Well... it took us about double the time the SatNav estimated but still the experience was a lot less uncomfortable or scary that one might be led to believe reading this thread
We found the vehicle pretty much as described (as far as we could tell anyway, though the doors didn't lock).
OH did a quick check of things while I went off to sort the tax with the dealer (who was super helpful, I must say.)
One of the sidelights didn't come on, which dealer got down to fix there and then (he swore it worked the day before), and we got a first show of the Lukas principle: after trying a few things the problem seemed to be no earth - a bit of tightening the light fitting screws and presto the light was back on!
So we set off on the long way home. The worst bit really was crossing Bristol in Saturday traffic... OH swearing at the gearbox, mostly. After that we were cruising along quite steadily at 50mph, rather pleasant really, never to worry about overtaking anything
Yes, the whole thing does vibrate - but not to the point of having to shout, taking loudly is enough. With a bit of practice I think I can learn to tell the gear and speed by the sound of the vibration waves.
And then it got dark... and the full beam lights didn't work - beam switch seems to turn all lights off
(maybe they stopped working en route or maybe this was missed when we checked, no idea). Anyway, the dip lights are pretty good so this only became a bit problematic on the very dark roads close to home. Also what seemed to be warm(ish) air blowing out of the heater cooled down rather considerably when the temperature dropped after dark, so the last hour or so was definitely 'not toasty'. Oh and we managed to loose the fuel cap somewhere on the way (entirely our fault)
All in all this was an exciting, fun and only a bit of an exhausting journey. Madness still to go all that way to pick up a Landy when we could probably got one around here anyway, but this one just came up a the right time, with right specs and right price, so it was a bit of a whim, but I think it was worth it.
I admit I chickened out from having a go at driving it, OH drove all the way (he loves driving, I hate driving). He already thinks it's a lot of fun
While I can already see this becoming more of a creature than a thing, another 'animal' I'll enjoy looking after on the smallholding (I'll do the looking after, including learning how to repair a few things, and OH can drive it - everybody will be happy
Special mention must go to Mojo the dog who was extremely patient throughout this rather long day (some kind of vibration frequency made him jump regularly). And to you TAS people for advice and encouragement
on the upside:
it didn't break down and nothing fell off
very little rust
engine has a lot of power
gearbox cooperates once you work out the subtleties (see diagram above)
only used up a tankful of diesel for the distance (that's with the fuel cap off for about 80 miles until we noticed...)
on the downside:
doors don't lock (surely it's not a good idea to leave them unlocked, it maybe an old car but a coveted one?)
beam lights don't work (bit more complicated that one)
screen wash nozzle stopped working at squirt no.3 (it was jutting out away from the windscreen but against the wind it still hit the right spot - is this normal?
incomplete tow bar (the bracket & electric connection is there but tow hitch/ball/plate is missing. (trying to figure out which parts exactly I need to get)
You've all been so helpful but I don't really want to keep asking too many detailed technical question here, so I'll ask two general questions?
- any recommendations for a good (and friendly) Landrover forum out there?
- recommendations for ordering parts? (I think I saw something in a past thread here but can't find it, sorry)
Thank you again!