like yours.
dave_s13 said:
My previous car was lpg converted (nissan elgrand) I seem to remember the mot emissions test for LPG was much less stringent/different in some way. It had the rear cats removed and passed 2 tests with no bother in my ownership.
As long as you tell them it's running on LPG they should use the criteria for LPG.
I think.
Thanks Dave.As long as you tell them it's running on LPG they should use the criteria for LPG.
I think.
I did a bit of research on this and the "Test as presented" rule applies so if its presented running on LPG they should test it on LPG.
I must admit I'm a bit nervous about tomorrow.
Fingers crossed for Nelson.
This place does make me laugh sometimes when people jump to conclusions.
Before setting off for the MoT station I wanted to check a few things over. I realised there is no centre belt. Nothing I could do at this point so decided if that was all it failed on (highly unlikely) I could acquire and fit it and retest with no problems.
I set off for the MoT station at 11.30 as I knew I'd need to get some fuel (the petrol was empty but still showing half a tank of gas.
I put 30 of petrol in and it just about wet the bottom of the tank:
Off to the MoT station: After a short while I got the unmistakable whiff of hot friction material so I pulled over in a field entrance and sure enough the front braked were "Schmokin'"...
I was only a mile or so from home (filling station being a mile in the opposite direction) so thought I should call the MoT station and cancel and cut my losses. Then I thought, no, Let's try something. I massaged the break pedal a few times and (parked facing uphill) stuck it in neutral and let the handbrake off and it rolled. Hmmm...
Reversed out onto the road (facing downhill) stuck it in neutral and let the handbrake off and it rolled. On we go. The brakes were then fine for the rest of the 10 mile journey to the MoT station recommended by Martin.
I was very early so parked up round the corner from the MoT station and felt the brakes. The fronts were a bit warmer than I'd expect so obviously still just about binding but barely so let them cool off before parking up outside the MoT place to await the hour.
One O'clock arrived and the MoT tester rolled up and drove the car onto the ramp. He smiled as I asked him not to remove the key as I was using the EKA as the fob doesn't work. Oh and it may indicate it's in Reverse but it's actually in Park...
We quickly built up a good rapport and he was happy for me to wander under the car and prod around while he did his checks. I asked him what he would do with it and he said in this condition he'd sell it like it is and move on. As he examined it more he said it was in better nick than he initially thought and continued.
The list is :
Before setting off for the MoT station I wanted to check a few things over. I realised there is no centre belt. Nothing I could do at this point so decided if that was all it failed on (highly unlikely) I could acquire and fit it and retest with no problems.
I set off for the MoT station at 11.30 as I knew I'd need to get some fuel (the petrol was empty but still showing half a tank of gas.
I put 30 of petrol in and it just about wet the bottom of the tank:
Off to the MoT station: After a short while I got the unmistakable whiff of hot friction material so I pulled over in a field entrance and sure enough the front braked were "Schmokin'"...
I was only a mile or so from home (filling station being a mile in the opposite direction) so thought I should call the MoT station and cancel and cut my losses. Then I thought, no, Let's try something. I massaged the break pedal a few times and (parked facing uphill) stuck it in neutral and let the handbrake off and it rolled. Hmmm...
Reversed out onto the road (facing downhill) stuck it in neutral and let the handbrake off and it rolled. On we go. The brakes were then fine for the rest of the 10 mile journey to the MoT station recommended by Martin.I was very early so parked up round the corner from the MoT station and felt the brakes. The fronts were a bit warmer than I'd expect so obviously still just about binding but barely so let them cool off before parking up outside the MoT place to await the hour.
One O'clock arrived and the MoT tester rolled up and drove the car onto the ramp. He smiled as I asked him not to remove the key as I was using the EKA as the fob doesn't work. Oh and it may indicate it's in Reverse but it's actually in Park...
We quickly built up a good rapport and he was happy for me to wander under the car and prod around while he did his checks. I asked him what he would do with it and he said in this condition he'd sell it like it is and move on. As he examined it more he said it was in better nick than he initially thought and continued.
The list is :
Edited by Tyre Tread on Friday 20th May 22:35
So, setting off home, fail certificate in hand (on a recovery truck obviously ) I wasn't particularly phased by the jobs that need doing but unsure whether the parts and effort are worth it.
I can make up the brake pipes myself and priced up flexis and ball joints at about £80 to £100.
The exhaust leak is right near the back at the top so could be bodged or a s/h exhaust piece bought so we're looking at between a hundred and couple of hundred maybe in parts.
I got home and spoke with SWMBO who seemed happy it's doable. Now Mrs TT isn't one for showing enthusiasm but there was just enough of a smile for me to know she was pleased its potentially a goer...
... and then when I shared the fail sheet with those who know these cars my optimism began to wane.
I've done some pretty big jobs on cars in the past but the bottom swivel may be a job too far and selling it may be an option.
This needs some serious thought whether to press on or throw in the towel.
I can make up the brake pipes myself and priced up flexis and ball joints at about £80 to £100.
The exhaust leak is right near the back at the top so could be bodged or a s/h exhaust piece bought so we're looking at between a hundred and couple of hundred maybe in parts.
I got home and spoke with SWMBO who seemed happy it's doable. Now Mrs TT isn't one for showing enthusiasm but there was just enough of a smile for me to know she was pleased its potentially a goer...
... and then when I shared the fail sheet with those who know these cars my optimism began to wane.
I've done some pretty big jobs on cars in the past but the bottom swivel may be a job too far and selling it may be an option.
This needs some serious thought whether to press on or throw in the towel.
Edited by Tyre Tread on Tuesday 10th May 09:55
Thank you all for your words of encouragement.
I am trying to be pragmatic here rather then get swept along and die a financial death of a thousand cuts (as one of mt friends put it).
I lay awake for an hour or more last night thinking about front hub swivel joints.
On the one hand, it was rather nice bumbling along in a rather wayward, sit up high, set of leather armchairs waving at the peasants. On the other hand this isn't the only thing I'm supposed to be doing at the moment. (I'm supposed to be job hunting/fitting doors/gardening/maintaining the other cars etc) and funds are finite.
If this was a car I NEEDED then it might be a different story but right now we have 5 cars and barely go anywhere.
The IS250 has the EML on and a code suggesting it needs (another) two O2 sensors (although it may be something simpler).
I haven't decided yet which way to go but I have:
Priced up the parts
Watched several videos
Read the Land Rover related forums
Talked to a friend about making the alignment tool
Rung a couple of garages to price up the job to do the swivels
I now have to remind myself that this is a project and doesn't need to be completed today or tomorrow.
So, we shall see.
All suggestions are welcome and I really appreciate all the comments from "How hard can it be " to " Fark me you're brave " (which we all know translates to "you bloody idiot").
Right now it's almost time for Popmaster so the radio is going on and ...
I am trying to be pragmatic here rather then get swept along and die a financial death of a thousand cuts (as one of mt friends put it).
I lay awake for an hour or more last night thinking about front hub swivel joints.
On the one hand, it was rather nice bumbling along in a rather wayward, sit up high, set of leather armchairs waving at the peasants. On the other hand this isn't the only thing I'm supposed to be doing at the moment. (I'm supposed to be job hunting/fitting doors/gardening/maintaining the other cars etc) and funds are finite.
If this was a car I NEEDED then it might be a different story but right now we have 5 cars and barely go anywhere.
The IS250 has the EML on and a code suggesting it needs (another) two O2 sensors (although it may be something simpler).
I haven't decided yet which way to go but I have:
Priced up the parts
Watched several videos
Read the Land Rover related forums
Talked to a friend about making the alignment tool
Rung a couple of garages to price up the job to do the swivels
I now have to remind myself that this is a project and doesn't need to be completed today or tomorrow.
So, we shall see.
All suggestions are welcome and I really appreciate all the comments from "How hard can it be " to " Fark me you're brave " (which we all know translates to "you bloody idiot").
Right now it's almost time for Popmaster so the radio is going on and ...
Edited by Tyre Tread on Tuesday 10th May 10:24
skeeterm5 said:
Sometimes you need to look back to appreciate how far you have already come.
I was doing work on my old Cortina trying to get it to run properly last year. I couldn’t get it done and it all felt too much and I kind of fell out of love with it. So I walked away and left it.
A couple of months later I got a mobile mechanic to come out and spend a couple of hours on it. He achieved more in those couple of hours than I had in weeks and it really spurred me on as the other jobs didn’t seem so daunting. The car is now nigh on perfect.
Maybe a small break and then getting a mechanic to do the tricky job will give you the same boost in momentum?
Thanks Skeeterm5 for your words of encouragement.I was doing work on my old Cortina trying to get it to run properly last year. I couldn’t get it done and it all felt too much and I kind of fell out of love with it. So I walked away and left it.
A couple of months later I got a mobile mechanic to come out and spend a couple of hours on it. He achieved more in those couple of hours than I had in weeks and it really spurred me on as the other jobs didn’t seem so daunting. The car is now nigh on perfect.
Maybe a small break and then getting a mechanic to do the tricky job will give you the same boost in momentum?
I think the world is trying to tell me something. I took the Lexus to the exhaust place to book it in to get the exhaust (fitted in Dec) checked for leaks (as it could be the cause of the EML and I reset the code and it hasn't come back.
If i wake up in the morning and the 12 internal doors have fitted themselves then I'll know the universe wants me to carry on with the Rangie.
What I haven't mentioned so far as I forgot... I don't really have a flat area to work on cars except in my garage in which the ceiling isn't very high which makes it awkward on 2 tonnes of metal that's so high.
I've been phoning around a bit this afternoon and then the wonderful Martin (This is all his fault anyway
) messaged me to say one of hos contacts is prepared to do the swivels for a very reasonable price and to use his trade plates to get the car there, So I'm going up to his place tomorrow to have a chat.
Also got a call about a poss temp contract so maybe things are looking up
Before the above happened I was tidying up the garage and the back of the Rangie and the car port and I picked up the scraper I used to take some of the stickers off the back window. I idly did this...
Then realised that seemed a bit ominous so did this:
Looks much better now.
I've been phoning around a bit this afternoon and then the wonderful Martin (This is all his fault anyway
) messaged me to say one of hos contacts is prepared to do the swivels for a very reasonable price and to use his trade plates to get the car there, So I'm going up to his place tomorrow to have a chat.Also got a call about a poss temp contract so maybe things are looking up
Before the above happened I was tidying up the garage and the back of the Rangie and the car port and I picked up the scraper I used to take some of the stickers off the back window. I idly did this...
Then realised that seemed a bit ominous so did this:
Looks much better now.
Tyre Tread said:
...
I've been phoning around a bit this afternoon and then the wonderful Martin (This is all his fault anyway ) messaged me to say one of hos contacts is prepared to do the swivels for a very reasonable price and to use his trade plates to get the car there, So I'm going up to his place tomorrow to have a chat.
...
This is looking promising. Been up to see the guy. They maintain several fleets of vans so used to big stuff and knows his Land Rovers. Knows what's involved and the potential issues and quoted very reasonable price to do the ball joints so have also asked him to quote on doing the brake pipes too,I've been phoning around a bit this afternoon and then the wonderful Martin (This is all his fault anyway
) messaged me to say one of hos contacts is prepared to do the swivels for a very reasonable price and to use his trade plates to get the car there, So I'm going up to his place tomorrow to have a chat....
skeeterm5 said:
Sounds good news then. Hopes it is all very reasonable.
I feel your pain in terms of flat areas. At my previous house the garage floor was flat but not enough room to work, the drive was sloped with plenty of room to work….. neither really worked for those underneath jobs. Precisely but garage floor still a bit on the slopey side
Now I have plenty of barns so have room to work with ample height - it feels like a real luxury. Oh you lucky bugger
On the basis I live in Wales it's difficult to find anywhere flat I feel your pain in terms of flat areas. At my previous house the garage floor was flat but not enough room to work, the drive was sloped with plenty of room to work….. neither really worked for those underneath jobs. Precisely but garage floor still a bit on the slopey side
Now I have plenty of barns so have room to work with ample height - it feels like a real luxury. Oh you lucky bugger
Not heard back on the full quote but as I had an hour or so to spare this afternoon I decided to reinstate the trim after my bodge attempt (for now) to seal the screen (which appears to have worked) so stuck (using number plate adhesive tape) the rubber seal back and refitted the side and top screen trim. The top screen trim is easiest if done via the sunroof as you need to slide clips along under the trim using a credit card so while I was up there I cleaned out the sun roof surround and the mechanism.
I still had some time so decided to see if Nelson would fit in the car port/ garage so I could take a look at the leaking rear exhaust.
On full height suspension I reversed slowly and carefully keeping an eye on the roof via the sunroof:
Phew!
So I started the engine and got underneath and found
A. The Exhaust pipes are stainless and
B.The only leaks were from the joints.
Easy peasy, Take off the exhaust back boxes, add some exhaust paste, replace boxes and tighten clamps.
Oops:
Oh well, have to track down replacement U bolts tomorrow.
Thought I might as well clean the back boxes so five minutes with a brush and hose pipe:
I'm about to hit a milestone numner of posts and I'm hoping that milestone post might be significant.
I still had some time so decided to see if Nelson would fit in the car port/ garage so I could take a look at the leaking rear exhaust.
On full height suspension I reversed slowly and carefully keeping an eye on the roof via the sunroof:
Phew!
So I started the engine and got underneath and found
A. The Exhaust pipes are stainless and
B.The only leaks were from the joints.
Easy peasy, Take off the exhaust back boxes, add some exhaust paste, replace boxes and tighten clamps.
Oops:
Oh well, have to track down replacement U bolts tomorrow.
Thought I might as well clean the back boxes so five minutes with a brush and hose pipe:
I'm about to hit a milestone numner of posts and I'm hoping that milestone post might be significant.
I've (almost) sealed the exhaust which is a stainless replacement and not a perfect fit but made it work as best as I can and that should pass an MOT.
Yesterday we started the car to reposition it and noticed that there was a slight rattle coming from underneath. It rattles on idle but disappears when revved. We couldn't locate it so left for now.
Then this morning when I started it to take it to the garage due to do the swivels, the rattle was worse. It drove OK, but the rattle is horrible so the first job for the garage will be to see if they can diagnose the issue. If not then...
I heard on one of the Youtube videos that one of the joints has a propensity to drop a pin which sits in the bottom of the casing but I don;t think it can be that as its rattling stationary at tickover.
The car drives horribly with the current issues. It was not a nice journey.
Rode home in Martin's Diesel P38 and it was lovely. Still needs some love with a windscreen leak and a knock on one of the CV joints but overall it's a lovely ride.
Yesterday we started the car to reposition it and noticed that there was a slight rattle coming from underneath. It rattles on idle but disappears when revved. We couldn't locate it so left for now.
Then this morning when I started it to take it to the garage due to do the swivels, the rattle was worse. It drove OK, but the rattle is horrible so the first job for the garage will be to see if they can diagnose the issue. If not then...
I heard on one of the Youtube videos that one of the joints has a propensity to drop a pin which sits in the bottom of the casing but I don;t think it can be that as its rattling stationary at tickover.
The car drives horribly with the current issues. It was not a nice journey.
Rode home in Martin's Diesel P38 and it was lovely. Still needs some love with a windscreen leak and a knock on one of the CV joints but overall it's a lovely ride.
Edited by Tyre Tread on Saturday 14th May 12:22
Byker28i said:
Whats the betting is the rattle on the exhaust refitment, it's knocking against the bodywork, which you don't notice until its got weight on the wheels. I've had that on the TVR.
I'd really love to hope that is the case BUT it didn't sound like that sort of rattle AND I did get hold of the tail pipes and give them a good swing around after the rattle started and it made no difference.I can live in hope.
Had a call back from the mechanic today who is doing the ball joints and brake pipes.
The ball joints are now done but he had difficulty tracking down quality ball joints so he spoke to Bearmach to try and get a part number to xref (Bearmach initially said no stock- then when he gave the VIN number they said they had them.).
Anyway, the guy at Baermach said that the VIN ending in a letter (rather then ending in a number as they usually do) usually indicates that there was something prototyped or first fit tested on the car. He had no idea what it might be but there may be something unusual about it.
He's doing the brake pipes tomorrow.
He hasn't found the noise yet but doesn't think its anything serious. It'll get a check over while on the ramp tomorrow.
The SRS light is back on and he thinks it could just be an alignment issue as the steering being out of alignment can throw up the SRS light apparently.
The ball joints are now done but he had difficulty tracking down quality ball joints so he spoke to Bearmach to try and get a part number to xref (Bearmach initially said no stock- then when he gave the VIN number they said they had them.).
Anyway, the guy at Baermach said that the VIN ending in a letter (rather then ending in a number as they usually do) usually indicates that there was something prototyped or first fit tested on the car. He had no idea what it might be but there may be something unusual about it.
He's doing the brake pipes tomorrow.
He hasn't found the noise yet but doesn't think its anything serious. It'll get a check over while on the ramp tomorrow.
The SRS light is back on and he thinks it could just be an alignment issue as the steering being out of alignment can throw up the SRS light apparently.
Well, that short term contract I mentioned earlier has come to fruition which has kept me busy and curtailed my car antics at least for now.
I was hoping to collect "Nelson" this afternoon and pop him down to the MoT centre for retest,
The garage who have the Strange Rover were waiting on delivery of the rear flexi hoses and, due to timing and location, if I was to get Nelson to the test centre in time for a retest I'd need to collect him by 3.30pm.
I was chasing all afternoon for an update and in the end just finished work early and headed over to the garage. The brake pipes had just arrived as I got there just after 3.00pm. I say the brake pipes had arrived when, what I should have said is, that the wrong brake pipes had arrived.
Oh well, mission aborted.
Had a good chat with the guys at the garage. The boss asked me if I wanted to have a poke around underneath the car and see what they've done so far so we wandered through to the workshop where Nelson was up in the air with all four wheels off.
The boss, Aaron, was showing me the work when he spotted that the front brake pipe looked to be fitted incorrectly as it was routing too close to the airbag. Turns out the young mechanic (frighteningly young - I thought child labour was illegal in this country - Is this the modern version of sending children up chimneys? ) had put the clips on the wrong side of the car. Good spot by Aaron so we checked over all the other work and it looked good.
I spent a bit of time prodding about under the car and Aaron offered to clean and spray protectant under the car for a very few amount of beer tokens so I agreed and he'll also put it through his local MOT tester on Monday which will save me a fair bit of messing about and be cheaper then a full test at the other place.
When I got home and told Mrs TT she wanted to tax Nelson from Monday when we collect him but i think I might just leave it until 1st June.
I'm hoping the garage bill won't be too big to swallow but I'm committed now so...
The really odd thing was that everyone working at the garage (about 7 or 8 guys) were really interested in the car and it's foibles. The fact that you have to use the EKA code every time you start it (priotity once MoT's will be keys that work)and the air suspension. They all wanted to chat about it and seemed almost won over by a shonky 20 year old Strange Rover,
I think this will be the most driven Range Rover in South Wales but not necessarily by me or SWMBO as they all seemed to know the EKA
I've been commuting to work in the Lexus (the EML is still off) until today when I took the Jizz as I thought I'd need to leave it at the garage when i collected Nelson and the garage isn't in the most salubrious area. They're all fun to drive in their own way but I'm kind of looking forward to trying the Range Rover down the back roads I'm commuting and not being the one that the other Land Rover and Van Drivers force into the bank round every bend.
Fingers crossed.
I was hoping to collect "Nelson" this afternoon and pop him down to the MoT centre for retest,
The garage who have the Strange Rover were waiting on delivery of the rear flexi hoses and, due to timing and location, if I was to get Nelson to the test centre in time for a retest I'd need to collect him by 3.30pm.
I was chasing all afternoon for an update and in the end just finished work early and headed over to the garage. The brake pipes had just arrived as I got there just after 3.00pm. I say the brake pipes had arrived when, what I should have said is, that the wrong brake pipes had arrived.
Oh well, mission aborted.
Had a good chat with the guys at the garage. The boss asked me if I wanted to have a poke around underneath the car and see what they've done so far so we wandered through to the workshop where Nelson was up in the air with all four wheels off.
The boss, Aaron, was showing me the work when he spotted that the front brake pipe looked to be fitted incorrectly as it was routing too close to the airbag. Turns out the young mechanic (frighteningly young - I thought child labour was illegal in this country - Is this the modern version of sending children up chimneys?
) had put the clips on the wrong side of the car. Good spot by Aaron so we checked over all the other work and it looked good.I spent a bit of time prodding about under the car and Aaron offered to clean and spray protectant under the car for a very few amount of beer tokens so I agreed and he'll also put it through his local MOT tester on Monday which will save me a fair bit of messing about and be cheaper then a full test at the other place.
When I got home and told Mrs TT she wanted to tax Nelson from Monday when we collect him but i think I might just leave it until 1st June.
I'm hoping the garage bill won't be too big to swallow but I'm committed now so...
The really odd thing was that everyone working at the garage (about 7 or 8 guys) were really interested in the car and it's foibles. The fact that you have to use the EKA code every time you start it (priotity once MoT's will be keys that work)and the air suspension. They all wanted to chat about it and seemed almost won over by a shonky 20 year old Strange Rover,
I think this will be the most driven Range Rover in South Wales but not necessarily by me or SWMBO as they all seemed to know the EKA
I've been commuting to work in the Lexus (the EML is still off) until today when I took the Jizz as I thought I'd need to leave it at the garage when i collected Nelson and the garage isn't in the most salubrious area. They're all fun to drive in their own way but I'm kind of looking forward to trying the Range Rover down the back roads I'm commuting and not being the one that the other Land Rover and Van Drivers force into the bank round every bend.
Fingers crossed.
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