Range Rover Classic LSE 93 Restoration Project

Hi all.
I posted a thread in the introduce yourself section, but feel it would be better suited in the projects forum. So I'm reposting in here along with updates since the last post.

So...

Having recently purchashed a 1993 4.2 LSE i am beginning on the restoration path! The plan is to completely restore all areas as original (or upgrade parts). So far i have removed the engine and have sent it away to V8 developments for a complete overhaul and rebuild.
Engine work includes:
. Full strip and rebuild
. Top hat Linered block
. New cam bearings
. New main bearings
. New big end bearings
. New piston rings
. All new gaskets and seals
. Lapped and polished crank
. Full internal balance
. Full refurbished rocker assemblies
. Upgraded high torque camshaft kit, including timing chains and followers
. Upgraded big valve torque master heads
Following this i am also upgrading the distributor, ht leads and starter motor as well as replacing the alternator, ignition coil and water pump.








With the engine away i have now moved onto stripping the rest of the car. The front end is nearly all rotten to the point where replacing it seems a sensible and easier idea. I have found a complete brand new replacement front end to install from the bulkhead forward for ease.I have removed the dashboard and all of the interior to expose the body work inside













Inevitably the minute the interior was out it revealed a whole host of rust ! Both rear wheel arches are completely shot and the n/s c pillar is rusted away as well. The seatbelt mounting points were so rusty that they fell out of the car when i went to crack the bolt holding them to the bodywork!





As you can see they are far gone from their heyday. Now that the body is stripped right back the next plan of action is to tackle all the rust and weld in replacement panels and patches. I have managed to locate most replacement panels however i am struggling to find a c pillar replacement or repair panel. Will i just have to fabricate one from scratch? Any help appreciated on that front.
Once all of the welding is completed and the body work is structurally sound again i plan to split the body from the chassis. Completely strip the chassis back to bare and send away for galvanising and then rebuild back up from there nut and bolt. I am not confident that the body won't warp if lifted before the welding has been done.
I plan on upgrading the diffs, gear box and refurbish all the hub assemblies, new cv's etc as it goes back together along with a new set of shock and coils ( Air suspension has been removed ). I plan to keep the car as original looking as possible with the only modifications being engine and gearbox internals.

I hope this is the start of a useful thread for both gaining knowledge my way and also to inspire or be a source of information to others. I am more than welcome to advice on any recommendations along the way

Thanks for reading

Dan

Blimey, gotta go sort me self out now

Loves an LSE almost as much as her indoors LOL

I'm in love..

The LSE is my ultimate RR.

A good addition if ya can find them is the lichfield leather seats!

Hmm

Wow ♡

So a little update on the progress of the restoration. The Engine has now been rebuilt and the body has now been separated from the chassis. I found it difficult to find out much information on this process before I attempted it so I will add a little piece and some pictures on how I achieved this;

I stripped the car right back to a rolling shell, engine out, interior out, doors off. Once stripped to this stage I began disconnecting lines and electrics underneath - note:

• Brake lines
• Wiring loom clipped to the body
• Handbrake cable
• Gear selector shaft
• Steering column (through bulkhead)
• Earthing points (fuel filler neck and a couple of chassis points
• Air suspension air lines (if fitted)

Once all ancillaries had been unbolted from the shell I then began on removing the body mounts. There are 8 main body mounts - 2 at the front by radiator housing, 2 at rear under rear crossmember, and 2 at either end of side sills. On top of these there are 4 minor body mounts in the centre of the shell (dowel and split pin type) - 2 above rear axle and 2 further forward in line with gearbox. These body mounts especially the centre mounts needed copious amounts of penetrating oil and some serious leverage to get undone so I would advise soaking these for a while before hand.
The shell was then ready to be lifted clear of the chassis. I used the seat mounting points as a mounting point for a chain . D shackles will not fit through the holes so I used u brackets and washer plates to make a holding point. Using a forklift/JCB I began lifting from the strop wrapped around the chain. The body comes clear from the front end first due to weight imbalance. I did have windscreen and rear upper tailgate still fitted so these could be removed to save weight. It was a little bit unbalanced at the back so using a couple of ratchet straps I balanced the shell out back to the forks and this made it far more steady. When lifting do this slowly (obviously) as odds on there will be a wire still attached or snagged that you will have missed.
Once clear of the chassis the body can be taken away and stored as necessary, I have mine on scaffold above the chassis to save on space. When the body is placed down it will sit on the sills but it is quite light on the rear end so I would advise placing a block under here as a bit of catch packing just in case.
Anyway's now I have the body separated I will be stripping the chassis down ready to be painted and then built back up from there, new bushes, brakes, suspension etc. I plan to put an LSD in the rear diff and rebuild the gearbox as well. The engine block will be reattached to the gearbox and placed in the chassis before the body is reattached to make it easier to re fit.
Slowly getting around to doing these bits and looking forward to a summer of restoring !

Range Rover bunk beds lol

Great work there, highly rate the Ashcroft ATB diff btw

dieseldog69 said:

Range Rover bunk beds lol

Great work there, highly rate the Ashcroft ATB diff btw

Click to expand...

That is what I had in mind. I am still unsure whether to put the ATB in the front diff as well or just leave this as standard open diff. I will mainly be using the LSE on road with the offroading side mainly being wet grass and banks on Shoots, horse races etc so do not wish to compromise driveability day to day. it is said to be unnoticeable in the rear but slightly noticebale in the front ?

BRADN061 said:

That is what I had in mind. I am still unsure whether to put the ATB in the front diff as well or just leave this as standard open diff. I will mainly be using the LSE on road with the offroading side mainly being wet grass and banks on Shoots, horse races etc so do not wish to compromise driveability day to day. it is said to be unnoticeable in the rear but slightly noticebale in the front ?

Click to expand...

I've heard nothing but great reviews of the Ashcroft ATB and you are correct on the noticeability in the front but only slightly.

Quick update on the LSE's progress;
With the body stripped clean of the chassis I moved onto stripping the parts away from the chassis. Firstly removing all legacy Air suspension lines (these were left in from previous owners coil conversion). Then onto brake and fuel lines. Fuel lines were particularly rusted and crumbled apart on removal. When removing the fuel tank I remembered that I had completely forgotten to drain the tank before beginning on the restoration and as such had to pour away approx. 60 litres of dead fuel ( painful lesson learned! ).
Fuel tank removed I then disconnected propshafts and lifted the gearbox and transfer box clear of the chassis. With gearbox removed I then placed the chassis onto dolly trolleys so that I could begin removing the axles, radius arms, rear a frame, suspension etc. Points to note on this were, 28mm and 24mm spanners x2 are required as several bolts are located such that a socket cannot be used. Furthermore expect almost every single bolt to be seized and a nightmare to undo, I had to use a breaker bar and then placed a scaffold tube over the handle to gain extra leverage to just crack some of these. A few bolts sheared but luckily I will be replacing every nut and bolt with stainless replacements so not a big deal for me. With all parts stripped I then dropped the axles whole with suspension away from the chassis. (2 Man Job)
Now the chassis is completely stripped and steam washed it is about to be sent away for blasting before a small amount of required welding will take place.
I have almost completely stripped the axles back to bare and these will also be blasted along with large parts such as radius arms, A frame etc before everything is prepped and painted back to black.
Hopefully the next update will not be far away and this will cover the welding and painting.

The eagle eyed amongst you will notice that the transfer box is currently a LT230 variant and should be a Borg Warner for the LSE. This is to be replaced with a Borg Warner.

Any Questions about the process i am happy to answer, Enjoy!

Very nice

It looked pretty nice to start

It’s gonna be absolutely stunning when finished

Keep up the good work.

J

Brad(?) - looks like an amazing project, kudos for the level detail youre going into. I have a 1994 LSE too, just wondering how you found V8 developments to deal with and were you impressed with the work to the engine?? (im thinking of using them for the top hat liners) Also what colour code is that, mines plymouth blue but doesnt look that similar?
Keep up the good work, and more posts/photos please
Cheers
Matt

fattboy said:

Brad(?) - looks like an amazing project, kudos for the level detail youre going into. I have a 1994 LSE too, just wondering how you found V8 developments to deal with and were you impressed with the work to the engine?? (im thinking of using them for the top hat liners) Also what colour code is that, mines plymouth blue but doesnt look that similar?
Keep up the good work, and more posts/photos please
Cheers
Matt

Click to expand...

V8 developements are good to deal with..

Matt,

I can only comment on the service and experience I received from V8 Developments as I have not reached the stage of running up the engine yet ! However I found them very helpful. Ray & Acea make you feel welcome and they genuinely are interested in what you are doing and will give honest advice on what your requirements are. I found it a more personal approach rather than feeling I was paying several thousand to a company that was only looking to make as much money as they could. It took roughly 8 months from initial query to picking up my completed engine. The wait was due to high demand from other customers, I think they had 18 engine rebuilds to do. I also was in no rush for mine to be completed so I wasn't pressing for a faster completion and made it clear that I didn't mind some of their more pressing work to be completed before mine.
Overall I had a very good experience and would recommend them to a friend.
In regards to paint colour I also believe mine is a Plymouth Blue, the photos do make it look a slightly darker shade than it does to the eye.
I have added the pictures of work completed on the engine to give you an idea of what they did for me. Cost - £5400

Hope this helps.

Brad - thanks for the detailed reply - exactly what i was after. My resto plans have stalled recently as ive lost the use of the workshop, however this thread have given me some much needed motivation. I may well go out and look at mine this weekend, ill try to get some pics up as my blue is a lot lighter than yours. Also noticed youve got the brooklands bumpers, still unsure if i should get some myself? keep on posting updates, they provide a very cathartic experience (if thats the correct use of the word??) . What rust proofing/ protection products are you using? Ive got some dinitrol gear but also looking at the raptor products too. On the subject of body/panels etc , try nick at Froggatts if you need stuff, he produces some really nice products, and is also a decent guy and into his shooting etc. No connection but i work near him, and he always has time to chat and share his knowledge...Cheers

I get the cathartic thing

Brilliant thread, more pics and updates would be great as there aren’t many compared to the absolutely huge amount of work you’ve completed

will be a stunner for decades

Morning All,

Little update on progress:

I have begun on repairing some rust patches on the chassis and set about welding new metal in. From first appearance the chassis seemed in generally good condition with a few small areas requiring attention. However once I began cutting away at some small patches these quickly became big patches ! Notably, in the middle of the chassis on the inside walls of the chassis where some drain holes are located. To the eye the chassis wall looked solid however after cutting small holes I soon realised that the rust was to a far worse extent from the inside of the chassis and it was literally rusting from the inside out. Once I noticed this I decided to run an air compressed needle gun over the entire chassis to clear away some thick patches of surface rust and to see if I could highlight any further weakened areas. Inevitably this did indeed highlight a few weak areas and these were then rectified.
Points to note:

• I have used 2mm thick steel for the repair sections.
• Check for inside rusting by cutting test holes in common rust areas even if the surface seems solid (this has proved invaluable)
• Have a 9" grinder with a cutting disc available as well as 4" as some area that may require cutting out are in awkward area

I have also replaced the diff casings on the axles with new heavy duty 6mm thick replacements.

I have added a few photos, there is still work to do and a few welds in the pictures are yet to be cleaned up etc ( so go easy on me ) !! I will add more photos once the welding is all complete etc.

Hi Dan - any updates on this? Heres hoping some progress has been made......

Since the last post I have been sent away with work, I am a serving soldier which makes keeping to planned timelines somewhat difficult at times ! I am away for another couple of months now but have been gathering parts steadily so when I am home in the spring I can really crack on with the build. Apologies for the delay and I will keep you all updated as soon as the time comes.

Thanks

BRADN061 said:

Since the last post I have been sent away with work, I am a serving soldier which makes keeping to planned timelines somewhat difficult at times ! I am away for another couple of months now but have been gathering parts steadily so when I am home in the spring I can really crack on with the build. Apologies for the delay and I will keep you all updated as soon as the time comes.

Thanks

Click to expand...

Hi Dan - ive started the stripping on mine recently. Usual places/culprits but does look that bad TBH (famous last words). Might even start a quick thread although its fairly generic stuff and nowhere near of the scale of yours. Hope your work/tour is going ok - looking forward to the updates.....which much be due soon!
Cheers
Matt