It also happens to be my first British car and my first 4x4.
It's a RRC 3.9L EFI V8, chassis is from 1981, body and running gear is from 1991. It is an automatic with lockup, has an LPG-fuelsystem, has AC, cruise control, mud+snow tires, a tow hitch good for pulling 3500kg, and a stereo wit SD-card reader and USB connect .
The reason that the car has a 1981 chassis is for tax purposes. Over here cars older then 25y are tax exempt! Cars older then 30y are also tax exempt for the alternative fuel tax. (the cheaper the fuel, the more roadtax we have to pay...but not the 30+y classics!)
This means i can run this car tax free on the cheapest fuel available.
It's just as well because this car uses fuel like a fully laden freighttrain: 5.6km/L ! I'm actually thinking about converting the LPG system to MS&S, that way i can have more power and better fuel economy.
https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=dc0b6afe ... 4E43%21365
The engine is supposed to have done only 90kkm. The previous owner is a Caterpillar generator mechanic. The telltail signs can be seen around the car: new anti freeze, newish oil up to level, clean ATF up to level, new V-belts, newish battery, new ignition cap+wires+plugs.
When i collected the car i had a 220km drive home. Initially all went well and the V8 was purring smoothly. About 50km into my trip home i had to stop for fuel. But when i was done refueling i wanted to start the car back up and... rien, nix, nada, niente, nothing! The starter did not turn... fuuuuuu...:grrr: Checked P and N, still no starter action.
So i called the guy and asked, what's up with the starter? Oh, he said, it's probably the wire that connects to the solenoid. It might have come lose. It happened before (... << thanks, i guess...). So i opened the hood, reached under the scorching hot exhaust manifold, burned my skin in the proces but i managed to find the lose wire and fumbled it back onto the solenoid.
After that the car started right up and it did not give me any additional headache.
I think the car has had a life of short local driving because the longer i ran the car the nicer the automatic started to behave. Shifts seemed to get more positive. (instead of a bit late-'n-jerky only after lifting the gas a bit.) I don't have much experience with auto-transmissions, is this possible?
You might wonder is there something wrong with the car?
sure, there always is, it needs a new steeringbox. and a new headliner( it's a RRC feature!) And some electrics need sorting out (rear wiper + window heater, radio antenna is not really working very well (it's mounted in the middle of the alu roof. ). Some general body-TLC.
I already took it for some gentle mud-action today. I'm quite impressed by the way this car handles offroad, i already had the diffs touching the mud! But it pulled through without drama
I am think i am going to learn a lot on this forum.
If i can be of help feel free to ask.
My other projectcar: BMW e9 +M106 +MS&S
previous projectcar: Volvo 940HPT +vialle LPi + E85
