No specific adventures planned, I just have an ever growing desire to disappear for a few months and there’s only one vehicle I’d do that with. North is pretty much a given. Utah/Wyoming/Idaho high country in summer if I’m lucky, avoiding the flood of Texans to Colorado and Vloggers to Montana.
I could probably have it road worthy with a full week’s work in good weather, comfortable and livable again would take several. At minimum it’s going to need all the bushings replaced, transfer case dropped and resealed, and probably a new caliper driver’s side rear (though I’ll probably just upgrade all the brake hardware).
You have done an amazing job selling me on the gen 2 disco… But I do have to ask one question… The two flows I’ve always heard of these are:
BMS electrical issues
Head gaskets blowing like clockwork at 100k miles…
The first thing that needs to be said: Buying a Discovery (or any older Land Rover) is beginning a rewarding, but high-maintenance relationship. While they may share many part numbers with a wide range of Chevys, they don’t share the same tolerance for lax maintenance on the rest of the vehicle. They do require patience, dedication, and love; and they’ll reward you (or burn you) in kind.
Head gaskets: I’d just plan to replace at 150k miles as a maintenance item, not unlike a Subaru EJ25. I have that to look forward to soon, I’ll probably do it early since I’m doing so much other work to mine.
Electrical…Lucas, Ghost of Darkness, lives on in all Land Rover products (even the newer TaTa-flagged stuff). But, there are particularly bad years and particularly good ones. 1999-2000 was arguably good, 2003-2004 were the best electrical has ever been (though I’d avoid 2003 due to an issue with oil pump dowels not lining up to the block, unless it’s had the engine replaced under recall). 2001-2002 I’ve heard was garbage, and I’d recommend against them anyhow for lack of center diff lock (the transfer case split). Yes, they can be swapped to the older/newer TC, but with so many good Discos on the market right now you might as well buy one already equipped.
I’ve caught wear in places on the wiring harness and repaired and/or rerouted before it became an issue. Otherwise, I haven’t had any electrical issues with mine.
Other issues all relate to age and a general lack of longevity in British plastics. Sunroof drains like to fracture when they get brittle and leak (thankfully not anywhere they’ll damage electronics unlike the LR3). Drip rails, headlamp mounts, taillamp lenses, SAI and other bits under the hood all get brittle as well. I find the best approach to preventative maintenance is to treat the vehicle like it’s a decade older than it actually is. In many cases there are simpler upgrades to replace complicated broken components, or cheaper-but-better bolt-on equivalents from other makes. In other cases it’ll just be parts you’ve never heard of that are critical, but easy to replace (like the rubber donut on the rear propshaft every 70,000).
I do hope we’ll see the tape measure now and then as Ulysses starts going back together. The stories I’ve heard about symmetry intrigue me–not that I’ve ever been compelled to make such observations on my own vehicle.
Old photos from early 2019, it’s dry and clear up here right now…perfect wrenching weather. I have been driving it around though, just around town. It needs a full service, yeah, and a ton of restoration work, but I’m pretty sure all it really needs is tires.
