Chapter 3: “Raymond’s Surgery” 06.07.2022

Upon a thorough inspection of the underside of Raymond, another issue came to light… great! There was some play in the anti-roll bar linkage, which means that Raymond needs some more new parts… Trigger’s broom springs to mind here (one for the Only Fools fans there). So, we got to work cutting the broken part out and then attaching a brand-new shiny ARB link.

Now when one door closes another opens… well that may be true in most cases, but with Raymond, doors don’t tend to do much.

At first, we thought he just needed a new door card but after more inspection, this cheap project needed more new parts in the form of a door release cable.

We fitted an aftermarket part, however this didn’t fix the issue, so we ended up with a genuine part instead.

– Famous Four

Chapter 2: “Raymond Gets A Facelift”

05.07.2022

Raymond may be one of the cheapest members of our fleet, but that doesn’t mean he deserves any less. That being said, it might be interesting to see how cheaply you can run and maintain a Range Rover.

So lets get down to brass tacks, Raymond needs a lot of work including the brakes, the key, the smell and that is only scratching the surface. What did you expect for under five hundred pounds?

Firstly we have an actual safety concern to contend with, the mirrors, or more importantly the drivers side wing mirror. You would think we can’t scrimp and save on something as vital as this, well you would be wrong again. Ebay…Ten Pounds…Bargain!

Sorting out the brakes had to be the next thing on the list of things to do as both the discs and the calipers were very worn and cracked. So lets fit some fresh ones and get Raymond stopping as well as he looks.

Final issue for today is the front fog lamp bezels. Raymond is missing one of the plastic bezels and it makes him look a bit sad. Now this is purely an aesthetic upgrade as it poses no danger, but let’s get it done anyway. We found these chrome bezels online for twenty five pounds. Now Raymond looks like he’s ready to release a rap album!

– Famous Four

Chapter 1: Finding Raymond

25.05.2022

A sunny May afternoon, I received a phone call from a gent who was trying to sell his broken 2003 L322. Did it run? Did it change gear? Surprisingly, the answer to both was YES! Does that mean that it had dreaded corrosion around the sills and arches?

The next morning, I decided to meet this gentleman as he was only a short distance away. When I got there, I laid my eyes on Raymond for the first time. He looked very poorly sat on his haunches, broken bits and damage as far as the eye could see. Raymond was definitely in need of some TLC.

After a short negotiation, a deal was struck, and Raymond limped to his new home at Famous Four. We put him up on the ramp, fully expecting the ramp to go right through the jacking points, but lo and behold, Raymond held tough. Like Ashford and Simpson, he is solid! However, that is where the tale turns a little sour. It is probably easier for me to tell you what was working, rather than the list of problems, but here goes…

• Brake pipes and flexi’s
• Brake discs and pads
• Two rear tyres
• A front light
• Driver’s door mirror glass
• Door card repair
• Suspension fault to repair
• Good clean (he smells funky)

– Famous Four