Hello from the Alps

Hello All,
I'm James, and I live in the Ubaye valley, in the French Alps.
I've just bought a 1986 90 TD station wagon, and am going to be doing a minor restoration to make it more practical as a working vehicle, and for moving dogs and skis.

I'm a mile up, and we have proper snow already, and will have for some time. When it isn't snowing, I spend quite a bit of time cutting firewood, doing treework and heavy duty gardening for people, or with trailers of building materials.

Current plans are to renew windows seals, a few minor repairs( speedo cable, bonnet catch), and repaint in the spring time. I've also upgraded the ancient Uniroyals to BFGoodrich AT (235/85 R 16s.)

It is a bit reluctant to start from cold, which I'm trying to resolve.

My first orders from paddocks are already here- including a Haynes manual.
I have a few questions....

Current security is original Lucas electronics i.e. a 50/50 chance of it starting. What security upgrades do people recommend?

To run a winch, what size alternator? The 45 amp one seems tired anyway! ( no A/C ) I'm not sure if I'll fit one, but I might as well future-proof now.

It gets fairly cold here typically about -20 C in the depths of winter. Is it worth going for a larger battery than stock?

Any other thoughts for starting issues that aren't low battery for one reason or another?

Is attempting to sound-proof to any useful degree a hopeless waste of time and money?

Thanks!

welcome!
steering lock - battery isolation switch hidden somewhere.
bigger battery (cold cranking amps) can't hurt.
Alternator, I've upped to a 100Amp ready for a winch - not an expert though just went for a big 'un
sound proofing does work.... to some degree. plenty of options on ebay.

still waiting or snow here!

Hello and welcome.. Nice intro.
More experienced hands than me around so you'll be good for advice.
Am jealous about the snow by the way. Have fun

Welcome to the forum

Bigger battery will be needed to help start it in such cold temperatues. You will need to check the battery will work at such low temperatures. At colder temperatures the strength and capacity a battery has reduces.

Sound proofing will work a bit. Kits available to buy. If I were you I'd be more concerned about yer insulation to help keep the heat in. The standard heater will struggle (to keep it warm int summer ) to keep it warm at -20c. A diesel fool powered heater like the Freelander 1 had or similar may be the solution. Upgrading to a Freelander would solve all yer problems.

Snow is highly over-rated. Live with it for 4-5 months a year and the novelty soon wears off- and I get season passes to the local ski resort. I can certainly ski faster than I can drive on snow! Uphill, I think the dogs are faster than the car as well!

I'll have a look at sound and thermal insulation kits.

Right, off to take the doors off. I want to jiggle the door handle mechanism and such like, which will be easier in workshop than in situ.

Right, some pictures....
Pre-starting over-view.
Land-rover in a natural state... In bits and full of tools!
What was once a bonnet catch. No wonder it was bouncing about a bit!
Nothing a wire brush and rattle can won't fix( i.e stop wife complaining about) for the time being.

Not pictured.... somewhat rotten door bases ( more rattle can)
Looks like all that welding practice I'd been putting off will be needed soon.

Windows are now draft free, which will help with the cold.

Welcome, and feel free to post some photos of your local scenery!

This kind of scenery, or the rather tidy Series 2 forward control a neighbor has?

welcome to the madhouse

Alpinewoodsman said:

This kind of scenery, or the rather tidy Series 2 forward control a neighbor has?View attachment 163643

Click to expand...

Both!