Well, the Vogue SE has finally arrived.

It was collected in Gloucester yesterday at around 1pm by Beamish Transport, from there it went to Birmingham, Newcastle, Coatbridge, Linwood and then to Langbank where it was delivered at 1.30pm today. A massive thanks to them for such a pleasant and efficient process.

The car itself needs work doing to it, I knew it did when I bought it. The front bumper is removed and in the back as it was removed for painting but never painted, the interior has had parts borrowed from it for other cars. All the parts that were removed are present so it just needs putting back together.

The car drove off the lorry, I had to unload at my flat rather then at my folks where the workshop is. It's definitely a Range Rover I bought... it had to be jumpstarted whilst on the lorry and it then broke down on the 1.5 mile trip! The small return spigot from the radiator to the expansion bottle was sheared so the coolant was spraying everywhere. Thankfully as soon as I saw the temperature gauge go up I stopped it and used the other P38 to drag it up the hill.

There was a brand new radiator in the back of the car so I've fitted that tonight. The coolant return pipe was some crappy piece of pipe so I've replaced that with a proper one, and I've replaced the bonnet struts as they were shot too. I've had it running tonight, it was beautifully smooth but after about 10 minutes there was a bearing from something on the auxiliary belt that was screeching. I took the belt off and felt the pulleys, there's a bit of wear in the tensioner and the water pump so I'll check them out tomorrow. Other then that, the car has been running and has had the cooling system filled and bled out and it's running beautifully. The rear air suspension came up no problem but the front didn't so I'll get a look at that too.

The engine is spotlessly clean so I do believe that it's been changed recently too. The seller has the receipt for the RPI engine that's in the car and is going to send it on so that I can keep it with the cars history file. There's some amount of money been spent on the car over the years, including a receipt from a Land Rover dealer in Benidorm for €1300 for an air suspension compressor!

It does need a lot of work doing to it however I believe all of the parts are in the back of the car but for the price I paid for it I think I've got a fair project. Current mileage is 104,800. It's done about 600 miles from it's previous MOT before it sat off the road for 2 years.

Pictures:

There's some unusual wiring coming off the battery that I wasn't sure about when I saw it earlier. It has however just occurred to me that it's probably to do with the split charge system for the 12S towing socket.

The battery on the car is totally dead, I put it on the reconditioner earlier on and it said the battery was faulty. I was going through the service history tonight and the receipt for the battery is there. Thankfully, it's got 13 days of warranty left on it so I'm going to get a replacement battery for it tomorrow. :)

More updates to come as progress occurs.

David.

Welcome to the Project SE club David. Had a strong sense of deja vu looking at your pictures.
Looks like it'll clean up well. The grubby leather will come back nicely, I sense a front cover oil seal in your future...
Now the fun begins. New battery, plug in the Nano and run through all the systems :)

First impression is a good buy! Take one step at the time to get her on the road again, MoT has expired I believe so take your time in doing it right first time.
Sort out the surplus wiring to avoid gremlins, and a new frontscreen I believe?
Tony.

Another one with the extra speaker on top if the dash, they must have had a few speakers left over towards the end of the production run. Not sure about the green wood trim though.

It looks like you've got some fun ahead - but that should be a good car once you've put in a few weekends!

Hopefully.

The car cost less then any other Vogue SE I've ever seen for sale before.

I've ordered an auxiliary belt tensioner and a water pump today which I'll get fitted and then get the belt back on. Halfords replaced the old battery under warranty this morning too so it's all good so far.

I know it's a project and that it needs a fair amount of work but I'll get it to where it deserves to be. First step is to make it perfect mechanically and get it through an MOT then once it's usable I can start picking away at the bodywork. Other then respraying both of the bumpers and a good session at the local detailers for a full paint correction there's not a massive amount of work required.

David.

dhallworth wrote:

there's not a massive amount of work required.

I seem to recall Orangebean saying something similar........

Gilbertd wrote:

dhallworth wrote:

there's not a massive amount of work required.

I seem to recall Orangebean saying something similar........

---

I may have underestimated a tad, but have had a lovely day in the workshop bolting on my shiny new V8Devs heads. One day I hope to actually drive the car :)

I tried Euro Car Parts in Glasgow today for the water pump and belt tensioner as I want to get on with it but there's nothing in stock anywhere. Drives me nuts! Patience isn't a strong point!

David.

Have you tried Island 4x4? Order it early enough, you'll get it the next day.

I've had dozens of orders from Island in the past and have never had any problems off them. Their service is great.

David.

LR Direct
Quinton Hazell water pump STC4378QH.Z8 £48.36 (bought one a few days ago!)
Bearmach Tensioner ERR6439R.M8 £22.85
All plus the dreaded VAT of course, but, like Island, they deliver next day if ordered before 12

I got a Dayco tensioner for £20 delivered on eBay and Euro Car Parts will have a Circoli water pump in stock for me tomorrow which cost £48.29.

:)

David.

Think the last time I bought a water pump was off GEMM, it was in a dreaded blue box but stamped Quinton Hazell on the casting.

dhallworth wrote:

I tried Euro Car Parts in Glasgow today for the water pump and belt tensioner as I want to get on with it but there's nothing in stock anywhere. Drives me nuts! Patience isn't a strong point!

David.

I know what you mean about no where stocks our parts, I had the fan belt snap on my old dse, I was right outside GSF, no problem I thought, as it's a BMW engine,, WRONG ! 2 days to get a belt,,

Well, the new water pump arrived yesterday, as did the tensioner.

I got them both fitted last night but ran out of daylight so didn't have it running. I've bled it through and had it running this morning, the engine on it is silky smooth and so quiet.

The bearings in the old water pump had definitely gone as the impeller was able to slide back and forth and you could see where it had been touching the water pump casing.

The rear air suspension rises very quickly and the compressor is silent, the front stays on the floor though. I've removed the pipe from the top of the bag and there's not much air going in so I'm about to venture back out with a pressure gauge.

The audio system powers on, the head unit does its thing, there's a thud from the rear as it powers on but there's no audio so I've got a horrible feeling the amp is knackered.

The disc is missing from the sat nav too but I've got one here somewhere.

More updates to come!

David.

Hi David
There's a chance the nav (if it's iffy) is interfering with the DSP amp and muting it. Unplug the nav unit in the loadspace (usual power down stuff!) and try the audio again.
If the amp is actually stuffed, there are actually a couple of the right model on the bay at the moment. Pricey though
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Range-Rover-P38-Harman-Kardon-Amplifier-Amp-XQK000110-with-Warranty-/192172593166?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/331926540611?

I've unplugged the Sat Nav drive in the boot and tested the radio again and there's no noise at all coming off the speakers at any volume. I'll fire a CD in the changer later just to make sure it's nothing stupid.

Those amplifiers can't be beyond repair, surely not, they're only components in them. I think I'll remove this one and open it up before spending a fortune on a second hand one, especially as they've got a habit of failing.

David.

Many have tried, across the various forums worldwide, and nobody has come back whooping with success.
There was a Brit guy on another forum who thought he could fix them and asked for U/S units to play with. He's gone strangely quiet on the subject for a couple of months though!
Marty's got a project on the bench to build a replacement for the "standard" DSP amp, using the old discrete separate amps. Last I read his prototype was all but complete.

The RR is now running beautifully every time I turn the key, the temperature appears to be rock solid at exactly half way on the pin. I've checked various parts of the cooling system with my IR Thermometer and everything seems to be heating evenly which is nice.

I had a brief look at the suspension as the rear rises perfectly but the front won't come up off the bump stops. I got some soapy water in a spray bottle and lightly sprayed the valve block, as the solenoids for the front bags were energised I saw bubbles on the valve block so I've ordered an o ring kit to rebuild the valve block which I'll hopefully get done this weekend.

I spoke to the guy I bought the car from who has advised me that he has an amplifier and will send me it to replace the knackered one which is handy :)

David.