Freelander 1 New project, Maybe an L Series???

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Alibro

Alibro

Well-Known Member
Posts
7,040
Location
Northern Ireland
Those of you who have followed my previous threads will know I haven't much sense, so it won't come as a surprise that I'm on the lookout for another Freelander. I have a TD4 and a K series at the minute, both of which are in pretty good shape now. The trouble is my missus wants the TD4 for her daily and the K series is not really suitable for the off roading I want to do. The K series is now for sale so that I can replace it and I've spotted something which might do.
https://www.gumtree.com/p/car-replacement-parts/landrover-freelander-spares-or-repair-/1179363617
It is a 99 L series and the guy says it is running, has only 113k miles and the 4wd is complete. He claims it has been laid up since MOT ran out and a new car was bought which means it has been off the road since Dec 2013. I'm thinking of calling down tomorrow to check it out.

Good points
Cheap
2 Door
Low mileage
Cheap and simple to upgrade the engine.
Bad points
Crap brakes on older L series
Needs trailered home
Who knows what else.

Mmmmm, What to do?
 
wow, for £150 - just buy it and see afterwards! The worst that can happen is you'll have a spare head for when the fan belt goes on the 1 you do buy! (and a spare Wabco ABS unit hopefully!)

If its been laid up since 2013, is it still registered (got 'live' plates or what ever the regs are called over there)? Might be a pain/expensive getting an 'identity' for it if not. Also was it left with the hand brake on - if it was, you'll need a hiab rather than trailer!

What's with all that moss/algae! S**t - it must fecking rain over there! If the lift out roof panels are as good on Freelander as they are on my boy's Tomcat, you'll find 2 foot of water in the cabin and everything covered in mold.
 
Skinny Mike said:
You sir, are a complete nut case.

But it's an L series, so easy engine to work on and you must know the rest by now!

Still think you need certifying :confused:

Mike
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LOL, Yip!

But I need something to bolt my new 50mm lift kit I just bought off DieselDo onto.

GrumpyGel said:
wow, for £150 - just buy it and see afterwards! The worst that can happen is you'll have a spare head for when the fan belt goes on the 1 you do buy! (and a spare Wabco ABS unit hopefully!)

If its been laid up since 2013, is it still registered (got 'live' plates or what ever the regs are called over there)? Might be a pain/expensive getting an 'identity' for it if not. Also was it left with the hand brake on - if it was, you'll need a hiab rather than trailer!

What's with all that moss/algae! S**t - it must fecking rain over there! If the lift out roof panels are as good on Freelander as they are on my boy's Tomcat, you'll find 2 foot of water in the cabin and everything covered in mold.
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It's on SORN so very easy to unSORN but I still have to barter him down on price, £150 is WAY too much. :p
As for rain....... Ain't you ever heard of Ireland? If it isn't raining it's either just stopped or just about to start.

If I do buy it I'll organise a breakdown lorry to carry it home, I don't fancy driving a car with no Tax, MOT and doubtful insurance.
 
Alibro said:
But I need something to bolt my new 50mm lift kit I just bought off DieselDo onto.
Click to expand...
Makes the lift kit look expensive - probably more than the car after you've bartered him down :)
Alibro said:
As for rain....... Ain't you ever heard of Ireland? If it isn't raining it's either just stopped or just about to start.
Click to expand...
I did wonder why Craggy Island was do desolate! All those prevailing Westerlys bringing moisture in from the Atlantic I suppose.

We've had some bad winter weather here in NZ for the last few weeks. Once again Westerly, either SW bringing ice cold fronts up from the "Roaring Forties" and the Antarctic or NW from the Tasman. Storm force winds & snow/rain. All of it slams into the Southern Alps and gets stuck there. Over here on the East coast in Chch we have had day after day of clear nights with heavy frosts followed by clear, brilliantly bright days with temps rising up to near 20 degrees! Super place to live for the weather, unless you're a farmer - they get continual droughts in the knowledge that 100 miles away they're continually flooded - and can't bring the water over cos there's 3,500M tall lumps of rock in the way!
Alibro said:
If I do buy it I'll organise a breakdown lorry to carry it home, I don't fancy driving a car with no Tax, MOT and doubtful insurance.
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The last 2 Landies I've bought (Freelander & S3 109) have both come "home" on a transporter trailer pulled by the Freelander. Part of the fun of it for me :)
 
GrumpyGel said:
Makes the lift kit look expensive - probably more than the car after you've bartered him down :)

I did wonder why Craggy Island was do desolate! All those prevailing Westerlys bringing moisture in from the Atlantic I suppose.

We've had some bad winter weather here in NZ for the last few weeks. Once again Westerly, either SW bringing ice cold fronts up from the "Roaring Forties" and the Antarctic or NW from the Tasman. Storm force winds & snow/rain. All of it slams into the Southern Alps and gets stuck there. Over here on the East coast in Chch we have had day after day of clear nights with heavy frosts followed by clear, brilliantly bright days with temps rising up to near 20 degrees! Super place to live for the weather, unless you're a farmer - they get continual droughts in the knowledge that 100 miles away they're continually flooded - and can't bring the water over cos there's 3,500M tall lumps of rock in the way!

The last 2 Landies I've bought (Freelander & S3 109) have both come "home" on a transporter trailer pulled by the Freelander. Part of the fun of it for me :)
Click to expand...
DD is selling the kit including camber pins for £130 which is brilliant value for money (I've already got my order in) but hopefully your right, depends how the bartering goes. ;)

I guess I could borrow a trailer to get her home. Will need to look into that. Mind you it might be a complete shed so no point getting my hopes up.
 
Alibro said:
DD is selling the kit including camber pins for £130 which is brilliant value for money
Click to expand...
I agree - especially if a free lolly is thrown in :)
Alibro said:
Mind you it might be a complete shed so no point getting my hopes up.
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Why are you even considering not buying it? It looks to have 2 decent mirrors and headlights - so worth the money for those spares.

If its totally shot in some way, you must be able to salvage loads of parts from the L Series, transmission, ancillaries etc.

Cut the front end off to make a BBQ (if it stops raining), free fish tank, 5 tyres for the growing of spuds (I know the Irish love spuds) etc etc.

The possibilities are endless, the mind boggles :) :) :)

Lets face it - you just spent £130 on parts for a car you don't even have !!!!!
 
GrumpyGel said:
I agree - especially if a free lolly is thrown in :)

Why are you even considering not buying it? It looks to have 2 decent mirrors and headlights - so worth the money for those spares.

If its totally shot in some way, you must be able to salvage loads of parts from the L Series, transmission, ancillaries etc.

Cut the front end off to make a BBQ (if it stops raining), free fish tank, 5 tyres for the growing of spuds (I know the Irish love spuds) etc etc.

The possibilities are endless, the mind boggles :) :) :)

Lets face it - you just spent £130 on parts for a car you don't even have !!!!!
Click to expand...
All good arguments, but I don't have room for a spare parts car and am not interested in buying it to strip. If I don't buy this one I'll buy something else.
Freelanders are so common here, there are always dirt cheap cars for sale with blown engines or transmissions or such. The reason I'm interested in this one is the low mileage means the transmission is probably OK so if I can get it started (he said the battery is duff) and it drives even just a bit then I'll probably go for it. I don't have access to a trailer so it will cost around £100 to get it home.
 
Alibro said:
Those of you who have followed my previous threads will know I haven't much sense, so it won't come as a surprise that I'm on the lookout for another Freelander. I have a TD4 and a K series at the minute, both of which are in pretty good shape now. The trouble is my missus wants the TD4 for her daily and the K series is not really suitable for the off roading I want to do. The K series is now for sale so that I can replace it and I've spotted something which might do.
https://www.gumtree.com/p/car-replacement-parts/landrover-freelander-spares-or-repair-/1179363617
It is a 99 L series and the guy says it is running, has only 113k miles and the 4wd is complete. He claims it has been laid up since MOT ran out and a new car was bought which means it has been off the road since Dec 2013. I'm thinking of calling down tomorrow to check it out.

Good points
Cheap
2 Door
Low mileage
Cheap and simple to upgrade the engine.
Bad points
Crap brakes on older L series
Needs trailered home
Who knows what else.

Mmmmm, What to do?
Click to expand...
Hi Alibro :)
I like it - if it is in one piece and it moves then buy it :)
hell, I wish there was one near here for that price it would be gone in 10 seconds. - even add a '0' on the end and make it Euros and it would be gone :)

Ref the brakes, I actually don't think the brakes are bad at all. I believe the issues are down to mainly four things.
The vacuum pump wears leading to a loss of 'suck' ;) at low engine speed (at anything above low speed traffic crawling the brakes are fine (on mine))
The servo can and does cause issues due to leaks - often missed. The rear brakes often have the incorrect slave cylinders fitted (as many automotive parts suppliers have been shipping the wrong units for many years and it is likely that the car has had some at some point - one way of telling is by how good the handbrake is, it should be excellent !. indeed it is about the best hand brake I have come across when working correctly I - It took about 4 months to sort out why mine was crap - ! now the hand brake works superbly and the overall braking is much improved.
T'other think is that the pedal IS harder than more modern vehicles but is simply a matter of 'driver' adjustment in most cases.
I keep intending to stick a vacuum gauge in the servo pipe and monitor the vacuum whilst moving slowly and braking (the car - not me) I bought a gauge - I just need the weather to cool down so I can work on it :) .... (I have a boost gauge to fit at the same time and want the vac gauge done at the same time - so that's my excuse lol)
Get it bought - you know you want to :) :)
Joe
 
Joe_H said:
Hi Alibro :)
I like it - if it is in one piece and it moves then buy it :)
hell, I wish there was one near here for that price it would be gone in 10 seconds. - even add a '0' on the end and make it Euros and it would be gone :)

Ref the brakes, I actually don't think the brakes are bad at all. I believe the issues are down to mainly four things.
The vacuum pump wears leading to a loss of 'suck' ;) at low engine speed (at anything above low speed traffic crawling the brakes are fine (on mine))
The servo can and does cause issues due to leaks - often missed. The rear brakes often have the incorrect slave cylinders fitted (as many automotive parts suppliers have been shipping the wrong units for many years and it is likely that the car has had some at some point - one way of telling is by how good the handbrake is, it should be excellent !. indeed it is about the best hand brake I have come across when working correctly I - It took about 4 months to sort out why mine was crap - ! now the hand brake works superbly and the overall braking is much improved.
T'other think is that the pedal IS harder than more modern vehicles but is simply a matter of 'driver' adjustment in most cases.
I keep intending to stick a vacuum gauge in the servo pipe and monitor the vacuum whilst moving slowly and braking (the car - not me) I bought a gauge - I just need the weather to cool down so I can work on it :) .... (I have a boost gauge to fit at the same time and want the vac gauge done at the same time - so that's my excuse lol)
Get it bought - you know you want to :) :)
Joe
Click to expand...
All good points. I'm going to take a look this afternoon and see what happens. If the engine runs and it drives it'll be mine. The listing on Gumtree is terrible with no info at all.
This means he is either a complete numpty and is letting it go for nothing when a few hours work, a little money and an extra ten minutes typing would have got him a much better price.
Or he's a crook, the IRD and rear diff and engine are all knackered.

Watch this space. :p

But I still hated the crappy brakes on my last L series Freelander. :rolleyes:
 
OK, went to see it this afternoon and oh dear! What a sad Freelander. All four tyres are flat, the boot window is down so the goldfish bowl is full, it has a nasty dent on the near side and it is covered in algae inside and out. :(
None of that would bother me but it's in a very inaccessible spot with seized rear brakes (at least I assume it is the brakes and not the diff or IRD, who knows) so it would be very difficult to get out. To be honest I think it is more trouble than it's worth and I'd be better waiting for a car which is running but maybe has had a bash.
I left it with the seller if he could deliver it to me I'd give him the asking price but I suspect it won't happen so for now the hunt continues. :rolleyes:
 
Alibro said:
OK, went to see it this afternoon and oh dear! What a sad Freelander. All four tyres are flat, the boot window is down so the goldfish bowl is full, it has a nasty dent on the near side and it is covered in algae inside and out. :(
None of that would bother me but it's in a very inaccessible spot with seized rear brakes (at least I assume it is the brakes and not the diff or IRD, who knows) so it would be very difficult to get out. To be honest I think it is more trouble than it's worth and I'd be better waiting for a car which is running but maybe has had a bash.
I left it with the seller if he could deliver it to me I'd give him the asking price but I suspect it won't happen so for now the hunt continues. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
That's what mine was like when I bought it!
 
Sounds ****!

TBH though, at that price I'd still be after it to take the engine - get it out of the car. wrap in in a tarp and stick it in a corner of the garden - "just in case" :) Then have any other easily extractable, small and often used spare parts (eg mirrors & lights) to be stored in a cupboard - then get the rest taken for scrap.

Having said that, here I've had to pay £500 for a similar car and £50 for wing mirrors etc, so that's where I'm coming from!
 
image.jpeg

This was a £500 Lseries. Goes like stink now
 
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