Thread: What Have I Got ?

Originally Posted by pomonastik

It's a long story but i bought another range rover today.
the steering box on my '88 highline had been giving me the irrits, losing 500ml of fluid a day so on wednesday i took it off to fit a new seal. BAD MISTAKE. by thursday night i'd buggered two input seals trying to force a new one in and in desparation i slapped it all back together so i could go to work today. the test run confirmed my worst fears, to the point i was worried the gushing fluid might ignite on the exhaust manifold. scouting around the web priced secondhand ones at $500, reco units at $650+ and a brand new one at $1100. what to do ? no car = no work = no money !
luckily the rain genie came overnight so i didn't have to go this morning but i was still going to be struggling for tomorrow etc.
my good lady wife, knowing i was a bit stuck, magically produced $500 for me to potentially make a 200km round trip to melbourne or ballarat in the hope of finding a reasonable second hand one. i'm about to start making 'phone calls when she mentions that another local mum had said that her husband's RR had gone wrong recently and he'd gone and bought another car. why didn't i give them a ring first in case it might have a usable bit on it ? lo and behold,
"yes the car is crook, would you like to come and have a look with a view to buying it for spares?"
the couple are the caretakers at a large house used by a church for priests to holiday at. so the car turns out to be an '88 model and the steering box is identical with minor stains but no real leaks. a price is agreed of $1500 spread over a couple of months with $500 down now, take it away today.
this all happened so quickly i was barely aware that a few details were different about the car and it wasn't 'til i got home that i bothered to look closely. i'd seen the rocker covers were red and the air meter looked different but i'd been more focussed on the steering box and after all, the engine was said to be crook and mines ok. it had been parked back against a hedge so i hadn't noticed the badge on the back that said 4.2 Vitesse. it must be a grey import because it has a land rover uk chassis plate (SALLHAML3EA324494).
ok, so i reckon its got a holed piston but it drives ok, has 6 months rego and has easily saleable goodies like a full gas conversion dated from 2006 and a brand new a/c compressor. it's also only recently been fully rebushed all round, has good wood, a few good tyres and aftermarket steel bull and rear bumper bars.
the bad things are a dinged up bonnet ,signs of collision damage to the drivers door, no indicators and, of course a dud motor.

so folks what exactly have i bought ? is it rare? should i simply part it out or would that be a crime?

Is it a 107" or 100". Some UK Rangie's had 4.2 as standard.

definitely 100", auto, lt230, metal sprung. no anti roll (sway) bars.
no sunroof. dash is in black. motor has red rocker covers and instead of flapper type air meter has stainless steel tube with one sensor (i think) wire coming out of it (could be part of gas conversion?). different alternator. small black lettering on lower right of tailgate "4.2 Vitesse"
otherwise all else seems identical to my highline.
rego sticker says 1988. unlike aussie (JRA) chassis plate brit one just gives maker and vin.
i'll try and post pics tomorrow. can't find much on net other than description of vitesse motor being wider boresize (94mm) and bigger valves. even with only 7 pots firing and through a slush box it feels quicker than my highline.

Originally Posted by pomonastik

definitely 100", auto, lt230, metal sprung. no anti roll (sway) bars.
no sunroof. dash is in black. motor has red rocker covers and instead of flapper type air meter has stainless steel tube with one sensor (i think) wire coming out of it (could be part of gas conversion?). different alternator. small black lettering on lower right of tailgate "4.2 Vitesse"
otherwise all else seems identical to my highline.
rego sticker says 1988. unlike aussie (JRA) chassis plate brit one just gives maker and vin.
i'll try and post pics tomorrow. can't find much on net other than description of vitesse motor being wider boresize (94mm) and bigger valves. even with only 7 pots firing and through a slush box it feels quicker than my highline.

Vitesse is a Rover specialist in melbourne they do some nice engine mod,s

Im betting the rangie you bought has a vitesse engine the obvious being the sticker on the back

Apart from the engine and injection mods it will just be another run of the mill rangie

Vitesse will be in the yellow pages get your engine number and vin # ring them and im sure they will let you know when the engine was done and what was done to it

attached are a few pics of the new rangie. i've decided to break it and use some parts for my own vehicle and try and recoup some of the cost by selling some other bits. anybody who wants to get in early and gets dibs on such things as the lpg system, a/c compressor etc might want to pm me. the donk could be a winter project for me to strip down and rebuild to eventually repower mine. therefore a good lt77 or even an r380 5spd is high on my shopping list. the auto tranny seems good so if anyone is seeking to go auto, again a pm now might secure the necessary goodies.
i am based in anglesea on the great ocean road. after the end of april i may well be working in braeside again at my mate's ferrari workshop.

further pics including mysterious 'tube' instead of air meter. anybody got any clues whats happening here?

Originally Posted by pomonastik

further pics including mysterious 'tube' instead of air meter. anybody got any clues whats happening here?

Does it run on petrol ? if so you have an aftermarket ecu fitted may be under the dash or in the factory under drivers seat location. 2nd pic is a lpg converter but cant see a mixer anywhere unless tube in intake is a homemade mixer. - Edit, there is no mixer but the lpg enters the plenum right near the butterfly - you can see the flow adjuster near the oil filler cap rh side rocker cover.

thanks loanrangie, that makes sense to me. it fits in with the local vitesse engineering theory espoused by rangieman. i will need to keep all the ecu gear together for this engine if i'm going to rebuild it but i won't be using lpg. i am a firefighter so i hate the stuff with a passion. personally i can't see the point of having a performance engine and then gassing it. ultimately i'd like a 'one wire' diesel but unless i can get a complete isuzu set up i'm going to stick with straight petrol.

Originally Posted by pomonastik

ultimately i'd like a 'one wire' diesel but unless i can get a complete isuzu set up i'm going to stick with straight petrol.

300 Tdi is the go then

LRH