04 Land Rover Discovery II

[MStudt]

I finished up one project, and started on another. I've had the headliner done for a bit now, but never got around to posting it. I've only got 2 pictures at the moment of the finished project. It looks the same from front to back so 1 picture should do.

 

[MStudt]

I've started on the sleep/storage platform for the front section. I've only been working on this for a few hours so far, and hope to have the framing finished by the end of the week.

This is how the project began.

After removing the seats I needed to bend some metal that I could use as a mount. I have 3 of these plates that'll bolt into the factory seat bolt locations, and they'll get tied into the platform. These will be the anchor points for the front, and I'll continue to use the turn buckles in the rear.

I have 3 small sections mounted to the rear section. These sections will be used to bolt the front and back sections together.

These 3 supports will be tied together on the top/bottom in the front/back. I plan on welding some wire mesh in the center section to act as a divider.

 

[Taco04]

I finished up one project, and started on another. I've had the headliner done for a bit now, but never got around to posting it. I've only got 2 pictures at the moment of the finished project. It looks the same from front to back so 1 picture should do.

So what did you use on the headliner?

 

[MStudt]

So what did you use on the headliner?

I used something called DuraBak. It's a bedliner that comes without texture. First coat was absorbed by the headliner, and then I put on about 4-5 more coats.

 

[white_trail]

Nice looking truck.good job on the headliner might have to do the same to mine they all have a sagging headliner��

 

[MStudt]

I've been moving right along on the front section of the platform. It's just about done at this point, but I don't have any good pictures at this time. This section is built just like the rear section. I countersunk t-nuts into the plywood, and then put formica over the top. All of these panels are held on with fasteners from the inside for a nice clean look.

 

[TOY2G]

We are building an employees rover at the moment, NOW..I will be watching you for ideas. LOL

 

[MStudt]

We are building an employees rover at the moment, NOW..I will be watching you for ideas. LOL

There's A LOT going on with this Rover. I've got until June to get it completely outfitted to live out of, and I'll be rebuilding the motor...again.

 

[MStudt]

I've been able to get quite a bit finished up over the last week or so. The rear door is finally complete, and everything is working as it should.

Rear door panel finished up.

Dual fold down tables that are supported with our trekking poles. These are covered in HDPE for easy cleaning, and they can serve as cutting boards. The rear door also has a bottle opener, magnetic knife bar, led light on a gooseneck, modified rear door pull, and grap handle.

This is the cooking arrangement with stove, knives, and cutting board.

LED on a gooseneck, and the small on/off button to the right.

This is the modified door handle, and grab handle. The Rover used to have a handle flush mounted into the original rear door panel. That was no longer usable due to the panel that I made. I drilled a small hole, and ran the original cable from the handle through it. The added some heat shrink around the cable, and clamped it together. This will also us to open, and close the door from the inside it we need to.

 

[MStudt]

The front section of the platform is just about finished. I still need to add another section to the very front to extend about another 14" forward. I'm considering making two fold out sections to act as headrest, and to make the platform 74" in total length.

Looking from the rear forward. The back section has two large drawers that'll house all of our cooking supplies, and other things.

Side shot of the front section. I'm thinking of adding some black edge trim to the exposed plywood. Just not sure if I want to be able to see the unfinished wood or not, But maybe I'm just being OCD since it's never going to be seen once the custom bed is in there.

There are two small side compartments that are going to be used to store personal items, and things that we'll need to have close by. Even have a his, and her side. Which, will most likely end up as her, and her sides.

The handles for the side compartment are a push type knob. You push the knob down, and the it pops up. Once it's up you turn it 45*, and pull up.

The middle of the front section also has two large hatches that flip up for more storage. Each hatch is held down by two rubber draw latches, and has one gas lifter for easy opening.

Here you can see the latches. I was able to install out two 1 gallon Rotopax just under the lips of the hatches. These Rotopax are going to be for drinking water, and will be kept inside most of the time.

 

[MStudt]

I finished the platform over the weekend, but ran of of daylight. I'll make sure to get some pictures in the next couple of days. Since the platform got finished up we were able to order the custom bed yesterday as well. We're going with a 5 piece bed that is made from 3" high density foam, and comes with custom slips to protect them.

With the platform finished up I was able to start, and actually finish it. I installed the new Front Runner roof rack, 2 CVT awnings, shovel mount, and Bushcable limb risers.

 

[zoombyu86]

Beautiful build here. I wanted a disco II so bad when looking for an SUV. I couldn't get over all of the things that people said went wrong and how often. Thats how I ended up with a 3rd gen but I've probably put just as much time into restoring/maintaining that. I will have a DiscoII some day.

Any issues with yours yet?

 

[MStudt]

Beautiful build here. I wanted a disco II so bad when looking for an SUV. I couldn't get over all of the things that people said went wrong and how often. Thats how I ended up with a 3rd gen but I've probably put just as much time into restoring/maintaining that. I will have a DiscoII some day.

Any issues with yours yet?

They all have issues, but certain years are worse than others. Almost all D2's have engine issues due to Rover being cheap, and not building the engines correctly the first time. The motor have aluminum blocks with improperly fitted cylinder sleeves. If you pick one up, and want it to last you'll be doing a head job. It's kind of right of passage.

I'm going to be replacing the engine in ours with a rebuilt one to eliminate the slipping cylinder flange issue. If we weren't going to be traveling in this I would just rebuild it again. This is the only major expense I'll have on it. I've had to replace coolant lines, and holding tank due to old age.

If you decide to pick one up I'll tell you to stay away from the models that have the SAI set-up. The Secondary Air Injection system sucks, and is pretty pointless in my opinion.

All in all they're not bad. You just have to be willing to work on them yourself.

 

[MStudt]

Not a lot of progress, but still some. I received the new steering guard from MM4X4 over the weekend, and was able to get it installed. This was by far the best looking skid that I could find, and it was cheap! Even with shipping from the UK this cost me $160. Came with all the hardware, and powder coated black.

I also spent a few hours a couple weekends ago stripping all the paint off the OEM Rover ladder for some additional tube work. I added some 1/2" box tubing to the lower part of the ladder to accommodate a couple Rotopax. Once this addition was finished I rust treated the bare metal, primed it a couple times, and then painted it black again.

 

[MStudt]

With the crappy lighting due to crappy weather I haven't been able to get any good pictures of the progress made over the last week. I pulled the platform out along with all paneling in the rear last weekend. With the panel removed I was able to run all of my wiring for the backup light, cooking light, 2 USB ports, and CB coax. I still need to wire the Bluesea fuse block, power inverter, and lay the wire going to the engine bay.

I'm also making a couple fold down cooler holders that are mounted to the body, and run through the panels. I'm "hoping" these hold with a loaded down cooler, but I'm skeptical about them. These are made from t-slot extrusion, have locking hinges, and adjustable caribiners fixed to eye bolts.

With the giving season upon us I've decided to give us some goodies. Step one was ordering a 9,500lb winch, and snatch block. With the deal 4WD was having I couldn't pass it up. I'm also going to be order a backup light pod, 13" single row bar, and a 30" single row bar. In addition to that I may pick up some Tred 4x4 boards, and ARB compressor.

 

[MStudt]

Finally I have some pictures to post, and some new progress.

We added some more lighting up front with the addition of a 30" single row light bar. We were originally going to get a 40" single row, but found out it wouldn't clear the factor rails. We also picked up a few pods from CaliRaised LED for the front, and back. So we added a couple 2x2 pods to the front, and one to the rear to be used as a backup light (bottom left corner of picture).

The cooler mount is also finished, and seems like it's going to work. The upper eye bolts are tied into the metal body near the curved upper window. The lower hing mount is also tied into the metal body just under the window. Both mounts are pretty stout, and should hold plenty of weight. The lower mount also has locking hinge to allow it to fold up out of the way.

Next up is the bed. The rear section, and two large front sections are made from 3" high density foam. With the two small cushions being made from polyester.

We'll have a test run this weekend when we go camping Saturday night. Just a short one night trip to see how things are coming together. We need to try to bed to see if anything else needs to be done. We also need to try our cooking arrangement to how know how it works. Also want to see how to dual awning setup is going to work for us.

I placed an order for a new engine this morning, and that should be in around the beginning of March. I have a little over a month to get all the extra parts that I need for the engine swap. Lots of parts to order, and lots more work to be done.

 

[JBurt]

That's great progress! I'm jealous of that setup and the ability to just go that the rig gives you.

I know you the disco it's the preferred vehicle of choice, but engine replacement?! Tell me you're putting in a UZ v8 or something more respectable

 

[MStudt]

I know you the disco it's the preferred vehicle of choice, but engine replacement?! Tell me you're putting in a UZ v8 or something more respectable

The reliability of the factory V8 is crap. Rover had a great thing going, but took the cheaper route on some of the engine. You have an aluminum block that was made with worn-out tooling, and they didn't flange the cylinders. Due to worn-out tooling the cylinder sleeves slip, the engine overheats, and you eat head gaskets. There's no good solution to a motor fix, and only a couple choices.

We thought about importing a TD5 diesel, but then realized we'd have to import almost all TD5 parts. This would make things tough if we needed parts while we were on the road. We chose to not go this route.

Another option was an LS conversion. This was our top choice, and a hard one to walk away from. There's only one shop in the US that offers a turnkey 5.3L install, and that would cost about $11k. There are many custom parts to get this to work without throwing codes, and that's the main reast we backed out of this. Plus $11k for an engine plus install is a bit steep.

We're going with a completely rebuilt 4.6L Rover engine. This engine is rebuilt from the ground up, and fixes all the issues these are known to have. The new engine comes with an 18 month unlimited miles warranty, and that's hard to beat. This is a custom built, and I doubt we'll see the engine before March. It's still a big investment, but we plan on keeping this for several more year. Plus it only has 100k miles on it, and is in great shape.

 

[MStudt]

Over the weekend I was able to complete our new seats. When I say new I really mean new to us seats. Since we're going to be traveling in this car we wanted to eliminate some of the electrical items in advance. One area of concern were the powered seat, and the potential for the motors to go. I've been looking for D2 manual seats for several months now, and kept coming up with nothing. A couple weeks ago I came across a pair of manual seats on eBay from a seller in Virginia. I arranged to have them shipped to me, and the project began. In addition to the manual seats we wanted to be able to keep the leather, and the heated seats.

Here's what happened.

The seats came in.

They got stripped down to the bare frame.

Next was unbolting the upper seat frame from the lower on the electric seats.

We wanted to keep the armrests too. I had to remove this part from the electrical seats, and weld the bracket on the manual seats. This bracket went in the same location as the manual lumbar knob. So that was removed.

The new manual seat frame back together.

Moving right along to mounting the cushions. The bottom was easy, but the top was a PITA.

I had to remove a mount from under the electric seat, and install it on the manual to be able to hold the fuses. All wires are tucked up nicely, and out of the way.

While the seats were out this was a perfect time to mount our Bull Dog car safe. The safe can be pulled out from the front seat through the old CD changer door.

By time the seats were installed I didn't have enough light to get pictures. I'll try to get some today if it clears up outside.

 

[MStudt]

Here are a few pictures of the installed seats.

Here's the safe in the locked location.

Here's the safe being slid out.

Here's the safe completely out.