[abhishek_d_zulu]

Took the Discovery for a trip to Wayanad (Kerala) over Aug 15th weekend... sharing some pictures.

[Twinn]

Awesome build and Completed craziness for LR's.

BTW looks like the wheels needs to be re-cambered. We faced the same issue in our Scorpio, when we increase the height. Please get that done at the earliest. (if that needs to be done)

Congrats and have fun in miles

[Strangerintown]

Wow! Just stumbled on this thread and the LR looks absolutely mouthwatering! The quality of finishing and in particular the interiors seems very good.

And yes, the wheels do seem to have some negative camber (unless the camber angle makes it seem so). Would probably need to be corrected.

[Shubhendra]

Originally Posted by abhishek_d_zulu

Took the Discovery for a trip to Wayanad (Kerala) over Aug 15th weekend... sharing some pictures.

Abhishek Ji,
Must appreciate your passion for LRs, what i heard from people is this is different world altogether.
I was always kept myself away from LRs due to their mechanical complexity, spares crunch, non-availability of mechs etc.
As you have mastered the art of LR restoration, can you please throw some light on my below queries?
1) How difficult is to procure parts from UK ? other than paying for it online, do we need to make few trips to customs for paying duty, clearance etc..
2) availability of spares in India for crucial mechanical and electrical components
3) Design complexity of vehicle
4) Availability of skilled mechanic
5) Cost of ownership

You LR guys always tempt me to work on an old petrol engined 50s LR available with my relative

Shubhendra Singh

[abhishek_d_zulu]

Originally Posted by Shubhendra

Abhishek Ji,
Must appreciate your passion for LRs, what i heard from people is this is different world altogether.
I was always kept myself away from LRs due to their mechanical complexity, spares crunch, non-availability of mechs etc.
As you have mastered the art of LR restoration, can you please throw some light on my below queries?
1) How difficult is to procure parts from UK ? other than paying for it online, do we need to make few trips to customs for paying duty, clearance etc..
2) availability of spares in India for crucial mechanical and electrical components
3) Design complexity of vehicle
4) Availability of skilled mechanic
5) Cost of ownership

You LR guys always tempt me to work on an old petrol engined 50s LR available with my relative

Shubhendra Singh

Hi Shubendra...
I will probably give you a biased view- if you ask me about LRs... this is my 6th project in as many years. Couple of responses:
1) Unless you pick up a vehicle from post 1999, the mechanics are quite simple- your corner shop garage should fix most things. I recently did a complete chassis upwards restoration, plus an engine overhaul for the Discovery- and it all worked out well.
2) Parts aren't difficult to procure- I usually have a bunch of dealers in the UK that supply parts to me. All I do is to go online on their sites or call / email them & they send me things. Pay using CC or Paypal. They send using couriers which get delivered home & I pay whatever Customs on the spot in cash. On an average perhaps get a few parts every week, since the past 4-5 years- so now has become second nature
3) There are some dealers in India who house the dismantled parts of old LRs (e.g. Series vehicles), so you can find most of the parts with them if you know where to look. Inexpensive too
4) A 50's vehicle will need a lot of passion to restore- these will not be your regular day to day vehicles, so usage will be limited. I had done a 50's Series 1 a few years back- was fun to restore & drive- but was still a 50 year old vehicle.
5) If you want something more practical- I guess these latest SUVs make sense- which is why I picked the 1998 Discovery... IF built well, they last & are very reliable.
6) Of course, those of us with enough dough, can always opt for latest Range Rovers & Discoveries... these vehicles are a different ball game altogether. I am still not there, from an affordability standpoint.

Let me know if I can help in any specific way... will be happy to support.

Good luck with your aspirations...

Cheers,
Abhishek

[abhishek_d_zulu]

Originally Posted by Twinn

Awesome build and Completed craziness for LR's.

BTW looks like the wheels needs to be re-cambered. We faced the same issue in our Scorpio, when we increase the height. Please get that done at the earliest. (if that needs to be done)

Congrats and have fun in miles

Thanks for pointing this out... will take it to the garage & get it looked into.

[abhishek_d_zulu]

Have made some more upgrades to the Discovery... xenon headlights from a later model, new paint job, stainless steel performance exhaust system, new front A-bar & much more...

Do keep your feedback flow in, as always...

[TheARUN]

The Disco looks awesome. In my opinion, this was the best iteration of the Discovery, Land Rover than lost it in the design department, the other ones are also good and maybe more comfortable/capable but do not have a soul, this model is evergreen.

I don't like 2 things, Mercedes benz taking the three pointed star off the bonnet and putting it on the grill and Land Rover replacing the badging on the grill to Discovery from Land Rover

[abhishek_d_zulu]

Originally Posted by TheARUN

The Disco looks awesome. In my opinion, this was the best iteration of the Discovery, Land Rover than lost it in the design department, the other ones are also good and maybe more comfortable/capable but do not have a soul, this model is evergreen.

I don't like 2 things, Mercedes benz taking the three pointed star off the bonnet and putting it on the grill and Land Rover replacing the badging on the grill to Discovery from Land Rover

Agree... I also personally like this model as this was the last engine option that wasn't electronic. Less trouble to maintain.

On putting Discovery on the bonnet, guess someone at JLR is thinking of establishing Discovery as a parallel brand, like Range Rover has been established- even though it is part of the larger Land Rover family.

Discovery over the last 5-6 years has become even more capable as a vehicle, but I do have my apprehensions on its maintenance, especially when all parts have to be imported & you have to go through LR workshops who just aren't economical to work with.

This particular vehicle has now ended up as a fun vehicle... Extremely responsive to drive, with a fantastic driving position. Capable off roader, but isn't as difficult to survive in like a Defender, if you take your family along. Offers all the creature comforts from an SUV perspective.

All in all, fun experience to bring back to life:-)

[spawnofsatan]

Abhishek - Great disco you have there, very well maintained and love the headlight upgrade look. How about a nice britpart liftkit and some negative offset alloys?

I am attaching a pic of my range rovers, the white one is an 86 3.5V8 with a britpart lift kit and the black one isa 94 4.2 V8 LWB.

The white one is getting 16x10j wheels soon.

[abhishek_d_zulu]

Originally Posted by spawnofsatan

Abhishek - Great disco you have there, very well maintained and love the headlight upgrade look. How about a nice britpart liftkit and some negative offset alloys?

I am attaching a pic of my range rovers, the white one is an 86 3.5V8 with a britpart lift kit and the black one isa 94 4.2 V8 LWB.

The white one is getting 16x10j wheels soon.

Lovely Rangies! I have been thinking of doing a Classic RR for a while now... when I picked this Discovery, I had the option of buying a Classic RR too... I finally made the choice to pick this one, thinking it probably was a more practical car, as I intended to use it as my daily drive. Great to see you have two of them...

This Discovery has pretty much every after market kit I could buy. The 2 inch lift kit was one of the first things I had put in when work started on suspension post all the engine work. The only things I didn't look to put were the snorkel (I don't really intend to wade with it) or the ARB differential lock (again-same reason- don't intend to do serious off road with it)... I am building a Defender 90- all this stuff will feature in there

As for alloys- I still haven't been able to make up my mind. My aspiration is to put the 18 or even a 20 inch Discovery alloy on it (from later models), but not very sure of the impact it will have on the car's mobility. Various global forums are split on it, in terms of after effects. Moreover, it drives so great just now with standard alloys & tyres, that I just didn't want to touch it- fearing it may become heavier to drive or may need major alterations.

I think in the past pages I did mention a bunch of stuff I did as part of this Disco's turn around... maybe I should look it up once more & sum up all the details once more. Has been quite a money spinner, this project!

Do share more details on your Range Rovers... share some pictures, talk about what all work you have done on them.

Couple of weeks back, I was also eyeing a P38A Range Rover- from a 1998 stable. Considering their reputation for severe trouble, I offered some paltry money to the broker at Mumbai & he never came back... had considered the heavy investment it would've needed to come back to life- especially it was already acknowledged to have a busted air suspension system.

My next dream car to own is a L322 RR now... with my limited budget, can't afford anything recent. Of course, the recently launched L405 is lovely!

[ku69rd]

Originally Posted by abhishek_d_zulu

Do keep your feedback flow in, as always...

fantastic discovery you have there Abhishek, probably you want to engage us even better by putting in much details?

Felt that the headlight actually does not go with the grill, would prefer the old retro look to it. Again my thoughts please

Must say that the LR's look fantastic.

[spawnofsatan]

Originally Posted by abhishek_d_zulu

Lovely Rangies! I have been thinking of doing a Classic RR for a while now... when I picked this Discovery, I had the option of buying a Classic RR too... I finally made the choice to pick this one, thinking it probably was a more practical car, as I intended to use it as my daily drive. Great to see you have two of them...

This Discovery has pretty much every after market kit I could buy. The 2 inch lift kit was one of the first things I had put in when work started on suspension post all the engine work. The only things I didn't look to put were the snorkel (I don't really intend to wade with it) or the ARB differential lock (again-same reason- don't intend to do serious off road with it)... I am building a Defender 90- all this stuff will feature in there

As for alloys- I still haven't been able to make up my mind. My aspiration is to put the 18 or even a 20 inch Discovery alloy on it (from later models), but not very sure of the impact it will have on the car's mobility. Various global forums are split on it, in terms of after effects. Moreover, it drives so great just now with standard alloys & tyres, that I just didn't want to touch it- fearing it may become heavier to drive or may need major alterations.

I think in the past pages I did mention a bunch of stuff I did as part of this Disco's turn around... maybe I should look it up once more & sum up all the details once more. Has been quite a money spinner, this project!

Do share more details on your Range Rovers... share some pictures, talk about what all work you have done on them.

Couple of weeks back, I was also eyeing a P38A Range Rover- from a 1998 stable. Considering their reputation for severe trouble, I offered some paltry money to the broker at Mumbai & he never came back... had considered the heavy investment it would've needed to come back to life- especially it was already acknowledged to have a busted air suspension system.

My next dream car to own is a L322 RR now... with my limited budget, can't afford anything recent. Of course, the recently launched L405 is lovely!

Thanks!! These Rangies are indeed super vehicles. After the 2inch suspension lift she drives like a dream, the springs are firm enough for better handling but yet have a very comfortable ride. The black one is stock so far, however I am thinking of widening some jeep army steelies and throwing on a set of larger tyres. I have carried out a complete restoration on the white one, changed the entire wiring, new fuel pump, ignition coil, rebuilt starter, rebuilt carburetors with a zenith kit, mountings, hoses the works.

I am attaching some pictures.

IMO I think you should hold off on the 20 inch wheels, your model is better suited for the offroad look, also 20 inch wheels will affect the driving dynamics severely.

I would stay away from the P38's considering the amount of issues you can face. The most logical choice is the carburetor range rover, no frustrating electronics to deal with and repairs are simple and straight forward. With a lift kit and good tyres they're huge eyecatchers.

I also want an L322, maybe in the near future, i'll get mine with 22" wheels with a massive lip

[abhishek_d_zulu]

Originally Posted by spawnofsatan

Thanks!! These Rangies are indeed super vehicles. After the 2inch suspension lift she drives like a dream, the springs are firm enough for better handling but yet have a very comfortable ride. The black one is stock so far, however I am thinking of widening some jeep army steelies and throwing on a set of larger tyres. I have carried out a complete restoration on the white one, changed the entire wiring, new fuel pump, ignition coil, rebuilt starter, rebuilt carburetors with a zenith kit, mountings, hoses the works.

I am attaching some pictures.

IMO I think you should hold off on the 20 inch wheels, your model is better suited for the offroad look, also 20 inch wheels will affect the driving dynamics severely.

I would stay away from the P38's considering the amount of issues you can face. The most logical choice is the carburetor range rover, no frustrating electronics to deal with and repairs are simple and straight forward. With a lift kit and good tyres they're huge eyecatchers.

I also want an L322, maybe in the near future, i'll get mine with 22" wheels with a massive lip

Looks really nice!

Which tyres have you currently got on your Rangie? I am really struggling to find good tyres that fit these beasts. My preference has always been BF Goodrich all terrains- but those are no longer available in India. Importing them with the current ISI restrictions isn't feasible. I tried approaching Land a Rover India for getting me a set of 235.85.16 & they came back with a quote of ₹52k per tyre... Yes, per tyre! Crazy...

My Disco us running great lately too. It has ended up being my daily use vehicle. Also considering its sheer size inside, getting 7-8 people to sit in isn't a challenge. So really helpful when my extended family or friends are over. What I enjoy the most is its stiff suspension- you don't have to worry about scrapping the bottom with a heavy load- it takes everything in its stride.

Have ordered a few more upgrades for the Disco- K&N filters etc. should arrive next week- will report out once done.

I agree with your recommendation on picking an old Rangie... For now, my next project is to get my Defender 90 to get finished. Have some really big aspirations for it- let's see how feasible it is. Want to import a reconditioned engine & gearbox as well as completely redo the vehicle chassis upwards. I have never imported engines & gearboxes as a whole, considering the import restrictions. So need to see how that goes.

Has anyone on the forum tried that yet?

[abhishek_d_zulu]

Got some upgrades done to the Discovery thus week...
1) K&N air filter
2) Pure white bulbs for headlight
3) Had some noise in the propshafts- got the universal joints replaced
4) Some adjustments to the rear sunroof
5) Got a rear step installed- this helps in getting on to the back of the vehicle... An awkward challenge otherwise considering the height of the vehicle. See the attached photos.

The vehicle is now driving like a dream...

On a different note, having an interesting challenge with the air conditioning... In very hot conditioning- at least happened twice- the AC switches off... & comes back on in a few seconds. This doesn't seem to happen in cooler times of the day. Also, affects only the front blower & not the rear one.

Any ideas from the group on what could be the case? My initial thought was electrical- while I will get it checked, it mayn't be the case of loose wiring, as it won't do this only in hot weather.