Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Having had a few 4x4s before but never owning a range rover i was after some help.I was looking at purchasing a 2door, 5 speed rangie,the engine is a carbie type (just before they changed over to efi), new 33" tyres new raised suspension a body lift kit has also been added along with a long range fuel tank,bull bar and driving lights.He wants 4.5kfor it,the paint is ok and interior is just ok.
my question is, what do I have to look for when purchasing one of these vehicles, what are they like off road compaired to a toyota 4runner(that is what i have now). what year did the 2door model go to.

any help would be greatly appreciated

Grimmy

with those mods, it should be pretty capable offroad, I would think - probably a lot better than a 4 runner. I think the 2 door was discontinued in Aust about '82, but I could be wrong on that.

What to look for? Well, they pretty much all leak oil at that age, thats a given - its up to you how much you can put up with. Other than that, just the normal sort of things you look for I guess (ie check clutch, gearbox, motor with a drive, bit of a look at suspension + steering joints), can't think of anything major to watch out for offhand.

Body is mostly aluminum, with exception to bonnet, rear quarterpanels, upper tailgate (prone to rust), possibly lower tailgate?, and I believe all 2 doors have steel doors as well, though later ones may not. Have a look at the chassis for rust, and considering the mods on it, look carefully at where the body mounts attach to the chassis for cracked welds.

The carbies are argueably better than the early EFI systems, at least a bit more reliable IMHO.

Apart from that, someone else will have to point out anything specific to rangies, cause as i said I can't think of anything major on them - probably cause most things are relatively easy to fix.

The 2dr was made up to 94 but only in oz to 84, no 5 spd's were available in the 2dr except for the CSK limited edition. Only the external panels are alloy, the floor ( except cargo area ), sills, inner gaurds,inner door shells, rear corners, decker panel , bonnet on all early models, lower tailgate inner skin are steel. So there is a need to check for rust especially the sills, lower sections of a,b,c pillars, floor pans as the heater cores and windscreen seals are prone to leaking.

Regards,
Nick.

Good correction there Loanrangie, I forgot about the floors etc......

As already said, look for things you would normally look for but also put it into low range and make sure it doesn't jump out of gear under load. As for the capability side, they are like comparing chalk and cheese. You would have to push a 4 runner alot harder to get to the same places a stock Rangie would go. LR are the grandaddies of off roading!!
Shano

thankyou everyone for your comments this will help me with the decision i have to make.

grimmy