2003 Freelander Van, TD4 Auto - Conversion to car. Off Roading 27/03/23.

With my wife's car suffering major electronic problems a while back and likely to be off the road for a considerable amount of time we needed something for her to use in the meantime. This was a fantastic excuse for me to buy another Land Rover and this tidy 2003 TD4 automatic van happened to be for sale at just the right time and I snapped it up. It had just had a fresh MOT and was already fitted with an early model set of grey leather seats (back ones as well) and Mitsubishi alloys with decent AT tyres.













It wasn't without problems though. When I picked it up the handbrake was very sticky, something I've experienced with previous Freelanders I've owned. So I fitted new handbrake cables, kindly supplied by the seller, and that fixed that problem. It was also without a towbar as the seller had removed it. Not a deal breaker but it would be handy to have one. The spare wheel was pretty poor too, being a rusty steelie and having a deflated perished tyre.

Still, not at all bad for what I paid for it and nothing that I couldn't fix. We decided that we'd keep it anyway once the wife's car was back on the road so that meant I could do pretty much what I wanted with it.

It wouldn't be a project without me doing something to it would it? As luck would have it, another 3 door Freelander came up for sale nearby at a price that couldn't be ignored. It was a 2005 TD4 manual with no MOT. It was being used as a farm vehicle with an appropriately filthy interior but I bought it with the intention that I'd use all the parts from it required to convert the black one from a van to a car. So that's what I've spent this weekend doing. It wasn't quite as straightforward as I'd thought though. There are a few differences in the way the interior trim is fixed and some of the required brackets are missing from the van body. Nothing major though, it just means that there are some fixings missing from the panels on either side of the back seats. Still enough fixings for them to be secure though.

While I was at it I also replaced both of the lights in the back bumper as they were cracked and ditched a broken light protector that was fitted to one of them. I also replaced the crappy spare wheel with one of the donor alloys which has a decent AT tyre fitted.











Not a bad weekends work. The donor also has a towbar and side steps which will be going on the black one too. I've already removed the tow bar and had to get the old metal glue out to do some repairs to it as it turned out to have rotted through at one end. I'm fully expecting the steps to be a pig to get off as I've looked at the bolts and they look absolutely goosed. The black one also had steps before but they've been cut off by a PO and the remains of the brackets look like they'll also be a PITA to get off. Hey ho. This Land Rovering lark isn't always easy is it?

Nice job.

A PO must have done some mods to the 03 car as well cos its got the later bumpers and lights.

Are the windows (replacing the panels) glued in?

GrumpyGel said:

A PO must have done some mods to the 03 car as well cos its got the later bumpers and lights.

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Hmm, not sure when the Freelander got the facelift. I assumed this was a facelift model as it also has the later dash.

The rear quarterlights are fully working. The hinge brackets are there to mount them on. Took quite a while to clean up the edges of the openings as the blank panels are sealed in.

I tackled the side steps on the donor vehicle this morning. Surprisingly they came off really easily. So this weekends work will be fitting those and the towbar.

Seeing as I had a lot more time than I thought I was going to have this morning I put the blank window panels and hard top on the donor and chucked the van trim panels and floor in loosely so I could park it outside. I already have a taker for it who wants the engine and box so it should be gone soon.

The exhaust started blowing and rattling during the week so I needed to take a look at that before carrying on with the other stuff. It's rusted through on the hanger on the entry to the back box. So for now I've cut the back box out and will have a look at the spares car tomorrow to see what's usable. Having the back box out of the way made it easier to fit the tow bar though so that's now in and the socket tested. Thankfully the socket works perfectly.

DefenderPilot said:

The exhaust started blowing and rattling during the week so I needed to take a look at that before carrying on with the other stuff. It's rusted through on the hanger on the entry to the back box. So for now I've cut the back box out and will have a look at the spares car tomorrow to see what's usable. Having the back box out of the way made it easier to fit the tow bar though so that's now in and the socket tested. Thankfully the socket works perfectly.

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Also a good opportunity to do the ear bushes/mounts on the diff if they need doing. They usually don't, the front will go before the backs, but maybe worth an inspection.

Spent most of the day wrestling with the exhausts on both cars only to find I can't really use anything from either car from the downpipe backwards. So I've had to bite the bullet and order a new centre section and back box. I'll have to give the wife a lift to work and collect her again every day until I get it sorted. On the plus side, I did get the side steps fitted.

I didn't want to miss the first Shetland Land Rover & 4x4 Club RTV trial of this year so the Freelander was used in anger off road today as Project Disco is off the road with a knackered water pump right now. Very happy with how it performed, although I'll now have to fix the trailer socket and the side steps now fit a little more snugly against the sills.

I broke off my trailer electrics up a river bed here.

Funny cos I thought the car kept bottoming out on rocks, but the thuds could have been the lump of steel it was attached to swinging on the wires and whacking parts of the car.

A few small updates. People who read the Freelander section will have seen my post about the snapped bonnet cable. Long story short: I couldn't get the bonnet open so resorted to butchery and now I have a grey bonnet that's secured with rubber straps. I did fit a temporary bracket that bolted through the top of the grille to keep me mobile for a while until I had time to implement a more practical solution. I'm not going to bother replacing the bonnet cable.

I also finally got around to fitting the new exhaust. The centre section is stainless steel and the back box is a standard item.

And finally, while it was in the garage, I removed the remaining mud flaps. It only had two fitted when I bought it and they were hanging on for dear life.