Classic 1977 Range Rover

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Marko Milutinovic

Marko Milutinovic

Member
Posts
13
Location
Belgrade, Serbia
As promised here are pics of restoration process of 1977 Suffix D.
3.jpg 4.jpg 5.jpg 6.jpg 7.jpg 8.jpg
 
Looks like my 87 did a couple of years ago. So...overall not too bad considering its a decade younger. The inner wings are straightforward to do, the panels easily available. The back end can be a sod to keep square when doing the tailgate frame area. Hows the rear chassis crossmember? If it needs major work you may want to consider welding in some hefty jigging before any cutting away, to avoid any nasty twist. Like what I got on the last one I did. This may not be an issue with the body off, others know more than I....
 
Wow big job there but well worth the effort and time to keep the dream alive. make sure you label everything real thorough and dont trust plastic bags. Mine fell apart during the four year rebuild - Aussie heat does that to plastic. And photograph evry stage too - gives you some satisfaction when you see how far you've come.
 
shocker said:
Looks like my 87 did a couple of years ago. So...overall not too bad considering its a decade younger. The inner wings are straightforward to do, the panels easily available. The back end can be a sod to keep square when doing the tailgate frame area. Hows the rear chassis crossmember? If it needs major work you may want to consider welding in some hefty jigging before any cutting away, to avoid any nasty twist. Like what I got on the last one I did. This may not be an issue with the body off, others know more than I....
Click to expand...
Rear chassis crossmember had a hole in it. You can see it on last picture. But father fixed that. Now it looks like new :D
We thought that bottom and side panels on firewall would be a problem, but then I found that Rimmer Bros have them in stock.
 
sidewayspete said:
Wow big job there but well worth the effort and time to keep the dream alive. make sure you label everything real thorough and dont trust plastic bags. Mine fell apart during the four year rebuild - Aussie heat does that to plastic. And photograph evry stage too - gives you some satisfaction when you see how far you've come.
Click to expand...
Yeah will do. My father even had photos of restauration process of his first car, back from early 1970's :)
 
Marko Milutinovic said:
Yeah will do. My father even had photos of restauration process of his first car, back from early 1970's :)
Click to expand...
yeah it is so easy to take pics of everything nowadays - not like shootin film and waiting for the prints to arrive in the mail. buy yourself a good UNF tap n die set if you dont already have one. Clean threads make life so much easier. Hope your roof is original seal. mine was rebuilt by prev owner and the fools glued it on - took over eight hours and three blokes to get it off once we got some good solvent. I put mine back on with oil-based bedding compound which stays soft enough to remove for the next time :)
 
Rimmers, John Craddock, YRM, Paddocks, all the usual suspects. Most structural panels are available or not too silly to fabricate. Maybe look at the LR workshop manual for correct welds so you do not get problems with nosey officials later. Saying that, I do not know what your inspections are like in Serbia. I know that in Bulgaria, no-one seems to have sills or wheelarches on cars older than 10 years and they pass yearly inspections just fine.
Again, fair play on the quality of the metalwork, my 87s chassis was an absolute horror, the entire back 50%. Basically replaced it in the end. I should have done as you have and had the body off....but I foolishly though it was only a couple of holes. And then I found the previous repairs that had been carried out with matchsticks and phlegm.
 
Also anyone knows where can I find front turn signal/lights for older versions (original it should have orange and grey areas of turn signal and light that goes all the way to front fender) like this1970%20Range%20Rover%20Turning%20Light%202.jpg
When we bought it he had them from newer Range.
Also dashboard is problem. 20 years of staying parked outside didn't do it any good. It's old version with only diff lock in it 1974%20Range%20Rover%20Diff%20Lock%20Warning%20Light.jpg

They don't need to be new, they can be used but in good condition.
 
sidewayspete said:
yeah it is so easy to take pics of everything nowadays - not like shootin film and waiting for the prints to arrive in the mail. buy yourself a good UNF tap n die set if you dont already have one. Clean threads make life so much easier. Hope your roof is original seal. mine was rebuilt by prev owner and the fools glued it on - took over eight hours and three blokes to get it off once we got some good solvent. I put mine back on with oil-based bedding compound which stays soft enough to remove for the next time :)
Click to expand...
Everything is original, except front end. It was damaged in crash car while former owner was on vacation in Greece and local service has added newer bumper, newer light, newer turn signals and installed those stupid mirrors. Everything else is original.
 
shocker said:
Rimmers, John Craddock, YRM, Paddocks, all the usual suspects. Most structural panels are available or not too silly to fabricate. Maybe look at the LR workshop manual for correct welds so you do not get problems with nosey officials later. Saying that, I do not know what your inspections are like in Serbia. I know that in Bulgaria, no-one seems to have sills or wheelarches on cars older than 10 years and they pass yearly inspections just fine.
Again, fair play on the quality of the metalwork, my 87s chassis was an absolute horror, the entire back 50%. Basically replaced it in the end. I should have done as you have and had the body off....but I foolishly though it was only a couple of holes. And then I found the previous repairs that had been carried out with matchsticks and phlegm.
Click to expand...
In Serbia they introduced some new law that you can't have rust on important parts of car, like on chassis and suspensions mount, but they tolerate rust on doors, hood and that. Also inspectors sometimes let owners go with it because of low standard in Serbia, average age of cars here is 20 years...
 
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