honest opinion project landie

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gstuart

D3 Grandad
Full Member
Posts
29,712
Location
Kent
please forgive me if this question has been asked before

my son and I wish to go half on a project landy as he wishes to do more extreme off roading and know my hippo is ok off road but the clearance will let it down

after him experiencing his first true off road event at the lz 11 he's got the landie bug

has got to be an auto due to my left leg being knackered , a 5 x door

choice between a disco 2 or a rangie p38

will only do around 1500 miles a year, including going to and from events

was thinking of spending around 1-1500 quid for it

know that the disco suffer from rust

would like to get one with air suspension and the ace system

was thinking of possibly getting bigger tyres etc for the hippo but think a disco or rangie would be far more suited and tougher ,

see the petrol v8 are a lot cheaper than diesels,

apologises once again for asking but there is such a massive amount of knowledgable people in here and hope u didn't mind me asking

it's just so when I look at another landies can have the knowledge in what to look for and what to walk away from

ie, on the disco 2 , is it just the bodies that rust or chassis as well , does the rangies suffer the same

thks as always guys
 
you must be one of the few that wants Air bags and ACE for off roading.

most folk on here dont even want them for on the road.

You must be mental for wanting a p38 for offroading - the electrics were never the most robust and you want to add water and mud to the equation

I would look for a 2-300 tdi and a decent welder :D

Would make a good project for him to weld it up :D
 
you must be one of the few that wants Air bags and ACE for off roading.

most folk on here dont even want them for on the road.

You must be mental for wanting a p38 for offroading - the electrics were never the most robust and you want to add water and mud to the equation

I would look for a 2-300 tdi and a decent welder :D

Would make a good project for him to weld it up :D

thks mate for the info

never owned a disco or rangie so wish to find out as much as I can prior to buying another landie

sounds as though the disco is the way to go

regarding the rust issues can u buy preformed floor panels plse

do the chassis rust out also on the disco's or is it just the body panels

doesn't bother me if I get one with a blown engine, as if the body is ok the engine can be rebuilt etc, as we would be buying it as a project car ,

but wouldn't like to buy a big v8 petrol with a blown engine,

how is the td5 and auto set up like plse

started reading the disco 2 web sites also for info and of course on here

may not be ready for the next lz event but think if we allow 12 months , but of course depends on its condition and monies first

do u guys buy mig or tig welders these days plse , the last one I used was a rod one, lol
 
Gary I'd look at a Discovery 300tdi Auto if I was you. There's far less electrickery to go wrong, loads of second hand spares available and your budget should cover the car and a decent mig welder easily. The usual places for rust are the boot floor, sills and inner wings and panels are easy to come by for the boot and wings, box section for the sills.

Steve
 
Gary I'd look at a Discovery 300tdi Auto if I was you. There's far less electrickery to go wrong, loads of second hand spares available and your budget should cover the car and a decent mig welder easily. The usual places for rust are the boot floor, sills and inner wings and panels are easy to come by for the boot and wings, box section for the sills.

Steve

thks steve for that

just going through the disco spec years

In what year the ace, air suspension was fitted , by the looks of it , was fitted 2001 onwards , also has the diff loads and hdc control from this year

have room for it on my driveway so can declare it as sorn so can work on it, well james, lol with no worries

when I rebuilt a series landy , took off the whole body , fingers crossed can do the same with the disco, so can then check all the chassis , axles etc over first to get a rolling chassis then go from there

so that once rebuilt it should then last me a good few years ,

see the big v8 are cheaper to buy but wouldn't fancy trying to repair or run one, lol

as u say think the td5 is the way to go

once I know what year that the ace , air suspension , etc was fitted will then know what year I need to go for



thks again as always for the great help

ps , seems as though looking through general parts the disco's are cheaper than the hippos
 
Discovery 2

Chassis rust is an issue.
TD5 is good, auto is fine.
Diff locks are rare.
ACE is brilliant on the road, and fine off it. Air suspension so usefull when loaded.

Mine has little chassis rust, diff lock, late, ACE SLS Auto TD5 and not for sale.

For your money I don't think you will get anything too good.


ACE deactivates off road except when at an sideways angle
 
we bought a non running auto 300tdi which is pretty tidy for just £460 the other week.
They can be had pretty cheap i guess. It depends where they are and what time the listing ends ;)
 
Discovery 2

Chassis rust is an issue.
TD5 is good, auto is fine.
Diff locks are rare.
ACE is brilliant on the road, and fine off it. Air suspension so usefull when loaded.

Mine has little chassis rust, diff lock, late, ACE SLS Auto TD5 and not for sale.

For your money I don't think you will get anything too good.


ACE deactivates off road except when at an sideways angle

cheers for that, nice to know what the traits are like any car, so when we finally do go and look at one will know what areas to look at
 
we bought a non running auto 300tdi which is pretty tidy for just £460 the other week.
They can be had pretty cheap i guess. It depends where they are and what time the listing ends ;)

blimey bet they don't come up very often , but like everything being at the right place at the right time

that's the kind of thing we want to pick up, will concentrate more on the body than the mechanics

have been reading also about the diff lock, seems that some had them fitted but we're just not connected ??? ,

but wouldn't the traction control be better than the diff lock ??

if I'm reading it right need to get one 2001 onwards , so it has all the ace, air suspension , tc , etc

very grateful for the info

thks again

ps just found this about the diff lock,

http://www.discovery2.co.uk/diff_lock.html
 
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blimey bet they don't come up very often , but like everything being at the right place at the right time

that's the kind of thing we want to pick up, will concentrate more on the body than the mechanics

have been reading also about the diff lock, seems that some had them fitted but we're just not connected ??? ,

but wouldn't the traction control be better than the diff lock ??

if I'm reading it right need to get one 2001 onwards , so it has all the ace, air suspension , tc , etc

very grateful for the info

thks again

ps just found this about the diff lock,

www.discovery2.co.uk/Factory Diff Lock

ours are both disco 1's so no fancy stuff, ive not seen disco 2's go for less than a grand.
 
Disco 2 around the £1500 mark is going to need a world of work and money. Chap in our village bought his "bargain" D2 2 months ago for £1800 - hasnt stopped spending on it yet and still aint on the road!

For your budget, go for a Disco 1 300TDi Auto - great project vehicle, easy to work on, simple to modify, great to learn on and very capable indeed.

Loads and Loads of help and advice on here for them too...
 
Disco 2 around the £1500 mark is going to need a world of work and money. Chap in our village bought his "bargain" D2 2 months ago for £1800 - hasnt stopped spending on it yet and still aint on the road!

For your budget, go for a Disco 1 300TDi Auto - great project vehicle, easy to work on, simple to modify, great to learn on and very capable indeed.

Loads and Loads of help and advice on here for them too...

thks for the info

I won't rush into getting one, always prefer to do my homework so that I know what I'm walking into

done a total restoration of a series 3 in the past , but know the disco is a different beast

also it gets boring when there's nothing left to do , it is a landy after all, lol

thks again
 
At that price range all you will buy is grief and more expense. Refurbishing a Disco is not easy due to the sub chassis design and body panel construction (similar to a car/ RR), unless you have a very good workshop and the skills. If its a project for your son why not consider a proper Landy instead of a dude machine? At that price you could pick up a half decent S3 SWB or Defender 90. Their construction lend themselves to DIY projects and parts availability is fine within reason. You seem to want it for off roading but an auto box is far from ideal for that. As for the P38, they are first generation EMS and the air suspension is prone to trouble as already trailed here. Ideal off road RR is the classic and you can pick up tired later versions for c£3-5K. The original classic 2 door std V8's are like hens teeth and sell at true classic car values (>£25K).
 
At that price range all you will buy is grief and more expense. Refurbishing a Disco is not easy due to the sub chassis design and body panel construction (similar to a car/ RR), unless you have a very good workshop and the skills. If its a project for your son why not consider a proper Landy instead of a dude machine? At that price you could pick up a half decent S3 SWB or Defender 90. Their construction lend themselves to DIY projects and parts availability is fine within reason. You seem to want it for off roading but an auto box is far from ideal for that. As for the P38, they are first generation EMS and the air suspension is prone to trouble as already trailed here. Ideal off road RR is the classic and you can pick up tired later versions for c£3-5K. The original classic 2 door std V8's are like hens teeth and sell at true classic car values (>£25K).

thks John for the heads up, this is why I didn't want to just rush in a buy just anything and wished to find out as much detail as possible with regards to the discovery

the project would be between my son and I , going half on everything

I've done a total rebuild on a series 3 , but due to an accident on my back my left leg is knackered so can't drive a manual anymore

if at the price range it would only result in buying a rust bucket I would wait to gain more funds , would never rush into it

in that time I can find out more and more info on what to look for and have my eyes wide open so to speak when looking at one

I'm extremely grateful for the up front and honest advice and appreciate it

thks again for the heads up
 
At that price range all you will buy is grief and more expense. Refurbishing a Disco is not easy due to the sub chassis design and body panel construction (similar to a car/ RR), unless you have a very good workshop and the skills. If its a project for your son why not consider a proper Landy instead of a dude machine? At that price you could pick up a half decent S3 SWB or Defender 90. Their construction lend themselves to DIY projects and parts availability is fine within reason. You seem to want it for off roading but an auto box is far from ideal for that. As for the P38, they are first generation EMS and the air suspension is prone to trouble as already trailed here. Ideal off road RR is the classic and you can pick up tired later versions for c£3-5K. The original classic 2 door std V8's are like hens teeth and sell at true classic car values (>£25K).

Don't know where you've been looking but! D2's have same chassis set up as defender/series/RRC/D1..
 
I have a D2 and the first thing I did was take the air suspension out. My ACE is playing up so that may have to go, need to look into the problem. The 'three amigos' are on as well, but saying that its a brilliant car off road. The TC is brilliant and will get you out of most situations, for those where it leaves me stranded I use a winch. A central diff would be nice, but it is quite expensive to retrofit and you'd still need a front and rear diff lock fro really tough situations - hence why I went for a winch.

Ditto the other people's comments regarding price for a D2...I think you will struggle to find one for £1500. I payed £5000 last year, but I needed an LHD, which comes at a premium. I've never owned a D1 but understand they are bulletproof if looked after (apart from the rusty body).
 
forget the d2. get a d1 for 600-800 quid and the money saved can be spent fixing it.

it's for offroad, so you'll get some good bargains for ones with damaged bodies.
 
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