Freelander 1 Wot's the defination of madness?

To repeat the same mistake over and over again expecting a different result!

Yip, you've guessed it, I've gone and done it again.
This is Freelander number 5



This one's female cause she's nothing but trouble already , she's an 04 TD4 S model. The photos make her look Waaaaaay better than she is. I think the PO was a tradesman as the rear bumper is very scuffed with frequent fitting of a trailer and the boot door card is heavily marked. Also every corner has a ding or scrape. and the clutch is slipping, probably due to towing.
So why did I buy it? Money! At £950 for an 04 TD4 with only 124k miles I couldn't help myself. Yes I have a clutch to replace and lots of filling and spraying to do but I enjoy doing that kind of stuff and when finished I'll have a £2k - £2.5k car for under £1.5k.
At least that's the plan.

So the good and bad points. Good first.

Price
All windows working.
Boot door handle sound, working properly and no sign of the dreaded rust hole I usually find.
Relatively low miles
6 months MOT
No mechanical issues (so far) apart from the clutch.
4WD intact
No sign of any serious damage
Radio and speakers working
VCU support bearings and rear diff supports all good.
No hole in drivers seat.

Now the bad

Clutch is stuffed.
Every panel has a dent or scratch
Hasn't been serviced for a long time judging by the air filter and how low the oil is.
VCU very tight.
PO was a smoker.

As always I'll have a rapidly growing list of things to do so here it is.

1. Replace Clutch............................................................................ £179 for a 3 piece LUK clutch kit
2. Fill and respray the rear N/S quarter panel.................................. £35 approx for all respraying and filling.
3. Fill and respray the rear N/S door................................................
4. Respray rear N/S corner of bumper..............................................
5. Respray front O/S corner of bumper.............................................
6. Respray O/S mirror as very faded.................................................
6. Remove Propshaft as VCU giving close to 3 mins on 1WUT........... Free
7. Recon VCU.................................................................................. £15 Approx
8. Refit propshaft............................................................................ Free
9. Fit silicone hoses......................................................................... Free as I have a set from my last TD4
10. Oil and Filter change..................................................................£25
11. Gearbox oil change.....................................................................£20
12. IRD oil change.............................................................................
13. Diff oil change.............................................................................

So it looks like I have a lot of work ahead but have already started. The propshaft is off and the filling is almost finished so spraying will start soon.

Alibro said:

To repeat the same mistake over and over again expecting a different result!

Yip, you've guessed it, I've gone and done it again.
This is Freelander number 5

This one's female cause she's nothing but trouble already , she's an 04 TD4 S model. The photos make her look Waaaaaay better than she is. I think the PO was a tradesman as the rear bumper is very scuffed with frequent fitting of a trailer and the boot door card is heavily marked. Also every corner has a ding or scrape. and the clutch is slipping, probably due to towing.
So why did I buy it? Money! At £950 for an 04 TD4 with only 124k miles I couldn't help myself. Yes I have a clutch to replace and lots of filling and spraying to do but I enjoy doing that kind of stuff and when finished I'll have a £2k - £2.5k car for under £1.5k.
At least that's the plan.

So the good and bad points. Good first.

Price
All windows working.
Boot door handle sound, working properly and no sign of the dreaded rust hole I usually find.
Relatively low miles
6 months MOT
No mechanical issues (so far) apart from the clutch.
4WD intact
No sign of any serious damage
Radio and speakers working
VCU support bearings and rear diff supports all good.
No hole in drivers seat.

Now the bad

Clutch is stuffed.
Every panel has a dent or scratch
Hasn't been serviced for a long time judging by the air filter and how low the oil is.
VCU very tight.
PO was a smoker.

As always I'll have a rapidly growing list of things to do so here it is.

1. Replace Clutch............................................................................ £179 for a 3 piece LUK clutch kit
2. Fill and respray the rear N/S quarter panel.................................. £35 approx for all respraying and filling.
3. Fill and respray the rear N/S door................................................
4. Respray rear N/S corner of bumper..............................................
5. Respray front O/S corner of bumper.............................................
6. Respray O/S mirror as very faded.................................................
6. Remove Propshaft as VCU giving close to 3 mins on 1WUT........... Free
7. Recon VCU.................................................................................. £15 Approx
8. Refit propshaft............................................................................ Free
9. Fit silicone hoses......................................................................... Free as I have a set from my last TD4
10. Oil and Filter change..................................................................£25
11. Gearbox oil change.....................................................................£20
12. IRD oil change.............................................................................
13. Diff oil change.............................................................................

So it looks like I have a lot of work ahead but have already started. The propshaft is off and the filling is almost finished so spraying will start soon.

Click to expand...

Alibro, why don't you just take the plunge and become a Freelander restorer full time? You know you'd enjoy it, and they are officially classic cars now. I'd gladly buy one from you if I needed one!

Now who would be silly enough to do that 5 times?

I have just got number 4.

I'm on no. 6

First sign of madness!!! Hairs on the palm of your hand, Second sign of madness looking for them!!!!

Alibro.
You missed one of the good points. It's not fire-brigade red!

I'm on No17

No dodgy wheels on this one?!

Sounds like it will keep you occupied for a while. At least the longer days are with us to allow more time to get through the to-do lists. Just needs to get a bit warmer too!

Have good fun with - and you have no one to blame but yourself!

guineafowl21 said:

Alibro, why don't you just take the plunge and become a Freelander restorer full time? You know you'd enjoy it, and they are officially classic cars now. I'd gladly buy one from you if I needed one!

Click to expand...

I think I already am.

Diesel Do said:

I'm on no. 6

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Show off

rupert092 said:

First sign of madness!!! Hairs on the palm of your hand, Second sign of madness looking for them!!!!

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Sorry I don't understand, I've been looking for them all my life and still no joy.

Colonial said:

Alibro.
You missed one of the good points. It's not fire-brigade red!

Click to expand...

HOW VERY DARE YOU!!!!!

disco_mikey said:

I'm on No17

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4Bee4Bee said:

No dodgy wheels on this one?!
Sounds like it will keep you occupied for a while. At least the longer days are with us to allow more time to get through the to-do lists. Just needs to get a bit warmer too!

Have good fun with - and you have no one to blame but yourself!

Click to expand...

Oh there are plenty of other people to blame me too. Mainly SWMBO.

A few pics of the repairs to the rear quarter.







I'm no body repair guy but I enjoy the process and at the end it will be OK. Not great but good enough to pass the 3 paces glance test.

And the drivers mirror.




This is the plastic undercoat. Tonight it will be painted with Hammerite Stone Chip which should be OK as the finishing coat.
While I was waiting for paint to dry I had a look at the air filter. I think it might be OK for another year or so, what do you think?

Alibro said:

A few pics of the repairs to the rear quarter.

I'm no body repair guy but I enjoy the process and at the end it will be OK. Not great but good enough to pass the 3 paces glance test.

And the drivers mirror.

This is the plastic undercoat. Tonight it will be painted with Hammerite Stone Chip which should be OK as the finishing coat.
While I was waiting for paint to dry I had a look at the air filter. I think it might be OK for another year or so, what do you think?

Click to expand...

I think it's not had a filter for about 30K miles. It's a wonder that it started. Take the fluff off the replacement filter. It'll allow a bit more air onto the engine, and won't clog so quickly.

Nodge68 said:

I think it's not had a filter for about 30K miles. It's a wonder that it started. Take the fluff off the replacement filter. It'll allow a bit more air onto the engine, and won't clog so quickly.

Click to expand...

Thanks Nodge, I'll give that a try. I think the grass and crap got in because one of the rear bolts wasn't screwed in at all.
As the oil is barely reaching the dipstick I suspect you're right about how many miles since a service.

Sprayed the door mirror and it looks great.


Unfortunately I found a high spot on the rear panel after spraying with undercoat so after a bit of bashing and filling it's back to this.



At least I spotted it before spraying with top coat and TBH I was expecting some dodgy bits so not surprised. Hopefully will get this sorted and the top coat on tomorrow, then lacquer over the weekend.
At least that's the current plan.

Number 4? At least you haven't kept them all! :lol: (That'd be my trick - I'm rubbish at parting with cars...)

Good to see that you're getting stuck in with gusto! I'm feeling ashamed that my own FL is still awaiting my attention for a number of jobs, but the Sprint and Hillclimb season has started!!!

Wow, you are a nutter for punishment

Didn't take you long to get into it.

Finally finished filling, rubbing and undercoating and although it is a long way from professional it's good enough for me.


Base coat on.

And lacquered



It's a bit orange peely but not too bad considering.
Nasty run on the bumper.


Maybe I should have flattened the base coat before spraying lacquer but I kinda thought that was a no no with metallic paint, anyway I'll wet sand and buff later and it should pass the 3 pace glance test with flying colours.
Left out in the sun to harden yesterday.




I'll have to get a new photo of the front bumper insert, this one was taken after spraying it with rattle can lacquer and the texture is quite poor.



After this I rubbed it down with 800 grit sandpaper and then used the air gun with 2k lacquer after spraying the side of the car and it came out amazing. I couldn't believe it was my spraying it was so good. I'll get a photo up tomorrow.

Can't see the pictures for some reason?

rob_bell said:

Can't see the pictures for some reason?

Click to expand...

Nor me.

Stupid forum software! I could see the photo's clearly when I went to edit the post but ended up having to delete them and re copy and paste, I saw they weren't showing last night but thought it might sort itself out.
How come you do the same thing on two different days and one time it works and the next it doesn't?
I can't be bothered using photobucket as the photos on my phone go straight to Google photo's.

I upload the files straight to the post. I find it simple and easy to do. I have a GS7 which helps make that sort of thing easy.