Too clean Rangie ...

[DionM]

Looked at a 93 RR today and it just struck me as too clean / black underneath.

It looked like some black goop had been sprayed in the wheel arches (could see spray on the springs), but the chassis looked fairly 'smooth' (if that makes sense) ie as if it was like that from factory, no black goop on it.

Inside ... I couldn't see any rust in the door jams. I couldn't pull up much of the carpet (just a peek at the base of the seat) but that was fine. In the boot I opened the little CD changer flap and you could see the body work and the back of the wheel well, no rust there.

The rear tailgate frame was quite good, only a very slight trace of rust (tiniest bit) there ... about what I'd expect for a 12yr old car (ie you'd see it on any vehicle). Engine bay looked pretty good, nothing seriously amiss or overly rusty looking there. Bit of rust on the diff housings (normal I suppose). Under sills looked pretty good (plastic runner was there though).

Sneaking a peak at the owners manual I could tell the first owner lived at Bribie Island (ie, beach very close). So I know its been near the ocean and the beaches.

But I really couldn't see any obvious traces of bad rust etc.

Where else are good places to look? I don't know if they will let me rip up all of the carpet in the foot wells (would mean removing screws etc) ...

[loanrangie]

Be wary of the salt water rangie, mine was bought from the seaside and a few years later i discovered the sills were only held together by some thin sheet cunningly hiding the fact that the sills were at least 50% rusted away.

[Ace]

It sounds like its that bitumen type paint, does it appear to have been applied recently or some time ago? If it was applied some time ago then you could safely assume it was applied as a preventative measure, if it has only been applied recently it might be a recoat, or a well executed attempt at hiding some serious rust. Having said that if you had a serious look and couldnt find any then chances are there isnt that much.

Having never owned a range rover i cant say where the problem areas are, but from what i have read in mags the tailgate is the first place to go on the classics. Matt

[landrovermick]

Mate if the owners manual is still in it, getthe details of the previous owner and track him down, i did it with my disco b 4 i bought it just get the name and address and take a look at the white pages, should be able to find them.

You never know it may have been an enthusiast.

If not you can always aplogise for taking his time

Mick

[PhilipA]

Weell,
The problem areas for a Rangie?
You have to look at the cross member which supports the body at the back. Near the ends sometimes fills up with crud.
The place for rust in the front is where the floor meets the side and firewall, either from leaking sunroof drains, leaking aircon drain, or leaking windscreen or leaking decker . Or now I come to think of it some cretin mechanic replacing the central lock plungers and not regluing the plastic on the inside of the doors. One of the members of my club was driving along in his 89 and the drivers floor fell out. Sunroof.
You really have to lift the carpets. This means undoing the kick panels and the little round carpet retainers.
I have not seen it but The rear seat seatbelt mountings can rust out.
However if the top tailgate has only got a little bit of rust, then odds are the rest is OK, as this is the first place, unless of course it is not the original tailgate.
Regards Philip A