Latest purchase... any Land Rover owners out there?

[dang]

Just bought an '88 Range Rover for my work (not mine). Been sitting for 20 years outside. Motor rebuilt at some point, they think it has about 5k miles on the rebuild. Not sure why it was parked. Got the windows broken out recently so they decided to get rid of it. I think they're kinda cool looking and figured for $600 we'd be okay.

EDIT: Owner said they pressure washed the engine and it messed up an "igniter"? Sounds like ignition. They replaced it but couldn't figure out how to get the distributor back in the right place so they stopped. Said it tried to start a couple times though. That was 20 years ago. I think we can get it running.

Dan

 

[Arde]

Cool car!
Don't know much about that vintage. My son bought a 2010 LR4 (against my advice) to drive from San Francisco to Woodstock, NY, including crossing Death Valley in the summer and mountain driving in Utah and Colorado. I am impressed, the car made it, and it feels powerful and sure footed when I drive it.

 

[Ohmess]

I have a 2008 Supercharged Range Rover Sport, built when Range Rover was part of Ford. I bought it when I lived near DC so I would be able to get to work on unplowed roads, which we had for a day or two (or sometimes more) whenever it snowed.

Decent styling for an SUV, beautiful leather, and really good 4wd and terrain response systems. Weighs almost 3 tons, but with 400 hp, Brembos, unibody on frame construction and an active suspension, its pretty nice to drive (or at least, as nice as you can expect a tank to be). Needless to say, gas mileage sucks.

And, when I plug in the code reader, there are 32 computer subsystems I can read. This scares me.

 

[dang]

Truck came in over the weekend. It's pretty roachy but if we can get it running I think someone will buy it to fix.

 

[Erik]

Had a pickup conversion of this era. Ergonomics of the cab and materials & build quality were all weak. Still something cool about it though and passed it on to a true enthusiast in short order.

 

[Markos]

I love these vehicles. Just like the e9, especially the low profile rear end.

 

[craterface]

I love these. Worth saving.

 

[dang]

The guys on the Range Rover forum say it might be worth the cost of the tow. I think the key is whether we can get it running and driving. I also haven't looked underneath yet but our weather is pretty mild here in that regard, I don't expect much rust.

 

[Arde]

The guys on the Range Rover forum say it might be worth the cost of the tow. I think the key is whether we can get it running and driving. I also haven't looked underneath yet but our weather is pretty mild here in that regard, I don't expect much rust.

Or more if the tank is full.

California Retail Gas Price Monthly Trends: Weekly Retail Gasoline and On-Highway Diesel Prices | YCharts

In depth view into California Retail Gas Price including historical data from 2000 to 2024, charts and stats.

ycharts.com

Check it out, the price at the pump is correlated to ?

 

[dang]

Or more if the tank is full.

California Retail Gas Price Monthly Trends: Weekly Retail Gasoline and On-Highway Diesel Prices | YCharts

In depth view into California Retail Gas Price including historical data from 2000 to 2024, charts and stats.

ycharts.com

Check it out, the price at the pump is correlated to ?

Nice segue way. Not.

 

[GolfBavaria]

Had a pickup conversion of this era. Ergonomics of the cab and materials & build quality were all weak. Still something cool about it though and passed it on to a true enthusiast in short order.

Erik that is pretty cool. I've never seen one of those or even a picture of one of those until now. I love it when that happens... Pretty cool looking, mechanically is another story I guess. I passed on my buddies Land Rover that was for sale. I guess the old saying with these things are like old Triumph motorcycles, "if the are not leaking, there is no fluid in there."

 

[Arde]

Nice segue way. Not.

I meant to Russia's invasion of Kuwait of course. Hoping that ends soon and gas goes back to normal.

 

[Dick Steinkamp]

It will have that nifty aluminum V8 that GM designed and used in the early 60s Buick, Olds and Pontiac small cars. GM had trouble getting good enough foundry yields so they sold the tooling and rights to British Leyland. BL solved the yield problem, made some other changes, and used the motor in their Rover sedans and SUVs up until about 2005. By that time it had grown from 3.5 liters to 5.0. An '88 would still have the original 3.5. I've got the same motor in my MGB but with the Buick intake and Olds dizzy...

They are good, strong motors (especially the Rover versions)

 

[dang]

It will have that nifty aluminum V8 that GM designed

I was told it would have the 3.5L Rover V8 not the Buick. I'll get some identification off of it.

 

[Barry.b]

It will have that nifty aluminum V8 that GM designed and used in the early 60s Buick, Olds and Pontiac small cars. GM had trouble getting good enough foundry yields so they sold the tooling and rights to British Leyland. BL solved the yield problem, made some other changes, and used the motor in their Rover sedans and SUVs up until about 2005. By that time it had grown from 3.5 liters to 5.0. An '88 would still have the original 3.5. I've got the same motor in my MGB but with the Buick intake and Olds dizzy...

View attachment 166886

They are good, strong motors (especially the Rover versions)

That looks like a very nice engine bay in your MGB.
Is she a factory MGB v8 or was it retro fitted later on .
There’s not a lot of room in a MGB engine bay.
We had a 1.8 version for a while and she was a bit tail happy in the wet , how does it handle with a V8 in it ?

 

[Dick Steinkamp]

I was told it would have the 3.5L Rover V8 not the Buick. I'll get some identification off of it.

The 3.5 Rover aluminum V8 is the one based on the 215 Buick.

 

[Dick Steinkamp]

That looks like a very nice engine bay in your MGB.
Is she a factory MGB v8 or was it retro fitted later on .
There’s not a lot of room in a MGB engine bay.
We had a 1.8 version for a while and she was a bit tail happy in the wet , how does it handle with a V8 in it ?

Thanks. I converted it to the V8. There were only a few MGBs built by the factory with the V8 and they were all GTs (fixed roof)

It is pretty easy to fit the BOPR V8 in a 77-80 MGB. BL had made some changes in 77 to the steering set up and engine compartment to fit the V8 with plans of selling lots of them that way. In the end, they didn't do it. The problem with the 77-80 MGBs is the huge rubber bumpers and sky high ride height but those things are fixable.

The aluminum BOPR 3.5 V8 is 40 pounds LIGHTER than the 1.8 iron 4 it replaces. Overall handling is similar to a stock one. I have never had this car in the wet, but my guess is that traction in the rain would not be great.

 

[Barry.b]

Thanks. I converted it to the V8. There were only a few MGBs built by the factory with the V8 and they were all GTs (fixed roof)

It is pretty easy to fit the BOPR V8 in a 77-80 MGB. BL had made some changes in 77 to the steering set up and engine compartment to fit the V8 with plans of selling lots of them that way. In the end, they didn't do it. The problem with the 77-80 MGBs is the huge rubber bumpers and sky high ride height but those things are fixable.

View attachment 166887

The aluminum BOPR 3.5 V8 is 40 pounds LIGHTER than the 1.8 iron 4 it replaces. Overall handling is similar to a stock one. I have never had this car in the wet, but my guess is that traction in the rain would not be great.

When we had our MGB GT.
she was the 1.8 version.
it unfortunately over heated and blew its head gasket.
She was a bit smoky anyway so I took the opportunity to do a full rebuild on the 4cylinder engine.
I stripped it and sent it off to be bored out and skimmed and also got the Head skimmed and had the valves recut and then I replaced all crankshaft bearings etc etc .
When I built the engine, I built it on my bench, but I couldn’t get a hoist or crane over it while it was on the bench , so I had to put an old tyre on the ground and I had to drag the engine off the bench in my arms and all I could do was slow it down as it headed towards the ground as I wasn’t strong enough to lift it to the ground.
Man that baby was heavy !!
Anyway once I had it on the ground I could move it around and get it under a crane and lifted back into the engine bay.
I left my house one day in it and I was heading to work, it was raining,I went around a bend less than a half a mile from my house and she spun 180 degrees on the road, thankfully I didn’t hit anything , after going on full opposite lock and jumping on the brakes she stopped parallel parked like as if nothing happened.
I’d say the imprints on the steering wheel from my grip that morning are still on the steering wheel
We sold that car when my wife was expecting our first child as it wasn’t very practical for us anymore.
I still kinda wish that we kept it .
Anyway I suppose we can’t keep them all.

 

[Barry.b]

Just bought an '88 Range Rover for my work (not mine). Been sitting for 20 years outside. Motor rebuilt at some point, they think it has about 5k miles on the rebuild. Not sure why it was parked. Got the windows broken out recently so they decided to get rid of it. I think they're kinda cool looking and figured for $600 we'd be okay.

EDIT: Owner said they pressure washed the engine and it messed up an "igniter"? Sounds like ignition. They replaced it but couldn't figure out how to get the distributor back in the right place so they stopped. Said it tried to start a couple times though. That was 20 years ago. I think we can get it running.

Dan

She looks to be in pretty good condition.
The problem we have with them over here is the bulkhead rusts out and so does the tailgate.
I think the engines are normally quite good , the valley gaskets and the water pump are 2 weak spots though.
Chances are yours might be okay if the engine was rebuilt “ recently “
Good luck with it.

 

[bluecoupe30!]

When we had our MGB GT.
she was the 1.8 version.
it unfortunately over heated and blew its head gasket.
She was a bit smoky anyway so I took the opportunity to do a full rebuild on the 4cylinder engine.
I stripped it and sent it off to be bored out and skimmed and also got the Head skimmed and had the valves recut and then I replaced all crankshaft bearings etc etc .
When I built the engine, I built it on my bench, but I couldn’t get a hoist or crane over it while it was on the bench , so I had to put an old tyre on the ground and I had to drag the engine off the bench in my arms and all I could do was slow it down as it headed towards the ground as I wasn’t strong enough to lift it to the ground.
Man that baby was heavy !!
Anyway once I had it on the ground I could move it around and get it under a crane and lifted back into the engine bay.
I left my house one day in it and I was heading to work, it was raining,I went around a bend less than a half a mile from my house and she spun 180 degrees on the road, thankfully I didn’t hit anything , after going on full opposite lock and jumping on the brakes she stopped parallel parked like as if nothing happened.
I’d say the imprints on the steering wheel from my grip that morning are still on the steering wheel
We sold that car when my wife was expecting our first child as it wasn’t very practical for us anymore.
I still kinda wish that we kept it .
Anyway I suppose we can’t keep them all.

Wow Barry! I can picture that spin as if I was in that B with you. Mainly because I did the very same thing in a Mini Cooper many years ago. My arms were a blur as I corrected the steering, then overcorrected and kept it out of the ditch. But as I like to tell people about driving an original Mini...spinning out is really not a problem because the car is so small you usually are just spinning in your own lane! Ha!