Hey everyone,

Bought my first Rover earlier this week. I used to have a Jeep XJ a few years ago and have always regretted selling it and have been itching for another 4x4 since, as well as something cheap to keep city miles off of my 997.

I've always had a thing for European cars and have never owned a British one, so I figured an old Discovery would fit the bill nicely. I've always loved their safari-esque looks as well.

Here she is in all her glory the day I bought her:



With her sister:



As you can see, it's a bit rough around the edges. 213k miles, but luckily I bought it for only $1600 from a very good Rover shop who was selling it as a charity car. They had already given it a once over and fixed most leaks and outstanding issues.

Plans initially are to fix a transmission leak, get a new exhaust on it because the current one looks like swiss cheese, and then hopefully get a 3" RTE lift on with some 285/75/16 KO2s and an ARB front bumper.

There are lots of cosmetic things I plan on fixing as well, like the dash surround, driver seat is beyond shot and hopefully some paint restoration. The hood and roof are shot (roof has some surface rust as well, that is high on the list to fix) but I think the rest of the car will shine up nice with a good wetsand/compounding.

Anyway, fingers crossed that this turns out to be a good experience!

PS, if anyone has a Discovery with the 3" RTE and 285/75s I'd be very curious to know what your clearance looks like up top. My apartment garage is 7' at its lowest point and I'm afraid the truck will be too tall.

 

Welcome to the forum. Great to see old truck brought back from the brink.

Think hard about how much lift you are going to add. Beyond 2" and you are likely to need at least a new front drive shaft with a double cardan and, depending on what level of off road terrain you want to tackle, you may need new radius arms. Bottom line, the domino effect can be strong.

Good luck!

 

Took the plastic sidesteps off the other day:




Really makes the truck look like less of a mom-mobile IMO.

While I was under there I also got a better handle on what all it needs. First off, the front shocks are beyond shot. I was able to grab them and wiggle them around with my bare hands. Lower mounts are disintegrated. The tie rod ends are also pretty far gone. Also pinpointed the transmission leak, it's the pan gasket, which is good news because that's a simple job.

I'm currently in the process of deciding what to do with the shocks. I definitely want the lift, but am not quite yet ready for it. I could let it sit till I get the lift, which is not ideal, or go ahead and throw some shocks on there, but that'd be a waste of money since I'll pull them right off when I lift it. Considering putting long travel shocks on the stock springs but not sure how that its compatibility-wise.

I also think I've decided to go with a 2" lift and 265/75/16s, simply to keep the cost down and ensure it fits in my garage. Hopefully I can go bigger in the future.

 

2" MD Terrafirma lift is in!




The front shocks were a nightmare to remove...I ended up having to cut the top bolts off since I could not brace the shock hard enough to spin them off. Rears went in like cake though.

I also did a transmission service since it was leaking like a faucet. This was difficult too since I had to bang the crossmember forward then finagle the pan back in without knocking the flimsy gasket off, but it's all in now!

Next I have to get my new exhaust all hooked up, then replace all my TREs and steering stabilizer, then she'll be road worthy! Still a few maintenance items to take care of after that but hopefully wheels and tires will be coming soon.