Abandoned Range Rover P38... Resurrection or Bust

[eliot]

At least it’s a facelift MY2000 thor engined one - I had two pre face lifts and kept the facelift for 10 years, just sold it recently due to buying a bucket list car.

Towards the top of your list is to work out if you have the updated radio receiver - otherwise the car keeps waking up from all the other crap that shares the same unlicensed frequency which flattens the battery within a day or so.

https://www.mez.co.uk/page12.html

you will also find the details on getting the dash out for blend motors and matrix o-ring which it will no doubt require at some point (check if the drivers footwell is wet and tastes sweet or very bitter)

[molineux1980]

I love Readers Car threads like this! Keep up the good work :-)

[Tyre Tread]

Geekman said:

Great thread, looking forward to seeing your progress. P38s have aged really well IMO.

I'm also fixing up an abandoned green Range Rover, although mine is an L322 and did run (only just about) before I handed over the money. Your mechanical skills appear to be far greater than mine though, which is a definite advantage!

Thank you.

My mechanical skills, such as they are, have been honed over several decades on mostly rusty old heaps so I should be right at home.

The air suspension is a little out of my comfort zone but I'll give it a go. Thankfully there are many great YouTube videos out there although I did watch on ethe other day that, after 15 minutes, failed to find the issue and bodged the solution to fix... the horn. Not sure I am prepared for major bodgery although I can see why one might eb driven to it (pardon the pun).

[Tyre Tread]

eliot said:

At least it’s a facelift MY2000 thor engined one - I had two pre face lifts and kept the facelift for 10 years, just sold it recently due to buying a bucket list car.

Towards the top of your list is to work out if you have the updated radio receiver - otherwise the car keeps waking up from all the other crap that shares the same unlicensed frequency which flattens the battery within a day or so.

https://www.mez.co.uk/page12.html

you will also find the details on getting the dash out for blend motors and matrix o-ring which it will no doubt require at some point (check if the drivers footwell is wet and tastes sweet or very bitter)

I'd read about the "waking up" issue. Not sure yet.

The friend who talked me into this RR needs to do the O rings on his and I've volunteered to assist so I've been reading up on it. I don't want to tempt fate but mine seem Ok so far. However, it's only been run up to temp a couple of times so....

[Tyre Tread]

molineux1980 said:

I love Readers Car threads like this! Keep up the good work :-)

Thank you. Good to know someone is interested in my manic scribblings.

I'll do my best.

[eliot]

Tyre Tread said:

I'd read about the "waking up" issue. Not sure yet.
.

These are brilliant for tracking such issues - keeps a datalog for at least a month. If it wakes up, you will see the dip in battery voltage.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08VHMJYXY/ref...

[Tyre Tread]

eliot said:

These are brilliant for tracking such issues - keeps a datalog for at least a month. If it wakes up, you will see the dip in battery voltage.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08VHMJYXY/ref...

Thanks -Good shout. However, I'm trying to keep the spend down for the moment. I know I could justify it via man maths but there's a few non necessities in the pipeline that could also be "justified" so I'm trying to be strict with myself and only order things that will keep it from passing an MOT. Once it's through an MOT then maybe the purse strings may open a bit.

[eliot]

Tyre Tread said:

Thanks -Good shout. However, I'm trying to keep the spend down for the moment. I know I could justify it via man maths but there's a few non necessities in the pipeline that could also be "justified" so I'm trying to be strict with myself and only order things that will keep it from passing an MOT. Once it's through an MOT then maybe the purse strings may open a bit.

If £24 is going to break the budget - why did you buy a petrol P38?

[Vixpy1]

Not even I am brave enough to bujy a P38

[eliot]

Vixpy1 said:

Not even I am brave enough to bujy a P38

I've had three and would still probably buy one. As mentioned above there's tons of information on repairing them and relatively easy to work on - i've put up pages on repairs and tips too.
I can get a dashboard out on my own in about two hours - why the fook anyone would butcher one up to avoid removing it I will never know.

[Arnold Cunningham]

eliot said:

I've had three and would still probably buy one. As mentioned above there's tons of information on repairing them and relatively easy to work on - i've put up pages on repairs and tips too.
I can get a dashboard out on my own in about two hours - why the fook anyone would butcher one up to avoid removing it I will never know.

Yeah - but both your and your late father's skills on everything mechanical are very highly regarded. It was your page that gave me the confidence to have a go at megasquirting this:

[carinaman]

Excellent, I read to the post where the Mrs suggested trying the rear window switch to raise the window. I'll catch up on the rest another time.

[eliot]

Arnold Cunningham said:

Yeah - but both your and your late father's skills on everything mechanical are very highly regarded. It was your page that gave me the confidence to have a go at megasquirting this:

Thankyou for your kind words.

[tonyvid]

Tyre Tread said:

I asked her whose RR it was and she said she hadn't a clue and I said "Well you'd better have it then" ...

Great work!

[Tyre Tread]

eliot said:

If £24 is going to break the budget - why did you buy a petrol P38?

It wouldn't but it's a very slippery slope.

[Rich1973]

There is a very extensive p38 thread on detailingworld.co.uk
The chap has done lots of work to his including I suspect most of the jobs you ate going to come across. Worth a look and an engrossing way to pass some time reading the thread.

[josh00mac]

Another previous P38 owner here. Bought a mid facelift Thor 4.0 from a LR Indy mechanic a few years back. Really, really enjoyed it. Mine had been converted to coils which was a blessing for me. I had an Audi heater core installed to circumnavigate the O ring issue. Disconnected the C locking because mine suffered the Wi-Fi issue. Probably the first LR product that was fairly well resistant to rust. I sold it because in honesty I could fund the fuel and in addition, I found the component quality really irritating! But - what a feel good motor to woofle around in.

[eliot]

josh00mac said:

. Probably the first LR product that was fairly well resistant to rust.

Indeed the classic rusted and the L322 that followed it rusted in the rear arch lips, but the P38 was pretty decent on the rust front - none of the three I owned had any rot at all.

[Arnold Cunningham]

Dunno about that. My defender is 33 years old now and on the original chassis.

[Philibuster]

Great thread! Madness mixed with some good DIY skills and a sensible approach to (not) opening your wallet is right up my street