03x07 & 03x08 - First Gen Land Rover Range Rover (Part 1 & 2)

[bunniefuu]

Welcome to Wheeler Dealers,
the show that loves motoring icons.

We pride ourselves on saving
modern classics from the crusher.

This time, I'm on a
mission to find and fettle

one of these, the nation's favourite
posh mud plugger, the Range Rover.

This is a proper off-roader, but it's also
got a certain cachet with the in-crowd.

Inside, it's vast, you
can almost have a game

of tennis in here,
there's acres of room and

most of it is trimmed out with top
grade leather and shag pile carpets.

Land Rover always had a reputation
for building functional off-roaders.

Built in 1969, the Range
Rover debuted and that was

a whole new breed of
car, the luxury off-roader.

Over the years, it's gradually evolved
into this, a 45 to 70 grand bruiser.

As a British motoring icon, it's
up there with the Mini and the MG.

But our challenge is to
buy a car, do it up and

flog it on with a total
budget of just three grand.

We need the style, performance and
mud plugging ability without forking out.

So I'm going to look for a Mark 1 instead.

Nearly a million classics were sold, so
there are plenty on the second-hand market.

There are literally thousands of
Range Rovers to sell in the UK.

It's the kind of car that you can find
in both the countryside and in the city.

City cars tend to be a little bit more
pampered and a little bit more expensive.

So I've come to the outskirts of the Big
Smoke, found myself a nice little cafe to

sit down with a cup of tea
and picked up the local papers.

In here, you'll find
classified sections and these

have been happy hunting
grounds for me for years.

Hopefully, I'll find the
car that I'm looking for.

I'm avoiding diesels and
the three-door farmer spec.

I'm after a low-miler V8 with all the toys.

As expected, it didn't take long for
me to dig out a couple of bargains.

And there's a few adverts here
that really do stick out the page to me.

One of them I love, it's so honest.

It's a Range Rover, three and a
half litre, in green, not the best colour,

but just listen to this.

It's had a hard life,
although it's only £1,000.

So I'm going to give that one a wide berth.

The one that I am going to
ring is the one underneath it.

It's a three and a half litre, Vogue SE,

and that means it's got the
leather interior, the electric windows,

air conditioning, it's got
everything going for it.

That one is advertised for £2,000.

Yes, I'm ringing about
your Range Rover, Sal.

A 1989 Range Rover would have cost
more than £40,000 in today's money.

An expensive motor needs care
and attention throughout its life.

So try to find a second-hand
car with service history.

With a car like this, if an
engine or gearbox goes,

then you may as well scrap the whole thing.

So, buyer, beware.

Well, that car's making
all the right noises to me.

It's a little bit of a
track away, it's in the

country, but I think
it's well worth a visit.

I've come to see the Range
Rover at a working farm,

and the bloke who owns
it is a guy called Jack,

and he tells me he's never
taken this thing off-road.

But it is a farm, so I'm going
to keep my wits about me,

and I'll have a good look underneath
before I make any final decisions.

He also said, he won't be indoors.

He's going to be
fiddling with his tools out

the back, so I'll give
him a quick shout.

Jack!

Jack!

Here he is.

Jack, how are you?

Hello, Mike. Hello, Mike.

Come to see the Range Rover.

Right, let's have a quick
look round the back.

Oh, that's nasty, that bit of rust there.

Yeah, it's a slight piece
there, and also in the

bottom of the tailgate,
there's a little bit more rust.

They always seem to go,

didn't they, in the back
of the Range Rover?

And who's this in the back?

That's Mac.

Hello, Mac.

Do you come with a car?

He's an extra.

Let's get him out.

Oh, it has gone, hasn't
it, round the back here.

Yeah, it does really need a new tailgate.

So, new tailgate, something for Ed to do.

Wow, looks nice just straight
down the sides here, doesn't it?

It's all nice, and the running boards,

and look at these alloys, don't you think?

Yeah, yeah, it's all nice and clean.

Very good.

Inside, all nice and tidy in here.

It is, yeah.

Except for the headlining, look,

sagging down.

Slightly sagging, yeah.

That's a typical Range Rover
problem, something we'll have to fix.

It's got the six speakers.

Six speakers?

CD system.

What, are you deaf?

I am, yeah.

Blimey.

Air-con electric seats, which work.

Oh, wonderful.

So, everything works inside.

Everything works.

Looks good.

All looks very, very tidy.

Right, underneath here.

What's a lot, ooh, look at that, wow.

It's a 3.5.

It's got no oil leaks, or.

No, there's no signs of any oil leaks at
all, or even any mud, which is surprising.

Well, it has just been steam cleaned.

Has it?

Yes.

You should be telling me things like that.

You shouldn't steam clean
the car before I turn up.

I want to see it natural.

Right, let's go and talk
about this dent, then,

and these scratches
in this door around here.

Now, when I spoke to you on the phone,

you said it's got a couple
of scratches on the door.

Well, it's got two, one, two.

That's a couple.

Yeah, it is a couple.

And a little bit of teacup,
and I'm sure that'll Polish out.

You think that'll Polish out the teacup?

Probably, yeah.

I've got half an hour to wait.

You can put the kettle on if
you like, and I'll watch you do it.

It is priced in the sale of the
car, the damage to the door, so.

Well, the good news is, I suppose,

that it's only one panel.

It's only one panel.

Yeah, I mean, it's not
touched anything else,

so we can actually just
repair that on its own.

All right, so there's
the door, the tailgate.

Other little bits and pieces around
it, but really, the proof of this car,

and to prove that you haven't really
thrashed it off-road, is for me to drive it.

You'd like to drive it?

Is that all right with you?

Okay, there's the keys.

Now, the one thing that really does
appeal to me about Range Rovers,

is I think they're one of
Britain's classless cars.

You can be a High Court lawyer.

You could be a plumber.

Nobody knows what you
are when you're driving one

of these, and that is the
appeal of the Range Rover.

What's important on the
test drive is the way it drives,

and this one, on the face of it,

drives very, very well.

It's got a silky smooth engine.

It's not going up and down through
the gearbox, as I would have hoped,

but that's something that
it can tackle at a later date,

and one thing that I haven't told
Jack, and I'm sort of keeping it to myself,

is that what we're doing with this car

is we're gonna convert it to LPG,

that's liquid petroleum gas.

There's some good reasons
for doing this, the first of

which is it actually lowers
the car's center of gravity.

You get these big gas cylinders that
run horizontally underneath the chassis.

It lowers the car's center of gravity
and makes it handle that little bit better.

Also, it's very cheap.

LPG is half the price of
petrol, and let's face it, with one

of these babies down to
about 12, 15 miles to the gallon,

you need a millionaire's wages
to fill it up at the fuel pumps.

Now, Jack seems a lovely fella, and
it's obvious that he's cared for his car,

and he hasn't really
bashed it around off-road

too much, but he
desperately wants to sell it.

It's written all over his face.

I reckon I'm gonna start at about


but I expect to pay no more
than 1,600, 1,700 pound.

Wish me luck.

Right, how'd it go?

Yeah, not bad.

It drives very well.

Very, very silky smooth engine,

but there is a definite
problem with the gearbox.

It doesn't change up much.

Oil change or slight service.

I can't believe how
casual you are about it.

As you can see, I've got service history
with it and all the receipts up to date.

Just reams and reams and
reams of paperwork, yeah?

Fantastic, and look, there's
an invoice there for 11,950.

That's what I paid for it, yeah.

Okay, well, talking about paying
for it, that's what I'm gonna do next.

It's gonna make you an offer.

Of?



No, 1,750.

That was quick.



You're prepared to do
business, you, aren't you?

Well... 1,500 quid is where I
wanna be, to be honest with you.

No, we can't, not quite there, are we?

Come on, make it a little bit sweeter.




so you can drive it away.

No, I... And I'll
throw the dog in.

Then I'm gonna have to feed it.

More money.

I'll tell you what, once only offer,

and I'm prepared to walk away on this one,
I promise you, 1,600 pound cash is mine.

Got a deal.

Wee, lovely.

Good work, fella.

I know my grease monkey
mechanic, Ed, is a big Range Rover fan.

He's owned a few in his time.

So will he think I bought
a nice one or a nasty one?

Ed, how are you?

You all right?

Yeah, good.

What do you think, then, eh?

I like this.

This is class.

Me and you, squires, country lords,

I can just see us now,
farmers with Gucci's on.

I like it.

We're not only gonna
drive across the manor,

me and you, we're
gonna own it in this baby.

And wait until you see it inside, Ed.

It's beautiful.

This is the Vogue SE.

It comes with everything.

The farmer was either
going a bit deaf, or he liked

his music, because he's
got six speakers in here,

so it's gonna blow our eardrums off.

There are a few problems in here.

When you drive it, there is
a problem with the gearbox,

which it doesn't seem to change up nicely.

It seems to hold in gear for
a lot longer than it should do.

Okay, that could be scary,
but it might be quite simple, so.

Well, I would've thought
it was just a gearbox flush,

you know, change the oil in the gearbox.

You were right, wasn't you?

Come on, it can't be that bad.

All right.

And one other thing, Ed.

A floppy headlining?

A floppy headlining, yeah.

I thought maybe we could change
this headlining, because it's nasty,

and it's a notorious
Range Rover problem, this.

It's not a terribly easy
job, but again, it's so

worth doing, is it really
lets it down, doesn't it?

But it doesn't involve
any grease or any oil.

It's a nice job, comfy, for you to
do in the factory one afternoon.

See, you must like me
quite a bit, mustn't you?

I do, I think of you.

See, when I buy these
cars, I do think of you.

Cool, innit?

Have a look round the back.

We've got this notorious Range Rover
problem, which is rust on the tailgate.

Not only has it gone there,
it's gone right down the bottom,

which is one of the things
with Range Rovers, innit?

What should we do, paint it?

No, I reckon we'll just junk that
and get it along from a breaker's yard.

Really, just change it?

Seriously, because it's
gonna be a lot easier.

There's only a couple of
bolts holding it on anyway.

Yeah, because it's a Range Rover
problem, though, won't they all be rusty?

Yeah, but there's gonna be later
ones that are still gonna be okay,

like an accident damage thing or something.

So there'll be something out there.

Okay, so it's another mission
for me to find a tailgate.

I was also thinking,

one of the other jobs we can do on this car

is Range Rovers are
really expensive to run.

Very thirsty cars, yeah.

Have you heard of LPG?

Liquid petroleum gas, indeed.

There you go.

It's good stuff.

I was thinking maybe we
could convert this car to LPG.

It's half the price of fuel at the pump,

it returns a similar mile to
the gallon, and it's negligible.

Pretty much, yeah, pretty
good performance, actually.

Yeah, on performance.

So what do you reckon?

Well, it's a good thing
to do, and I think it's

worth doing on this car, but I can't do it
myself, because you have to be qualified.

Believe it or not, I am not actually
qualified to do this on my own.

You can't do an LPG conversion for us.

So should we forget it, or?

No, no, no, I know a man who can,
so we'll go there and see what he says.

Oh, fantastic.

Yeah, let's definitely
do it on this car, be cool.

Right, now, the major
problem, Ed, is this door.

It's lovely, isn't it?

That is a nice bit of cash there.

Yeah, well, I was thinking,

because it's just one panel on its own,
it'd be really simple for you to just paint.

Yeah, I'm just gonna take the door off,
throw it away, and put another one on.

Have you got an adversity
to paint or something?

On this car, there's so many things around,

I reckon you'd be able to find some of these
parts in a breaker's yard quite easily.

So just the tailgate, passenger door,

and you get them to me,
I'll bottom on, job done.

As simple as that.

Simple as that.

Well, nice job for me to do, find
you some bits, nice job for you to do.

That's good.

In fact, you love the
way this car performs,

it dries beautifully.

It is very clean, it is very clean.

Right, ready?

Yeah.

Anything?

No.

Well, I don't know what to say, Ed.

What sound am I gonna
get home from here, then?

I don't know, but my taxi's over
there waiting for me, so fix it.

Every time.

So here we are at the workshop,

but those of you with a keen eye
may notice it's not actually my workshop,

and that's because Mike wants us to
convert the Range Rover to run on LPG.

Now, unfortunately, that's not
something I'm qualified to do,

so we're here at a specialist garage,

and the chap who's
gonna run me through the

process is called Bernard,
and he's over here.

Hello, Bernard, how you doing?

Hello, Ed.

Now, this is a fantastic car.

I recognize that engine, it's a big old V8.

It is a BMW V8, yes, 4.4.

Okay, but has this car actually
got an LPG conversion on it?

This is freshly finished,

fully sequentially injected LPG system.

The ECU, the brain, is here.

Okay.

Regulator for one bank,

another regulator over
there for the other bank.

And I can see what looks like

sort of a fuel filter,
but you're running gas.

Just in case there's any
unwanted bits and pieces in there,

like any fuel, you want it clean and pure.

So it's just like petrol in that respect.

Indeed.

Obviously, you've got LPG here,
so we need a way of storing that,

and from what I remember, in the boot,
there'll be a really ugly LPG container.

You might be surprised, not so ugly.

Come and have a look.

Okay.

I have to say, I'm
intrigued by this mystery.

Let's have a look.

Okay, so we have a
boot with a spare tire in it.

Not quite.

Oh no, hang on, this is the tank here.

That's a 75 litre LPG tank.

That is awesome, and it's so neat.

So what sort of mileage
can we get out of this?



Wow, that's pretty cool, actually.

It's very neat.

What about the spare wheel?

Where does that go?

It displaces the spare wheel.

You can carry it loose,

or we often recommend the
use of tire inflation canisters.

This is what we're going
to get in our Range Rover.

Not quite.

Your vehicle's somewhat older.

Right.

And would require a
different style of tank.

Ah, okay.

I have one over here for you to see.

Let's have a look.

Okay.

Here you go, Ed.

A tank.

So you are telling me
we're actually going to have

a big ugly tank in the
back of our car after all?

Yours is an older vehicle.

It doesn't have the
same layout as this one.

You can have a smaller one,

but it will take you less distance.

Well, no, that would be
not so good at all, actually.

So fair enough, we're going to go with
that, but you've got a lot of stuff here.

Yes, indeed.

We've regulators, mounting,
solenoids, pipe work.

There's an awful lot of stuff,
so we're talking a lot of hours.

We're talking two days.

Two days?

Yep.

We really better get on then.

Indeed, we'll start by
seeing how healthy the

car is, I think, and give
him an emissions test.

This probe is connected to a sensitive bit

of computer software,
which all MOT bays now run.

It measures CO2 and hydrocarbons.

So how long is this going to take, then?

It's doing it now.

Just pulling the fumes
through and measuring them.

We'll arrange a printout now.

Oh dear.

What's that?

We've got a bit of a problem.

We failed our MOT.

Well, how do you mean?

What's happened?

We have a maximum CO
level of three and a half percent.

Right, and that's 4.6, that's like 1% out.

It's an MOT failure, I'm afraid.

It needs fixing.

But despite that, though, we can fit the
LPG stuff and then get it all sorted in.

I'd rather not.

I'd like the vehicle to
be running correctly.

So I've got to fix this car first.

Equally, you've got to consider possible
on costs on the conversion as well.

Were this a carburetor engine vehicle,

we would completely install an LPGA
approved system for you, 800, 900 pounds.

Right.

This isn't a carburetor engine.

This is an early electronic
fuel injected engine.

We're going to have to
add so much equipment to it.

The cost is going to rise to 1800 pounds.

Now, presumably that's
with all the right certification.

That's a fully LPGA certified conversion.

But it's still 1800 pounds.

I'm afraid so.

So not only have I got
to try and fix this car,

whatever the problem is with that,

I've actually also got to shell
out 1800 pounds for the LPG.

I'm going to have to
talk to Mike before I can.

I think you should consider it, yes.

I'm going to have to.

I don't know what else we're going to do.

But thank you.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Do you want the bad news
or the really bad news?

Well, this is really frustrating.

I was really looking
forward to getting to grips

with this LPG thing, but
it seems Mike's bought a

lemon and it's just not
the right car to convert.

It's back to the drawing board if we
want to make a big profit on this one.

Well, it's not been a great
day for our Range Rover,

but I have just had a phone call with Mike

and he seemed remarkably
chipper about the situation.

After all, he is a Wheeler dealer.

And right now, as we speak, he's actually
going and getting a tailgate and a door.

And of course he's bound to
pull something else out of the bag.

As for me, I'm going to
go back to the workshop.

Genuine new Range Rover
parts cost an arm and a leg.

But if you want to drive
a millionaire's motor

on a working family's
wage, then don't despair.

There's a big secondhand parts market

built up around drivers who
don't want to pay top dollar,

like you and me.

John, is that you?

Hello mate, how are you?

Long time no see.

Indeed, what can we do for you, sir?

Right, it's got a lovely Range
Rover on an F plate, straight as a die.

Unfortunately though, it's
gone in all the typical places.

It's gone on the rear tailgate, it's rusty.

And there's a bit of damage
on the near side rear door.

So if I need Range Rover bits,

you're the man I'll come and see.

Oh, we've got loads of them.

Have you?

Yes, let's see if we can find them.

Lovely, thank you very much.

It's like a steptoeing
son's backyard, isn't it?

Look at the stuff you've got out here.

What, people can come
down here by rear axle,

wheels, front axle?

Anything they want.

I reckon I could build a car in this yard.

You could if you've got
enough time and enough tools.

You could do, couldn't you?

Oh yes.

It'll end up as in bits
of this, bits of that.

Right, now what I need are
particular bits for our Range Rover.

Right.

Doors, well this looks all right.

What about this one?

That's a Discovery phone, mate.

Right.

The wrong one.

This is a Range Rover
and it's in Plymouth Blue.

Is it really?

It is, look at that one.

Oh, fantastic.

Oh, that looks lovely, doesn't it?

That's in good Nick.

How much is that?





All right, I think I'll have that one.

Now I need a tailgate.

What about this one?

This looks all right, doesn't it?

That's Plymouth Blue.

That's Plymouth Blue.

Looks all right, doesn't it?

It's got a little bit of
rust down the bottom,

but nothing really, it's
just a little couple of marks.

Little dent in it.

Get away with a sticker
over there, couldn't I?

No problem.

How much is that?







So that door's 75, this is 100?

That's correct.





Well, that's no deal, is it?

Come on, John, we've
known each other years.

That's a bargain.

I'll get you a new one for 400 pound.

Blimey.



All right, I've got no choice.

Down to me.

Yours.

Removing this door couldn't be easier.

There's only three bolts
holding each hinge on.

There's two bolts holding the check strap
and I've just got to disconnect the wiring.

Simple.

The last bolt removed, so now
I can take the door off the car.

But normally when doing this sort of job,

you'd actually open the door and
get at the hinges from the inside

and that would mean you'd
have to support all this weight

with perhaps a trolley Jack and a piece
of wood or maybe an extra pair of hands.

But luckily on a Range Rover,

the weight of the door is supported by
the door frame and also the rear catch.

Take the strain, it's kind
of heavy, but I can handle it.

Time for our salvaged door.

The color match looks remarkably good.

Bit of Polish and you'll
never know the difference.

This is a really easy job.

Just hope the tailgate
is as straightforward.

Because this car is designed to get dirty,

everything is easy to strip out and clean.

So carpets simply pull
out and there's good

access for anything
requiring a bit of spannering.

If Mike had bought me a new tailgate,

I'd have spent hours priming and painting.

This way is so much smarter.

Well, there we have it.

Some fantastic body
work all completely sorted.

Now wouldn't it be lovely if all
jobs were that straightforward?

Got one last thing I should do though.

Number plate.

Sharp.

Hi, Mike.

All right, Ed, how you been?

Well, I've been a lot better to be fair.

So tell us what's happening
with our sorry Range Rover.

Well, as you know,

got a few irritating reasons
why we can't have LPG.

So it's just not gonna happen.

Well, don't worry about it.

It's too expensive for us to do anyway.

So let's just move onwards.

Tell me what you have done to our cherub.

Well, we have got a result.

If you check out the door
here, I mean, it's just fantastic.

Oh, wow.

Look at that.

Even my train guy can't tell
that door come off a different car.

Yeah, it's awesome.

It really is.

I was lucky to find that, wasn't I?

Was it easy to put on?

It was actually very easy.

Just a couple of bolts for
the hinges and that was it.

But also the tailgate was just as easy.

Oh, wow.

Look at that.

You don't see that often, do you?

A non-rusty tailgate on a Range Rover.

It's pretty sound.

Well done.

Does it work?

Of course it works.

It's fantastic.

Wonderful.

I could just see us in the summer
having a picnic off the back of this head.

But before we get to that stage,
we've still got plenty of work to do.

Well, I've got the headline to do and
they are an absolute pig to change.

It is a nasty job.

And if you wouldn't mind,

could you throw a bucket
of water over it as well?

You've twisted my arm.

I'll do that for you.

Thank you very much.

I used the local newspapers to track down

this top spec Vogue SE
and paid 1600 pounds.

It had a massive service history,
but the usual Range Rover problems

like sagging headlining
and a rusty rear tailgate.

But that didn't bother me.

I was looking for a good car to
convert to LPG and I thought this was it.

But when Ed went to meet the gas man,
he took one look and told us it was no go.

The emissions were an
MOT fail and the early fuel

injected engine needed a
conversion kit costing 1500 quid.

Oh dear.

To cheer it up,

I found him a salvage
rear door and tailgate,

which have spruced up the car on no end.

But we're up against it.

If we want to make any money out
of this car, when I come to sell it on.

Ed still got plenty of work
to do on our Range Rover.

And while he's grafting, I'm
off to meet a lady called Vivian.

Who's got a beautiful Vogue SE.

And she's going to tell me just why people
love these big four by fours so much.

Right, first question.

Why a Range Rover Vivian?

First of all, because of
the activities we do outside,

obviously it's an all purpose vehicle.

What are you doing then?

Sort of towing caravans
and trailers and stuff like that?

Caravans, trailers,
we put a roof rack on it.

We can carry canoes.

We have done in the past and
no doubt we'll do in the future.

So this is not a city vehicle.

You do take it off road as well?

Oh, definitely.

You never know where
you're going to end up.

If you have to go and retrieve a piece
of equipment on a field, it can do it.

No problem.

Now let me have a look.

Do you get any grease
underneath your fingernails?

Do you work on your car?

Afraid not, not now.

Not now?

Not on this one.

But you would know how
to work on it, would you?

Oh yeah.

I think so, they're fairly simple.

Are parts expensive?

No, I mean obviously if
you go for a main dealer,

you pay main dealer prices,

but there are after mate products
around that you can buy quite cheaply.

My dad has got a Range Rover.

I was brought up with
Range Rovers and he spent a

lot of time with the old
fuel pumps filling it up.

Is this not just too much
of a drain in your wallet?

Would be for some, but not for me.

Why is that?

Well, we see we had it converted to gas.

It runs on gas as well as petrol.

And what do you find the benefits are?

Well, apart from obviously the pump prices,

because they are considerably cheaper,

you've got fuel economy
and also it's green.

Now your car is particularly lovely.

I see you've got the full kit.

And I was wondering if you
would let me have a little go in it.

More than welcome.

Thank you.

Oh, fantastically brilliant to
drive because you get this

elevated driving position with
this 180 degree panoramic view.

It's like sitting in a greenhouse
where you can see for miles.

You're sitting above the traffic,

you're sitting above the
hedgerows, you're just in control.

But they do have their faults, these cars.

One of the faults they have is this.

Cornering, they're terrible.

They really are wallowy old beasts.

The suspension travel is
obviously set up for off-road,

which is what this car is designed for.

But the chances are it's
never gonna go off-road.

It's always gonna stay on the black stuff.

You'd think for a car of this size,

when you come to stop,

it's obviously gonna be like
an ocean liner going into birth.

You're gonna have to think about it quarter
of a mile ahead, but you'll be surprised.

Range Rovers have got fantastic
brakes and it does stop on a sixpence.

Also what is surprising is how
quick they get up and go away.

It feels like a grand old lady lifting
her skirt before she sprints for the line.

I'm tooling around in this
and I'm thinking our car

isn't a million miles
away in spec or condition.

I wish it was ready to drive,
but that's a long way off.

First, there's a little
problem of the headlining.

If you look at this, it looks untidy,

it's dodgy, it's saggy,

and it's rather annoying
when you're driving along.

Now it's a classic
problem with early Range

Rovers and they did
fix it a little bit later on,

but for me to fix this,
I need to rip it out,

throw it away, and put in a brand new one.

Not one of the hardest jobs I've ever done.

Removing a couple of grab handles,

a few light fittings, and some rear
speakers is what I call an easy life.

I've got a feeling things are about
to get a little more tricky though.

Now the only thing that
was holding this headlining

in place were all those
fittings I've just removed,

so now, theoretically,
this should just pop out.

We'll see how we get on.

The old headlining came out of
the car a lot easier than I thought,

and that was mainly
because it was made out of

cardboard and was
therefore a lot more pliable.

Now the new headlining is made out of
fibreglass, which makes it a lot stiffer.

Now the advantage of that
is that when our headlining

here is bonded to that,
it's never going to sag.

But the bad news is it's going
to be a lot harder to put in.

So I've enlisted the help of my
friend Paul to give me a hand.

Come on, mate, to me.

No problem, mate, I'm right behind you.

You know that old
saying about fitting a court

into a pint pot, well,
that's what I'm up to here.

No wonder car trimmers hate doing this job.

It's super fiddly.

Eventually though, we
wrestle the headlining into place

and we can get on with
reinstalling all the fittings.

All the interior fittings are now in place,

which means my headlining is actually
levitating exactly where it should be.

Only thing is I've
saved the best bit to last,

which is this hole needs to
be addressed for the sunroof.

Now it's a little bit tricky,

but I'm sure we can be all right with this.

So I've got to trim this
excess bit of fabric here.

very carefully.

This is just a case of
clipping it into place.

Trim it down a bit more and
then add the finishing trim.

Perfect.

A bit of delicate tapping
with my lump hammer,

a few fiddly catches and the
headlining's transformation is complete.

It looks ace.

Fitting the headlining
on this car wasn't too bad,

but I certainly couldn't have done
it without another pair of hands.

Now, Range Rovers are
renowned for their luxurious feel and

I think our Range Rover is
definitely going along that route.

Our little Range Rover
has a few engine issues.

It's very difficult to start and once you've
got it running, it doesn't run very well

and it tends to stall
when you put it into gear.

It's also just failed an emissions test,

which leads me to believe that the
fuel and air mixture isn't quite right.

Now, normally a fuel injection
system can look after itself,

but it does rather rely on the sensors
in the engine to tell it what's going on.

And probably the most important sensor
is this chap back here, the airflow meter.

Now, what that does is tell the brain exactly
how much air is going into the engine.

Now, if it goes wrong, you
get all sorts of problems,

just like we're having
with our Range Rover.

I rang a few main
dealers and a new airflow

meter will set you back
a whopping 360 pounds.

Now, there's no way I'm
paying top money for this,

so I contacted a Range
Rover salvage specialist

who hooked me up with a tested
second-hand unit for just 40 pounds.

What a bargain.

Removing this airflow meter is so simple.

It's just three bolts, the wiring loom,

and two hose clamps.

That's it.

If you have a look,
this is our replacement

unit and you can see
that everything is intact.

It's a bit dirty, but it has
been on a working car.

Now, if you have a look at our old unit,

you can see that there's
a load of silicone sealant.

What that means is somebody's taken
the cover off, had to root around inside,

not be able to solve the
problem, put the cover back on

and try to cover their
tracks with a bit of sealant.

This is good news.

Someone else has tried to mend the
engine by fiddling with the airflow meter.

They've failed and given up,
but I'm not so easily put off.

And I've got a hunch
that my fully tested

second-hand part is
going to sort the problem.

And now for the moment of truth.

I'm gonna turn the key
and see what happens.

Okay, here goes.

Oh, first turn of the key.

And it's even idling okay as
well, which is pretty grippy.

It's very cold, of course, bear
in mind, but that's fantastic.

It's a cheap part, a quick job, and
it completely transforms the car.

I've owned a fair few
rangeovers in my time.

And after driving this one, it seems
there's something wrong with the gearbox.

Now it's an automatic transmission,

so you stick it into drive, going along,

and as the gears would
go up and down normally,

they seem a little bit
sluggish, a little bit tired.

Now, in my experience,
that could be for a number

of reasons, but there may
well be a quick fix here.

So I'm gonna have a look at the automatic
transmission fluid and see what's going on.

Now this might seem like a strange thing
to do, but it's actually very telling.

Now it should have a really
sort of lovely sweet smell about it,

but I can actually smell a bit of a tinge

of kind of like burnt saucepan,
which is not a good sign.

But also I can double
check that with the color.

It should be a lovely
bright pink cherryade,

and actually it's got
a hint of brown to it.

So I reckon what's happened is the fluid

is a little bit tired, a little bit
overused, and could do with a change.

But to do that, I need to
get the car up on the ramp.

As you'd expect with the fluid change,
I need to get rid of the old stuff first,

and it's gonna come
out of this drain plug here.

This stuff is toxic, so make sure
you dispose of it at the council dump.

Don't ever pour it down a drain.

To get to the oil filter, I
need access to the sump,

which is hidden behind a
massive chassis crossmember.

Loosen a few bolts and it should drop away.

Well, the bolts are now out of this,

so by rights, the crossmember should
just drop to the floor, but it's not.

It's obviously quite a tight fit,
so I've got my friend the hammer.

Bit of a tap.

Well, it is moving.

There we have it, the car is ready to go.

I have it, one crossmember,

and the chassis didn't
collapse, which is a bonus.

So now I can get at the sump.

Now, that huge nut there
is for the dipstick tube,

so I've got to take that off
before I get the sump off.

That'll be a bit of oil in here.

Now, this is the last bolt,

so the sump should come
away quite comfortably after this.

There will be some fluid
in there, though, probably.

Oh, there we go.

That is what the bottom of an
automatic gearbox looks like.

There's a few retaining screws
which locate the transmission oil filter.

This one looks very old and filthy.

Let's get the new shiny one on.

Now, there needs to
be O-rings on both these

surfaces to make sure
there's a proper seal,

so no oil or fluid kind of
leaks out into the wrong places.

Now, here are the earrings.

It's just a case of fitting these two.

Into position, so I'll
just squeeze it over.

There we go, that's that.

And one over here on the lip.

And there we go, nice and
simple, but very essential.

And now I can go on to the car.

The filter is on.

An oily but an easy job.

Now, you may recognise this as the sump,

or the inside of the
sump, and round the top

here, but this black
line is actually a gasket.

So if I peel that off,

you can see a nice rolled
edge of the sump itself.

Now, it'd be no good
trying to attach that to

the car because, of
course, the oil or the fluid

would actually leak out through all the
gaps, which is why the gasket is there.

Now, in this particular case,
this gasket isn't in bad Nick,

but it doesn't make
any sense to put it back

on because a new
one is very, very cheap,

and the old one could be perished
and may even have a spit or a leak,

in which case all this extra work
I've had to do would be wasted.

So I'll just pop this new one on,

just whizz it into position,

and then it's now ready to go back
up onto the car, and it will be leak-free.

With all the gaskets in
place and the nuts tightened,

it's time to refill the transmission fluid.

I'll put a little bit of
fluid in to start with,

and then, once I've
got a later or two in

there, I'm actually going
to turn on the engine

and get it going, because you have to
check the level with the engine running.

Okay, well, I'm pretty
sure I've got the levels right,

so I'm just going to get the gears in
all the different gears to make sure.

And there we have it.

So all I have to do
now is check the levels,

make sure it is exactly
right, because it's very, very

important, and then I'm
pretty sure that this gearbox.

is going to have the
silky smooth, luxurious

shift the Range Rover
owners have come to expect.

After all the unexpected problems,

I think we can be rightly proud of
how the Range Rover has turned out.

It's a big bruiser of a car, and
it's great to sit in such superb Nick.

A cup of coffee and a quick
flick through the papers,

my favourite start to any day.

This time, it put me
on the trail of this glam

four-by-four with
acres of service history.

The guy was keen to sell it, so
I beat him down to 1,600 quid.

Dog, not included.

I thought we could
easily make a profit on

this one, but then fate
conspired against me.

The LPG conversion garage told us
our car had some big engine problems,

and that a kit for this old girl
would not be economically viable.

It was my call,

and I decided to drop the
LPG idea for another day,

and to press on, making the
car look as good as we could.

So rusty old doors came off,

and salvaged ones were bolted into place.

The headlining was
stripped out, a tricky job,

requiring Patience and perseverance.

A new one clipped carefully into place.

We had to deal with the engine if our
car was ever gonna pass another MOT.

It could have been any number of things,

but Ed used his head and
replaced the airflow meter

with a bargain secondhand
item from a specialist supplier.

Luckily, it did the job, and once
more, the engine ran sweet and clean.

The gearbox was slow off the Mark and
needed a complete flush and filter change.

Now, when you Bury
your foot in the shag pile,

the engine leaps into life.

We had free grand to spend,

but when I counted the pennies
on this one, we came in well under.

The car cost us 1,600 quid.

Salvaged body parts were 175 pounds.

Headlining came in at 160 pounds.

Secondhand airflow meter was just 40 quid.

Gearbox, filter, oil, and
gaskets were 60 pounds.

Total spent 2,035 pounds.

Ed?

Hello, sir.

How are you?

How are you, mate?

I'm fine, you all right?

You're not bad at all.

The Range Rover.

Fantastic.

We're country squires.

Looks as if it's finished.

Now, when I left you last time, I
said throw a bucket of water over it.

It looks like you've gone to town.

Well, you know, it needed the extra
effort, and it does look fantastic now.

It looks as if somebody's
just peeled the cellophane off

as it's rolled down the
production line at Longbridge.

Well done, Ed.

So what have you achieved?

Well, actually, all the
meat was inside the cab.

Remember the headlining?

The headlining, yeah.

It was a hanging down.

It was a nasty job as well, wasn't it?

It was.

It was actually very difficult.

Oh, yes.

It's fantastic.

And that's a really
hard job to do, isn't it?

It was a great hard job.

It actually took the time
of us because it was

about a day's work,
but it's well worth it.

Well worth it.

And that is such a typical
Range Rover problem,

saggy headlining,

but that will really help sell the car.

Well done.

That's good.

If you just pop the bonnet for us.

I'll show you the other thing I've changed.

It doesn't look like much, but
I changed the airflow meter.

That little box there?

That little box there, and it's amazing.

It transforms the engine, so
now it runs really smoothly,

but also the COs are right down as
well, so it's a good, clean running engine.

Fantastic.

Well, it looks absolutely amazing, Ed.

You're convinced it's gonna go
amazing, and that's what I'm here for.

I'm here to give it a spin.

So keys, please.

Enjoy yourself, Squire.

Thank you.

Well, this is the first drive

of our lovely Range
Rover since Ed's done all

that hard work on it,
and I've got to tell you,

it's so much better.

It just feels creamy,
nice and silky smooth.

It's got that familiar Rover
three and a half liter sound,

and it just feels great
on the gearbox as well.

I forgot all about that.

It now changes up nice and smoothly,

and I better put it to the test.

The kick down comes in nice and snappily.

I'm delighted.

Now, I wanted to give
this car the X-Factor to

help it sell, but the LPG
conversion fell through.

In-car entertainment is
always an eye-catcher,

but this car already had a
multi-speaker MP3 system.

Sat-nav was another option, but it
would have cost 500 quid minimum,

and I would never have
got me money back on that

one, so I guess we'd
just have to cut and run.

To be honest, I'll be happy
to just get me money back.

I bought our Range
Rover at the local paper,

and I'm putting my faith
in them to sell it again.

I advertised it for 2,200 pounds, and if I
was to be a bit honest, it's a bit cheeky.

It's a bit too expensive,
but this guy, he's interested.

His name's Stefan.

He's already had a tall round on
it, and he likes the way it drives.

Let's just hope I can close the deal.

So then, Stefan, what
do you think of it inside?

Not too bad.

Just noticed a couple of things.

The leather's a bit worn.

Yeah, don't worry about that.

A little bit of boot Polish on there.

That'll soon disappear.

It's just character.

Look at that headlining.

Isn't that fantastic?

I'm so proud of that because
it's a big Range Rover problem.

They always sag, but my mechanic,
Ed, has replaced all the headlining,

finished it off nicely inside.

Yeah, it does look good,

and I've noticed you've
got a new stereo in there.

Yeah, the latest MP3 player as well.

It's got nine speakers in this car.

We'll blow your eardrums off you.

I'll never be short of a bit of sound.

So obviously it means
that it takes a lot of juice out

of electrics, and does all
the electrics work on there?

Everything works, and you're quite right.

It's got electric seats, electric
mirrors, electric windows,

and it's well worth
checking them before you

buy the car, but trust
me, got an honest face.

Everything works.

Right.

Yeah, it's nice inside.

Don't worry about that.

Look at the outside, though.

Look, it's lovely.

And it's lovely and straight round
the back, and look at this tailgate.

Look, they always go rusty
tailgates on Range Rovers,

but this one, no rusting whatsoever
because I managed to find a replacement.

Look at that, exactly the same colour.

Looks like it was put on this
car from when it was new.

I've noticed you've got a tow bar.

Yeah.

Have you been pulling any
caravans or anything heavy like that?

Do I look like a bloke who's
going to pull a caravan?

But that's a really good
thing to have on a car

because it's a big, heavy
engine, three and a half litres.

It will pull anything in
this car, and that's a good

selling point for the future
when you want to get rid of it.

But have a look round the sides.

Look, it's lovely and straight down here.

Look at this, like a billiard table.

Beautiful and smooth.

Look with the wheels and the running
boards and the nice new mud flaps.

All sets it off lovely.

It's a lot better than
the other side, but yeah.

How cheeky are you?

Blimey, it's lovely.

It's nice down both sides.

So there you have it,
Stefan, our Range Rover.

I just want to sell it.

I've advertised it for 2,200
quid, and that's what I need for it.

Well, to be honest with you, Mike,
I've seen quite a few of them recently,

and it's not worth 2,200.

It's good condition,
but not for your 1,900.



Why do people always do this to me?

It actually owes me more money
than that, to be honest with you, Stefan.

I'd love to sell it to
you, but the least I

think I could take at the
moment is 2,100 pound.

That's cheap.



Oh, Stefan, come on, mate.

It's worth more than that.

It's lovely.

The amount of hours
that have gone into this,

it owes me more,

and I wouldn't mind getting
back what it owes me.

So 2,000 pound is what I'll take for it.

Come on, hold your hand out.

Two grand.

Go on.

Got a deal.

Lovely.

Well done, Pully.

Bought a nice car.

Two grand.

That gives us a profit of minus 35 quid.

Even a Wheeler dealer
comes a cropper sometimes.

I guess I owe Ed an apology on this one
because all his hard work has come to knelt.

Still, this old bus will be
cruising the countryside

for many years to come, which
gives me a good feeling all over.

So all's well that ends well.

Stefan's bought himself
a bonafide British classic,

and we made our money back.

You can't say fairer than that, can you?

Join us next time on Wheel of Dealers.

We'll be right back.