captainbeaky
Active Member
- Posts
- 292
Hi all,
After 10 years of absolutely sterling service, my 1992 Classic has just scraped through the mot. It needed a little welding, but there is significant rot in all the usual places - too much to repair, so this is the last year for the vehicle in its current guise.
Problem is, that the engine and drivetrain are spot on. I put in a 4.6 top hat engine, with stage 2 cams, big valve heads, with a 10.2 cr, back in 2007, and it's done about 30k miles since. The engine is a peach - the auto trans is spot on - the transfer box whines a bit - but not excessively, and the axles are fine.
So - what to do?
Current options include:-
1. Find another classic - nice idea, but I've looked at a few classics for sale, and they all seem to need extensive rust repairs, so for a rust free example, I'd be looking at some serious cash ( circa £6k) or serious rust repair. This would be my ideal fix, as I like the classic rangie a lot, but I have to be realistic about the amount of repairs a classic body would need, or how expensive a good one would be to buy.
2. Find a P38 that needs a new engine. This seems like a good idea? I drove a diesel P38 the other day - drove very nicely ( apart from the lack of power) and I think this would be very good with my 4.6 in it. With an absolute minter 4.6 coming up at £4k, loads of nice looking vehicles at under £2k, and some with engine trouble coming in at a few hundred pounds, this seems to be in my kinda price range? - what are p38s like for problems? Are diagnostic tools readily available to counter the electrical gremlins? Where do they rust?
3. Build a 100" hybrid. I like this idea - keeping the best bits of my car, and putting on a modded defender body. Anyone else out there done this? please get in touch, especially if you are close to Stroud in Gloucestershire - I wouldn't mind having a gander at one... I estimate £2500 in parts to do this - does this sound right?
Or find a v8 90 or 110, and put mine in it?
4. Dakar - nice idea on the face of it - but, having visited Dakar, and looked at the work needed, it's not quite as simple. You retain the floor pan ( which is pretty rotten on mine) and put on a glass fibre body and tubular steel roll cage. This is a pretty big load of work, and the price is steep too - circa £6k by the time I have added doors and a roof. Also, it stands out in a crowd - I prefer to disappear into the crowd somewhat.
5. Tomcat - this is an odd option for a car that will be used everyday, but it seems cost effective, with a kit coming in at about £2500. This kit does replace the floor pan, but will be more like a series 2 than a range rover. This looks about the same amount of work as a Dakar.
6. Upgrade to an L322. As per the p38, are diagnostic tools available, and what goes wrong?
And who would buy my classic for the engine?
This is all the research I've done at the mo. I did find a kit that put the engine in the back - I didn't like the look of this though.
Any other thoughts?
Thanks in advance,
Mike.
After 10 years of absolutely sterling service, my 1992 Classic has just scraped through the mot. It needed a little welding, but there is significant rot in all the usual places - too much to repair, so this is the last year for the vehicle in its current guise.
Problem is, that the engine and drivetrain are spot on. I put in a 4.6 top hat engine, with stage 2 cams, big valve heads, with a 10.2 cr, back in 2007, and it's done about 30k miles since. The engine is a peach - the auto trans is spot on - the transfer box whines a bit - but not excessively, and the axles are fine.
So - what to do?
Current options include:-
1. Find another classic - nice idea, but I've looked at a few classics for sale, and they all seem to need extensive rust repairs, so for a rust free example, I'd be looking at some serious cash ( circa £6k) or serious rust repair. This would be my ideal fix, as I like the classic rangie a lot, but I have to be realistic about the amount of repairs a classic body would need, or how expensive a good one would be to buy.
2. Find a P38 that needs a new engine. This seems like a good idea? I drove a diesel P38 the other day - drove very nicely ( apart from the lack of power) and I think this would be very good with my 4.6 in it. With an absolute minter 4.6 coming up at £4k, loads of nice looking vehicles at under £2k, and some with engine trouble coming in at a few hundred pounds, this seems to be in my kinda price range? - what are p38s like for problems? Are diagnostic tools readily available to counter the electrical gremlins? Where do they rust?
3. Build a 100" hybrid. I like this idea - keeping the best bits of my car, and putting on a modded defender body. Anyone else out there done this? please get in touch, especially if you are close to Stroud in Gloucestershire - I wouldn't mind having a gander at one... I estimate £2500 in parts to do this - does this sound right?
Or find a v8 90 or 110, and put mine in it?
4. Dakar - nice idea on the face of it - but, having visited Dakar, and looked at the work needed, it's not quite as simple. You retain the floor pan ( which is pretty rotten on mine) and put on a glass fibre body and tubular steel roll cage. This is a pretty big load of work, and the price is steep too - circa £6k by the time I have added doors and a roof. Also, it stands out in a crowd - I prefer to disappear into the crowd somewhat.
5. Tomcat - this is an odd option for a car that will be used everyday, but it seems cost effective, with a kit coming in at about £2500. This kit does replace the floor pan, but will be more like a series 2 than a range rover. This looks about the same amount of work as a Dakar.
6. Upgrade to an L322. As per the p38, are diagnostic tools available, and what goes wrong?
And who would buy my classic for the engine?
This is all the research I've done at the mo. I did find a kit that put the engine in the back - I didn't like the look of this though.
Any other thoughts?
Thanks in advance,
Mike.
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