Don’t get excited, it’s going to just be some preventative maintenance for a while. A few months ago, my wife and I moved from San Diego to Chicago. We didn’t want to leave CA, but have a cute lil baby girl that we didn’t want to raise away from her family.



So... back to the Midwest we moved. The past few years my projects have been my 96 Bronco, and 06 Sporty.




The Sportster was expensive to ship back, so I sold it. But I drove the bronco across the country, 2k miles in 3 4 days, all the while knowing its days were numbered. You see, when you have an infant (i.e., a car seat), a two door truck is brutal. Even though we have a Chevy Bolt (100% EV) for daily driving, the two door truck was a burden for our weekend adventures. I sold it within 48 hours of listing it for double what I paid. Rust free Broncos are worth their weight in gold in the Midwest.

I had had to get a 4 door SUV that could haul the family camping, etc (including a dog). And since it was my vehicle, it had to be cool. I have wanted a Landy since my friend had a D1 when we were in high school. Sooooo cool. But you can’t find a D1/D2 in the Midwest without serious frame rot issues. And, more importantly, I wanted to cruise at 80mph on the highway w/o worries for hours at a time. So I set my sights on an LR3.

Holy ****, what a miserable shopping experience. It was so hard to find private party sales, and when I did, they were either WAY overpriced, or in TERRIBLE condition.

After a a few months of searching, I pulled the trigger on an 05. Green/tan, my ideal color choice.



144k on the clock. Interior is pretty good. Only one crack in the dash. Exterior has no real issues.

This weekend I’m changing out the windshield cowl and the coolant reservoir. It will be an adventure maintaining it for the next few months. I forgot to mention that we are temporarily living with my parents while we save and shop for a house. All my tools are in storage, except for some basic hand tools I threw in a bag. I also found a decent air compressor at a garage sale, and bought a 3/8” mini air ratchet, so I’m looking forward to using that. So I have crescent wrenches and an air socket 😂

Next project will be locating and address the air suspension leak.

Follow along! I’m excited to be in the high maintenance Land Rover club

Best,
Adam

 

Welcome to the rust belt. Good looking Bronco.

 

Thanks! The rust belt is so hard on vehicles. I miss shopping in CA. Next time, I'll be shipping one back from AZ, where my brother lives. Anyway...

Got the coolant overflow tank replaced yesterday. The AB video was very helpful, but for those who are doing it for the first time... you can totally get it done with just a pair of vice grips to move those hose clamps. You don't need any of their fancy hose tools (note: I do have those fancy tools, buried away in a storage unit (see post #1), and it would have been easier with them). Spilled a bit of coolant out of the bottom hose, but didn't drain the engine. Got the new bottle on, filled it up, left the cap off, ran it until the t-stat opened, rev'd it a bit, kept the coolant level up (didn't take much at all, so I know I didn't lose much). I'm afraid to touch that air bleed piece without a replacement on-hand. The plan is to do another heat cycle in the same fashion, and call it done until I get a brass replacement for that T.

Also replaced the windshield cowl. Super easy. I applied a bead of clear RTV that this forum recommends, but I'm not convinced it was valuable. The area you apply it doesn't sit flush on the windshield (it's kinda concave). So I'm not even sure if the surfaces that have the RTV between them are even touching. Wish I made the metal deflector, but I didn't want to go through the frustration when tools (etc) tools are so limited (see post #1). We'll see how it holds up over the next year.

My driver side mirror is warped where it mates to the door. Previous owner tightened it down with one of the alignment dowels not in its hole, and left it there. So... it's permanently warped, and in need of replacement. I have the door card off until I can find a mirror, so I don't have to risk breaking all those plastic clips and retainers twice.

Ordering a brake light switch for preventative maintenance before the winter. Still gotta look at the air suspension. Having a lot of fun working on it