I call it the Fifteen Hundred dollar special

[Rodewaryer]

A shop mechanics title deal, forget the term for it but a customer couldn't pay the bill, so a LONG time later the shop put it up for the cost of the repair work. Drove it home from Tucson to Phoenix in July with working AC. It had issues...but a window lift, tacky tint, mismatched tires, smelly interior and some front end work (cosmetic) needed weren't terminal.

As purchased but after a wash.





Some new bits, a rear bumper end cap...some front ones and a valance with the factory lights (yeah, well maybe shouldn't have bothered with the lights but the SE7 came with them).





And then tires, an exhaust and a brushguard...looking like an average Land Rover now.





It still needs typical maintenance items but it's just a back burner project when time and $ permit.

 

[LocuMob]

That's not a bad deal at all.

 

[Cranky1]

Yup....what year is it? Bought a repo 70 340 Duster in 74 for the interior, rear end etc. Should have fixed it up but instead used the parts on a 67 Dart. Live and learn.

 

[Rodewaryer]

We all have 'ones that got away', and I actually have 3 that I keep kicking myself for letting go. You'd think we'd learn.

 

[HALIFAXHOPS]

SCORE!

 

[bear]

Not a bad deal at all ! Good job !

 

[bear]

We all have 'ones that got away', and I actually have 3 that I keep kicking myself for letting go. You'd think we'd learn.

I don't even want to think about the ones that got away . Or even the ones I did have and I sold them .

 

[Rodewaryer]

I don't even want to think about the ones that got away . Or even the ones I did have and I sold them .

The 66 Land Rover Carawagon is the one I had and sold like a fool. Yes, still kicking myself to this very day.

 

[bear]

The 66 Land Rover Carawagon is the one I had and sold like a fool. Yes, still kicking myself to this very day.

I had way to many . But the ones off the top of my head are the two 67 GTX's that I owned ( one 440 car & one Hemi car ) and the 69 Charger that I had owned for almost thirty years before I sold it .

 

[Cranky1]

The two cars that come to the top of my head right away.....a 70 440 Challenger RT ragtop that was fully loaded and a 71 340 Cuda that was decently loaded with auto trans, PS, PB, AC.

 

[LocuMob]

The 68 Charger R/T I was never going to get to.

 

[Super-bee_ski]

Yeah!
SCORE!
Great deal!

 

[Rodewaryer]

Still in the shop getting a lot of things tended to including a valve job. They tried to send it home with me but it more issues than it did when delivered to them. Rethinking the future use of this shop...

I pay over $2500 for the work they did (I provided a lot of the parts too) and then....They blew out the left rear window regulator (?), turned the tan drivers carpet mat nearly black, the drivers door is now inop, it leaks worse than it did when sent in "to fix leaks", it runs hot (didn't when I took it there) and now claim it needs a clutch fan. I know this isn't the first time an older vehicle develops issues while with the service facility but really...

 

[LocuMob]

Ugh, what a bummer. I'm glad the mechanic I use is honest, not cheap, but honest. How do they screw up a window regulator when the vehicle is supposed to be sitting? A shop around me used a coworkers van for his own personal use for a week while "fixing" it, hope that's not the case here.

 

[65 sporty]

This is the Rover in the pic's at the start of the thread right? I assumed you have been driving it, how long has it been at the shop? What did you take it in for in the first place?

 

[Rodewaryer]

Ugh, what a bummer. I'm glad the mechanic I use is honest, not cheap, but honest. How do they screw up a window regulator when the vehicle is supposed to be sitting? A shop around me used a coworkers van for his own personal use for a week while "fixing" it, hope that's not the case here.

I have no idea on the window regulator but it could be fallout from whatever went wrong with the drivers door, necessitating the window to be down to reach through to the door lock. Anyway, I purchased a new window regulator and they agreed to install it with no labor charge, still cost me the part but could have been worse. They claim the new leaks were lines, a transmission cooler line and both engine oil cooler lines which have all been rebuilt now. I left out earlier that the fuel pump also failed while they had it at a pressure washer to clean the engine areas as part of the leak troubleshooting. New pump...$600. Per the Land Rover forums an AC Delco pump for $54 can be yankee engineered to work in place of just the motor on the original assy. They agreed to try it for me and claim it worked perfectly. $54 vs $600. Not sure what labor I'll get stuck with but so far, so good.

This is the Rover in the pic's at the start of the thread right? I assumed you have been driving it, how long has it been at the shop? What did you take it in for in the first place?

Yes, same truck and no, it had not really been driven regularly. They'd had the truck since last November for head gasket leaks (common on Land Rover V8's with high miles/age) and the logical valve job to go with it, power steering leaks, rear diff leak and a battery drain issue. The reason for the long wait being that he knew it was a project truck and not a driver. Hence the slow going. It was only home one day and he's had it back for all the ills I discovered for around a month. Likely the window tinter (since the old tint was in poor taste and quality) is the last item now after the regulator tore up the tint on that window, the whole truck will be getting new tint before coming back, including the front doors this time...not sure if $150-ish is good for that but I don't think that's bad for tint, considering they'll be removing old tint as well.

 

[LocuMob]

Well, you'll have a well repaired truck for cruising around the desert when it's all said and done. Good to hear that they were willing to get creative with that Delco pump, I'd think the labor would be similar to the $600 pump. I guess there's all kinds of things can go wrong with an older vehicle so you should never be surprised (a secret pep talk to myself) but you know that.

 

[Rodewaryer]

They also took my advice when doing the pump to not drop the "full" fuel tank as the manuals say to do. If you pull up the carpet in the rear, there is an access panel through the floor and it can be done in situ. So the labor could have been worse, not to mention more dangerous with a full tank, and the problems that can occur when flexing and stressing old lines when lowering the tank. I always thought the tanks HAD to be dropped to do the fuel pump, and it was another forum discovery (ahem) that proved to be another valuable tip.

I am into this vehicle for way more than it's worth, in fact I was before the valve job. Hence the cheap route on the pump when the OEM pump price was revealed. If a vehicle had a soul, this one should be grateful I have have saved it from being scrapped/parted out. Fingers crossed on it's reliability from here...

 

[Rodewaryer]

Just dropping by to update this trucks progress, it's had an interesting time especially due to being at a shop that did some things to it that required me to go elsewhere to put right. Seat covers spruce up the interior a lot, (not your local parts store variety) some more serious Cibie lights, the wheel arches had to be cut to accommodate larger rubber as well.

 

[65 sporty]

So your driving and enjoying it right? It's looking good.