Here are some pics I took of the engine today..... appears to leak steering fluid or at least that's what I think it is.

 

Check the PAS reservoir (the little black bottle with ZF on the cap) and the dip stick inside should be in the middle of the marks.

If not it could be the PAS Steering shaft seals or leaking pipe, they can be rebuilt and I have done so with the use of a speedisleeve to renew the seal landing.

Even if you opt for new they are not silly money and will last another 20+yrs, look at it as an investment.

For the rest full fluids, filters and ignition components and see how it goes, wheel bearings are cheap, prop shaft UJs are cheap, little by little bring it back to life, the biggest killer of these trucks is the rust.

 

Needs the brake fluid changed too..... overall pretty unmolested shape, even has the wheel chock and jack in it's natural home.

 

As I've said, it LOOKS to be in very good shape and if nothing happens soon, it'll be towed away. The owner transferred to a school down south..... doesn't appear that he cares either way.

 

If finding a vehicle that's 23 years old with 49,000 mile on it isn't rare then finding a GEMS equipped Rover with a manual transmission with 49,000 miles is twice as rare.

 

Excuse my ignorance, but what is a GEMS?

 

General Engine Management System, it's using a Crank Sensor and a trigger wheel on the flywheel instead of a distributor to fire the spark plugs while the Engine Control Unit is advancing and retarding the spark timing. It's more precise and reliable. If you bought this and couldn't manage to get it running you could still sell it for a profit because of the mileage and it's a manual, they're fairly uncommon. It would be sitting in my barn right now getting the loving it deserves if it wasn't SO FAR AWAY!!!!!!

 

Wow, thank you for the info, good to know and I'm going to talk to him about buying it then..... if the price is right!

 

The engine bay appears to be quite unmolested. That is a very good thing.

This truck is worth something to the dedicated Rover lover (I'm one of them). Your level of willingness to buy some tools and get dirty will be the deciding factor.

You can certainly rely on this board for help, guidance and advice.

In what region of the country is this truck located? (no need to be overly specific)

 

Okay so in fairness I got wrapped up in my philosiphizing and forgot that you mentioned it has 49,000 miles on it. Keeping mind everything I said above, if I were you, I'd buy it. Especially if it's a five-speed. They're extremely rare and the low mileage means there are certain things we're all used to dealing with on high mileage Discos that you won't have to worry about for years to come. Now of course there are other things that you'll have to worry about due to the fact that it's been sitting, but it's not like a total engine rebuild is coming down the pipeline in a few thousand miles. I'm not entirely sure how the R380 is designed but the clutch going to the floor is most likley a bad slave cylinder. Easy peasy. The engine-bay does look unmolested, which is very good, however a puddle on the ground in that area could also easily be the transmission cooler pipe unions going into the radiator leaking, meaning the trans may be low on fluid...

If I were you I'd buy it in a heartbeat, but I'm mechanically inclined and now have a wealth of experience on rovers. If you can plan to work on it yourself, do it. Discovery 1's are fairly easy to work on and it could be a good introduction for a budding backyard mechanic (LOTS of things to fix ). If you're going to take it to a shop and ask "how much to fix everything," your mechanic is going to get Mr. Krabs dollar-sign-eyes and you'll need to sell your organs to pay the bill.