Thread: Tidying up the old classic

G'day.

Angle drive is something I've never seen available, either second hand or new.
Been tempted to retrofit a GPS Speedo into mine.

The CDL switch is as you say. (at least it is on the LT95). Should be a coverplate on the trans tunnel that will het you some access. The switch is serviceable, and is prone to jamming, or filling with oil.

Mine always ran cold, never leaving the white "C" end of the gauge, except in the 40+ degree days when hammering through the hills.
I put in one of Davey's EngineSaver kits with the temp reading and low water sensor. Also put in a new thermostat (and tested it first ).

Still runs cold. Pushing to hit 60 degrees on a cold day, and might touch 80 in the summer.

Originally Posted by d@rk51d3

G'day.

Angle drive is something I've never seen available, either second hand or new.
Been tempted to retrofit a GPS Speedo into mine.

The CDL switch is as you say. (at least it is on the LT95). Should be a coverplate on the trans tunnel that will het you some access. The switch is serviceable, and is prone to jamming, or filling with oil.

Mine always ran cold, never leaving the white "C" end of the gauge, except in the 40+ degree days when hammering through the hills.
I put in one of Davey's EngineSaver kits with the temp reading and low water sensor. Also put in a new thermostat (and tested it first ).

Still runs cold. Pushing to hit 60 degrees on a cold day, and might touch 80 in the summer.

That's interesting, I had a friends '84 Range Rover 5spd here ... it sat smack bang in the middle of the temperature gauge (after a slight spike as the thermostat opened).

I got the speedo working too .................... And now the tacho isn't working ..... sigh ...... At least the plastic isn't all that fragile it breaks in your hands

It's an '85 3.5L 5spd manual 4door.

seeya,
Shane L.

It will have an LT77 gearbox and an LT230 transfer case, and yes, the switch is on top of the TC.... On the top RHS to be exact. If you take the gear lever boots and centre console out, there is a an aluminium cover plate that unscrews from the floor - it is a fair size, and if you take that off, you should have enough room to get to the switch.

Cheers - Gav.

Blinking heck! I wish mine would run at 80 on a hot day!

The right-angle drive is available, but pricey. Someone on here found that a previous owner had removed it and drilled a hole behind the instrument binnacle so the cable could run straight to the speedo. I'm going to have a go at that, though I could use a GPS and will probably get one too.

G'day Shane,

Welcome over from Aussiefrogs (I'm Pottsy Junior).

I'm having problems with the speedo angle drive too in my '75 2 door. New angle drives are available from Fred Smith Automotive but definitely not cheap. For memory I was told upwards of $150 so I think I'll try and cobble together something myself to repair the square drive.

I've gotta have a look at the cooling system in mine too, it runs a bit hot so I was thinking of putting a larger commodore radiator or similar in it along with an electric fan.

Enjoy the big new toy!

Cheers,
Steve

Shouldn't you be driving a Citroen DS or Mini

Hows the fan clutch working on it ?? I wouldn't be too enthused about changing to a different type of radiator. The one fitted is obviously capable of cooling the engine, even using low range/high power on 40+ degree days. Otherwise "overheating" would be a well known range rover fault. Cleaning the radiator (about $100bucks these days) and checking the fan clutch would probably work out a lot better than changing to a different type of radiator The one here never gets hot enough, the day I drove it home must have been 34degrees too.

the old Rangie here isn't a bad thing. It'll clean up quite well. I bought it from "DungaRover". It's his car he was tidying up. He said it was a one owner car from new, that ended up as the farm hack for the last 10years ( ... So yeah, it has plenty of, um, "Patina" ). The original log books in it bear this out. It has service records upto about 10years ago (168,000km). he changed the instrument panel, but the previous one said it had done 19X,000km from new. I can tell he's done a lot of work on it .... And he's done it just in the way I would have. ie: everything you would need to do to make it reliable without spending silly money. Every bolt he's touched you can see is covered with lubricant/anti-seize, every wire he's touched looks really nicely done (usually I pull every "not original" wire off and sort the electricals, but he's done it all already).

It looks like everything has been serviced and every oil changed too., Both diffs leak slightly, as does the gearbox ... this is a good thing, 'cos if they didn't leak I'd probalby have found them all empty

seeya,
Shane L.

My first step with the cooling system will be to go through the whole lot and make sure it's all clean and functioning properly before I look further into modifying.

The difference I have is that with the 4 speed box the old girl is pulling a few more revs on the highway than the 5 speeds. It definitely sounds like you've got a great old Rangey. Simple reliability mods is the exact direction I'm going with mine too.

You're spot on with the oil leaks, I run the same theory on the mini too, "If there ain't no oil under it, there ain't no oil in it"

Cheers,
Steve

Go find a radiator expert that Understands Land Rover - RANGE ROVER radiators... Too many little traps for, um... national franchises... Don't ask how I know.

Got mine cleaned out properly, both tanks off, and he showed me 'why' the replacement core was not being produced anymore... But it was acceptable and cleaned up to his satisfaction... so back in it went .
Next time around a 'proper' core is going in, despite the extra hundreds of dollars...

My bloke assured me that with proper coolant etc, it will handle anything now.

Don't be suckered into a 'Heavy Duty' one with extra rows of fins, few of them actually handle any more heat... all to do with turbulence the extra row(s) of tubes cause, so he tells me.

Then again, if its manual, a differant radiator may well be cheaper and just as good.

James in WA

'95 Classic softdash Auto. with working EAS and Cruise Control. Don't mention the sunroof...