Freelander 1 oh I bought a Freelander not so free

good evening ladies and gentlemans

ok when I say Me bought a Freelander I really mean I finally convinced the Mrs she needed a landrover and not a vauxhall

so here we have my (our) very first Freelander she had a low budget and I wasn't helping as she's not long passed and rather terrible and worse in a manual car than her horrible zafira A auto

but never the less we went car shopping and I kept poking her with the landrover stick and we found this advertised for £800

134k with stamps till 115k (I do have my doubts about this more on that later)
full black heated leather
4 good Bridgestone tyres
td4 engine
I do think thats all the good points I can list ?

she does look ok and drove nice but she is a landy and no landy is without its issues
the owner was honest and reported the front drop links and rear left windows is slow and sunroof is slow to slide

but after I did some digging I found the landrover in her

did landrover actually install rust from the factory ?

so I replaced the drop links and put her on my mates mot ramp for a proper look see
rust issues first
2x chassis to sill out riggers missing
rear x member above rear subframe cracked and holed
rear right boot floor holed due to hole being drilled for parking sensors and tow bar

on further inspection vcu support bearing (front) excessively noisy
vcu is locked solid ( one wheel test can't move any of the rears with a 5ft bar) prop now removed
2x front wheel bearings noisy but no play
anti roll bar saddle bushes gone also
front pads low
air filter dated 2003 (my service history means nothing)
oh and the mot is out on the 3rd not the 23rd like advertised

soo I may have a lemon I paid £575

work done so far
full service not including the fuel filter ( have it be done this week)
2x front drop links
removed rear prop

parts ordered
2x antiroll bar saddle bushes
2x front ball joints (why not?)
4x wheel bearings
front disks and pads
sheet of 2mm steel

anything else I should be looking at and or concerned about ?
I am also doing ear valve and crank breather as been told they are known failure points

and does anyone have any input on the window being slow on rear passenger door clean and lube the rails etc ? sunroof is rust in rails

oh and the clutch pedal is super squeaky rather annoying

thanks in advance
boab

Not an expert, only just bought mine a couple of months ago..will try to post later today as need to go to sleep...

I also work in Spain so my TD4 is with my daughter in Scotland..

Nodge will be on the case first thing later this morning......

Jeepers, you really did pick a Freelander that wants to be a Discovery with all that rust.

£575 is nothing for a car if it's got a decently long mot. I expect to pay double that per year to keep mine on the road. A lot of those issues you listed are normal everyday challenges for a landy. It is 15 years old to be fair, what was you expecting. The 2003 oil filter is a bit naughty though.

Col

I wouldn't even be bothering to weld up a rusty FL1. I'd simply be looking for a rust free example with failed engine or gearbox. I'd then make one out of two.

If the chassis rails have started to disintegrate, then the sills and strenghtheners will be well rusted too.

Nodge68 said:

I wouldn't even be bothering to weld up a rusty FL1. I'd simply be looking for a rust free example with failed engine or gearbox. I'd then make one out of two.

If the chassis rails have started to disintegrate, then the sills and strenghtheners will be well rusted too.

Click to expand...

...and that's just for starters before you peel back the rear wheel arch liners and have a look at the front or the arch.

GrumpyGel said:

Jeepers, you really did pick a Freelander that wants to be a Discovery with all that rust.

Click to expand...

Did I mention that I also own a 1994 disco? lol

Nodge68 said:

I wouldn't even be bothering to weld up a rusty FL1. I'd simply be looking for a rust free example with failed engine or gearbox. I'd then make one out of two.

If the chassis rails have started to disintegrate, then the sills and strenghtheners will be well rusted too.

Click to expand...

To be fair the rust has mainly been caused by idiots drilling and no treating the exposed metal afterwords its only about an hours work to weld it all up compared to my discovery its nothing really

GrumpyGel said:

...and that's just for starters before you peel back the rear wheel arch liners and have a look at the front or the arch.

Click to expand...

rear arch liners are missing so its not had loads of crap stuck up behind them to rot them all out every part of the body and chassis has been hammered with a ball point hammer and the suspicious looking parts poked with the sharp end of the screwdriver


thanks for the advice it will be all welded up this week and full underside done in chassis in one

cheers
boab

put some grease on the runners and cable of your windows and sun roof.