Soon-To-Be- 89' RR owner - questions!

[sundog kid]

I am 90% sure I am buying a 89' Range Rover classic tomorrow, and being an experienced car forum guy, thought I would join, and start to ask all the questions that keep me up at night! This RR will not see any hard core off roading, and will be a company back up vehicle.

I am a very loyal VW enthusiast, having owned 12 now, none with any major breakdowns. A highlight of my vw ownership would be my current 71 Squareback, and a 83 mk1 Rabbit I owned previously, that had 870 000 km's on the original drive trian and body. No rust! ran great!

First off, the range rover

The rr Im looking at is in pretty good condition, white, auto 3.9, very little rust of any kind (typical chassis spot rust, thats it), interior is rough, but the body is clean. It will need an exhaust, bat, all the electrical gremlins in the interior, and some other small things fixed. I dont know when the odometers wrap, but it reads 50k. which I dont think the old guy who owns it is lying, but 50k? thats not realistic!

Here's my questions (yes Ive searched a ton of forums and done my searches on this one also)

Wheels and brakes
So I have found that the bolt pattern on rr's is quite rare, with bmw and s10 chevys carrying the same. I cant seems to find a straight answer on offest for the oem rims, is it +40mm?

Is there a company that makes blank rotors? I have access to a machine shop, and being a long time euro enthusiast, we have drilled out our own rotors before, to get what ever bolt pattern we want. Has anyone done this before?

Because I live in Canada, most of the info I find online is either based on U.S. rr's, or brit rr's. If I were to look for an engine to drop in this RR next year, whats the best motor I could find on this side of the pond? I would like to go diesel preferably.

Well, thats all my questions for now. Im sure if I do end up with this gem, I will be on this forum alot more!

Thanx for your time!

[wooday]

1) 50k on an '89? I would expect both interior + exterior to be in good shape. Sounds like they're not. Red flag.
2) Never had any breakdowns in the VWs eh? Get ready to change your record. =)
3) Canada got the same engines as the US. See www.rangerovers.net (http://www.rangerovers.net) for more info. If this one truly has 50k, why would you want to swap it? Diesels weren't sold in North American RRCs - putting one in is expensive. Search the forums for engine swaps or engine conversions. A 200Tdi or 300Tdi Rover engine is most common. Others have had luck with Isuzu 2.8s or Mercedes diesels. 50k on a 3.5 or 3.9 will still have a lot of life left though.

[ccec]

Mr. Sundog:

Buy a Rover for what it is...

The brakes don't need altering. They kick-ass as they are. Buy new rotors from Rovers North and you're stylin'.

The V-8 is a hardy soul... run it until it granades... THEN think about a swap --that'll be many miles down the road.

Electrical gremlins: deal. Simple is better. It's all about relays... keep a few extra as medicine.

See you out there,

--ccec

[Bryhn]

Good luck. Undoubtedly it is hard not to love a rover.

[FlagRover]

I bet your rovers odo stopped at 100K and was replaced. Thats what happened to mine. Mine reads 56xxx now. But it really has 156xxx..... :)

These trucks take constant work, so if you arent into laying under it with a wrench on your way to church, dont buy it.