Love on the Range
With no customer jobs on Tim finally gets round to his own projects
DESPITE being in lockdown, it has been a very busy few months for me. After finishing a job for a customer, I wanted a couple of months before I took on any more to get some of my own Range Rovers back on the road – one being my old trustworthy 1986 Range Rover, my 1979 two-door, and my 1982 four-door that has been waiting patiently for the last six years.
I started recommissioning the two-door in November. It didn’t need any welding, but it was in need of mechanical jobs as it had been sat for a few years. The first job was an engine service so new plugs, leads, dizzy cap, rotary arm, air filters and an oil change. It was now running perfectly.
Next I set about getting everything operational electrically; everything was working except for the horn and main beam. I have had issues like this before on these early cars, the cure being with the glass fuses on the bulkhead. They were making poor contact, but once cleaned everything was working again.
It was then time to overhaul the brakes. New discs and calipers all round, as well as brake lines and flexi hoses. Whilst stripping the brake discs off, all the wheel bearings were removed and greased, and hub seals replaced, together with front swivel seals. Time to move on to the springs and shocks. From what I could work out they were the originals, so they had done rather well. Steering joints were all checked, but as most of these had been replaced prior to it coming off the road, they were all still in very good shape.
Lastly I noticed the fuel gauge wasn’t working (always essential in a V8). After inspection of the fuel tank, I spotted the terminal had snapped off the sender unit. I had to drain the tank off, so I could remove it and replace with a new one. Whilst at it, new fuel filters were fitted, too.
After initially road-testing it, something wasn’t quite right. It just didn’t go like you’d expect a V8 to; it also sounded more like a four-cylinder. First thoughts were that the timing was out, so this was adjusted, and to be fair it wasn’t far out; certainly not enough to have made it feel so flat. Next thoughts were that there was a vacuum leak somewhere, so I replaced all the hoses but still had the same issue. The only thing I could think to do was check that the throttle cable was operating correctly. After I removed the air box, adjusted the cable as there was a bit of play in it, I then found the problem, and I have to confess I felt rather embarrassed that I hadn’t already noticed it. The link between the two carburettors had broken, which meant on acceleration I only had one fully-working carb! Luckily I had a spare link arm, with this now fitted it totally transformed it. It sounded and went like V8!
With the two-door now operational again I moved to the next project, which was my 1986 Range Rover. I’ve had this car since I was 17 and it had been on the road the entire time until I took it off in the summer of 2019. I was well aware it was getting fragile underneath so the decision was to go through it all. I had already completed the driver’s side in the early part of 2020, and I decided that as soon as the New Year came round I’d get straight back into it.
It has been one huge project – it turned out to be far worse than I ever imagined, but is now on track to be on the road as you read this. Now paying attention to the passenger side, it required full inner and outer sill replacement, while the footwell and lower half of front door pillar had to be rebuilt. Moving to the back I’ve put in a new outer wheel arch, and repaired the main wheel arch. However the boot area is needing a new edge round the boot floor, as well as work to the rear inner wing, which I’m in the process of as I write this. Keep your eyes peeled for further updates – there’s certainly much else to do!