The Rover-Landers of BC

I followed through on my vague threat to buy a Discovery 1 and drove this home today,

As you can see in the pics, it's had some, erm, modifications - it was used by a paintball company in one of their zombie war games and doubled as an advertising prop. The owner is a very nice fellow and came to thinking it would be better off in the hands of an enthusiast than being mauled by zombies, so I now have it.

I've spent a few hours already removing stickers and examining the truck and I have to say, there's good and bad. The centre console has been removed and damaged and most of the central dash switches and heater controls are missing, as is the headlining, and the switches that operate the windows. Which makes it hard to make the hand signals I need to use - because the flashers don't work either.

It's also had a few holes drilled in it for the lights and wiring, but otherwise is entirely rust-free. The car drives ok, changes gear ok and smells of oil a little but nothing serious. The brake pedal has a very short travel so this will need attention.

The next few weeks will be spent putting it all back together. Will update.

Hi, good luck with the Discovery. I saw it on craigslist, glad to see that it will be looked after now. I will have most of the parts you need. Tony

Tony4921 wrote:Hi, good luck with the Discovery. I saw it on craigslist, glad to see that it will be looked after now. I will have most of the parts you need. Tony

Thanks, Tony. It got a lot of response but I was quick off the mark to get hold of it. I might need a headlining, hard to find since this car has no sunroofs, and a windshield.
It's already looking better with the extras removed.

Hi Tim,

Good to see you are taking on a project Discovery.... most of the export breaker yards have Disco's in stock if you need parts along the way or post here in the "parts wanted" section.

Keep us up to date with your progress.

Cheers,
Andy

I am not sure if it will fit... but I have a console from a disco 2 you could have for free if you like.
I do live in Kamloops though, however maybe if another member is driving through you could have them pick it up.

huebnerd wrote:I am not sure if it will fit... but I have a console from a disco 2 you could have for free if you like.
I do live in Kamloops though, however maybe if another member is driving through you could have them pick it up.

Thanks for the kind offer !

I got a few parts from Pick n pull this week and amongst them was a D2 console that I thought would fit - turns out they don't ; as the aperture for the shifter is a different shape, and the seat adjustors are bigger BMW ones... I might just take it back there.

It's changed a bit.

The interior has been reassembled from various junkyard finds, the broken window replaced, and all the stickers and lights etc. removed.

Having had holes drilled in it did little for the cabin's resistance to rain, so the carpets at the front have had to be removed and will be replaced with some new sound deadening material and rubber mats. Which means the problem is not, as was originally suspected, a leaky heater core.

The major faults the previous owner told me about proved to be less challenging than expected:
The "faulty brakes" turned out to be (via the paperclip/flashy code method) a dirty ABS sensor, which was easily cleaned, and the "dodgy steering" turned out to be a combination of bad alignment and the fact that the owner was driving it around with the diff lock on.

I've also taken off the side steps and front bumper trim, and attached some neat late-model Defender bonnet decals from fleabay.

There is still some rust in the front floor thanks to the water leaks but nothing serious, the muffler has a hole in it, and I'm still not entirely convinced the whitish smoke from the exhaust is not a weak head gasket, but I'm not experiencing any power loss from the motor so I want to get it properly diagnosed before getting into a big job like that.

It cleaned up pretty good. I did see that ad, and honestly thought it looked like a bit of a wreck, but I guess I was wrong. Get the basics covered first, then move on to the fun stuff! What do you have planned for it?

e.prevost94 wrote:It cleaned up pretty good. I did see that ad, and honestly thought it looked like a bit of a wreck, but I guess I was wrong. Get the basics covered first, then move on to the fun stuff! What do you have planned for it?

I'd like to start getting it out on club runs actually - When I've had it checked over by someone knowledgeable to avoid being a liability on a trail.

The tires are good but it'll get some better off-road ones when I have more $$. There is no rust on it to speak of, it drives nicely and there is hardly any vibration from the motor when it's running. It's a little bouncy but I haven't driven one before so it might just be the way they are.

I live on 16th so you'll see it around!

I actually live right around the corner, if you want to bs about LR's. Did you check under the trunk carpet for rust? Also, the front inner fenders right above the plastic liners tend to rot there.

update 19.5.

This week have managed to get the new Springs fitted, one front shock refused to come out so had to battle it with sawzall, dremel and swearing but it yielded in the end. It sits a lot higher, the OME springs should give it a very slight lift (764 rear and 761 front) but the originals were saggy so it looks very high compared to before now. I trimmed the rear quarter panels and removed the plastic bumper trims as well.

I did an odd thing, I bought a RRC front bumper for it and trial fitted it today. It only required some trimming to the plastic front panels but it sits higher than stock, is slimmer and looks a lot better in my humble opinion. the mounting holes had to be very slightly enlarged for the D1 bolts but nothing major. Pics to follow.

Sits higher, is lighter and slimmer than the stock Disco item. will fit neatly behind the brush bar..

If you're on 16th come say hello some time. I've got lots of Disco 1 bits that may find a home. I'm at 232 and 16 in Langley. Currently working on replacing the floor panel. (Don't look under your carpet unless you're brave....)