Land Rover build

[jhewitt03]

Hello all my names john I recently bought a 96 Land Rover disco for around 800 bucks in ok condition I'm trying to build this rig up to the best of my ability I've heard mixed things about the Land Rover discos I'm just wondering what are the things I need to fix/upgrade first and I've heard some Land Rover discos have center lock? Is that true and does mine have it?


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[VCeXpedition]

Hey John, welcome! I used to own a '96 disco. I decided to stay with Toyota but always liked that and the first generation disco. Which engine does it have? My memory of that is that there were a couple available I that year? Mine was the 4.0 fuel injected if I remember correctly.
If you're mechanical at all it will certainly help. I have a shop manual for that car if you're interested in it.
$800 for that is not bad but is probably just the beginning of what you'll spend on that car.
G'luck, Dan.

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[jhewitt03]

Thanks Dan! And it is a 4.0 and I'm trying to overland on a moderate budget Lol and it appears that this was someone project at one point because it came with a lot of extra parts when I test drove it it didn't have any major problems rear wheel bearing was loose but other then that solid but I have heard weird things break on these things


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[Logan_Gibson]

First things first, baseline it and make sure its solid all around mechanically. Fix any of those issues first.
Here is a list from LRO,
"
60,000 Mile Service or Major Service for High Mileage Used Vehicle just purchased

Bleed the brakes
Flush and change the power steering fluid adding one bottle of additive
Service the tranny adding one bottle of additive, change the filter if necessary
Change the coolant and t/stat
Do an engine flush before changing the oil
Do an induction cleaning
Clean the throttle body
Add fuel additive to full gas tank
Change both of the diffs fluid
Change the t/case oil
Replace the plugs and wires
Replace the air filter
Lube all the drive shaft grease fitting including the 2 slip shafts
Do full inspection of brakes, hoses, bushings etc.
Repack or replace the 4 wheel bearings
Service the swivel balls, reseal, refill and adjust the pre-load
Replace the fuel filter
Inspect and replace all hoses, brake, coolant and cooler lines as necessary
"

I just picked up a 98 for $800(well 600) as well. I base lined everything and then found the oil pump gears were cracked.
Should be back up and running today.

Yes you D1 should have CDL, the transfer case shifter should move to the left(drivers side) to engage.
If it doesn't, there may be an issue with the shifter( I had to rebuild mine).

Once you have it mechanically sound, take it out and see where its weak points are for you and upgrade from there.

 

[Zargon]

First things first, baseline it and make sure its solid all around mechanically. Fix any of those issues first.
Here is a list from LRO,
"
60,000 Mile Service or Major Service for High Mileage Used Vehicle just purchased

Bleed the brakes
Flush and change the power steering fluid adding one bottle of additive
Service the tranny adding one bottle of additive, change the filter if necessary
Change the coolant and t/stat
Do an engine flush before changing the oil
Do an induction cleaning
Clean the throttle body
Add fuel additive to full gas tank
Change both of the diffs fluid
Change the t/case oil
Replace the plugs and wires
Replace the air filter
Lube all the drive shaft grease fitting including the 2 slip shafts
Do full inspection of brakes, hoses, bushings etc.
Repack or replace the 4 wheel bearings
Service the swivel balls, reseal, refill and adjust the pre-load
Replace the fuel filter
Inspect and replace all hoses, brake, coolant and cooler lines as necessary
"

I just picked up a 98 for $800(well 600) as well. I base lined everything and then found the oil pump gears were cracked.
Should be back up and running today.

Yes you D1 should have CDL, the transfer case shifter should move to the left(drivers side) to engage.
If it doesn't, there may be an issue with the shifter( I had to rebuild mine).

Once you have it mechanically sound, take it out and see where its weak points are for you and upgrade from there.

On the note of the CDL lever, if the previous owner(s) didn't use the vehicle much off-road, then the lever will most likely be basically seized. While it may be necessary to re-grease all of the linkages, most people have pretty good luck by just working the lever back and forth over time using some pretty good force. When I purchased my 95' disco the lever wouldn't budge at all, now the CDL engages and disengages with ease, and it shifts into low range super smoothly when done right.

On the note of "random" parts breaking, I don't believe that the Rover has any more chance of "random" parts breaking on it then other brands, however the weak-points on the truck (All truck have weak points) are different then others.

Some of the weak points to look-out for are:

• Drive shafts, they need to be greased every oil change (3,000-5,000) as a rule. If not they will quickly deteriorate and can cause far far larger issues. Check for play in all the universal joints and the slip joint on the front shaft
• Axle half shafts. As long as you are running stock tire sizes or being a sensible driver, the axle half shafts shouldn't prove to be an issue, but they are the weakest point in the gear train. Luckily the D1 has fully floating axles, so swapping HD axles in is a piece of cake.
• ABS sensors, these are known to back out pretty commonly setting off the ABS light, just tap them back in gently.
• Idle Air Control Valve, this can gunk up pretty well and cause some rough idle issues for your rover. (Thanks, @pl626 for helping me out with this one)
• The vacuum retard line for the distributor can easily come off, and most people will not notice it, however it will decrease your horse power and MPG, it cost me $2.50 to get the right parts at my local store to get it plumbed back in properly
• The Rover V8's are reasonably sensitive to timing and overheating. While the 4.0 isn't to terrible, it can still over heat considering the age (Blocked radiator, thermostat, water pump, expansion tank cap, name it). If the rover is over heating DO NOT DRIVE IT. It is so easy to basically destroy one of these V8's by running it hot for any length of time.
• On the note above, the temperature gauge is pretty slow to respond, and will jump suddenly, so get in the habit of checking it.

You have an awesome rig on your hands, best of luck.

 

[MS_Disco]

I second everything above, head gaskets and cylinder sleeves are your biggest issues. Although the 4.0s were much less prone than the 4.6. if you live where it's hot, get a low temp thermostat (for hot weather) Overheating these aluminum blocks will cause big headaches. Good luck, let us know how it turns out.

OB#3799

 

[Mike W]

I love the rover community. It's congrats on the rig, then straight into "btw, did you know you are now a part time mechanic" Love it. Now back to the garage to do some preventative maintenance on my rover.

 

[jhewitt03]

First things first, baseline it and make sure its solid all around mechanically. Fix any of those issues first.
Here is a list from LRO,
"
60,000 Mile Service or Major Service for High Mileage Used Vehicle just purchased

Bleed the brakes
Flush and change the power steering fluid adding one bottle of additive
Service the tranny adding one bottle of additive, change the filter if necessary
Change the coolant and t/stat
Do an engine flush before changing the oil
Do an induction cleaning
Clean the throttle body
Add fuel additive to full gas tank
Change both of the diffs fluid
Change the t/case oil
Replace the plugs and wires
Replace the air filter
Lube all the drive shaft grease fitting including the 2 slip shafts
Do full inspection of brakes, hoses, bushings etc.
Repack or replace the 4 wheel bearings
Service the swivel balls, reseal, refill and adjust the pre-load
Replace the fuel filter
Inspect and replace all hoses, brake, coolant and cooler lines as necessary
"

I just picked up a 98 for $800(well 600) as well. I base lined everything and then found the oil pump gears were cracked.
Should be back up and running today.

Yes you D1 should have CDL, the transfer case shifter should move to the left(drivers side) to engage.
If it doesn't, there may be an issue with the shifter( I had to rebuild mine).

Once you have it mechanically sound, take it out and see where its weak points are for you and upgrade from there.

Thank you so much this really helped I didn't really know where to start!


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[jhewitt03]

On the note of the CDL lever, if the previous owner(s) didn't use the vehicle much off-road, then the lever will most likely be basically seized. While it may be necessary to re-grease all of the linkages, most people have pretty good luck by just working the lever back and forth over time using some pretty good force. When I purchased my 95' disco the lever wouldn't budge at all, now the CDL engages and disengages with ease, and it shifts into low range super smoothly when done right.

On the note of "random" parts breaking, I don't believe that the Rover has any more chance of "random" parts breaking on it then other brands, however the weak-points on the truck (All truck have weak points) are different then others.

Some of the weak points to look-out for are:

• Drive shafts, they need to be greased every oil change (3,000-5,000) as a rule. If not they will quickly deteriorate and can cause far far larger issues. Check for play in all the universal joints and the slip joint on the front shaft
• Axle half shafts. As long as you are running stock tire sizes or being a sensible driver, the axle half shafts shouldn't prove to be an issue, but they are the weakest point in the gear train. Luckily the D1 has fully floating axles, so swapping HD axles in is a piece of cake.
• ABS sensors, these are known to back out pretty commonly setting off the ABS light, just tap them back in gently.
• Idle Air Control Valve, this can gunk up pretty well and cause some rough idle issues for your rover. (Thanks, @pl626 for helping me out with this one)
• The vacuum retard line for the distributor can easily come off, and most people will not notice it, however it will decrease your horse power and MPG, it cost me $2.50 to get the right parts at my local store to get it plumbed back in properly
• The Rover V8's are reasonably sensitive to timing and overheating. While the 4.0 isn't to terrible, it can still over heat considering the age (Blocked radiator, thermostat, water pump, expansion tank cap, name it). If the rover is over heating DO NOT DRIVE IT. It is so easy to basically destroy one of these V8's by running it hot for any length of time.
• On the note above, the temperature gauge is pretty slow to respond, and will jump suddenly, so get in the habit of checking it.

You have an awesome rig on your hands, best of luck.

Thank you so much yea I realized it was a challenge but I never see discos anymore and I love them for some reason plan to get mine built up as soon as possible!


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[jhewitt03]

I second everything above, head gaskets and cylinder sleeves are your biggest issues. Although the 4.0s were much less prone than the 4.6. if you live where it's hot, get a low temp thermostat (for hot weather) Overheating these aluminum blocks will cause big headaches. Good luck, let us know how it turns out.

OB#3799

I will! Thank you and it looks like it was someone project it already has some stuff done to it but not much plan to blow this app up with many pictures of my Rover lol and my OB badge will be on its way soon enough!


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[MS_Disco]

I will! Thank you and it looks like it was someone project it already has some stuff done to it but not much plan to blow this app up with many pictures of my Rover lol and my OB badge will be on its way soon enough!


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Keep us posted, and welcome aboard!!!