Body Swap Discovery 3

Hi. i currently have two discovery 3`s one 2007 SE with no rust on it and a blown engine. and a one 2005 HSE with rusted up sills and a running engine.

Has anyone tried simply swapping bodies on things like these??
Will the 2007 SE fit directly on the 2005 HSE frame with wiring loom? anyone got access to a parts catalogue and potential differences in wiring loom here?

the only question is... will i miss the glass roof... i could always move the HSE equipment over to the SE body that is more or less rustfree

thoughts??

Assuming you are in the UK, then the biggest hurdle maybe a legal one. As you can't build one car out of two. This would then be known as a 'ringer'. And would technically be non-roadworthy. This mostly only applies to certain components, namely things like the chassis.

Land Rover marketed the D3 (D4 and L320 RRS) as an Integrated Body Frame, meaning they have a 2 part chassis. Do you know where the chassis number is stamped? Is it on both parts or just one? It really will be about what items carry the vehicle identity. i.e. if the ladder part has no ID, then yes you could transfer it, but retain the body parts ID. Or if it is the other way round. If both items carry the ID then legally the answer would be no, even though mechanically the swap is likely quite feasible.

Driving a ringer could have serious consequences should you be caught or involved in a road accident.

300bhp/ton said:

Assuming you are in the UK, then the biggest hurdle maybe a legal one. As you can't build one car out of two. This would then be known as a 'ringer'. And would technically be non-roadworthy. This mostly only applies to certain components, namely things like the chassis.

Land Rover marketed the D3 (D4 and L320 RRS) as an Integrated Body Frame, meaning they have a 2 part chassis. Do you know where the chassis number is stamped? Is it on both parts or just one? It really will be about what items carry the vehicle identity. i.e. if the ladder part has no ID, then yes you could transfer it, but retain the body parts ID. Or if it is the other way round. If both items carry the ID then legally the answer would be no, even though mechanically the swap is likely quite feasible.

Driving a ringer could have serious consequences should you be caught or involved in a road accident.

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Hi mate

U bring up a very good point with regards to serial numbers ; mileage etc, alas don’t know what kind of nightmare it would be via the dvla, assume a lot of difference if ur buying a new chassis that doesn’t have a previous identity so to speak

Know there are differences in the looms, engine etc between the EU3 and EU4, along with the added problems of modules / keys , mileage and instrument cluster

As far as I’m aware there’s the chassis number stamped onto the chassis itself then vin numbers stamped twice on the body

Plus see some of the engine questions have been answered


Personally Depending how bad the rust is , I wonder if it would be more cost effective to get the sills repaired, know they can rust behind the rear wheel arch liners due to mud build up / where the rear prop goes through the chassis , plus seems common with sill rusting if side steps have been fitted where they can trap water

Hope ur good

Darquan said:

Hi. i currently have two discovery 3`s one 2007 SE with no rust on it and a blown engine. and a one 2005 HSE with rusted up sills and a running engine.

Has anyone tried simply swapping bodies on things like these??
Will the 2007 SE fit directly on the 2005 HSE frame with wiring loom? anyone got access to a parts catalogue and potential differences in wiring loom here?

the only question is... will i miss the glass roof... i could always move the HSE equipment over to the SE body that is more or less rustfree

thoughts??

Click to expand...

Unfortunately you can't swap the body and chassis, at least not legally.
The body and chassis are considered a single item, even though they're only bolted together.

It's easier to swap the engines, which isn't illegal.

The chassis harness is also markedly different, the 07MY has connectors adjacent to the NS headlight, on an 05MY, these are in the NSF wheelarch at the bottom of the A pillar, there are other minor changes that make it a non-trivial task. The engine harness and some of the ancillaries will also need moving over whichever way you do it. I agree with the above advice, just do an engine swap.

Good to know for future ref with regards to the legality

Out of curiosity would the instrument cluster also have to be changed over plse if the good 2005 engine is fitted to a 2007 body

Assume the engine number would also need changing on the V5

Many thks as always like to learn new things

gstuart said:

Good to know for future ref with regards to the legality

Out of curiosity would the instrument cluster also have to be changed over plse if the good 2005 engine is fitted to a 2007 body

Assume the engine number would also need changing on the V5

Many thks as always like to learn new things

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The VIN is stored in several modules, so obviously those would also have to be swapped over.
An engine change is simply a change of number, which can be done through the DVLA.

Nodge68 said:

The VIN is stored in several modules, so obviously those would also have to be swapped over.
An engine change is simply a change of number, which can be done through the DVLA.

Click to expand...

Many thks as everyday is a school day , always enjoy learning new things

Nodge68 said:

The VIN is stored in several modules, so obviously those would also have to be swapped over.
An engine change is simply a change of number, which can be done through the DVLA.

Click to expand...

I had a replacement engine in my L319 within the warranty period (injector turned into a hydraulic cutting jet), despite asking several times, they never made DVLA aware, saying 'it didn't matter' as LR's records were updated (they were not). That was late 2009 and there's been many MoT's since.

Interestingly (to me), there were two grades of engine, those for auto-only vehicles and those for manual or auto transmission, the difference was the accuracy of the crank drillings - even though they were done by CNC machines, the ones produced directly after the periodic calibration of the machines were the most accurate and acceptable for both transmissions up to <some number>, after that, they were auto only until the next calibration.