We purchased this vehicle in May of 2005 to add to our fleet of Off-Road Experience vehicles... This is a perfect example of the deals available on the used car market these days. Inside it was near perfect! Outside the body was straight, paint was great, and like most California cars, there was no rust anywhere. Under the hood was a low compression 3.9L Rover V8 with 95,000 miles on the clock.

Like most cars of this age some work is required. All of the following rubber hoses were replaced: Radiator & heater hoses; Engine oil cooler hoses x2; A/T oil cooler hoses x3; P/S hoses x3. The radiator was overhauled (re-cored); and at the same time, the cylinder heads were removed... 1) because someone had fitted the (wrong) later type head gaskets without first machining the required amount off the heads, which resulted in in a compression ratio in the 7:1+ bracket!  and 2) coolant was leaking. After a valve job and some port work, which included matching the heads to the intake manifold, we then surfaced the heads .005" and refitted them using the original type aluminum gaskets and new head bolts. A new HP cam replaced the stock one, and new Hi-Rev lifters & chromemolly pushrods were added. The stock timing gears/chain set was replaced with a JP Performance adjustable billet set, thus keeping the engine in time well into the future. To complete the engine package we replaced the worn Lucas distributor with a Mallory Electronic. Finally we fitted a set of headers to the already fitted stainless system.

Old Man Emu road springs and shocks (quad in rear) replaced the stock units. While under the car, we also fitted Southdown steel skids to better protect our investment. 

During an off-road adventure in July we ended up damaging the old Borg-Warner transfer, cracking the casing some 15". A bit of roadside clean-up and some mean epoxy we made it home. Days later we replaced the BW with an LT230 from a '93 Defender-110V8, which has a lower ratio fitted to the high-range gear set than an earlier Range Rover or Discovery. With the new LT265/75R16" Dunlop Radial Mud Rover tyres we're now taching 3000 rpm @ 75 mph.     

In December 2005 we fitted an ARB Winch Bumper and a Warn M8000. Next we'll fit an ARB Air Locking diff in the rear axle, thus completing the package.

Here are a few off-road photos of the Range Rover....

under construction

	Left: June 2005.  Danielle Green wades through  spring run-off near Ophir, NV.
	Left: December 2005 Nightingale Mountains. Hope you can see that DUNLOP sticker on the windscreen.
	Left: more from December 2005. Below: Todd spots Danielle in the walled canyon. December 2005.
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