Many reasons NOT to buy a discovery 2. Shocking update

[R Lutz]

The D2 really is a terrific old bus. When I bought mine, I could have spent a bit more and bought a D3, but I was afeared of. the complexity and reliability. 15 years later I think I was right to go for 'old fashioned' Disco.

[Gaffer]

The D2 I owned was horrifically unreliable and cost me a fortune vs the D3 I replaced it with that has hardly put a foot wrong in 7 yrs. That being said the D2 still looks mega - a proper LR, and I still miss that td5 noise. Would love to pick up a last of the line facelift in black, but good ones are mega money.

[JJ0063]

On 10/2/2023 at 8:38 PM, bezzabsa said:

that "Detailing stuff" is probably just silicone spray.... hides all sorts of scratches etc but is a royal PITA to get off...

One wash with dish soap like Fairy will strip it of any waxes or sealants 👍

[JJ0063]

This thread reminds me of the two TD5’s I ruined*
 

Preface was the better one as it was manual. Auto box on these is horrible IMO, gears are way too long. 
 

If you’re after more power, search for TD5Inside. Portuguese chap who visits and travels round the UK mapping, around £160 IIRC and is the best in the biz.

[rainagain]

Great buy I've always fancied one of these but I've never been able to afford the fuel (or repair!) costs. I'd love to make a Camel replica they always look amazing:

More pics here

https://www.topgear.com/car-news/adventures/gallery-land-rovers-camel-trophy-over-years

[beko1987]

1 hour ago, rainagain said:

Great buy I've always fancied one of these but I've never been able to afford the fuel (or repair!) costs. I'd love to make a Camel replica they always look amazing:

More pics here

https://www.topgear.com/car-news/adventures/gallery-land-rovers-camel-trophy-over-years

I went to Billiand land rover show in 2007/8ish with some mates who owned them (few years older than me at the time) and there was a whole fleet of these parked up there, and the bright orange ones! Always did look fucking amazing! 

[sutty2006]

14 hours ago, JJ0063 said:

This thread reminds me of the two TD5’s I ruined*
 

Preface was the better one as it was manual. Auto box on these is horrible IMO, gears are way too long. 
 

If you’re after more power, search for TD5Inside. Portuguese chap who visits and travels round the UK mapping, around £160 IIRC and is the best in the biz.

I notice the auto is a bit long in the tooth. Hasn’t really got much pull below 2000rpm. Might have to dump an exhaust box or 2 lol

[sutty2006]

Today I did a thing. 

out with the old (farts n all)

 

 

in with the new. 
 

 

just needs a darn good cleanin. Hopefully get another 187k out of that. 
 

I used discovery2spares, who sent a bag of sweets (I’m diabetic) and a pen light (non working). 
 

 

ahhh it’s great to have a Landy again 

[sutty2006]

I also have a working centre interior light now too! Great stuff. 
 

it’s amazing when you buy a car, it has a list of jobs that the previous owner couldn’t be bothered to rectify for what ever reason. 
 

Next job I’ll fit a sunroof motor and get that working. Probably do that tomorrow. 

[sutty2006]

So there’s been an anoying rattle/screechy sound while driving. Sounded awful. PO said it was the exhaust.

I finally got under it, to find some kind of balance block? on the transmission brake. No idea what it’s for. 
 

 

but these two bolts holding it on were loose. 
 

 

tightened them up, and it’s a different machine altogether. 
 

One of the LED side lips failed. Typical. I’ve not fitted them to anything since the early 2000s because they only last 4 minutes, 5 if you’re lucky. 
 

burnt out. 
 

fitted standard 5w capless in place. Probably dull now, because of the covers, but I broke of those by accident. Bugger. 
 

also fitted new sunroof motor to front. Just got to do rear one now. 

[Spiny Norman]

Is a few minor lighting faults and a knackered seat the only things you've had go wrong with it? I asked about these recently and got the impression if I bought one it would eat my wallet, my house and my children and still be nothing but an immobile pile of rust in the corner.
You're giving me fresh hope!! 😛

[sutty2006]

1 hour ago, Spiny Norman said:

Is a few minor lighting faults and a knackered seat the only things you've had go wrong with it? I asked about these recently and got the impression if I bought one it would eat my wallet, my house and my children and still be nothing but an immobile pile of rust in the corner.
You're giving me fresh hope!! 😛

It’s all tit bits. 
 

I think the previous owner emptied his earnings into it. Props are new, airbags are new. Front diff is new. I’ve receipts for new cylinder head and much more from a few years ago. 
 

With 187k up it, I’ll be happy if it gets to 200k with no big issues. 

[sutty2006]

Today I R been mostly,

 

winter preppin 

 

Cleaned up as much as possible with the grinder and a wire wheel

 

its not tooooo bad. 
 

applied this first

 

 

 

 

then once dry, applied this. Violent stuff! 
 

 

 

I got covered. 
 

so I then fired up the compressor, warmed up some waxoil and sprayed as much in as possible 

[sutty2006]

Round town economy calculated. 
 

43L used, divided by 4.5 = 9.5 gallon.

217 miles covered, divided by 9.5 gallon = 22.8. 
 

so due to the fact I can round up, I’m classing that as 23mpg

 

The Carlton 2.2 auto gets similar figure. Lol

[goosey]

1 hour ago, sutty2006 said:

Round town economy calculated. 
 

43L used, divided by 4.5 = 9.5 gallon.

217 miles covered, divided by 9.5 gallon = 22.8. 
 

so due to the fact I can round up, I’m classing that as 23mpg

 

The Carlton 2.2 auto gets similar figure. Lol

I think that’s pretty good, as a comparison my GL does about the same 

[Talbot]

20 hours ago, sutty2006 said:

its not tooooo bad.

It's amazing.  There is chassis there!  My D2, which was sent for breaking about 3 years ago now, had quite a bit of fresh air where yours still has original chassis.
I assume you're familiar with how these chassis were designed and fabricated?  The internal corner stiffening on these is the worst rust trap I've seen in a fair while.  You need to park it in a swimming pool of waxoyl every night.

[leafsprung]

Is this still on airbags and ACE? 

[sutty2006]

45 minutes ago, leafsprung said:

Is this still on airbags and ACE? 

Yes and yes. All working so far. Even have a mint green fob to lower it. 

[leafsprung]

Christ. This one continues to surprise.... 

[sutty2006]

38 minutes ago, leafsprung said:

Christ. This one continues to surprise.... 

don’t get me wrong, I recon in a few years it’ll need minor rust correction surgery, as the bulkhead on passenger side and inner wing had to be repaired, but that’s it so far. 

[sutty2006]

I took one of the safari lamps off today, as they’re cloudy. Now, they’re glass. Glass doesn’t tend to go cloudy. 
 

 

using some paint renovator and some glass polish….. 

 

ahh well. It was worth a try. It’s probably cloudy on the inside…. 
 

bugger. 

[sutty2006]

Gave this bad boy a polish last week, 

 

then the other day the father in law decided to paint his fence panels with a pump up spray bottle. The right side of the discovery got covered. Including bonnet roof and tailgate. You can just see it in the mirror. 
 

 

spent the afternoon with tar and glue remover. Luckily it’s come off pretty easy. Next doors washing wasn’t so lucky.

 

[sutty2006]

Another job done today.

 

drivers side window runner seal was completely borked in the corner. I have a D1 front door to scrap and noticed it was similar. It’s actually identical.

So I started ripping the door to bits to get it out. 45 minutes in I decided against it. the entire door needs stripping to get the window out and I lost interest. 
 

here you see the seal is good on this one. 

 

so I did the right thing and cut a section out. 
 

 

and slotted it in to the gap on the D2. 
 

works a treat and saves 16 days work. Result! 

[sutty2006]

Other jobs completed today, 

 

fitted better cup holders to the centre console. The original cup holder was a poor design, even for the D1. You can really tell how many fucks were given designing the D2 that they used the same shitty design. (Also see sunroof failures). The original design is ok for a 330ml can, that’s it. But even still, once selected beverage is in the holder, the heater controls are impossible to use. 
 

These new cup holders were made by @warninglight who did a groovy AS discount. I also assisted his venture by purchasing the only D2 with wooden effect trim, rendering his original design useless due to the additional height it gives. The original was sent back with instructions of how much to reduce the height of the base by. 
 

 

and once the redeveloped base arrived, they were fitted. 
 

 

suitable for anything. Pens, adapters, leathermans, isolators. 

 

perfect 💪

 

A couple of days ago I fitted an Anderson connection to the front nudge bar. I was going to do this to the D1, but f**k the D1 now. It’s rusty and doesn’t deserve my time. 
 

so with some “spare cable and new socket” from a new 24hr breakdown van at work, i plonked it there on a stainless bracket. Guarded the wiring and fed it to the lightning box. I haven’t connected it up yet, because the negative terminal needs to be replaced with one that can take a double cable.

 

 

and the jump leads I bought from someone on here years ago will come in handy. 
 

 

just need to make some proper storage in the back now. 

[Talbot]

3 hours ago, sutty2006 said:

I have a D1 front door to scrap and noticed it was similar. It’s actually identical.

a lot of the door is identical between D1 and D2.  and also classic RR.

As is the back door, the pedal box, the wiper mechanism, the windscreen aperture, sections of the floor, sections of the bulkhead, the steering column... the list goes on.  The RRclassic/D1/D2 is more of an evolution of vehicle than it is different cars.

[Matty]

On 08/10/2023 at 16:18, sutty2006 said:

It’s all tit bits. 
 

I think the previous owner emptied his earnings into it. Props are new, airbags are new. Front diff is new. I’ve receipts for new cylinder head and much more from a few years ago. 
 

With 187k up it, I’ll be happy if it gets to 200k with no big issues. 

I'm no LR apologist but surely these are things that could be levelled at anything that's lasted this long. I've got a car that's survived 56 years. And in fairness all that's original is the dash, parts of the shell and the back seat 😆

[EyesWeldedShut]

9 hours ago, Matty said:

I'm no LR apologist but surely these are things that could be levelled at anything that's lasted this long. I've got a car that's survived 56 years. And in fairness all that's original is the dash, parts of the shell and the back seat 😆

Story of my (many of our) lives?

[sutty2006]

12 hours ago, Talbot said:

a lot of the door is identical between D1 and D2.  and also classic RR.

As is the back door, the pedal box, the wiper mechanism, the windscreen aperture, sections of the floor, sections of the bulkhead, the steering column... the list goes on.  The RRclassic/D1/D2 is more of an evolution of vehicle than it is different cars.

What I was trying to say, was you’d have thought they’d rectify some of the D1 issues on the D2. The D1 was pretty successful apart from horrendous body rot and drivetrain reliability. The D2 body can be quite good but they ruined it with chassis rot. Something the D1 didn’t really suffer with (apart from mine 🤣)

[warch]

11 minutes ago, sutty2006 said:

What I was trying to say, was you’d have thought they’d rectify some of the D1 issues on the D2. The D1 was pretty successful apart from horrendous body rot and drivetrain reliability. The D2 body can be quite good but they ruined it with chassis rot. Something the D1 didn’t really suffer with (apart from mine 🤣)

I'm considering buying a modern* Landrover 90/110 at the moment and have come to the conclusion (having read through loads of other peoples old MoT histories that they were much better made in the 80s than the mid-late 90s or 00s. 

80s and early 90s Landrover 90/110/Defender models often still have their original chassis and bulkhead which even if repaired will be good serviceable condition. These coincide with the Discovery 1 era, most Discos of this time actually had quite a good innings before age and lack of value condemned them.

Late 90s and post 2000 Defenders are shockingly bad for chassis and bulkhead rust, I wouldn't even consider buying one unless it was to replace both these components. I assume Discovery 2s had the same issue.

70s/early 80s Range Rovers often have really good chassis's but rotten body frames, many found their way onto hybrids, using cut down Series Landrover bodywork and usually the V8 engine.

[sutty2006]

Just done another refill. 
 

48 litres used. 228 miles done. 21.3mpg. It’s got worse 🤣