Project 1992 Range Rover - the economy vehicle

[The_Equalizer]

For what it's worth (probably nowt) I went down the route of having the radiator recored for my Land Rover series 3. Mainly because the varying quality of new ones. It was £169 plus VAT which I thought very reasonable.

[brickwall]

Yeah, I wonder about the quality of noo ones. The RR rads are pretty good.

[bezzabsa]

MOAR PICTURES

 

Love a Bit of RR porn....or generally ANY LR porn for that matter

had 3 RRC's

5Discoveries

1 Freeloader

1 110 defender

1 90 defender

6 -sh swb 88's

8-ish Lwb 109's

 

 

would love another series, but prices have gone stooped, cuz of MOT n TAX FREE guv

[N Dentressangle]

OK, have a few of the IIA:

 

 

 

 

Currently retired to the field under a tarp following its resto - I can't get the brakes right, and 4 other cars means I don't really have a use for it right now. I'll drag it out and have it chugging around at some point, maybe when the RR's sorted.

 

Prices are very silly, I agree. The last few years Series LR's have started fetching far more than I would say they're worth - I don't know how many people would actually want to drive these things, and are capable of fixing them themselves. Surely the luxury^* driving experience and the prohibitive costs of paying someone else to do all the inevitable spannering must make the pool of potential owners pretty small?

[The_Equalizer]

Currently retired to the field under a tarp following its resto - I can't get the brakes right, and 4 other cars means I don't really have a use for it right now. I'll drag it out and have it chugging around at some point, maybe when the RR's sorted.

 

Prices are very silly, I agree. The last few years Series LR's have started fetching far more than I would say they're worth - I don't know how many people would actually want to drive these things, and are capable of fixing them themselves. Surely the luxury^* driving experience and the prohibitive costs of paying someone else to do all the inevitable spannering must make the pool of potential owners pretty small?

 

Conversely, people don't mind so much spend coinage on vehicles if they know they'll hold their value or even increase. I'm attempting to get my late S3 back on the road after a year and shelling out £800 on a total refurb of the cooling system, decent new battery and some tarting up of the engine bay didn't hurt so much given it's now worth a more than the £1500 I paid in 2007. Moreover, if you're capable of reading a manual series LRs are as about as straight forward as you can get should you wish to have a bash at getting your hand dirty. I suppose it's the case that a lot of people these days aren't willing to.

[N Dentressangle]

So, all hoses cleaned up and re-fitted, expansion tank cleaned and re-fitted (clean inside, but needed some Waxoyl throwing at the inner wing underneath it).

 

Go to fit the new rad and what's this? It rattles! Perhaps there's a free gift inside it for me! I'll give it a good shake and see if it'll come out through the top hose:

 

 

Hmmm. Doesn't look like much of a free gift. More like bits of smashed header tank. Let's have a look:

 

 

Ah, brilliant.

 

Guess this won't be going in today. Off to chase the supplier for a new one...

[richardthestag]

not liked for the damage but gives you an opportunity to get the original recored.

 

boston recore did a sterling job on mine ages ago.

 

used old stock is sometimes way better than new reproduction stuff that is available. you will find out

[N Dentressangle]

not liked for the damage but gives you an opportunity to get the original recored.

 

boston recore did a sterling job on mine ages ago.

 

used old stock is sometimes way better than new reproduction stuff that is available. you will find out

 

I suspect you're right, but I could do with getting it back on the road for the start of next week so I've gone for another Nissens replacement. Hope this one isn't delivered by badgers!

 

I'll hang onto the old rad and look at getting it re-cored as a spare. It doesn't sound like the repro ones have quite the longevity of the originals.

[The_Equalizer]

not liked for the damage but gives you an opportunity to get the original recored.

 

boston recore did a sterling job on mine ages ago.

 

used old stock is sometimes way better than new reproduction stuff that is available. you will find out

 

I got my Land Rover S3 radiator back in a matter of days very recently using Guilford Rads. It could have been done quicker by sending one in exchange, but I insisted on having my original one re-cored just to ensure it was the correct fit.

[Junkman]

Nissens' history:

 

...2010 - Establishment of the Nissens Cooling Solutions Factory in Tjanjin, China.

 

1. Never buy from a company that calls its services or products "solutions", except its making paint strippers or other delightfully toxic chemicals.

 

2. Never buy anything made in China, except model cars.

[N Dentressangle]

 

Nissens' history:

 

...2010 - Establishment of the Nissens Cooling Solutions Factory in Tjanjin, China.

 

1. Never buy from a company that calls its services or products "solutions", except its making paint strippers or other delightfully toxic chemicals.

 

2. Never buy anything made in China, except model cars.

 

 

Normally my policy too.

 

However, to be fair, it looks a decently made rad apart from the transit damage. The OE part from Land Rover is over £1k!

[bezzabsa]

OK, have a few of the IIA:

 

 

 

 

Currently retired to the field under a tarp following its resto - I can't get the brakes right, and 4 other cars means I don't really have a use for it right now. I'll drag it out and have it chugging around at some point, maybe when the RR's sorted.

 

Prices are very silly, I agree. The last few years Series LR's have started fetching far more than I would say they're worth - I don't know how many people would actually want to drive these things, and are capable of fixing them themselves. Surely the luxury^* driving experience and the prohibitive costs of paying someone else to do all the inevitable spannering must make the pool of potential owners pretty small?

had brake hassles on my 2....changed ALL the lines, master cylinder twice, drums, pads, slave cylinders, must have got through 3 gallons on brake fluid...gave up sold it on......few months later a friend with a LR repair place had a series 3 come in with same fault, did same as me and swapped allsorts...turned out to be the reservoir had a few specs of crap in there that was randomly blocking the out put....may be worth a try

[Junkman]

Normally my policy too.

 

However, to be fair, it looks a decently made rad apart from the transit damage. The OE part from Land Rover is over £1k!

 

How much???

[The Old Bloke Next Door]

https://rimmerbros.com/Item--i-ESR1259

[richardthestag]

recore was about £200 but that was a fair while ago.

 

at least I got my rad back with the oil cooling tanks on the sides etc etc etc

[richardthestag]

https://rimmerbros.com/Item--i-ESR1259

 

never knowingly under priced

 

recore all the way, get it posted today tell them you need it back saturday, 

[The_Equalizer]

had brake hassles on my 2....changed ALL the lines, master cylinder twice, drums, pads, slave cylinders, must have got through 3 gallons on brake fluid...gave up sold it on......few months later a friend with a LR repair place had a series 3 come in with same fault, did same as me and swapped allsorts...turned out to be the reservoir had a few specs of crap in there that was randomly blocking the out put....may be worth a try

 

I'm sure you know that LR series are absolutely notorious for brake bleeding issues with the S3 109 being the king of grief. Mine suffered the same thing after putting in a new servo and master cylinder and that was what led to it being off the road for a year. That said, I recently started it, and like the MGB my Dad has, the air seems to have worked its way out of the system. The S3 also has a PDWA valve:

 

http://www.lrseries.com/shop/product/listing/14123/NRC4880-BRAKE-SYSTEM-PDWA-VALVE.html

 

Which is some kind of voodoo part and was going to be my final port of call until ignoring the LR become the preferred choice.

 

I'm never sure why I own a Series LR other than it's quite fun to work on from time-to-time. That and it's handy for a visit to the tip twice a year!

[Talbot]

It's for all the reasons listed above that I have recently sacked off my series land-rover. Worth too much, and I'll never get around to restoring it. It went to a serial restorer, so at least it will live on. Got more for it after it had been sitting in a field for a decade than I paid for it as a running MOT'd vehicle in 2000. Bonkers.

[bezzabsa]

I would Love another...but afore mentioned Free MOT and Tax has raised them well out of my price range...

Last 88 cost me £350 and owned 2 109's that were £50 a piece...

[N Dentressangle]

Replacement rad arrived today, just in time to fit over the weekend for Monday.

 

Different vendor this time, so hopefully better packaged. Damaged one returned to vendor, so refund on the way.

 

At least this one should be OK. Lightning can't strike twice, can it? Packaging looks ok anyway. I'll just check it over before I fit the thing. But what's this?

 

 

For fuck's sake.

 

Yes, it's a different radiator, smashed in the same place. Check the pics.

 

£350 worth of knackered sodding radiators.

 

Re-core here I come!

[Sigmund Fraud]

Different radiators, different suppliers... Presumably delivered with care* by the same couriers ?

[N Dentressangle]

Different couriers. DPD for the first, Royal Mail for the second.

 

The packaging is just shit. Completely unfit for purpose. I'd let Nissens know, but I don't see why I should performance manage them as well as the guys I'm paid to!

[Guest Hooli]

Maybe they are meant to be like that?

[Isaac Hunt]

Different couriers. DPD for the first, Royal Mail for the second.

The packaging is just shit. Completely unfit for purpose. I'd let Nissens know, but I don't see why I should performance manage them as well as the guys I'm paid to!

Damage Parcels Delivered and the Royal Fail and nobody is keeping their cool. That is a lot of waste and you can't be the first. Gone are the days you could just nip into town and drop the old rad off, pick it up in the way home. The last time I had a Rad re-cored I took it to a chap working from a barn, dropped it off day 1 and picked it up day 3. It was only a small rad in copper brass build, think he charged me about £25. FF a few years and recycling has given way to stuff made from plastic from over the water, it is what we call progress.........

 

But then again we used to re-cycle milk bottles made form glass and pop bottles made from glass, now we throw away the glass and throw away the plastic

[chodweaver]

I heard recently that the glass we put in the recycling bin .... gets crushed and sold on as a hard core for construction. FFS.

 

Shirley those rear wheel arches and boot floor are in far better nick than they have any right to be. Anyway, loving this thread. Can't get enough vicarious LR/RR enjoyment, me! 

[barefoot]

I heard recently that the glass we put in the recycling bin .... gets crushed and sold on as a hard core for construction. FFS.

 

Castle Donington glass is driven sixty miles north to Doncaster before they smash it up for hardcore. How eco is that?

[N Dentressangle]

Maybe they are meant to be like that?

 

You wonder, don't you? Wouldn't be the first Rover cooling part with a blindingly obvious inbuilt design flaw...

[N Dentressangle]

Well, not much to report for the past week because the Range Rover's been at the garage. I'm happy these days to farm out the jobs that need extensive crawling about on my back, and the car's been making a bloody awful howling noise ever since I got it. As soon as you got past about walking pace, seeming to come from the rear. In fact, it sounded as if something like this might be happening:

 

 

but my mechanic reckoned wheel bearing or diff were more likely than backseat wolves.

 

Wheel bearing was duly checked, found to be knackered and changed, but the howling persisted. Spare RR diff was found and fitted, and the wolves are now happily sleeping.

 

Here's the old diff:

 

 

Obviously you can't see from the pic, but the pinion for the planet gears had spun and worn the carrier to the extent there was a good 1-2mm play side to side in it. Result: scrap diff, especially as the teeth were starting to show wear too.

 

It now drives like an RR should, and you can hold a conversation in it at normal levels. God knows how the guy I bought it from put up with it - I think it's been howling away for a long time.

 

Next job now it's back in my garage is to clean out the back arches and underside, repair and Vactan where needed and put some more paint / underseal on the vulnerable bits, ie all of it.

[N Dentressangle]

Had an hour or two yesterday afternoon to start on the rear arches.

 

All wire brushed, hacked at with a screwdriver and Vactanned on the rusty bits:

 

 

 

 

With the Vactan dry, you can see a couple of holes in the metal of the body either side of the spring:

 

 

 

The one above the shocker is worst - I suspect some more digging around would make a nice little crater. It's soooo tempting to fill them with underseal, but I suppose I'd better get the welder out!

[stuboy]

love these RR