A few months ago fellow GRMer Jeff Peterson offered up his beloved Range Rover as part of his retirement from the city to the coast and I was the unfortunate friend that got picked to be it's next caretaker. I traded him a $77 bottle of scotch for it and drug it home only to deal with a flood. Since then it's pretty much sat around reducing my property value while I occasionally took it off-roading and marveled at the variety of molds it produced. I finally figured out what to do with it, and that is to make it a super cheap overlanding rig so we can go camping out in the National Parks around here. Here's the intro:
The big issue is the acceleration backfiring/stumble. It accelerates fine at partial throttle and idles perfectly smooth. At full throttle it backfires through the intake, which smells strongly of gas (if you didn't watch the video) even a month after it was last driven. Ideas on where to start for that one?
For the overlanding part, it already has a coil spring conversion and all of the diffs and terrain features work, so really it's getting it ready to haul some gear. I'm thinking steal a shopping cart for the basket and put a kegorator in it. That's what you're supposed to do, right?
I can't be of much service but what I can say is that it is going to be a badass project once it's all cleaned up! 
I thought this would be a discussion about which would last longer, the scotch or the RR.
Mndsm
MegaDork
2/8/21 12:04 p.m.
Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:
I thought this would be a discussion about which would last longer, the scotch or the RR.
I have an equally good bottle of scotch that says the scotch wins.
In reply to mad_machine (Forum Supporter) :
4.0 V8
So you overpaid for a RR is what I'm hearing? Kidding. Great rig to go join the strong Gambler community there in your back yard. I'd be disappoint to not see a 500 video in June
Javelin (Forum Supporter) said:
...offered up his beloved Range Rover ... to make it a super cheap overlanding rig
When the GRM 20XX Challenge seems too easy, you take on a real project.
bmw88rider (Forum Supporter) said:
So you overpaid for a RR is what I'm hearing? Kidding. Great rig to go join the strong Gambler community there in your back yard. I'd be disappoint to not see a 500 video in June
It's cheating for the Gambler unfortunately. It's worth well over $500 and was only offered to friends, that's not the spirit of that adventure. Sure would be fun to do as a non-competitor at least.
Paul_VR6 (Forum Supporter) said:
Javelin (Forum Supporter) said:
...offered up his beloved Range Rover ... to make it a super cheap overlanding rig
When the GRM 20XX Challenge seems too easy, you take on a real project.
A 100K mile Audi S4, a 140K mile Porsche Boxster, and a house remodel leave me with too much time on my hands, so I needed to fill the void.
Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:
I thought this would be a discussion about which would last longer, the scotch or the RR.
Sort of like the Gift of the Magi, once you have the Range Rover, you need the Scotch.
No clue but throwing it out there, vacuum leak? Not sure if it runs a MAF, but if so, intake between the MAF and TB.
Javelin (Forum Supporter) said:
A 100K mile Audi S4, a 140K mile Porsche Boxster, and a house remodel leave me with too much time on my hands, so I needed to fill the void.
This one hit close to home if you sub the Boxter for a 92 Corrado and toss a few kids in the mix.
I vaguely remember some high load issues on these can be sunk cylinder liners causing hg issues. Good luck.
In reply to Javelin (Forum Supporter) :
The gamble motto is fun>rules so I'm sure you'd be welcome.
If you had just sat down with the bottle of scotch and drank it, your headache would be gone within a day or two. Rover headache will just keep coming back...
In reply to thatsnowinnebago (Forum Supporter) :
Agreed. I can tell you most of the vehicles at the last Gambler I was at were over $500. Cheap cars yes but not $500. Shoot, finding a $500 car that runs in Denver is impossible almost. A RR with issues is perfect.
In reply to Paul_VR6 (Forum Supporter) :
Four kids here. All doing virtual school from home.
How do you know the backfire is through the intake? Have you looked at the plugs?
Javelin (Forum Supporter) said:
In reply to Paul_VR6 (Forum Supporter) :
Four kids here. All doing virtual school from home.
Ditto! I feel like we are kindered spirits now.
Did that motor Have a tps? Possible that it is not working correctly. They can also be calibrated with a screw and a multimeter.
Javelin (Forum Supporter) said
It's cheating for the Gambler unfortunately. It's worth well over $500 and was only offered to friends, that's not the spirit of that adventure. Sure would be fun to do as a non-competitor at least.
Real friends don't give Range Rovers to their friends. what did you do to piss him off anyway?
Javelin (Forum Supporter) said:
In reply to mad_machine (Forum Supporter) :
4.0 V8
4.0 sounds like a GEMS engine, I only know the "THOR" Bosch system. It's still relatively simple though, I would check your crank and cam sensors to make sure eveything is running in sync
DeadSkunk (Warren) said:
Javelin (Forum Supporter) said
It's cheating for the Gambler unfortunately. It's worth well over $500 and was only offered to friends, that's not the spirit of that adventure. Sure would be fun to do as a non-competitor at least.
Real friends don't give Range Rovers to their friends. what did you do to piss him off anyway?
I think I let him drive the Javelin once.
Pack extra shoes for everyone on board....
