1988 Range Rover Classic 3.5L V8 EFi
- Thread starter marccleave
- Start date
This site contains affiliate links for which LandyZone may be compensated if you make a purchase.
marccleave
Active Member
- Posts
- 644
- Location
- Dorset
MOT TODAY.
PASSED NO ADVISORIES.
PASSED NO ADVISORIES.
marccleave
Active Member
- Posts
- 644
- Location
- Dorset
Thank you everyone for your supportive comments and putting up with my inconsistent posting. Been busy with university recently and four years after buying this for 295 notes its finally passed its MOT.
Grinning from ear to ear.
Grinning from ear to ear.
norseman
Well-Known Member
- Posts
- 3,259
- Location
- Essex - UK
Many congrats. another Classic saved, now enjoy it
Co-Pang-Yang
Well-Known Member
- Posts
- 2,930
- Location
- Colchester, Essex
Read through this thread the past couple of days.
Brilliant work on restoring this Classic, really impressive work.
Makes me want a Range Rover even more, just wish I had the time spare to learn to weld.
Cracking car and top work
Brilliant work on restoring this Classic, really impressive work.
Makes me want a Range Rover even more, just wish I had the time spare to learn to weld.
Cracking car and top work
mojofilter
Active Member
- Posts
- 101
- Location
- Scotland
Brilliant work, makes me wish I still had mine..
- Posts
- 9,105
- Location
- Roaming the UK on assignments
Seems only fair to revive this after today's news, I remember when you embarked your journey back in October 2012 on the old LROi forum, you brought her back to life, I remember you skimming the heads and the intake on the old iron table, I remember us laughing at my idea to ship that 300Tdi block with it's melted pistons to Belgium so I could make it into an industrial art glass topped table lol
I have fond memories of our interactions from a distance and I feel ashamed that I never managed to find, no, make the time to come down to Dorset, rest in peace friend
I have fond memories of our interactions from a distance and I feel ashamed that I never managed to find, no, make the time to come down to Dorset, rest in peace friend
Tim Grenville-Cleave
New Member
- Posts
- 4
- Location
- Dorset
I have a feeling I will be posting here quite often, From comments made by family members a decision has been made to carry on Marc's work on his classic, a challenge I will attack with the same joie de vivre as he did.
norseman
Well-Known Member
- Posts
- 3,259
- Location
- Essex - UK
An amazing restro. job, I am in awe of your skill a patience. Another Classic saved & I'm sure you will enjoy the fruit of your labours, but don't forget the all important anti-corrosion treatment
So sorry to hear the news of Marc's untimely death & I'm sure he would approve of your decision to continue the work. I look forward to seeing your posts.
So I’m reviving an old thread, one with a touching story behind it, and a story that should not be forgotten, but the main reason for reviving the thread will be to document getting this much loved classic back on the road and back in use putting smiles on peoples faces as I’m sure it did Marcs.
For me this all started when I saw a post about an old classic chassis needing a good home and on arrival to collect it I meet Tim and find this vehicle sat on the driveway looking a bit sorry for itself. At that point I only knew the rough story but it’s immediately clear that Tim wished for a good home for the vehicle.
After a complete time waster messing him about we end up in the situation of the vehicle coming my way and with care the vehicle was winched up on to my trailer and moved from Dorset up to Somerset.
I’ve always been a fan of the classic Range Rover as have my parents and this is the opportunity for mother to finally have her own Green Oval product. Within the family there’s a whole fleet so I feel we can certainly provide a good home for the classic.
The main highlights of the fleet are:
Myself:
-V8 Airportable S3, covered in a very early edition of classic landrover magazine, rebuilt from ground up over a period of 2 years and last year used as our wedding transport, built and used hard in trials
-90 RTV trialler and general workshop truck
Wife:
-D1 daily driver and RTV truck
Brother:
-1951 S1 80” rebuilt from ground up with full rollcage used for trials and comp safaris, standard 2 litre engine, plenty of pictures of it online being put through its paces
Dad:
-1957 S1 88”, owned for about 40years, 200tdi fitted in recent years returning almost 40mpg on last years Norway trip
-101 v8 fairly original GS
And finally Mum joins in:
-This 1988 classic Rangie
Like Marc I rebuilt my first Land Rover at a young age whilst balancing social activities, education, and all the other pressures put on us youngsters and whilst I did not know Marc, a loss in my Land Rover club under similarly tragic circumstances is what has gotten me so attached to this vehicle already. I hope to do him proud in putting this classic back on the road.
So far then I’ve picked up the vehicle:
And being a bit of a perfectionist I’ve completed the following:
Replaced ignition barrel with a spare I had in the shed as the key in the original was less than great, and as an added bonus we now have 3 matching keys so a few spares. I’ve had a quick look at the wiring under the dash and there’s a little bit of work to finish off but with a battery on the vehicle it turns over and some of the lights still work.
Pulled out the fuel tank to check pump functionality and to empty any sediment in tank. I found a small hole on the breather pipe which I will JB weld as I’ll be replacing the tank with a 300tdi discovery plastic tank.
Pulled out all the fuel lines as the rubber hoses were quite hard and the last thing I want is this going up in flames. Found one of the fuel lines was just pushed over the threaded end of the link pipe so I’ve cut and cleaned up an outlet from an old carb I had lying around so the hose can go on a bit better.
Ordered new 8mm rubber fuel lines but 10mm has been sent so I’m waiting for them to send the right sized stuff.
Found a complete distributor in my shed which I’m 99.9% sure is a good complete unit so will swap that across in place of the one with suspect amplifier. I have spare coils from my lightweight before I megasquirted.
Weekends have been fairly busy but I promised to get the truck in to an MOT before end of June and as long as fuel pipe arrives I’m confident I’ll have her up and running and moving under her own power in time to meet that deadline.
Longer term plans haven’t been totally finalised, but we want and need this truck to be useable as a daily driver so as much as it pains me to say it, the v8 may have to come out. The truck is pretty straight and hasn’t been butchered unlike many of them by now so any work I do will try as far as possible to avoid any major cutting. Externally the vehicle will remain looking standard and I like the way it sits on the bigger tyres without a lift.
More to follow, watch this space...
For me this all started when I saw a post about an old classic chassis needing a good home and on arrival to collect it I meet Tim and find this vehicle sat on the driveway looking a bit sorry for itself. At that point I only knew the rough story but it’s immediately clear that Tim wished for a good home for the vehicle.
After a complete time waster messing him about we end up in the situation of the vehicle coming my way and with care the vehicle was winched up on to my trailer and moved from Dorset up to Somerset.
I’ve always been a fan of the classic Range Rover as have my parents and this is the opportunity for mother to finally have her own Green Oval product. Within the family there’s a whole fleet so I feel we can certainly provide a good home for the classic.
The main highlights of the fleet are:
Myself:
-V8 Airportable S3, covered in a very early edition of classic landrover magazine, rebuilt from ground up over a period of 2 years and last year used as our wedding transport, built and used hard in trials
-90 RTV trialler and general workshop truck
Wife:
-D1 daily driver and RTV truck
Brother:
-1951 S1 80” rebuilt from ground up with full rollcage used for trials and comp safaris, standard 2 litre engine, plenty of pictures of it online being put through its paces
Dad:
-1957 S1 88”, owned for about 40years, 200tdi fitted in recent years returning almost 40mpg on last years Norway trip
-101 v8 fairly original GS
And finally Mum joins in:
-This 1988 classic Rangie
Like Marc I rebuilt my first Land Rover at a young age whilst balancing social activities, education, and all the other pressures put on us youngsters and whilst I did not know Marc, a loss in my Land Rover club under similarly tragic circumstances is what has gotten me so attached to this vehicle already. I hope to do him proud in putting this classic back on the road.
So far then I’ve picked up the vehicle:
And being a bit of a perfectionist I’ve completed the following:
Replaced ignition barrel with a spare I had in the shed as the key in the original was less than great, and as an added bonus we now have 3 matching keys so a few spares. I’ve had a quick look at the wiring under the dash and there’s a little bit of work to finish off but with a battery on the vehicle it turns over and some of the lights still work.
Pulled out the fuel tank to check pump functionality and to empty any sediment in tank. I found a small hole on the breather pipe which I will JB weld as I’ll be replacing the tank with a 300tdi discovery plastic tank.
Pulled out all the fuel lines as the rubber hoses were quite hard and the last thing I want is this going up in flames. Found one of the fuel lines was just pushed over the threaded end of the link pipe so I’ve cut and cleaned up an outlet from an old carb I had lying around so the hose can go on a bit better.
Ordered new 8mm rubber fuel lines but 10mm has been sent so I’m waiting for them to send the right sized stuff.
Found a complete distributor in my shed which I’m 99.9% sure is a good complete unit so will swap that across in place of the one with suspect amplifier. I have spare coils from my lightweight before I megasquirted.
Weekends have been fairly busy but I promised to get the truck in to an MOT before end of June and as long as fuel pipe arrives I’m confident I’ll have her up and running and moving under her own power in time to meet that deadline.
Longer term plans haven’t been totally finalised, but we want and need this truck to be useable as a daily driver so as much as it pains me to say it, the v8 may have to come out. The truck is pretty straight and hasn’t been butchered unlike many of them by now so any work I do will try as far as possible to avoid any major cutting. Externally the vehicle will remain looking standard and I like the way it sits on the bigger tyres without a lift.
More to follow, watch this space...
Last edited:
PS, if people would rather a new thread be started just let me know. And likewise if people want separate threads on the other trucks let me know although I’d rather be spending time in the garage fixing Rangie than spending too much time on here. Easier to just get over to Somerset and come and see the trucks in the flesh or find me on faceballs where there’s plenty of pictures and videos of all my Land Rover shenanigans! Alex Moore
A much overdue update.
3 years since I picked up the rangerover, I’ve still got it and am still chipping away at it. Not all that long after picking it up my first child made an early entrance to the world and since then another has joined so life has been somewhat hectic!
As such, I haven’t documented every bit of work as I’d liked to have been able to do.
But a short list:
- v8 fired up with another dizzy but breathed very heavily, so it came out and made way for something with a bit more grunt/useability
- axles removed and replaced with a pair of rebuilt disco300 ones to bring it all up to metric and 110 brakes fitted. The old rrc back axle had brake callipers fitted on the wrong side with bleed nipples at the bottom so how they were bled I don’t know.
- boot floor and bathroom floor sealer has been removed and fuel tank removed and rusted rear crossmember repaired
- 300tdi plastic fuel tank fitted with chassis mounts made to match
- antirollbar mounts welded to chassis
- a big chunk of drivers floor cut out as it was just random plates stuck on top of each other and the body mount had rotted out. Just finished welding in a new section of floor and new body mount
- steering box removed as it was leaking, second hand replacement fitted
- handbrake drum removed to find the entire brake assembly covered in oil, and found the flange nut to be loose so new seal and nut fitted and I’ve got a later handbrake setup to go on.
- tbox then fitted to td5 and r380 with new clutch. Td5 has had most external gaskets replaced and a new water pump, starter, skimmed exhaust manifold and long stud kit and the engine sits in there on 300crossmember and engine mounts welded in.
- front seatbelt mounts have had pins fitted as they were missing so there was no direct connection between belt and chassis like there should be! :O
- I’m sure there’s more but that’s the bulk of it
Hopefully I don’t find anymore surprises and I’m only a few months away from finally getting it on the road.
3 years since I picked up the rangerover, I’ve still got it and am still chipping away at it. Not all that long after picking it up my first child made an early entrance to the world and since then another has joined so life has been somewhat hectic!
As such, I haven’t documented every bit of work as I’d liked to have been able to do.
But a short list:
- v8 fired up with another dizzy but breathed very heavily, so it came out and made way for something with a bit more grunt/useability
- axles removed and replaced with a pair of rebuilt disco300 ones to bring it all up to metric and 110 brakes fitted. The old rrc back axle had brake callipers fitted on the wrong side with bleed nipples at the bottom so how they were bled I don’t know.
- boot floor and bathroom floor sealer has been removed and fuel tank removed and rusted rear crossmember repaired
- 300tdi plastic fuel tank fitted with chassis mounts made to match
- antirollbar mounts welded to chassis
- a big chunk of drivers floor cut out as it was just random plates stuck on top of each other and the body mount had rotted out. Just finished welding in a new section of floor and new body mount
- steering box removed as it was leaking, second hand replacement fitted
- handbrake drum removed to find the entire brake assembly covered in oil, and found the flange nut to be loose so new seal and nut fitted and I’ve got a later handbrake setup to go on.
- tbox then fitted to td5 and r380 with new clutch. Td5 has had most external gaskets replaced and a new water pump, starter, skimmed exhaust manifold and long stud kit and the engine sits in there on 300crossmember and engine mounts welded in.
- front seatbelt mounts have had pins fitted as they were missing so there was no direct connection between belt and chassis like there should be! :O
- I’m sure there’s more but that’s the bulk of it
Hopefully I don’t find anymore surprises and I’m only a few months away from finally getting it on the road.
Jayridium
Well-Known Member
- Posts
- 1,416
- Location
- Pedronapper (Peterhead)
Seems only fair to revive this after today's news, I remember when you embarked your journey back in October 2012 on the old LROi forum, you brought her back to life, I remember you skimming the heads and the intake on the old iron table, I remember us laughing at my idea to ship that 300Tdi block with it's melted pistons to Belgium so I could make it into an industrial art glass topped table lol
I have fond memories of our interactions from a distance and I feel ashamed that I never managed to find, no, make the time to come down to Dorset, rest in peace friend
I only just found this thread, and spent a lunch break reading it, totally unaware of the OP's early demise, was a bit of a sucker punch when I read this ode/obituary to him... My condolonces to his family, and I hope he has the best afterlife that his religious beliefs offer to him. @fboV8 It's nice to see another club member has picked up the mantle and is keeping his beloved RRC alive, and even more so that they are doing so with the diligence and decorum you have shown, massive respect sir.
Ever wish you never started a project? I have found horror after horror and it’s still not on the road. The leaky handbrake seal must’ve been leaking for some time, the entire underseal was soaked right through and it made crawling underneath no fun. I have scraped off all the soaked and loose.
Attachments
Drivers floor now fixed and new body mount in place. Did I mention the drivers wing wasn’t fixed to the footwell at all and that when I undid the bolt the body sprung upwards 1/4”? No wonder none of the doors line up I think the whole things is twisted out of shape.
Attachments
- Posts
- 19,298
- Location
- Buckinghamshire, UK. ('95 DT)
Yep, sounds like a classic or disco
The rear shock absorbers that I took off went in the scrap because they’d had metric nuts wound wonky on to imperial threads, and the old split pin top mount contained a nail on the outer hole with the shock bushes loose.
I’d salvaged some shocks from the last discovery I scrapped as well as the threaded style top mounts so I’ve got one fitted with new bushes throughout.
Also fitted new metric calliper to match the discovery axle.
I’d salvaged some shocks from the last discovery I scrapped as well as the threaded style top mounts so I’ve got one fitted with new bushes throughout.
Also fitted new metric calliper to match the discovery axle.
Attachments
norseman
Well-Known Member
- Posts
- 3,259
- Location
- Essex - UK
As I stated in my previous post (#129) mine was built in June '87 & out of interest it's drivers' footwell is also made up of 'random plates' They must have been using up cut-offs at the factory
nb. there are variations in RRC distributors, even from the same time period.
Thanks for your update.
nb. there are variations in RRC distributors, even from the same time period.
Thanks for your update.
