Thread: Lyhoon's D2 write up - warning: long

Hi Aulro Members!

I'd like to thank everyone for their advice thus far, you are all so knowledgeable and friendly and I hope to be able to pass all this knowledge onto other people.

I purchased my 2002 LR td5 Discovery Series 2 late last year and have been putting off posting a long post with all the good bits like pictures and actual progress as I've struggled to find the time but, here it is.

To get started, I've come across from owning a 2008 Audi A3 Quattro and wanted something that could go off road (beginner fisherman adventures and generally tom foolery up and down some tracks) as well as be used to economically tour/camp Australia with later down the line with the Mrs.

After weeks of searching I felt like I had looked through every sales post ever posted, countless YouTube vids and had more than enough conversations on the topic.

Thoughts that came to mind were along the lines of "I am definitely not getting an 80 series or a patrol" because I wanted something reliable however, also packed with the creature comforts like electrics; a nice stereo system and so on.

A Defender 90 would have been the dream but that was out of my price range and probably not too practical down the line. Along came the Disco. A big cabin, reliable both off and on road. Looks unique and utilitarian. I think it's the one! But which one? Time to do some research.

Researching Discos a little deeper made me unsure. 'B04 or later was out of my price range. Head gasket problems came up pretty often in searches, temperature problems too. Then there were the little quirky things like the door actuators, window regulator and availability/price of parts in general. Is this the right decision?

I soon stumbled across plenty of specialist suppliers, eBay treasure troves and even this forum! I figured "what's the worse that could happen? If I run into some problems, there seems to be plenty of support and Landy lovers out there that I'll be fine"

Let's join the brotherhood.

Weeks passed again and my friends knew I was tip toeing around the subject, waiting for a good one. Weeks turned into a month and soon, it was spotted! A Facebook post, 30 minutes north of where i was.

This D2 looked so good, I couldnt pass it up! I made moves and before I knew it, I was holding the keys to my first 4wd, my first diesel car and my first 7 seater! All this against the Mrs advice as we were heading on a 1 month trip to Asia soon and she thought the fund would be better allocated elsewhere, but what does she know about my dreams and ambitions. Haha.

She came to me almost stock with the previous owner having only spent coin on the regular stuff and maintenance. Besides the lack of accessories that came with purchase, I was so happy I had my own disco! I felt as if a massive smile was plastered ear to ear for the whole drive home. I was so giddy on the way home which made it hard to focus on any rattles and squeaks so I gave up on that an just enjoyed the drive.

Problems at purchase:
Rear right hand side window seal broken (windy cabin when it doing over 60 with all the windows up)
Heater not working
Wipers worn
Tires old and cracking
Small gash in chassis
Leaky exhaust manifold
Sagging headline

Goods:
No major rust (a little surface but all sorted)
xyz switch replaced
Master cylinder replaced
cylinder head replaced
dowels updated
No accidents
egr deleted
rear bag to coil conversation

I've got a couple of friends who are spirited 80series owners so a couple of days after picking her up, we headed out to the pines for a little testing. Managed to climb everything, even if it wasn't me driving when we made it over the obstacle but I don't mind, first time 4by-er so my pride wasn't too hurt.

My first task was to find a mechanic I like. I found that when owning a specialty car, be it German or English, if it isn't straight forward it's best to have an expert on hand to save on the labour costs of "exploring theories". I went through a few Perth business but found "Dovers Automotive" a pleasure to deal with and truly knowledgeable. I had Dave from Dovers go over the car to service her, everything's tip top, no surprises.

I went to Asia in November/December and figured I'd spoil myself and order a stack load of things while I was out of the country so i could occupy myself when i was back across the holiday period

Below is a most of the stuff purchased, I will throw up pictures when I can but if there's something you want to see or get more details on, comment and I'll post it up:

Clear indictors
LED Headlights
Horn buttons
Snorkel
Terrafirma De-cat pipe and centre muffler delete
Terrafirma Window visors
Good condition over head compartment (previous owner drilled in to install uhf but I wanted a clean look)
MUD UK Large pod mount
set of gauges
Leather steering wheel cover
Hi-Lo and hand brake gaiter
Plenum panel (plastic panel under windscreen)
LR D3 shifter
LED Interior lights
X2 Autotechnica seats
Alpine single din head unit
Front seat cup holders located directly under headunit
Middle row cup holders located in centre armrest
Sand grabba floor mats for front and rear
Neltronics rear view mirror with GOS included
Blue silicone hose set

Managed to grab some 2nd hand items off gum tree too:
Second pair of seats (to aid in fabrication and installation of autotechnica seats)
ARB side steps
Roof rack
Front grille (to fab into a Saudi grille when I can be bothered)

Fast forward 4 months and we are now a garage of parts later and have learnt few lessons along the way.

Whats been done since I got her?
Replaced suspension with 2" terrafirma lift
Replaced front window actuators and
Passenger side door actuator
Replaced radiator as the nipple broke off
Replaced saggy head liner with a black one for something different
Replaced head lights to LEDs
Replaced orange indicators and park lights with clear lights
Installed window visors
Replaced hi-Lo gaiter, hand brake gaiter and shifter
Replaced stock cat and muffler with terrafirma de-cat and centre muffler delete
Replaced warm white interior lights with white LEDs
Installed roof rack
Replaced oem side steps with 2nd hand arb steps
Replaced oem rear view mirror with neltronics one for gps and reverse camera functions
Replaced cracked plenum panel with new eBay special
Replaced stock driver and front passenger seats with canvas covered autotechnica after market seats
Stitched on the leather steering wheel cover
Replaced oem headunit with alpine deck
Replaced overhead compartment that previous owner drilled the uhf into with good condition one bought from an eBay wrecker
Got her detailed and Magic Hands Car Wash

Still to do:
Aquire 16" rims and some tyres
Duel battery
Solar panel
Roof top tent
Lights
Tailgate door mod to a flip down table
Rear drawers
Tint
Front & rear bars
Scrub bars
Install snorkel
Install pod gauge and mud uk pod mount
Purchase Nanocom
Remap
Purchase Low coolant alerter
Investigate warm footwell
Investigate flooding in front right hand side indicator/park light
Investigate front passenger door not air tight (possibly plastic a-pillar trim flapping about)
Install sub & amp (bough for the Audi but had no time to install)
CDL Lever (thanks for the reminder Rangieman!)

Dreams:
Vvt turbo
Linex paint job

Pictures below are from sales post. Thanks for reading my super long post, I hope you enjoyed it! Feel free to ask any questions you may think of or just let me know what you think!

Lyhoon, if you have no CDL lever, CDL never engages AFAIK. It doesn't come on with TC.