Hi, I am from near Hastings, East Sussex. I have 2 Range Rovers, 1 L322 V8 petrol and 1 P38 4.6 V8 Petrol.

My P38 came out of the factory an Epsom Green 4.6 V8 petrol HSE, later down the line, someone fitted a long range LPG system with the pretty large twin tanks being hidden in the spare wheel well, it has been converted to coil springs with a 2 inch lift, Then 3 owners ago, they decided to fit a roof rack which looks very stupid, but the way it has been mounted, it cannot be removed, so I am going to modify it a bit, It has gained tinted windows, then 2 owners a go, they decided to roller paint paint the whole car in satin black hammerite paint, which looked ok until it started peeling off as the bodywork wasn't prepped at all, and since I have owned it, it has had a new fusebox, new custom professionally fitted exhaust system as the old one was pretty much just hanging on with each section maybe looking at each other rather than joined, I have flyeye tinted the rear lights.

I have used the car on 1 big journey which was the London 2 Brighton run last year, and after that it all went down hill, fusebox finished frying itself, 1 coolant leak after the other, It has eaten 2 batteries so far, now it has a huge coolant leak, the passenger door won't open and it has been burning oil.

I am disabled and young, but I do as much as I can, when I can. When I can't get out of the property on a bad day, I will sit in my garden if the weather is good and muck around with car parts and modify them and paint them.

I love Range Dog and really want to get it working and properly on the road again. I still have it insured and taxed, but not MOT'd and can't even get it to the MOT station at the moment to at least get a fail list if there is going to be one.

I plan to fit a modified P38 / RR Sport supercharged grill, reduce the height of the roof rack, add spot lights, repaint the entire car panel by panel if I have to, where this time it will be prepped properly, haven't decided fully what paint finish or colour I am going to do, but most likely going to go back to satin black, I would like to add a nudge bar, get the windows working properly, and fix the coolant leak. This Range Rover was involved in helping save my life during an off roading accident which was not my fault, and saved me from drowning, so when it came up for sale and my 2nd friend bought it, I was gutted, then he did a load of repairs and got sick of it being a money pit, put it ups for sale and I ended up not being able to resist the urge to own it.

I have opened a separate thread in the oily bits page about the faults I would like help with.

Thank you for reading my essay of a post lol.

Is anyone else from my neck of the woods in the UK?

Green-oval-nut wrote:

I have used the car on 1 big journey which was the London 2 Brighton run last year

??That's not big, this https://rangerovers.pub/topic/186-not-such-a-good-start is a big journey......

Welcome, I've already replied with a couple of points in your other thread

My Range Rover broke down after the London 2 Brighton event lol. That was big for it, I covered I think around 300 miles in the 2 days as I didn't camp at the start line, I stayed in a Days Inn hotel.

Welcome, it sounds like you're in the right place :)
FWIW, these things are never really finished - or so it seems. Just keep bashing away at The List!

Thanks to 2 people on here so far with the help and info by PM for different things, I have already gained personal confidence again in attempting certain jobs on my car, Marty (door catch problem) Gilbertd who has taught me how to upload photo's. Everyones Range Rovers put mine to shame I think in the looks department, and probably right now in the mechanical department too lol. I know coil conversions aren't like on here, but hope the fact that my Range Rover came with the conversion already done and is on a 2 inch lift as well, lets me off the hook as I am not returning it to air lol.

Meet the beast I call Range Dog.

You can now see why I am not restoring it back to its former glory. And peaking in the background of 1 picture is my L322.

The roof rack is going to have it's height lowered, spot lights will be added, front window tints will be removed, modified grill going on, I am going to be bringing back from looking as rough as it is to something much more respectable, but got to get the coolant leak sorted and the door open to get it in for an MOT test lol.

I have to admit, it has been 2 weeks since I actually got in it until yesterday. Really can't wait to get it back in use.

Hey, remember behind every ugly duckling there is a swan waiting to break free.

OldShep56 wrote:

Hey, remember behind every ugly duckling there is a swan waiting to break free.

That's what I thought when I met the wife,, my one turned into a spitting goose,, lol

Looking at the state of that paint, I reckon a decent pressure washer would take most of it off.

Regarding your coolant leak, there's a steel pipe that runs under the alternator that can rust away and leak. I'd be looking at that first.

Jeez, I bet that roofrack makes some noise! How is it fixed to the roof?
And yeah - a karcher should have a lot of that paint off. Then I guess it's just a voyage of discovery to see what the original paint was like before the crap went on. Maybe the PO just wanted to look "Bad Ass" or maybe there was rust. I'd reckon there's some decent paint under there somewhere, even if it doesn't quite go all the way to the edges if you see what I mean.

It has been jet washed 6 times, the rest of that paint really isn't shifting lol and I think it will surprise you when I say honestly, the roof rack makes no noise at all lol. The rack has been bolted directly to the car itself. It is very strong though as has had people standing on it doing photo shoots around charity events.

I know a bloke who paints every vehicle he gets matt black and mounts a plastic skull either in the front window or on the bonnet. He was into 4x4's a couple of years ago, didn't buy it from Yorkshire did you?

Lol, no it didn't come from Yorkshire. It has spent the last 5 plus years hovering around Kent and the last 1 of those years in Sussex with me.

I found the coolant leak problem, I think, The waterpump to thermostat hose. Of course I ordered it last Wednesday, forgetting what the coming 4 day weekend was lol. So still waiting for that. I managed to get the door open, and have the catch ready to fit, But Thursday night I became extremely ill, spent 2 days not being able to eat anything and was having to sip water, still very ill but feeling a bit better, sadly part of my disablities, this particular part can put me into hospital for up to a week some times, and if my other half wasn't already used to it and able to help deal with it, would have killed me a long time ago.

So 2 of the days I had planned to spend at least parts of working on Range Dog have failed to happen. I am hoping to escape the house tomorrow, but very little hopes of that. Although that does mean 2 more parts ordered for the car will have time to arrive before the next weekend meaning I can hopefully do all the work at once. But I will cry, if the water pump is in fact what is leaking. But really does just look like the hose. And I am dreading getting to it. Looks like I may have to take the viscous fan off. I really hope not. Also found the date that I purchased the battery so have been able to contact Euro Car Parts to ask for a duplicate so I can exchange the faulty battery for a new one.

Then once the 3 jobs are sorted, I can finally throw Range Dog in for an MOT, in the knowledge that it should pass. I will have to give is a damn good blast the short distance that it will be going to the MOT place though to clear any oil out of where it shouldn't be in hopes that my new breather pipes that are fitted have hopefully resolved the burning oil issue. Then after the MOT is done, I am having the stepper valve replaced on the LPG, and I will be hopefully making Range Dog my daily runner for a while, while I save up to get the gearbox rebuilt on my L322.

Getting the fan off isn't a biggy, do you have a 36mm spanner, or viscous spanner?. Just give it a good crack ( the spanner) with a hammer, and it should then start to unwind easily, to be honest, as your going in that area would it not be beneficial to change the pump anyway. Don't go doing the job till you feel 100%, we all do it and suffer more from our ailments,, fingers crossed that all ok when it comes to MOT time

If it was the pump that was leaking it would be dripping straight down from the shaft and you'd have spots of coolant on the ground right under the front of the engine in the middle.