Love these ebay bargains, you would think they would end in disaster but the majority only seem to have minor issues just as any other used car.

Watching with interest!

Just refurbed my key with new buttons but now the key won’t unlock or lock the car.
Very strange as it was working fine as it’s my daily key, all I did was remove the buttons and replace with new buttons. Tried the resync process but not having any luck, 2004 Autobiography TD6 Java Black

Painted to center consol part over the weekend. First in plastic primer and then given a light rub to key it better for the silver top coat.



The car came with tin of paint that the owner had intended to use on the bonnet vent and which was said to be a close match the factory foundry colour. It's not quite a perfect match, but for the single switch panel in the back it's not too bad - and free....

The USB adapter requires some work to fit, namely opening the hole up to 29mm. One of the terminals on the back is too big for the factory wiring, but a slight file reduces it to work.












With all the parts need to reassemble. New single clip is £8 !





Fitted. Complete with added LR green lighting ring...



Painted the headlight wiper bits. Despite getting the Bonatti Gret can from Paints4U and some expense, the colour match is way off and much darker. Bit disapointing, but can live with it.
I did plan to use the paint for the rusty arch repair, but it seems too far off.









Bought a basic engine service kit and pollen filter, for a day went it's not cold, wet and windy. Some new cam cover gaskets too. Tempted to buy a secondhand pair of cam covers and have them powdercoated , so can be straight swapped over. Anyone got a cheap tatty pair ?




Anyway, week 3 and I'm loving the RR experience. I swear it's good for my health too - sitting in a traffic jam doesn't seem so bad now or stressful ! It's a nice place to be.

I get a feeling that this is going to be a very, very well sorted early L322.

I am working through mine too; I really should start a thread as like you, I'm loving the experience - it far outweighs the fuel costs! 2004 Range Rover Vogue 4.4 V8

Swipe wrote:

Just refurbed my key with new buttons but now the key won’t unlock or lock the car.
Very strange as it was working fine as it’s my daily key, all I did was remove the buttons and replace with new buttons. Tried the resync process but not having any luck,

Ian Donkin wrote:

I get a feeling that this is going to be a very, very well sorted early L322.

I am working through mine too; I really should start a thread as like you, I'm loving the experience - it far outweighs the fuel costs!

Time for an update.

Plenty of things been happening, not all of them good. First, the basic service turned in to a cam cover replacement job. I noticed the odd patch of oil where the car is normally parked. Sure enough, a look under the car and it's my FF disgracing itself .
When removing the spark plug covers, this was the sight on the passenger side.




After soaking up and cleaning up as much as possible, I removed the coils and replaced the plugs. Despite being soaking in oil, it had no effect on the engine.





The cam cover gaskets were still soft and pretty supple, so can only conclude they were fitted without any sealant on the cam cutouts or at the timing covers. Both sides of the engine were soaked in oil.

The cam covers looked rather tatty and let down and otherwise clean engine bay.



Removed.





Painted and fitted.








While fixing oil leaks, thought I may as well do the vanos solenoid gaskets. These showed a slight weep, but at about £10 each, may as well try and cover everything.



Fitted and a light clean up.




New air filter going in.





Not too much detritus in the air filter box.





I'd forgotten to check out the spare wheel for tyre condition and inflation, so thought I'd give it a check over and clean the wheel well. Pretty clean inside.




Spare is the correct wheel with a very good tyre. Hadn't lost any pressure and just needed a light clean.







Bought some fancy wheel cleaner.




Cleaned up OK.







All the tie-down anchors were stuck ! Removed and freed-up.




The tailgate was a bit on the weak side. New set of gas struts fitted.





The center console ashtray was scratched and rather useless. New cup holder on eBay for £29 solved that.




Just need to change that chrome handle on the lid to further tidy the inside. Anyone got one ?

The bonnet grille was looking seriously nasty. Quite expensive to replace for what it is. I'd rather improve 10 other things than go new. So out with the spray cans and an acceptable result, keeping in mind this is meant to be a low (ish ) budget project.

Very impressive 👍

What did you use to paint the rocker covers - they look good! And the wheel cleaner? 2004 Range Rover Vogue 4.4 V8

Loving your work!



. Cheers, Greg
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
2011 Vogue SE 4.4 with lots of toys in Stornaway

Cam covers were done in some Hammerite smooth silver spray paint I had leftover.
For anyone thinking of painting there's when doing the gaskets, buy some replacement covers off eBay and either prep and paint before you tackle the job, or easier still, drop them off for powder coating. It was a pig of a job to clean both and get it done in a day and a bit before needing the car.
The wheel cleaner is some Carpro Iron X. Seems to get some good reviews and isn't the nasty acid stuff of old.

In other good news, passed the MOT today, not even an advisory either - very happy with that, especially as the car has never failed an MOT, and only ever had a few advisories over its lifetime.
MOT man commented on the car too, said normally he expects them to be rusty wrecks on the underside, but this was one of the best he'd seen.

Quick couple of jobs to replace a couple of items. First is the Parrot Phone thingy someone fitted. Didn't want it and the button has pulled the paint from the ride height switch panel.







Simply pull the side panels away, then both top and bottom switch panels are free to pop out. You must remove, or partly remove the top one as it overlaps the bottom.





Old facia is held in place with just a few tabs that just require a tweek to release.




Clean up the switch panel, a little plastic polish on the clock face to take the scratches out, then slot back together.
Swapping panels is a 5 min job. and makes a great improvement.

I was considering buy a paint can and repainting the original. I found a mint one on eBay though for £15 all in. This ensures a correct match between the two panels.




All done and back together.




After having always had small cars, and a excursion into an 'enormous' 5 Series BMW, I'm getting quite used to sitting in the big RR and this view. Very relaxing place to be.





The other job was to fit a set of secondhand side vents. The car came with a set of later supercharger style vents, but I'm a sucker for the early L322 look, so early front grill and side vents for me - nice and simple clean look.








Even managed to clean the car over the weekend. Scrubs up quite well for 17 years old.







The next area to improve is these bubbling window trims letting the side down.

Looking spot on!

I also love the look of the early L322...thats why i bought mine!

Crack on mate you are giving me the incentive to get going with mine started the arch repair today
Great posts

Great work - it really is coming along nicely. Current: FF Westminster money pit

Gone:
RRS 4.2 SC
RRS 3.6 TDV8
FL2 TD4

Finally got around to ordering new window trims from Island 4x4 to replace this mess on the n/s . Excuse the mess. The car was clean, but a huge tree dumped all it's pollen over the car, almost turning it yellow.







New trims.




One thing I didn't like was the front door trim end at the mirror is just a cut and doesn't have the end cap covering.
This means exposed aluminium and immediate chance of corrosion and bubbling setting in.
I painted the end and put a blob of grease here. Also did the same on all the ends and a thin smear along the length.





They are easy to remove, just a gentle pry with a plastic trim tool to one end and they pull upwards and off easily.
Looking nasty...





The front door trim sits just slightly, by a few mm, under the mirror housing. If you bend these trims, you'll never get them straight again, so great care is needed to place them gently and push them into position evenly.
Happy with the result and another job done to clean up the outside.













One job I keep meaning to do was the oil change.

Nice to see o/e parts have been used.



Being used to BMWs where I could just about get a jack under the car, the first change on the RR is wonderfully easy - put in off road height, slide a container under and remove the sump plug.



As I was doing this, the wonderful rumble of 6 radial engines filled the sky. 3 C-47 aircraft involved in the upcoming D-Day events flew over. Excuse rubbish pic....





Another little job was the key had gone out of sync, after a couple of attempts, sync'd no problem.

I don't usually have much stuff to carry in the car, but when I did it was sliding around all over the place. The remedy is a cheap ( £5) eBay luggage net, which has proved handy with such a big boot.




The tailgate lettering was bothering the hell out of me. It looks to have been changed, but was a little wonky.
With the aid of a hair dryer and some dental floss, you can cut the foam tape holding these on.



Ebay seems awash with cheap RR lettering, just not in the original Brunel colour . £60 is about the cheapest otherwise, which is a shame given these looked recently replaced and as new.
This is pushing the budget aspect a bit far, given the time it take to scrape the old stuff off, but is doable.
With some new 3M 5mmx0.8mm tape, the old parts are ready to roll again.




I wasn't totally sure the old lettering had been placed at the correct location. Thankfully, a forum member checked the height for me.

I took the spacing from the front lettering and laid everything out to double check.





Looks to have come out pretty good. I keep looking at it expecting to see it all over the place, but look great, and total cost £2 !





I wanted to change both drive belts on the engine. The main one is very cracked and needs doing soon.
I ordered these on eBay, but had no luck today. The spanner to hold the pulley is rather useless given the dish and recessed bolts. You can just about get on the edge, but not enough to then apply force with the 32mm spanner, or give it a whack with a hammer. They really need a couple of large washers or nut welding on to counter the dish in the pulley.