P38A P38 on a budget

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ging360

ging360

Active Member
Posts
162
Hi guys I'm am considering getting another Land Rover while I restore my series 3 which is my only car currently. This car would not be used a lot maybe 4 months in a year as I'm an out of the country a lot for work. I have a bit of a soft spot for the P38 and it is one of the few land rovers I could afford on my limited second car budget of £1500. Could you guys please advise on wether or not this is a sensible budget, or if the car would survive such little use. Repairing it is not a problem as I'm technically minded and have a good amount of tools.
 
I paid 1500 for mine and it regularly sits for months in Czech and never caused me a problem apart from a flat battery. I just disconnect it now and leave it on a trickle charger then reconnect when I need it. However, to do that you need EKA and some method of entering it (Nanocom or perfectly working lock switches)
From reading here, I think I've got quite lucky with mine.
I have spent about 1000 on it in total but if I'd been on a tight budget, I could have got away with a lot less. For example, it's having new disks and pads all round next week along with airbags and a multitude of other things that I wanted to do but it ran fine without. Because I do a lot of high speed work on german motorways, I wanted everything spot on, if I was pootling about at home, I wouldn't have done most of the jobs.
They are fabulous, and if you get a reasonable one and can do the work yourself, they're no more expensive to own than any car of similar age.
 
P38 on a budget is a hard task but if you are prepared to put up with stuff being broken until next month then it's possible. £1000 for repairs is quite reasonable for most vehicles so I would expect that when picking up anything that isn't a fiesta etc. As said they aren't keen on being left standing but it's really only because the battery goes flat which upsets the becm as said. Apart from that thy seem fairly reliable. Buy a diesel obviously for fuel bills. If you're already trying to save money a V8 will not help even though they are very nice. Do what wazzjnr says and invest in a trickle charger and the eka code at a minimum and a nanocom can come later.
 
Joss155 said:
P38 on a budget is a hard task but if you are prepared to put up with stuff being broken until next month then it's possible. £1000 for repairs is quite reasonable for most vehicles so I would expect that when picking up anything that isn't a fiesta etc. As said they aren't keen on being left standing but it's really only because the battery goes flat which upsets the becm as said. Apart from that thy seem fairly reliable. Buy a diesel obviously for fuel bills. If you're already trying to save money a V8 will not help even though they are very nice. Do what wazzjnr says and invest in a trickle charger and the eka code at a minimum and a nanocom can come later.
Click to expand...

While I was in Australia i borrowed a ford focus and the clutch master cylinder pushrod broke and. It was just a bit of plastic but the whole cylinder had to be replaced as it was all plastic and no way of unsealing the unit and it cost over $400 ( over 200 pounds). The next week I replaced the Brake master cylinder on my Classic Australian (1973) Ford LTD and it cost me $127.00. The difference was that the master cylinder was made of metal it also had dual pistons and was twice the size of the focus one so the comment about the fiesta being cheap is not really valid.
 
Right thanks, actually having looked at the budget I might manage it as at first any way there won't be much expenditure as most of it will be strip down and assessment of the condition of parts which will give me plenty of time save up any mone
 
You will need a maintenance charger not a trickle charger.I leave mine for 3/4 weeks at a time using one without problems. The battery flattened years ago and fecked the becm, then the rf receiver was picking up spurious signals and burnt out both front door locks. There goes your £1000 repair budget.
 
My knowledge of P38's & later RR's is admittedly zero but anyone who truly believes they can own a reliable RR, even an earlier model year Classic, on a budget ought to seek psychiatric help. The concept of owning a vehicle that cannot be relied upon to start after a reasonable period of inactivity is beyond me, but then I'm an analogue person in a digital age :confused:
 
Paid £2000 for my v8 with 100K on the clock. spent a little on new tyres rear disks and pads at its first MOT and sorted the usual cruise control problem out (split pipe) and thats been it really. She has only done 9000 miles in the last 24 months, is on a trickle charge and left for weeks on end with no problems (by all means try and steal her but you'll be dealing with 2 rotties and a 10 stone dog debourdoue) oh and of course the UJ went last month on the front prop 24 quid fix. That happy with it that its now in the process of going back from springs onto air. There's not a lot the guys dont know about them on here and most of the jobs if you have the time are DIY fixed. Who's to say anything under 1500 is not going to give you jip, :)
 
are you really suggesting a classic at £1500 and a grand trouble shooting would be a better bet than a P38 !!! lOVE the classic to bits but the money they want for a good one is the reason iv a good P38 :rolleyes::rolleyes:
 
Your possibly right on both points but i wound'nt want a classic at that sort of money and expect it to be a reliable runner without spending alot more in the very near future.
 
I bought a £1000 one... It was a wreck. I've spent £1000 on tools and parts, and got it through an MOT with no advisories, and learned a lot in the process.

Would I have been better off buying a £2000+ one to start with... Probably, but I wouldn't have gained so much knowledge, and acquired all the tools I now have forever. So on balance, I'm not unhappy!

Most important tool? Very big hammer!
 
Mines an 800 rangie.
Motd till February.
It's still on coils for now.
Bonnets the wrong shade of black
Iv had it 4week done 4k in it it's currently on 192k
It had a few bits needed done a rear callipar bonnet cables 2 missing wheel studs done.
So far my repair parts work out at
A second hand manual gearbox at 140
6 glowplugs.
Inlet manifold gaskets
A rear diff seal.
A transfer box bearing.
A second hand front prop.
2 front cv boots.
A slave cylinder
A fuel filter as it's the only filter or fluid not to have been done in a while.
A couple of bulbs.
Anti roll bar bushes
Rear crank oil seal which il do when I change the gearbox.
And a battery my pal gave me.

Still needs a few smaller bits and a windscreen at somepoint.

If there cheep they'll keep you busy

Sometimes you can get a brilliant motor for cheep

Usually a 2k + motor so keep that in mind if you get a cheeper one

My previous was a 400 quid coilsprung rangie and after doing a flexplate it started everyday it drove everyday bar needing a couple of balljoints and hub seals it was spot on
 
stustrong said:
Mines an 800 rangie.
Motd till February.
It's still on coils for now.
Bonnets the wrong shade of black
Iv had it 4week done 4k in it it's currently on 192k
It had a few bits needed done a rear callipar bonnet cables 2 missing wheel studs done.
So far my repair parts work out at
A second hand manual gearbox at 140
6 glowplugs.
Inlet manifold gaskets
A rear diff seal.
A transfer box bearing.
A second hand front prop.
2 front cv boots.
A slave cylinder
A fuel filter as it's the only filter or fluid not to have been done in a while.
A couple of bulbs.
Anti roll bar bushes
Rear crank oil seal which il do when I change the gearbox.
And a battery my pal gave me.

Still needs a few smaller bits and a windscreen at somepoint.

If there cheep they'll keep you busy

Sometimes you can get a brilliant motor for cheep

Usually a 2k + motor so keep that in mind if you get a cheeper one

My previous was a 400 quid coilsprung rangie and after doing a flexplate it started everyday it drove everyday bar needing a couple of balljoints and hub seals it was spot on
Click to expand...
But you are very lucky to have a cheap scrappy on your doorstep, in the real world or, perish the thought, down South, things cost a lot more.
 
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