I picked up a 2000 D2 that was parked in 2016. The PO stopped driving it because it developed a tick. The main problem I could find was that it leaked from the roof somewhere and was full of condensation and mildew. I tossed in a fresh battery, checked the vital fluids and had it running after about 10 seconds of cranking. I didn't notice a tick that I wouldn't expect out of any 20 year old car with over 100k. My buddy covered it with a tarp and left a fan running in it for several weeks until I could get back to it.

 

When I returned, the inside was dry with the mildew smell remaining. I slapped the tags on to drive it to my parents garage, not long before finishing the 10ish mile drive, one of the brake lines ruptured; good thing I was on a back road and I checked the E-brake before starting! Also on the drive I noticed a significant "tick" coming from the front end.

I parked it in the garage, and got busy giving it a thorough look-over to start a repair/parts list.

1st course of action was repairing the brake pipe, find and fix the leak and track down the tick. Then, at least it would be drivable. The ruptured line was where the passenger rear line was corroded just in front of the driver rear wheel. The tick was the front driveshaft u joint on its last leg and the leak, I hope, was the plastic sunroof drain leaking at the glue.

Other than that a full cooling/heating system refresh was in order along with serpentine belt tensioner, belt and idlers. Also to drain and replace all fluids. The AC didn't work, the front passenger seat won't move fore/aft, the stereo won't turn on, the tires need to be replaced and I'm sure the grease points could use a few squirts.

 

 

Now that I had the todo and parts list put together, it was time to get busy. I removed the headliner and started tracking leaks. Looks like both sunroof are the culprit. The PO tried sealing them with silicone but it didn't work, there looked to be water trails and a little rust coming from both. That's the progress I made for that visit. I went home and started ordering parts from Rock Auto and Rovers North.

 

On the next visit in Dec 2020, I had a pile of parts from Rock Auto and Rovers North. I planned to start with the brake line, should be easy enough; jack up the rear end a take the wheels off. Not so easy, some of the lugs were buggered and the the sockets didn't want to fit. Once I managed to pound a socket onto lugs, they were a b!t#h to turn. Removing the wheels turned its own project. Hours later and late at night I had the rear wheels off, I only had a few hours left until it was time to go home. I didn't see how I could possibly snake the rigid OEM brake line from Rovers North from the left rear wheel to in front of the driver's side rear axle. I ended up using it as a template to form one out of nickel copper pipe that is a little more malleable and had no problem. I joined it where I cut the line upstream of the leak and had it fitted. I filled the reservoir, bled the system and gave the brake pedal a few good stomps with the engine running and was pleased to find no new leaks. Now that I had brakes I drove it around the property, what a blast! That's about all I had time for this time. I stored the boxes of parts in the car and parked it. Bye Rover, guess I'll see you next year!

She has brakes!

 

Fast forward to Mar '21, back for a visit. Getting closer to road worthy, new water pump, all heater/cooling hoses, 180 thermostat, Aluminum bleeder, serpentine belt and tensioner. I recently found a junk yard with two clean '04s, between them I picked a clean carpet set, clean set of seats, CDL shifter with SLABS and a bunch of other parts and 2 sun roofs that weren't leaking. The new sun roofs are installed with no leaks after spraying with a hose for about 5 minutes. The junk yard also had a P38 with nearly new tires that I got for a good price, including wheels and a bunch of decent lug nuts. The tires will go on next visit, along with sealing the roof rack and bed lining the head liner…

No leaks!

 

 

Keep up the good work mate!

 

Man that poor thing was abused.

 

I discovered that I had a free lift in my leftover parts bin. Years ago I added OME springs to my LC80 and still have the oem springs, recently I stumbled on the cheap bastard lift threads. Sweet!