RRC Build ... Roverzilla

flyingwil

Supporting Sponsor - Sierra Expeditions
Well, the RoverZilla transformation begins... :victory:

FlyingWen's brother, Dusty, has an 87 RRC that was his first vehicle. He rear-ended a vehicle in his RRC. So he left this sit in his mom's driveway since then. He wants to be able to go out with FlyingWen and I on some trips and get into overlanding, so we decided that we'll have him work for parts at Sierra Expeditions (keeping it family owned and operated). So a few weeks ago we found a '90 RRC on CL and snagged that up. It was involved in a rear end collision, and only had 80k miles on it. So we got that, and then we came across this gem, so now we'll have this one too. We're hoping to make 2 good rovers out of the 3 that we'll have, and will part out the remaining if I don't chop it up and stick half in the shop. We'll see.

87 is the white one, '90 is the red one
RRC%20001.JPG


RRC%20002.JPG


Tomorrow we leave to go get the new one we will be using as the base, and swapping the 3.9L into it. http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=44367
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flyingwil

Supporting Sponsor - Sierra Expeditions
Got all the damaged parts off the '87 today..

RRC%20006.JPG


Starting to pull the 3.9L motor off the '90.
 

Wander

Expedition Leader
It always amazes me what a jumbled mess modern cars are, it's a wonder they run at all when you see the amount of wires, hoses and various other stuff that completely covers an engine these days.
 

flyingwil

Supporting Sponsor - Sierra Expeditions
Well the guys are almost back from CO... they hit a snag in Denver getting the '89 RRC from Graham up there. They got a flat on the way in, then their spare got a flat. So, long story short, they're about a day behind schedule. We were going to try and get the engine swap done today, but it has been postponed for now.

Bright side is that Dusty is excited, and he mentioned he might even sign up for ExPo!
 

stevenmd

Expedition Leader
If you are going to do all the work of a swap, why not source a 4.2? Or even better, a 4.6? You will not be sorry you did it and will enjoy the extra power.

Does this mean Sierra Expeditions is going to start carrying more Land Rover stuff?
 

flyingwil

Supporting Sponsor - Sierra Expeditions
If you are going to do all the work of a swap, why not source a 4.2? Or even better, a 4.6? You will not be sorry you did it and will enjoy the extra power.

Does this mean Sierra Expeditions is going to start carrying more Land Rover stuff?

Simply put, this is a budget build as an attempt to get FlyingWen's brother more involved in Sierra Expeditions other than thinking it is "cool." We'll convert him! :victory:

Oh yeah in answer to your other question... yeah we'd like to get more into Rover items, but it has been hard to test if they are quality products with out having a Rover.
 

08whitex

Adventurer
Let me know if you guys need any help. I am a master certified tech/fabricator. I am usually free every Saturday
 

R_Lefebvre

Expedition Leader
Curious why you needed 3 trucks to get one running one? Figured with the front hit and the rear hit, you'd be good to go?
 

flyingwil

Supporting Sponsor - Sierra Expeditions
Curious why you needed 3 trucks to get one running one? Figured with the front hit and the rear hit, you'd be good to go?

We bought the red one, and then a few days later we found Graham's up for sale, that allows us to skip adding a lift, cutting the wheel wells, front bumper, paint, ect...

So the way we look at it we can make one nice RRC for exploring (Roverzilla), and one running RRC, and will have one for parts. Between the three we should be able to make Roverzilla pretty nice and get everything up and working.
 

flyingwil

Supporting Sponsor - Sierra Expeditions
You're putting the LT230 into the one you are keeping, right?

Care to enlighten me on the LT230? I understand that it is better than the Borg-Warner in the 90, but what is the main reasons people are going for the LT230? (don't forget I am toyota guy so this is all fairly new to me)
 
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stevenmd

Expedition Leader
Care to enlighten me on the LT230? I understand that it is better than the Borg-Warner in the 90, but what is the main reasons people are going for the LT230? (don't forget I am toyota guy so this is all fairly new to me)

The LT230 lets you manually lock the center differential (CDL aka Center Differential Locking) in both Hi and Lo. The BW has a viscous coupling (VC) which that you cannot control when it engages.

Suppose you need to lock your center diff and you have a VC TC. You are at the whim of the mechanism. With the LT230, you can lock (or unlock) you TC whenever you want.

The LT 230 is know as being pretty bullet proof. The 1987 and 1988 Range Rover has the LT230, while the rest have the BW. The Disco I has the LT230, which is where most rangie guys get their LT230 for the swap. Some of the DII's have the LT230 but it is not hooked up. I think the late 2001 to 2003 DII's do not have the LT230. In 2004, Land Rover put the LT230 (and hooked it up too!) back into the Disco II.

I think I have my years correct. I am sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.
 

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