Hello, all

Scenerio
This is my first time posting here and I am very excited about the surprise for my wife. She grew up in Africa and has always dreamed of owning a Land Rover and little does she know she will soon. She is in love with the older disco. I want to get her the 2004 Discover HSE7. However, I really want to convert it into a diesel. Money is not an issue as I have a good paying job but I want this car pretty much for ever so the good fuel economy is really attractive for me. She just wants it for the looks and doesn't care if the car loses engine capability, power, etc or not.

Question
Should I buy one that has major engine problems since it will be swapped out with a diesel anyway? I just want to find the most economic way to do this. And its for her birthday which is May 2017 so I'm not in a hurry or anything. I just want to get her the car of her dreams.

Thanks for reading,

MJ

 

​​​​​​It seems to me that a Disco in otherwise good condition with a head gasket problem will get you the most for your money. I have seen and bought them before. People take great care of their Disco, then the head gasket blows. They get a quote of 2000 or more to fix it, can't trade it in, buy something else, and sell the Disco for next to nothing. I've even been GIVEN a Disco in that condition. But, finding the one you want (specific year and model) might be more difficult.

Once you have the engine out, you could easily change the gaskets and sell it to help fund your project. Free money.
​​​​​​
If you bought one with a well running engine and pulled it to sell, you probably wouldn't get enough for the engine to make up a purchase price difference.

 

What state are you in?

May is 6 months away, that's not that big of a window.....that time is going to fly by.

 

im in Northern California. Thanks for all the advice. Ya, I can't seem to find the right model and year. Do you guys have suggestions on where to search?

 

Search every where you can think of.......craigslist, ebay, local, even bone yards....

You'll have a lot of unknowns most likely once the vehical is acquired, purchasing a non-driver, you'll never know what doesn't work correctly.....you may even need to do some interior work in order to present her a nice effort.

You'll most likely want to shake the truck down for a week or two once your swap is complete & rolling.....this will turn up your unknowns or poor driving characteristics which you'll want to address.....that said, you'll need additional time to correct what's found.

I'd set your deadline for April 1st realistically.....

 

Since you do have 6 months, I suggest that you shop for the colour and condition that you want regardless of year. You can swap in the CDL and switch to the facelift headlight front end, add jump seats as necessary.

Your biggest challenge will be converting a D2 to Diesel and getting in registered in California. You're going to need an engine that has been approved for use in California and that is newer than the truck. It's a PITA.

If you're not married to Diesel, a professionally rebuilt and top hatted 4.6 is an easier option. An option with more power, reliability and fuel economy would be an LS swap. You can buy a California legal 5.3ltr Chevy crate engine and run it in a D2. You'd need the Ashcroft transmission controller if you planned on keeping the zf transmission though.

If it needs to be a land Rover Diesel then I believe that it's legal to bring in a 25!years or older unmodified tdi Rover and register it in California.

 

Expedition Portal, Pirate4X4, Discoweb and this site which I found this; Feeler: 1995 disco i 300tdi - Defender Source

 

I think that's the worst, most boring, witless reply to any post you cared to partake in Doug........mighty disappointed.....

 

First time I ever achieved my goals. Took six years and 3000 posts but FINALLY! Next on the agenda is careless and offending.

 

ZombieMotors sells 200/300tdi kits.