Craig posted on September 27, 2010 23:33
A friend of mine, and fellow NW Overland Society member, has been tinkering with an 89 Range Rover Classic for the past few years. After several years of labor, he and his wife decided they didn’t have time to get it into the shape that they wanted it in. With a dead battery and the gearbox stuck in park they were considering donating it to charity, so naturally they thought of me…
My Land Rover Discovery II broke in July of 2009. After spending countless hours attempting to repair it we finally gave up ourselves and sold it in the spring of 2010. Given that I own a young business in a down economy doing another truck build hasn’t been an option for us. My friend knew this, and thought perhaps I might make a better home for his RRC than NPR.
I’ve been pretty down on Land Rover over the past year, so I wasn’t completely sure I wanted another one. Land Rovers have great suspension systems, fairly stout drivelines, and good brakes but their motors are in my opinion really quite poor (even with meticulous maintenance). When I dropped a liner in my Discovery II I hoped to put a diesel in it as this would improve reliability, range, ability to run cleaner fuel (bio-diesel), and offer the ability to ford deep water with a snorkel. Unfortunately the Discovery II’s ECU is tied into the BCU and everything else. M&D Engineering came out with a DII kit to run a TD5, but the TD5 uses electronic fuel injection and the kit was quite expensive. Even if it didn’t use a TD5, the rest of the truck would still have all those electronics. I wanted something simpler. Something like this (blue one on right)…
Custom 100” Land Rover Defender
International 2.8l diesel (SVO/biodiesel)
Almost no electronics
Coil sprung wholesome goodness
Hinged roof for a rooftop tent similar to the X-Panda option on early Series rigs
I’ve toyed with different ways of pursuing this dream throughout the life of my Discovery II. I almost sold it on two different occasions specifically so I could build this dream rig. Each time, I backed out because I knew I really wasn’t in a financial position to build this rig all at once. Over time, I realized that it could be a phased build that would keep it usable for overlanding.
Step 1: Get a Discovery 1 or RRC. Simpler the better though.
Step 2: Upgrade the vehicle with lockers, HD driveshafts, lift, tires, etc to make it usable for overlanding.
Step 3: Swap in a the diesel motor
Step 4: Swap the D1/RRC body for a Defender/Series body
So, here I sit with an offer from a friend for an 89 RRC. A rig that would be great fun on the trail as-is, and that is a suitable platform for pursuing my dream rig. What should I do? Well, the answer is obvious to just about everyone… go get it!
1989 Range Rover Classic
Front non-winch ARB bullbar
Rear ARB bumper
Sliders
2” Old Man Emu Extra Heavy Duty springs
215/85/16 tires
Diff Guards
Steering Guard
Hella 7" H4 Replacement Headlamp
My plans? Not much initially. Get it running, bolt on a few of the accessories I have in my garage already, and drive it. Consider the other steps later.
** A huge thank you to John for donating his RRC to me. I hope we can get out on the trail and enjoy it together sometime.