What to do with a Blue D2.

[Talbot]

 I have a 2001 "Y" Discovery 2 Td5.  Had it for about 8 or so years.  It's been my daily driver, spare vehicle, tow vehicle, all sorts of things.  It's been parked up for most of two years and I now need to decide what to do with it.  It has issues:

• Clutch is slipping at full power.  I have a SMF and clutch conversion kit to fit, but am not convinced the release bearing doesn't need a spacer or adapter of some sort.  I could just put a standard clutch in it, either way, the box has to come off to fix this.
• 4th Gear synchromesh is completely gone.  The gearbox has never been brilliant, always been quite stiff in use and has in the past been very noisy.  It had the oil swapped out for the "wrong" one a number of years back and I think it did some lasting damage.  I swapped it back out for the correct oil and it went quieter again but it was never quite right.
• Engine cannot develop full power.  It feels like there is a fuel restriction, either a blocked filter, or perhaps a weak in-tank delivery pump.  It does start and drive ok, just not above ~2500rpm and about half-power.
• Rear chassis has a lot of corrosion.  I've previously welded up bottom of the offside rear dip, the nearside one now needs doing and there's surface rust all over the chassis wherever you look from about halfway back.
• Both rear brake pipes are badly corroded and need changing.
• Rear step has been removed as it was absolutely rotten.
• Front sunroof doesn't move.  I can hear relays clicking but I suspect the motor is dead.
• Laquer on the bonnet has begun to peel, and there is some paint damage elsewhere.

I'm weighing up whether it's worth doing the work needed on it.  I'm in two minds as there are a number of positives too:

• It's an ES model, meaning it's got leather, power seats, decent stereo
• ACE works and the suspension seems to be in good order.
• 7-seat model with working rear air suspension.
• Working front&rear split zone air-conditioning (which appears to be fairly rare)
• It had the OMGHGF done a few years back, along with the exhaust manifold de-webbed and EGR delete.
• Having spent some time cleaning it up, it's really not in bad condition.  Other than the Laquer peel, it looks fairly presentable.

Is it worth repairing?  The biggest issue I have is that I quite like it.  Had I the time/money I'd shove a Galvanised chassis under it and do all the other repairs needed while the body is off.  Unfortunately that's £lots.

[Cookiesouwest]

If you like it and don't need it as a daily, you could do the work over a period of time, to help spread the cost and effort.

[Talbot]

I should add that if anyone fancies a Discovery project and would want to restore it, I'd be quite interested in selling this and all the bits I have for it as a going concern quite cheaply and with no need for it to be moved until well after the current situation is over.

[2flags]

This is a difficult one. The chassis is the first point. It needs a rear half chassis as a minimum. Galvanised chassis would be best. As to power loss, check the turbo hoses. They can go soft and collapse internally. The thing is, do you want to spend that much money on it? I had the same thing with my 110. It needed a new chassis. I don't use it very much. Yes, I changed the chassis. Along with that is had new suspension, brake lines, UJs for the propshaft and winch. The cost £4500. Was it worth it? I think so. Could I afford it? Just, perhaps. It's your choice.

[Talbot]

The power loss is a slightly odd one, as when you ask for "more" power, it starts to surge, and the surging is quite strong.  When you back off again, the surging goes away, that's why I'm leaning towards fuelling.  I've had turbo hoses collapse before now and the power loss felt very different to this.  The fact that it's been parked up for so long leads me to think it might just need a new filter.  Probably worth just shoving one on anyway.  Either that, or I might see if I can put a pressure gauge on the delivery line to the engine to check I'm getting 4 bar all the time.

[sutty2006]

Bin it and buy something else. I’m a fan of Landrovers (no I’m not, I’m a sucker for punishment) but I skipped the D2 and went for a D3. They have their down falls but I’ve never had to glue it back together with the electric prit-stick. I still have a D1 for that. 

[ianbmw]

Buy a rotten 300tdi....because the bodies rot rarely the chassis...

Remove Disco 1 shell from the chassis, sell what you can from the shell.....treat and paint 300 chassis and running gear...

Removing Disco 2 body and fit to disco 1 chassis with the spacers on the rear,sell TD5 parts


End result, mechanically more Basic discovery with a strong chassis and a nicer interior .

Sent from my SM-A530F using Tapatalk

[sutty2006]

35 minutes ago, ianbmw said:

Buy a rotten 300tdi....because the bodies rot rarely the chassis...

Remove Disco 1 shell from the chassis, sell what you can from the shell.....treat and paint 300 chassis and running gear...

Removing Disco 2 body and fit to disco 1 chassis with the spacers on the rear,sell TD5 parts


End result, mechanically more Basic discovery with a strong chassis and a nicer interior .

Sent from my SM-A530F using Tapatalk
 

I’ve heard that it isn’t that straight forward to swap. Because I’d do this with my D1 if I could. 

[Talbot]

54 minutes ago, ianbmw said:

Buy a rotten 300tdi....because the bodies rot rarely the chassis... Remove Disco 1 shell from the chassis, sell what you can from the shell.....treat and paint 300 chassis and running gear...  Removing Disco 2 body and fit to disco 1 chassis with the spacers on the rear,sell TD5 parts

Having owned and driven several D1 and D2 models, I can see what you're suggesting, but I would not want D1 running gear.  The chassis rot in a D2 is a real problem (internal stiffening was never a good idea) but in every other way the D2 running get is absolutely superior to D1 stuff.  300tdi engines are lovely and all that, but my word are they hard work compared to a decent Td5.  I'd also lose nice things like cruise control, which I rather like having.  I also imagine trying to mix-and-match systems that cross over between the body and the chassis would require some engineering to be done.  Whilst I'm sure I could do so, I probably don't have the facilities at the moment.

If I am going to keep it, I suspect replacement chassis (either rear-half or complete) is the way forward.  I'm not sure, but a rear half-chassis doesn't require body removal does it?

That said, I've no doubt I could patch up the dip on the nearside and it would be MOT-worthy for a couple of years yet.

[ianbmw]

A friend of mine has done this conversion on his own vehicle and also does this as a paid service (he runs a reputable garage).

It's really not that complicated,but owning a TD5 110.....I do enjoy the TD5 over a 200 or 300.

Alot of D2s are being thrown away for chassis rot which I personally feel is a huge shame!

How about sourcing a used chassis in a sound or repairable condition and refurbishing it prior to swapping it?

Sent from my SM-A530F using Tapatalk

[Talbot]

Thing is, the chassis I have is in repairable condition.  It's not the rot-box that some are, just the dips are gone really.  However, to repair it properly would likely mean stripping it, dipping it, repairing it and then plating/galvanising it, which I probably don't have the resources to do.

What I don't want to do is spend a thousand hours struggling to get the gearbox out, do the clutch, do 4th gear (or just swap the box for a better one), spend another thousand hours putting it back in again, only to decide I need to have the body off and swap the chassis, as removing a gearbox with the body off is massively easier.

Can you even buy new a new chassis for a D2?  The last chassis I bought was a S3 SWB one, which was about £650, which tells you how long ago it was.

[N Dentressangle]

Obvs I like LR's too, but I'd probably break / bin that one and buy a better D2 or even a D3.

Good D2's cost buttons at the mo, and you can find one with little rust and a decent clutch / box / engine. You could even transfer your interior if needed. With the current value of a good D2 being £2kish, it makes no sense to spend so much money on the one you have.

Or is that too sensible a suggestion?

[Talbot]

1 hour ago, N Dentressangle said:

Good D2's cost buttons at the mo, and you can find one with little rust and a decent clutch / box / engine. You could even transfer your interior if needed. With the current value of a good D2 being £2kish, it makes no sense to spend so much money on the one you have.

Pretty much exactly what I thought was going to be true.

I suspect the most sensible thing to do is sell this as a breaker.  If I get £500 for it I'll be happy.  Is a good running Td5 worth that these days?

[sutty2006]

10 hours ago, ianbmw said:

A friend of mine has done this conversion on his own vehicle and also does this as a paid service (he runs a reputable garage).

It's really not that complicated,but owning a TD5 110.....I do enjoy the TD5 over a 200 or 300.

Alot of D2s are being thrown away for chassis rot which I personally feel is a huge shame!

How about sourcing a used chassis in a sound or repairable condition and refurbishing it prior to swapping it?

Sent from my SM-A530F using Tapatalk
 

More info please? The body on my D1 is borked. But the chassis and engine are sweet. I’ve been considering a d2 body swap. 

[N Dentressangle]

8 hours ago, Talbot said:

Pretty much exactly what I thought was going to be true.

I suspect the most sensible thing to do is sell this as a breaker.  If I get £500 for it I'll be happy.  Is a good running Td5 worth that these days?

Yes, I'd say so.

You'd get that on Ebay, I would think.

[Talbot]

1 hour ago, sutty2006 said:

The body on my D1 is borked. But the chassis and engine are sweet. I’ve been considering a d2 body swap. 

Want a Blue D2 ES?  I'm guessing that if you have the facilities, you could break and sell the bits you don't need for more than I want for the whole vehicle.

[Talbot]

Just been having a brief look at prices of chassis for the D2.  I really do not understand how a rear half-chassis can be £650, but a complete chassis is £3k.  If anything, the rear half of the chassis is more complex than the front.

Seems to me that there's still a premium for D2 chassis, as even a Defender 130 chassis (IE about 8 miles long) is £2.5k

[sutty2006]

They’re probably more expensive because they don’t sell many. D2s there’s plenty of them, so people just buy a decent one instead. 
 

Doesn’t your body need welding? 

[Dick Cheeseburger]

How sentimental are you? I owned a 97 Disco around 12 months back which was a bit crispy around the back end, but not terminal by any means. It was a really straight, genuine and unabused truck. It had no MOT and we pulled almost 1k on it on ebay. 

Values of the first shape Discoveries are on the up. If you like the old thing,  keep it and sort the bits. 

Otherwise,  clean it to within an inch of its life, take some decent photos and lob it on ebay when the world starts to move again. 

[Talbot]

10 minutes ago, sutty2006 said:

Doesn’t your body need welding? 

Nope.  Body is completely sound absolutely everywhere.  Rear floor is perfect, inner front arches are unmarked.  I can't find anything other than a tiny wisp of rust on a few brackets on the body.

The same cannot be said for the chassis.

10 minutes ago, Dick Longbridge said:

clean it to within an inch of its life, take some decent photos and lob it on ebay when the world starts to move again. 

Unless someone here wants to make me a derisory low offer that I will probably accept, I'll likely do this.  If it sells, fine.  If not, I'll consider fixing it.

[sutty2006]

Hmmm interesting. 

[hairnet]

has @Saabnut been infomed cos hes all kinda perv for these

[ianbmw]

More info please? The body on my D1 is borked. But the chassis and engine are sweet. I’ve been considering a d2 body swap. 

Let me gather some photos over the next day or so and send them over.....I know it will throw this thread off course!

Sent from my SM-A530F using Tapatalk

[Saabnut]

2 hours ago, hairnet said:

has @Saabnut been infomed cos hes all kinda perv for these

How can I put this without causing offence? I know.

Bugger off!

[Talbot]

4 hours ago, Saabnut said:

How can I put this without causing offence? I know.

Bugger off!

You mean you don't want to travel to the other end of the UK to buy a borked Discovery that you neither need nor want?  *checks URL*  *looks confused*

[Crackers]

I read the title and thought "Sell it to me!" 

Then I read the description and thought "Shhhhit no don't do that!" 

[Talbot]

53 minutes ago, Crackers said:

I read the title and thought "Sell it to me!" 

For the right price perhaps?

[rickvw72]

Are you anywhere near the midlands?

Might make a good partner for my rusty and in a 100 pieces Fourtrak!

[Talbot]

No, south coast really, near Bognor Regis / Chichester.

Given that there might be a modicum of interest, I'll get some photos later and put them up.

I'm still considering just patching the rear chassis, lobbing a couple of brake pipes on and throwing it at an MOT.  I suspect I could get a pass without too much work.  The clutch and engine issues won't stop that, and at least it's then driveable.

[garbaldy]

I just sold an off road prepped one with mot till December for £450 shame you handnt of seen it as the chassis was very good on it plus it had loads of new parts on it you could have robbed for yours. 

This landrover 90 chassis cost me £350 plus vat to get galvanised last year.