88 RRC with VM diesel - worth a look?

[owoodland]

Saw a RRC 1988 advertised here in Perth for $3,000, "head gasket problem"

Went and had a look. I have to say, I have a feel of more like $1k instead of $3k. Straight but the paint isn't real flash, nor is the interior. A bit of a tidy-up would do wonders.

Motor is the main problem, the good ol' 2.4 VM diesel. The car had no battery in it, so I didn't even get a chance to start it (apparently it does start). Running rough, apparently, and a mechanic told the guy it had a blown head gasket. Doesn't appear to have used any coolant and the oil looks/smells OK. I gather that he let it overheat (problem radiator?) then it developed the problem. It was a bit hard to tell, the guy had a real thick accent.

I thought it might be worth a flutter - I have always wanted a RRC diesel. Don't know about the VM diesel, but at least it would lend itself most easily to a transplant (200 or 300 tdi)

Anyone know if the tdis will mate up to the range rover gearbox? Or would you need to slot an R380 in there to mate up? Thoughts?

Anyone got any take on what they reckon it's worth?

Cheers all

Owen

[p38arover]

Tell him he's dreaming. Maybe $1,000.

Ron

[JDNSW]

Discount the VM and treat it as a body (They may be OK when they are running but that appears not to be very often, and they cost a fortune to fix if you can find the parts. Blown head gasket is typical, will need a new head I expect). I don't know whether the gearbox will fit a different engine - it is likely to have a different bell housing, but you should be able to modify the gearbox by fitting a different bell housing.

John

[p38arover]

Your description of the body anmd trim doesn't sound great so, based on JD's comments, maybe $1,000 is too much! I knew they were bad but not that bad. :D

Ron

[JDNSW]

Your description of the body anmd trim doesn't sound great so, based on JD's comments, maybe $1,000 is too much! I knew they were bad but not that bad. :D

Ron

From what I have heard they are prone to overheating, do not take kindly to overheating, repairs are very expensive, parts very hard to find and make TD5 parts look cheap. In theory the separate cylinder heads should make repairs cheaper, but this does not seem to be the case, but does seem to have made the engine both more likely to overheat and more likely to be damaged when they do.

John

[Phoenix]

The VM has four separate heads from memory, and is very prone to overheating and blowing head gaskets.

Somebody once said that the engines boating origins were as an engine designed to be immersed in water for cooling. So

[owoodland]

Gee whiz, nobody talk them up too much, will you?

didn't somebody have some VM diesel parts kicking around in Perth? I remember seeing a post to this effect a while back but the search engine won't let me use the term 'vm' as it is too short (apparently).

Yeah, I reckon that $1k would be about the limit. The RRCs are getting pretty long in the tooth now anyway (except the late ones), so good ones are getting hard to find.

[jsp]

there was a mintish looking 88 or 89 VM deisel sold here locally after being advertised for over a month for $2k I think, it apparently had a full rebuild 10k's before being sold or something, I was interested but all the local shops said it wasnt worth looking at for reliability reasons and that the trans wouldn't mate right upto a tdi or v8 without other bits.

[isuzurover]

A mate of mine bought a VM powered rangie. When he pulled the heads off there were pieces of piston ring embedded in them. It now had a 4BD1T!

[lokka]

Well if its a rrc and the paint and interior is shabby id start at 500 bucks as for the VM its short for vessel moaring as thats all there good for :D:D:D

If its straight and all the running gear is ok it would be a good truck to slot a tdi or 4bd1 into tho im not sure on the box as it may have a different input shaft length and different b/housing to the tdi .....

Best option is to find someone who knows rangies and get them to look over it first and then make your mind up

Good luck with it :D:D:D:D:D

[rrturboD]

My 88 RRC started life with a VM. Now has a Tdi300 and ZF Auto. VM was esay to overheat in the RR, water pump could not cope with the various revs, at cruising was fine, at idle was fine, but no good if in traffic. the motor now runs a 3" water pump fine, at 2k revs seems happy.

[owoodland]

My 88 RRC started life with a VM. Now has a Tdi300 and ZF Auto. VM was esay to overheat in the RR, water pump could not cope with the various revs, at cruising was fine, at idle was fine, but no good if in traffic. the motor now runs a 3" water pump fine, at 2k revs seems happy.

Ah interesting. This explains the various cooling system mods the guy had. All seems too much like hard work at this point. Thanks for the input.

PS The guy was telling me how much money he had previously spent on the motor (heads, etc) and I thought to myself "who cares if you have overheated it and it's now toast". :D Sounds as though the ol' VM is a real money trap (and I happen to own an early TD5 disco as well hahhahaha :()

Owen.