Hello all, new to the forum. Picked up my 2nd Disco 2 last week after my first 'blew up', slipped liners, possible cracked block etc.

Decided instead of rebuilding that one, picking up one with a cleaner frame made more sense.
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I found one locally with 180k, some nice mods, but in the middle of a head gaskets job with stripped bolt holes. Seems like a good idea? I think so.

Fits just right in the garage



Relatively clean underneath. Original California vehicle and been up north for a few years from what I can tell



So in the past few days I pulled the motor, and will be freshening everything up apart from the block internals. One score on this disco was that in 2018 it had top hatted liners installed.



Managed to get the hood off and motor out by myself. Another set of hands would have helped but not horrible by oneself.

This was after some cleaning. Forgot to get a pic of it in it's complete filth.

Day 1 of cleaning

Noticed this protrusion on the left side of the block. Is a non-essential part of the block, but had me worried before removing the pan.

Oil pickup strainer is completely clogged. Glad I am pulling this thing apart. I noticed remnants of what looks like head gasket material. Hoping the internals are fine. Previous owner said it ran well and was quiet. Can't imagine the oil pressure was that great!

Getting cleaner! It's a dirty job.

End of Day 2 cleaning.

Looking forward to updating this build. It's my first time having one of these motors apart.

 

After more clear thinking, I decided to take the internals out for inspection. Crank looks good and is at machine shop for polishing. Will throw new bearings in for safe measure. Why not at this point?

 

Following along, looking good so far

 

Well, fast forward a few months (see my other thread for updates), the build lasted a few thousand miles before the hgs blew out on the valley pan side. Turns out the block surface, with all the time serts installs just wasn't flat enough to hold.

I ordered a 2000 p38 engine from a salvage yard with 110k. It was really crusty looking, but I thought I'd take my chances. None of the pistons look steam cleaned so fingers crossed 🤞
​Tore it down and have my heads at the machine shop getting reworked.


A nice little present

Did I mention it was crusty??

Up onto the stand without a hoist


Swapped over my new timing components, cover, & oil pan. Waiting on the heads and then I'll drop this thing in!

 

Hopefully the second time will be a charm. God luck, and l'm enjoying your project.

 

Got it all put back together and installed. Has a couple fault codes, I think downstream 02 related that I'm sorting out. Other than that seems to run great, motor is quiet, and no leaks. Had some bad plug wires and realized the salvage yard engine came with a set of STU wires, score! Swapped those on that cleared up a misfire code and rough idle.


Rover on!

 

It's really nice when these things run well, isn't it? Getting my cats replaced and the exhaust leaks fixed made a MASSIVE difference in driving pleasure.

 

I haven’t been around for a bit, but have been jonesing for my Disco(s) lately. Good work and I suspect I’ll be following suit in pulling the engine in my Giverny when we get back.