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Great advice for buying a Range Rover.

Compression test will tell you if it has a bent valve. Head jobs on diesels are horrible. I know a few who have tried, some very good mechanics, and the vast majority end in tears. Same goes for turbos on the things. Owners are persuaded to put £1000 into a new turbo "because the engine is probably all right, can't be sure but..." and 2 days later it's "yeah not great news here, turns out the engine went at the same time." 2 of my mates have been stung for that one. One went the whole hog, ended up spending more than the car was worth, the other cut his losses by selling the thing to the mechanic. The second one was a VW Golf 1.9, the ones that are supposed to be indestructible. Modern diesels are great, you can really see the development that has been put in over the last 20 years, but when they go wrong they are dreadful.
It was bad luck (assuming he maintained it) having problem with the PD100 or PD130 engines, the 1.9 for 2 years after that engine had an oil pump drive that snapped which resulted in engine failure.
The worst problem i heard of was a Saab with a Fiat diesel. The original engine was running badly and after a few attempts to sort it the owner decided on a brand new engine which was fitted (£2800). Shortly afterwards masses of black smoke was coming out of the exhaust and the car was scrap. They think it was the engine control unit.
 
My 03 Volvo S60 had just been sitting on the drive for months so when the insurance renewal arrived I decided enough is enough. I gave it to Tony our genius car man who has kept our cars going for little cost for years. He is going to pull the D5 engine and use it in his boat on the River Trent
 
My 03 Volvo S60 had just been sitting on the drive for months so when the insurance renewal arrived I decided enough is enough. I gave it to Tony our genius car man who has kept our cars going for little cost for years. He is going to pull the D5 engine and use it in his boat on the River Trent

My 05 S60 is going strong. Needs a few little jobs, some engine mountings, the bolster on the drivers seat needs sewing up, and the inner steering arms need doing, but it’s a fan tactic for a 150,000 mile car. Probably get this done, and if that solves my judder at 70+ I’ll probably lash out on a new cambelt and aux belt.
 
My 05 S60 is going strong. Needs a few little jobs, some engine mountings, the bolster on the drivers seat needs sewing up, and the inner steering arms need doing, but it’s a fan tactic for a 150,000 mile car. Probably get this done, and if that solves my judder at 70+ I’ll probably lash out on a new cambelt and aux belt.
Best to buy the Gates cambelt kit including the water pump, a friends water pump seized up and the car was beyond economic repair.
The only body rust i had on a 1999 V70 i had was two steel metal brackets that bolted onto the aluminium rear bumper support, there was almost nothing remaining of the brackets.
 
Thats about it. The Freelander body will need a lot of stuff removing from its underside but it should sit in the Disco chassis ok. I’m looking forward to it but I’ve a lot of other stuff to get through first.
Blimey, some work there. I used to do a bit but that would be a labour of love.
 
Yes it's a lot of work Steve but I'm confident I could get this done in a couple of months. The spanner in the works was going back to work full time but the money does come in handy :)
 
I can't find the root of this conversation, but if I'm correct you are putting a freelander body on a disco chassis and running gear?

Why?
 
A mate in Saudi blew the donk in his Nissan Patrol. Replaced it with a 5.7 Chevy lump and gearbox. That was a cool machine. Probably still working, 25 years later.
 
Presumably, it's the easiest way to get any thing bigger than a 4-banger lump in a Freelander.


Yes I could go with a V8 but my old Disco is a four pot 300 tdi. When ( if ) I get it done I have a Nissan 3.5 tdi and modified auto box sitting in an old chassis outside my workshop. It has to be done one step at a time so as not confuse DVLA :confused:
 


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