Phil - welcome to the family!!

If your a father, then you will understand that you essentially just adopted a VERY temperamental, strong willed child! That said, the rewards for making the SMALL corrections early and preventative maintenance are a VERY solid, dependable and extremely capable off/on road vehicle!

Just make sure that "scrape" or "squeal" or "rub" or "shimmy" all get investigated and corrected as soon as you can, or you end up with the equivalent of a 5 year old running around the grocery screaming for candy because you didn't take the time to tell the 2 year version old no and deal with the issue THEN!

 

lol. Nice analogy.

 

Rover philosophy, you never truly purchase a rover. You just continually pay for the right to drive one.

 

I would be willing to bet that there a few experienced LR guys on here that would challenge you on that.

Just because you spend 5grand initially does not guarantee that much better of a vehicle. There are some on here that would PREFER the $1600 one and the remaining money to take care of some things. Doing it yourself you can get a lot done with that kind of disposable cash to work with.

On the other hand, your $5000 can eat thru a $1600 "UpgraDE" BUDGET IN A HURRY WITH ONE MAJOR FAILURE! AND IF YOU SPEND IT ON UPGRADES INSTEAD OF MAINTENANCE ITEMS AND THEN IT GRENADES, YOU HAVE A $500 DISCOVERY TO PUT ON CRAIG'S LIST. That's a recovery of ten cents on the dollar. and is pretty common phenomena anong first time "fell in Love with the Land Rover" buyers that we see on here a few times then they abandom it.

I would say he is doing it the right way. It's a third vehicle, so it is a "Special Purpose" that he can make right, rather than his Daily Driver that he must depend on just to get to work and take the kids everywhere. That makes it a lot more fun than freaking out with every little issue that pops up.

Welcome Aboard. Lots of newBEE"S think I am an A$$HOLE, I have a link for them on my signature.

I have the carpet panels I removed from my 97 that I have no further need for. IM me and let me know where you are. I also have one of the Black panels for the window switches, it is the base panel, I think a woodgrain plastic one goes over it.

I can send you all of that stuff and maybe more. I have a real good local recycler that has great prices on their stuff.

For used parts try Will Tillery First. For new try RovahFarm then Rovers North. Trevor at RovahFarm has great prices but a smaller inventory. Rover's North always has the right part for your vehicle, excellent sertvice and staff and very competitive prices especially on their Pro Line parts. I bought their fuel pump assembly, brake rotors and pad kits, new calipers with no core charge, spark plug wires, air filter, and many more small piece parts, always the correct one, which is very important to me!!!!!!!!!

 

I agree but if I had a $6600 budget I would probably put a little more than 1600 in the initial purchase, or at least buy one with all its parts, unless of coarse its mechanically immaculate and the reason its so cheap is the missing pieces.

 

I also have all the interior plastic side panels off of mine right now and I am most likely not going to bother reinstalling them. I will be more than happy to entertain any
requests for various items, such as the black plastic panel for the front passengers seat where the CD changer resides, the rear interior panels, rear door speaker and amplifier with grill, original carpet sections in pretty decent condition, and other odds and ends such as a Original Equipment Starter I purchased when I thought mine was bad, but I redid the starter ground and have the spare starter on hand.

I am not trying to make a fortune would just like to get a reasonable/bargain price for what it is and cover shipping from Pittsburgh to you.

Anyone interested please IM me. I am trying to clean out a cluttered garage and basemment/laundry room/workshop/mancave.

Will barter as well.

Dirty deeds done dirt cheap as long as it ain't to damn far away and does not involve surviving in a swamp with too many crazy people.
(That is a JOKE, so laugh don't get mad at me, I am old and half-crazed with only one good eye and an old Discovery to get around in)

 

So, just to clarify, lest you all think I'm made of money...

• $5k is the TOTAL budget, including purchase of the LR.
• This is the only one we found in a 400km radius that didn't have serious mechanical issues.
• Used LRs around here in this condition normally go for about $3-4k.
• This one is in very good mechanical shape, but had no carpets and the corners of the rain gutters are rusted out.
• I was willing to pay the full 3k asking price, but when I asked, as an opening bid, if he would take $1600, he said "Sure."
• No head gasket issues (yet)
• brakes are 80%
• Engine is sound.

So I've got the carpet, o2 sensors and plenum cowl.
Hopefully the o2 sensors will help me pass the stupid Ontario emissions test required for all vehicles. The Safety, also required in Ontario, is good to go, with the exception of the reverse lights not working.

Still have $2800 left in the LR Fund, which I hope is going to be enough to keep it on the road for a couple of years.

 

I have all the pieces for the LR. I have taken out the headliner and the rest of the interior in order to take a look at sunroof drains and trace this friggin' short on the H4(? I think it's the H4, I dont have the electrical manual in front of me..) circuit.
Oh, and the leaking windshield, can't forget that. I want to get the leak issues fixed before I put the interior and the carpet back in, otherwise I'm going to end up doing it all over again.

 

Aha! Thanks for the pointer on the Diff and the Power Steering. As for the ABS, I've pretty much decided I don"t need no stinkin' ABS, so I'll probably pull the fuse.