What a whirlwind 48 hours it has been. I've been dieing to post, I'm just utterly on overload.
First - I'm loving being a Series Rover owner. There really is nothing like it, just being in the truck puts a smile on your face. And you guys weren't kidding, the looks, waves "ohhs" and "ahhs" are unbelievable. Mostly I have 1,000,000 questions and am not even sure where to start.
Here's the deal, I decided to go against the advice of some and import a truck from the UK. The good news is that I felt, and still feel, like I had learned enough to ask the right questions and find something that was first and foremost solid and secondly in good mechanical shape. In that regard I did pretty well. I followed the lead of Mike Smyth and used Churchill Landrover. Jonathan, the firm's owner and namesake, and I spent a few weeks going over details and finding the right rig for my budget and requirements.
The good
The frame is galvanized and solid as it can be. There's "surface rust" but I've beat on it with a hammer and screwdriver and haven't found a soft spot yet. Seriously, its rock solid.
The engine feels good - its a 2.5l conversion... I say feels because as we all know I'm a mechanical novice. It seems to be running well and I had no trouble at all doing the 150 miles from Baltimore to Richmond yesterday...at least no mechanical issues. Fluids, the ones I know how to check, stayed at consistent levels.
Its got a nice shiny paint job, brand new soft top (more on that later) and some all new trim (which I've determined is utter rubbish but looks nice).
The Bad (things I knew about)
The hard top is cosmetically in bad shape... no biggie, summer project. I'll sand it and paint it.
the electric fan isn't working, back to the engine driven fan. No over heating issues...but after my 3+ hour drive yesterday I came home and had it idle for about 20 minutes. It did start to overhead while idling...I'm guessing because there was no air moving over the radiator?
Its just old, I'll need some new door seals, need to spend some serious time with a bucket of soapy water, etc... and I think that leads into...
The Ugly
I feel uncomfortable mentioning this because I feel slightly mislead and I still haven't sorted out what I'll do about it... but there is some blatent rust in the floor of the cargo area. There are 6 holes (almost lined up, 3 and 3, makes me wonder if something was there?) and they were taped over and sprayed when the truck was painted. I clearly asked about that area and the pictures just didn't show it. I still have some cash reserved as a contingency...
And that in turn leads me to finally understand the point that I think so many of you have made before. The British have a different history, use case and opinion of "good shape" regarding these trucks than we do. I genuinely don't think I was lied to, I think the British definition of "the tub is in good shape" is different than the US version of that phrase.
That does make me wonder what else is "in good shape" and I'll admit to being a little nervous since I'm not an expert.
So with all of that in mind, I'm not even the slightest bit disappointed. I'm still loving every minute of it. The topless drive to the farmers market today was something I've looked forward to for months. That was what I'd been hoping my summer would be like - with a rover, in the sun.
Like I said, tons of questions...more than I can even digest right now. For starters, getting the soft top on...lots of straps and ropes and virtually nothing in the way of directions... but more on that later.
The one question I do have now: the transmission gets HOT. I can feel heat radiating on the back of my legs and when I've driven a while. There's a hand access panel under the middle seat and I've noticed that the whole thing is covered in a film of oil. I'm hoping thats the standard rover seals doing their best, but does that sound like the start of a bigger problem to anyone else (hopefully I haven't biased the answer by mentioning my little cargo rust issue )
Thanks for all the help and advice. Glad to be officially part of the fold!
Edited to add: pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nickdawson/tags/rhd1/ (go easy on me please)
-N
First - I'm loving being a Series Rover owner. There really is nothing like it, just being in the truck puts a smile on your face. And you guys weren't kidding, the looks, waves "ohhs" and "ahhs" are unbelievable. Mostly I have 1,000,000 questions and am not even sure where to start.
Here's the deal, I decided to go against the advice of some and import a truck from the UK. The good news is that I felt, and still feel, like I had learned enough to ask the right questions and find something that was first and foremost solid and secondly in good mechanical shape. In that regard I did pretty well. I followed the lead of Mike Smyth and used Churchill Landrover. Jonathan, the firm's owner and namesake, and I spent a few weeks going over details and finding the right rig for my budget and requirements.
The good
The frame is galvanized and solid as it can be. There's "surface rust" but I've beat on it with a hammer and screwdriver and haven't found a soft spot yet. Seriously, its rock solid.
The engine feels good - its a 2.5l conversion... I say feels because as we all know I'm a mechanical novice. It seems to be running well and I had no trouble at all doing the 150 miles from Baltimore to Richmond yesterday...at least no mechanical issues. Fluids, the ones I know how to check, stayed at consistent levels.
Its got a nice shiny paint job, brand new soft top (more on that later) and some all new trim (which I've determined is utter rubbish but looks nice).
The Bad (things I knew about)
The hard top is cosmetically in bad shape... no biggie, summer project. I'll sand it and paint it.
the electric fan isn't working, back to the engine driven fan. No over heating issues...but after my 3+ hour drive yesterday I came home and had it idle for about 20 minutes. It did start to overhead while idling...I'm guessing because there was no air moving over the radiator?
Its just old, I'll need some new door seals, need to spend some serious time with a bucket of soapy water, etc... and I think that leads into...
The Ugly
I feel uncomfortable mentioning this because I feel slightly mislead and I still haven't sorted out what I'll do about it... but there is some blatent rust in the floor of the cargo area. There are 6 holes (almost lined up, 3 and 3, makes me wonder if something was there?) and they were taped over and sprayed when the truck was painted. I clearly asked about that area and the pictures just didn't show it. I still have some cash reserved as a contingency...
And that in turn leads me to finally understand the point that I think so many of you have made before. The British have a different history, use case and opinion of "good shape" regarding these trucks than we do. I genuinely don't think I was lied to, I think the British definition of "the tub is in good shape" is different than the US version of that phrase.
That does make me wonder what else is "in good shape" and I'll admit to being a little nervous since I'm not an expert.
So with all of that in mind, I'm not even the slightest bit disappointed. I'm still loving every minute of it. The topless drive to the farmers market today was something I've looked forward to for months. That was what I'd been hoping my summer would be like - with a rover, in the sun.
Like I said, tons of questions...more than I can even digest right now. For starters, getting the soft top on...lots of straps and ropes and virtually nothing in the way of directions... but more on that later.
The one question I do have now: the transmission gets HOT. I can feel heat radiating on the back of my legs and when I've driven a while. There's a hand access panel under the middle seat and I've noticed that the whole thing is covered in a film of oil. I'm hoping thats the standard rover seals doing their best, but does that sound like the start of a bigger problem to anyone else (hopefully I haven't biased the answer by mentioning my little cargo rust issue )
Thanks for all the help and advice. Glad to be officially part of the fold!
Edited to add: pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nickdawson/tags/rhd1/ (go easy on me please)
-N
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