first impression of the 1984 Range Rover Classic 3.5 V8

01 september 2011,
This is how I bought the Range Rover Classic, it's a former French registered car.
at least, this is how it looks from the outside.
The inside was, except from the upper dash and the 2 front seats, completely stripped.
OH, I forget to mention that the wiring of the car was looking like spaghetti, there was a car alarm installed (but I didn't get any info on that thing) and my guess is, about a dozen people before me, tried to wire it up and try to get it running again.....
Looks like a nice challenge for me, to get this car on the road again.
But before I can start rebuilding, I first have to take the car (running) to the RDW (dutch MOT) for registration in the Netherlands.

I'm loving it allready!!! let's go to work.

the ignition barrel and steering lock was broken from the steering column and only cut and taped wires were hanging out;

I took the rear bumper off and I found a quite nice rear crossmember.... for a '84 Range Rover this is not too bad I guess.

disassembled the Cobra alarm system, and traced all the wires to undo them from the original loom. The hardest one was the one that connected to the starter relay. An Italian guy would be proud when he created this spaghetti mess under the bonnet and dash......

I bought a new battery, new fuel lines (because there were parts of it missing) and ordered a new12V  fuel pump. In the mean time I can check oil/fluids etc so when the pump arrives, maybe give it a try to start the V8. Who knows how long this beast has been left for dead....

05 september 2011,
Still no fuelpump, but before I think about starting the engine my plan was to check the complete fuel system.
So I took the carbs of to be cleaned (the inside) also again an indication of what state they are in.
And because the carbs are of, the valve cover is easy in reach to take of and have a look inside.
This is what I found;

Some more cleaning to do before even think of starting the engine!
I think I'm going to clean as much as possible of the sludge from the heads and then give it a go when I installed the fuelpump and carbs.

07 september 2011

Cilinderheads are cleaned as good as it gets, rockercovers are cleaned, carburettors are cleaned and installed again and I just received my fuelpump.
The last things before trying to start the engine, is trying to figure out how the vacuumhoses and flametraps are installed. I tried the manual, tried some forums but I still don't have the correct answer to my question.
I have 2 small holes in both my rockercovers and on both the covers is a breatherpipe.
If there is supposed to be a vacuum, why do I have holes in both the covers?
Try to find the solution so I can start the engine without big trouble.
below are the pictures of the rocketcovers

08 september 2011

Got the fuelpump hooked up, connected the hoses from the carburettor the way I thought they are supposed to be connected.

Turned the key, and the engine fired up the first time. It is running relativaly fine.

Still have the two drilled holes in the rockercovers open (don't know what to do with them) and after a quick spin around the block there is no oil running up in the cylinderheads......

But, I'm very satisfied the Range Rover started this easily.

And man, I love this V8 sound!!!

14 september 2011

Today I got the Range Rover registered in the Netherlands and also had the chassis/engine/body labelled.
Because I want to galvanise the chassis, they want to make sure the chassis and engine still are the original ones after rebuild. The guys at the RDW station were very cooperative!
Now I can sort out where and when to start disassembling the car.....

20 november 2011

Been a while since my last post......
being busy with all kind of things, but best of all; bought me a second Range Rover Classic from 1993.
This will probably become the donor vehicle for a lot of parts, and if not... Then I still can tell everyone that I have 2 Classics!
Today got things going again and got the front side panels off, the paravan off and the bonnet, also got all the body mounting bolts out. So when I have the doors removed I can lift the body off.
The brake lines, fuel lines, steering column with PAS pump and all the wiring is allready loosened or removed.
Have to hurry up, cause the cold and wet weather is coming....

25 january 2012,

Yes, finally!
Body and chassis are separated....
in my last post I was saying the cold and wet weather is coming, but nothing of that is true... Maybe that is why it took me so long to get the Range Rover body-off, so I can go and work on it when it finally gets cold and wet (!).
One of the main reasons is because I had to get a roof over my head while working on the chassis. I found something near by, thanks Sjaan, but had to do some work over there before I could move in.
Today I got the rolling chassis inside so hopefully I can speed up things now!
Special thanks goes out to my 'mattie'  Marcel from MT Motive who put a very big smile on my face for transporting the Range Rover from my driveway to the new hobby shed.
a few impressions below,

MT-Motive with trailer;

lifting the body;

this way is better;

chassis again on a trailer,

30 januari 2012,

The first day of real wintertime and I'm inside working on my Range Rover Classic!!
Today I wanted to get busy on getting the chassis disassembled.
Exhaust, tank, propshafts are off and the 4 engine bolts are loosened so the engine is ready to go off also.
Have to get some big axle stands, got a few borrowed ones but they're not suitable to lift the chassis high enough so I can remove the axles from underneath the chassis.
few pictures;

also Classic Project;

Besides the classic Range Rover I'm (re)building another classic; 1980 Suzuki gsx1100et motorcycle.

Customizing the bike to a "cafe-racer" with a later engine of a gsx1100efe (135 hp).

So my spare time is divided in family life, Range Rover, Suzuki etc. Oh and my boss also wants me to do a job..  But who of you guys doesn't have the same problem.... a day has not enough hours, a week not enough days and our lives are way too short for living it to the max!

My project bike still needs a little bit of TLC...... but hoping to ride it this summer!

Le French chassis on the trailer off for shotblasting, galvanising and black powdercoating

26 may 2012

finally the Ardennes green donor Range Rover gets separeted.
The last 7 years it has only been used for getting a boat in and out of the sea so the rear end of the car is quite rotten. interior and engine are really sound and that is what I was looking for!
next weeks I'm busy with dismanteling the chassis and getting pieces cleaned and prepared for the next era...
Many thanks this time go out to the guys (Ferry and Remco) of ACB in Zaltbommel for me using the lift... lovely clean garage and great guys. makes life more easy like this!

24 june 2012

Just a small update,
Got the donor body parked on his last stand, ready for dismantling.
The white 2-door has moved inside a workshop where I can start working on removing the panels, roof etc and clean, weld and paint the bare body.
Ordered all the parts for rebuilding the chassis and next week I'll get the remaining chassis parts to the shotblaster for cleaning and coating/painting.
next time I'll update some pics again.


23 september 2012

Again just a small update,
Time  has been flying the last months, all due to moving out of the house and moving into a temporary place to stay. The only things I did on the Range Rover was getting my hands dirty on putting parts in boxes to get them moved. Until last week..... I really got a big smile on my face when I picked up the galvanised and powdercoated chassis. Trying to get the last parts to the shot blaster for refurbishing in the next weeks. So it's a very very slow pace at the moment. Looking for a nice house with a BIG garage... anyone?

26 september 2012

Finally managed to find the time (yesterday) to get the bushes out.
And today got all the underbody parts to the shot blaster for refurbishing and a nice layer of coating.

16 november 2015

YES! After a 3 year 'break' I can pick up the rebuild again, but this time in my own workshop!

We found a nice house and build a garage/workshop in the garden.