Range Rover

[DieselBoy]

Well, I finally got sick of the 80 Series.

To big, to heavy and they seem to have become "kool" everyone's got one these days

I like the demensions of the Surf's and Terrano's, but hate the fact they are IFS, and much like the 80 Series, everybody's got one.

I have always liked the fact that up to a certain point in time, Land Rover's focus, when producing a vehicle, was on how well it went off road. Road manners and comfort came second to off road perfomance.

Defenders look good with the right modifications but are very basic. Extremely over priced aswell.

The "Classic" Range Rover on the other hand, was the pioneer of coil sprung suspension for off road use and as such is based on a platform designed for off road use. Some effort is put into creature comfort in the cab, but is still fairly basic.

Anyway's, went to Invers a couple of weeks ago and drove this back:





Sex on wheels or what!!!!!!!!!!!!

[DieselBoy]

So far its had some panel love to tidy the out side up, had some damage to the drivers door and gaurd after the door restrainer roll pin broke and the door opened to far.



Its cool how all the exterior panels unbolt!!!!!

Loaded em up and dropped round to a mate the next day for lunch, who spent all of about 3mins hammering them straight again!!!!!



Gave em a quick respray the next day







I also resprayed the bottom's of the doors as they had some odd oxidisation under the paint??

[DieselBoy]

As you can imagine, there have been some interesting learning curve's so far.

If you want parts and awesome service, go to www.LandRoverSpares.co.nz !!

Don't waste your time looking for parts at Repco, BNT, Supercheap etc, if its not listed on their computer, they can't be bothered.

Had to buy a new set of spanners, my metric set doesn't fit.

Everyone love's to tell you how shit Land Rovers are. When asked if that is from personal experience, the answer is always the same

[Sadam_Husain]

Everyone love's to tell you how shit Land Rovers are. When asked if that is from personal experience, the answer is always the same

I did own a landy in the 1980's not that I admit it very often so I could tell you what I think of them


Is the rangie replacing the 80 series cruiser?

[NJV6]

Good work DB, I bet there will be some closet Landy lovers now come out and say they like them but you will always get the LR jokes from as you say - the people who havn't owned them.

Unless you have had one you can't comment on how they just drive different and seem to make you smile even if you do need a bit more maintenance. That what I think anyway.

So a bit more about it - it is a 1986 model? And someone has put a late model grill on it and later model sills on it.....

You didn't say hello when you were down!

[Petemcc]

Good man! I look forward to seeing what you do with this one. what size tyres are you planning on running? What other plans have you got for it?

Cheers,
Pete

[badnuz]

is that roof rack to carry the fiddy on while towing weapon on the trailer???

good luck chap, its a big job lol!!

[gimmemud]

Dude that roof basket is awesome

[mike]

OMFG DB

absolutely loving it

[DieselBoy]

Here's a tongue in cheek comparison to some of the better known trucks and their week points, just for fun:

Common Range Rover issues:

Rear diff carrier/spider gears break from excessive wheel spin
Cylinder head gaskets
Distributor waterproofness
Wiring/electrical issues


Common Surf Issues:

Front diff crown wheel
Cylinder head cracking
Steering idler arm
Dual mass flywheel

Common Terrano Issues:

Steering geometry/strength
Gearbox premature failure
Rocker shaft
Electrical Issues
Rust

Common 80 Series Landcruiser issues:

Big end bearing failure
Premature auto gearbox failure
Front diff blowing in reverse
Steering box breaking away from chassis

Common GQ Safari Issues:

Rocker Shaft
Cylinder head
Body mounts/floor cracks
Structural rust in body above A and B pillars

I thought it was interesting anyways

I have a few tricks up my sleeve to combat some of the RR Issues

[gimmemud]

You forgot the best surf issue... the awesome back window

[DieselBoy]

Ya, there's heaps more that could be added to each list, like the totally useless heater controls and vents on the dash of the Rangie, the tiny midget foot wells of the Safari, the useless electric windows on the 80 series etc etc

It will be interesting to see how it turns out anyway, enjoying it so far

[Furgus]

Just ask if you need any bits........there are still a few box's of bits & pieces in the shed ......

[mercutio]

i was wondering what you were up too
you have been quiet for too long that usually means you are in the shed working on something
so how many 4wds do you own now

[Heath]

Here's a tongue in cheek comparison to some of the better known trucks and their week points, just for fun:

Common Range Rover issues:

Rear diff carrier/spider gears break from excessive wheel spin
Cylinder head gaskets
Distributor waterproofness
Wiring/electrical issues


Common Surf Issues:

Front diff crown wheel
Cylinder head cracking
Steering idler arm
Dual mass flywheel

Common Terrano Issues:

Steering geometry/strength
Gearbox premature failure
Rocker shaft
Electrical Issues
Rust

Common 80 Series Landcruiser issues:

Big end bearing failure
Premature auto gearbox failure
Front diff blowing in reverse
Steering box breaking away from chassis

Common GQ Safari Issues:

Rocker Shaft
Cylinder head
Body mounts/floor cracks
Structural rust in body above A and B pillars

I thought it was interesting anyways

I have a few tricks up my sleeve to combat some of the RR Issues

No zuk stuff. See I knew they were O for Orsum! OF course I now drive a prado - bugger eh!

[Landy Rover]

A fine piece of machinery These things are an adiction

[Bulletproof]

You have made a wise decision Diesel Boy.

I have spent have half my 4 wheeling with the "Strange rover" and it has been the only truck to keep me on my toes. As a standard truck they are well designed and will out perform anything. Their suspension is ace.

The only reason I don't own one is their Quality or lack of it. My mate fitted Salisbury diffs but with lockers still broke diff and CVs. They Can't handle 35s.

I think a person needs to fit strong Hilux diffs with yukon gears and ARB diff locks and you will have a good truck.

I have never been out perform by a cruiser or Safari but a Range Rover going gives me a fright.

Cheers Richard

[J_Dub]

chuck up some flex pics, people always saying they outflex any other standard setup, i wana see

looks tidy

[Bulletproof]

chuck up some flex pics, people always saying they outflex any other standard setup, i wana see

looks tidy

I do have photos but would take some digging out. On the ramp it was 875mm.

I have heaps of videos of it in action

Cheers Richard

[rokhound]

As much as it pains me to say it, the fact is in the classic style Rangie was probably the most capable "off the floor" 4wd you could buy.
That means that you change absolutley nothing from the dealership (including tyres etc), and it would have out performed any other commonly available 4wd. In fact the Defender would probably still hold this title (except for the 70 series cruiser )

[mercutio]

As much as it pains me to say it, the fact is in the classic style Rangie was probably the most capable "off the floor" 4wd you could buy.
That means that you change absolutley nothing from the dealership (including tyres etc), and it would have out performed any other commonly available 4wd. In fact the Defender would probably still hold this title (except for the 70 series cruiser )

er hum i disagree the most capable 4wd off the showroom floor is a g wagen then i got to the commonly available bit and this is where g wagens loose out

[NJV6]

er hum i disagree the most capable 4wd off the showroom floor is a g wagen then i got to the commonly available bit and this is where g wagens loose out

Ha ha if it wasn't for factory diff locks they'd be well down the list!!!

[DieselBoy]

Fix one major week point.

The Lucas Dizzy is apparently almost impossible to make water resistant. From my experience, an unsealed dizzy, the slightest splash and its all over, forget about washing the engine the garden hose!!

Replaced the Lucas electronic dizzy with a Chev HEI.

Fatter sparkage, better water resistance and its RED

Very straight forward modification.

HEI is modified to recieve cut down Rover dizzy base, drive gear and oil pump drive.

Lifting eye removed from alternator mounting bracket.

Top radiator hose extended.

Minor rewiring if desired for better reliability, I fitted a relay and a fuse-able link to feed the HEI.

End result is:








So does it go better????

Yes, but not because its getting a bigger spark, I would say its more to do with the change in dynamic timing. 6 degrees at idle and running on the chev advance curve up to I think its 34 degrees in total.

[NJV6]

Who did the modification of the drive gear? and what year is the RR?

[mike]

I had no end of problems with the 3.5 and water but the 3.9 never misses a beat. Even had it running nearly under water at the sheffield one year but the LR was out to kick some ass that day

[DieselBoy]

Who did the modification of the drive gear? and what year is the RR?

Howats did the machining. They have the formula sorted

The modification should fit all of the 3.5's, if not the 3.9's as well.

[DieselBoy]

The Range Rover needs some recovery points incase I want to take it off the tarseal one day, and I suppose a winch wouldn't go amiss, just for pose factor though .

I picked this up off Tardme for $60, thought it was the hell score, bolts to the chassis and sits under the bumper, no mod's needed!!!! Reckon its the perfect thing to mount a couple of tow hooks from



Finally got some time to play with it this morning, so first up was a quick coat of insta-bling as I figured it would probably only get bolted up once, and I would have a working winch in an hour or so............



Oooooooh how wrong I was...............





Ya see the problem??
I',m guessing its for a Disco or a P38 Rangie. Bolt holes are similar but don't line up, and the chassis brackets are to fit some other model with wider rails. Grrrrrrr

Was too early in the day for a beer, so had to settle for a coffee, put the winch where I wanted it, put the bumber mounts back on and sat down and tried to make some kinda plan out the 7 or 8 options I came up with



Obviously I wasn't going to have the winch in and working by lunch time, so thought I might as well go with plan "C" (C=Cut the shit outta everything ), there's also a big element of plan B in there as well (B = Booty fab some shit outa the scrab box that might do the job )

So it started with me butchering the nice Superwinch cradle to make a pair of brackets that attached to the chassis:



Then cut the cradle down to fit the brackets:



Then jammed the two bits together on the truck and tacked em together:



Off the truck and a quick blaze up with the Mig and it was a cradle again

Thought I might as well jam a couple of tow hooks onto it seeing as that was the whole point of the exercise in the first place



A qiuck test fit, should do the trick I guess



There was also another problem with the cradle, it was designed for a Superwinch winch, and for some reason it seems that the gearbox and motor on the that winch would have been the other way round to all other winch's, including the entire range of Superwinch's currently available

So wadda ya do?? Cut some shit, grind some shit and weld some shit

I moved the fairlead slot along, welded in a plate to cover the old part of the slot that wasn't going to be used and also cut a notch so the free spool leaver could be opperated...



At the end of play today, I have the cradle finished, complete with two recovery points, winch, fairlead and attached to the front of the R.R. Its pretty sweet apart from the fairlead which is on the piss





So hopefully After work during the week I can get the alloy bumper back over the top of the cradle. I'm picking theres not going to be much left of it in the middle. Then strip it all off the truck, paint it, wire the winch in then test it

The bumper that I gotta get back on over the winch:



Fun fun fun

[UBZ]

sweet , know i understand the questions about the my winch I see a shinny run coming up soon.

[DieselBoy]

..........and the finished result






I'm pretty happy with it as its improved the approach angle in front of the wheels, and hasn't reduced it in the middle, so just gotta suss some rope out and its all go

Need Idea's on how others have mounted their rear recovery point on R.R's, the curved and angled chassis rails make things tricky

[UBZ]

not bad for a rangie