The handle ended up not being done yet, got side tracked with moving car parts from my home to my business premises, my other half is now relieved that our home is fast becoming home again and not a parts shop So in the last 3 days I have done over 100 miles of careful towing, and thankfully the worst is now over. I am forcing myself to do the tailgate and handle tomorrow, the glue that was used took the paint with it as I removed it, so a little bit of spraying is required on the tailgate, tomorrow morning I will be drilling and painting, tomorrow afternoon or maybe Monday I will be fitting the handle. I have bought a brand new switch and loom and LED reg lights too. I have got to fix my partners Mini next week, once that is done, then I am taking this Freelander off the road to replace the turbo and a few other parts if I find any that need doing. I actually currently prefer driving this to my current Range Rover as well.

Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge

I had planned on getting the handle fully fitted today, but got side tracked when a neighbour I like had broken down, so helped them, then by the time I got to my yard, only had time to get the paintwork done, it needs a bit of finishing off, but it is now smooth and the damage left by the glue has been fully repaired. So my goal for tomorrow is to actually get the handle fitted and all finished off. It has most definitely been one of those days today. This little beast has been towing non stop now for 3 days in a row, and it does surprise me how well it does the job.

I have literally had the day from hell, Had it all planned out and then a friend literally killed a car by abusing it that I had let him borrow which lead to 6 hours of my time mostly waiting for a recovery agent to collect it and get it back to the yard, luckily for me, I didn't hear my phone ringing until after I finished fitting this fiddly part. The handle so far has been the most annoying job I have done on a car, I would be much happier taking the front end apart than ever doing this again

Anyway, handle now fitted, I took the opportunity to fit LED number plate lights and a brand new microswitch. So for the 1st time ever since buying this car, I can open the boot in a normal way. I didn't have time to refit the internal trim yet though.

I just have to polish the tailgate and also touch up one little patch that got damaged.

I know it has been a while since I posted, but a lot has been going on in my life, anyway, started the dreaded turbo replacement job today, partially stripped the engine bay down for access, plan on getting the completed by Tuesday. This is only because I am not working over the weekend.



Once this has been done, I will be selling this beast on. Although these are fantastic vehicles, my Discovery has been back on the road and this has ended up parked up doing nothing except the very rare lunch run.

Finally got further with this, lots has been going on in the background, a thief pretending to be a friend who doesn't know I know they are stealing from me which is being dealt with the old fashioned way. But anyway, got myself a part time skinny apprentice now, so after half the bolts went missing from the same point all the bolts were put in, we are now at the stage of starting to put this all back together now.

New turbo is loosely in place. My apprentice wanted to go partying Friday night, I was hoping to have a rest today although ended up attending a Karma filled breakdown, so working tomorrow to try and get this finished as I desperately need to get the Freelander sold.

Oh, and if any customers bring one of these in with a turbo fault, they will be directed elsewhere, I never want to do another Turbo on one of these again!

I realised I haven't posted about this since February this year, Well a lot has happened including moving the business to a new premises and this got pushed firmly to the back of the queue, Anyway, finally found some time to get this on the ramps and work out exactly what I need to buy and what was left to do as I had totally forgotten! So I am taking a trip into the main dealer tomorrow with a list of parts and the part numbers that I know I need. I am currently driving a facelift Freelander convertible as my daily, and not sure at the moment if I will be selling both my Freelanders once the Freelander 2 is finished as I have also got a Jeep Patriot in the wings waiting for me to trace a bad boost leak that I quite like. I am torn between the Freelander 2 and the Jeep as these are purely my backup cars for when I take my Discovery 3 off the road for major maintenance jobs, as I currently have done.

I need to find the source of a bad battery drain on this Freelander too as it is killing brand new batteries in a matter of days.

Now I have access to a proper ramp, I am actually able to reach the underneath of this fine, and had I had ramps like this when I started the job, I can honestly say, it would have been done in under 3 days and I would using the car as a daily now instead of keep buying other backup cars









And a bird had nested in the engine bay!

This is my Freelander 1. I actually love driving it, and getting 475 miles to a tank too! But not really practical for me as I gained another dog, so have to load it with the equivalent of a workshop for mobile jobs plus 2 dogs

Finally, the Turbo is on, but I forgot some of the other parts that I needed to finish the job and to top things off, thinking the car was safe where it was, I had left it unlocked and some has been in it and taken the metal and also drained the diesel out of it! Anyway, had to move it from where it was and have not got it safely back in my yard. So, Turbo bracket is one of the things that has vanished is now something I need, The new rocker gasket set (genuine Land Rover) was in the car, that has gone, they missed the 12 scrap car batteries in the boot though But anyway, Turbo properly bolted in place along with the banjo bolt that was an absolute pig to get in is done and torqued up properly, so now aiming to get this completed within the next 2 weeks.

I towed it with my facelift Freelander 1.

Thanks for the update.
Sorry to hear a criminal stole from you.
Best of luck in getting it finished. Jules

Thanks, I have now made a bracket with the help of a friend who sent me the measurements. Once I have finished the maintenance jobs on my Discovery, I will be cracking on with this.

Turbo bracket on, rocker cover and new gaskets done with factory torque settings observed, now hunting for another missing part, But the car is gradually looking more and more like a car again.

cool nice to see you are getting there with it  2009 FL2 S now gone
2011 FL2 HSE AUTO
2012 FL2 XS AUTO
2000 Kawasaki er 5

Found a fog light bezel broken, so that has now been repaired, and it is starting to look like a car again.

Click image to enlarge

Well, the Freelander looks like a car again. A couple of days more on it and it should be up and running.

Got the towbar electrics to do, forgot to put the washer bottle pump in, and actually forgot to buy the pump It has been soo long since I started working on this that I lost the list, and now learning all the jobs I needed to do. So my planned deadline has passed by a mile and I will not likely get this finished for another 4 weeks.

Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge

Well, one thing lead to the other, Pulled the engine apart to change the turbo, then got busy with everyone elses cars, parts then started going missing from the engine that I wasn't aware of until a month ago, and it was uneconomical for me to throw anymore money at it as I have plenty of other toys. So this Freelander has been fully broken for parts and I weighed the shell in today.

Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge