Yup. The 617 has a mechanical lift pump for the fuel. I've heard of guys loosing the alternator and driving half way across the country just leaving the car running at night to avoid having to restart it. Course you still have to deal with the glow plugs. it was a shame to see the oil pump gear in the 95. Then find out how much a front cover and gear are to replace.

 

Unless the cover is damaged you can replace just the gear set.

 

No, the cover was the worse part...

 

Yeah, I see a lot of sites dedicated to Jeep and Toyota swaps. The Jeep swap looks fairly simple. The Toyota swaps I've seen look a bit more complex... moving engine accessories to other side, etc. The Jeeps are absolutely ubiquitous... they're cheep and easy to find parts.

IMHO, the Cherokee (and maybe the 4Runner too) are a great choice if you want a rock-crawling, mudder, for back-country camping trips with your buddies, etc... But I'm not wanting to go rock-crawling or mudding. My needs are a bit more mundane. A medium-sized, comfortable vehicle that is capable of handling the pot-hole ridden, hilly, muddy, gravel roads on my family ranch... Family trips to Colorado back-county... Highway trips to Paw Paw's house, and of course, grocery shopping, >20 MPG, and a DIY price tag.

I sat in a 4Runner today, but dang, it felt very small in the back seat. My head was almost touching the ceiling. I also sat in a '92 Discovery today, and it felt very roomy... probably the effect of all that glass and raised roof. I used to own a '96 Isuzu Trooper and we liked the solid feel, but that was a very heavy vehicle... 5,500 lbs. The Discovery is supposed to weigh 4,400 lbs... a thousand pounds less. The 4Runner, 3,800 lbs.

In my research, I'm trying to zero in on a couple of prime options to put my om617 into. Unfortunately, in the U.S., auto companies rarely sell SUVs with manual transmissions, so the selection is very limited. That's why I'm intrigued by your Discovery project.

I've owned a 220D stick, 240D stick, 300D auto, and 300D 2.5 auto... all with over 200K miles on them. Very reliable engines. Of course I did my share of installing new water pumps, glow plugs, fuel hoses, belt tensioners, fuel injector pump seals, etc.... but they just keep on running. I'm not a speed demon, and I'm used to driving slow cars, so, I think I'd be fine with this engine in a Discovery... but I'll await your input on that.

About the "PITA truck" comment... I've heard that British cars are very quirky, especially their electrics.... I guess it's a love/hate relationship? Is your main complaint the engine mechanical and electrical problems? If so, would the PITA factor be reduced substantially once the simple Mercedes engine is installed, or would the PITA factor continue on... with brakes, window regulators, dashboard gauges, etc., etc.

I figure older Discoveries are available cheep because of their bad engine reputation and bad MPGs.
Here is a running one for sale for $2,900. www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?listingId=323388453&listingIn dex=1&Log=0 Does that seem like a reasonable price to you? What price would I expect to pay for one with a good manual trans, and blown engine?

Depending on my budget, and what I can find out there, I may have to look seriously again at a 4Runner or Cherokee, but right now, the Discovery with a manual transmission and the om617 sounds just about right. Unfortunately, there may be only one or two people in the U.S. who have attempted it... which is why I'm eager to hear how it turns out for you! Pave the way for the rest of us, so we can see the way ahead.

 

OK.... I'm really confused about what you are doing with the flywheel. I have heard of people "filling in" the old bolt holes and re-drilling new holes. But it sounds like you are cutting out part of one flywheel and welding it into the center of the other?

A picture is worth a thousand words...

 

There's a '95 5-speed being parted in the for sale section, Bought whole it's a perfect candidate for such a conversion.

 

Since the build is a proof of concept by my friend building it, he doesn't want certain pictures yet. He wants to make sure it all works and works reliably and then share that. No sense and having a bunch of people trying the the way we are only to find it sucks lol.

But his theory is sound and if it mates ups (which it should very nicely) then it would eliminate the need of finding the manual version of the MB flywheel That's been done in past builds.

There are a few "kits" available for the swap, most are not drop in. Basically you get the adapter plate and the flywheel.leaving you with just about the same amount of work anyways. Mr. Davis also designed a kit that is drop in for the series trucks. I don't know that it has been used in a disco. I believe his kit is in the 5k range but includes everything needed to do the swap (over the course of a weekend) Which if true, would actually be worth every penny.

Sure you can build the setup yourself like we are trying, but it's quite an undertaking, your having to constantly run parts over to a machine shop then wait on them stopping the whole project till they are done etc. And, if your like me as you get deeper into it you find yourself doing other things because your already in there. (Like having my clutch plate upgraded for the R380) Deciding to go ahead and fully rebuilt the R380 since it out and sitting there, Deciding to figure out a way to keep the original LR AC, Deciding to strip all the unneeded wiring and crap from the truck, Deciding on doing a body lift along with taller springs and shocks... Truthfully, I think the actual adapter plate etc will be the cheapest part of the build... I fully expect to have spent 5k-6K+ in the build in the end AND that's having access to quite a bit of second hand parts needed. I'm also not including the price of the donor truck, the engine, or the labor in that. Nor am I including the price of the tools needed to do the job, Engine lift, Welders, Drill press, Believe me this list grows and grows FAST. If it all works out, and I end up liking what I have done, I'm also still faced with the inside of the truck itself. The interior was worn, and the seats are going to have to be redone. Headliner redone, a new dash installed (which fortunately I found one in perfect condition and have it waiting) Figure out which steering wheel to use, recarpet or ? Then fix all the normal rover stuff like the window regulators, door locks then deal with the body, paint etc... Never ends..

As a recap, here was the day I brought the truck home...

https://landroverforums.com/forum/di...k-48254/page2/

The engine that's going in... (MB purists ignore the oil lines/cooler and engine mounts as they where for an SD not a w123 and had been added to the engine after the rebuild, hence their condition compared to the rest of the engine. They are of course changed over to the w123 version now...)



Video walk around of the truck after I first got it home...


Video of the main issue with the original engine...


Later in the day after getting the truck back together from the oil pump gear issue... better walk around


Some various pictures

bed...



Just a small part of the wiring removed... Times this by 5 when it was all actually done.



PO's solution to failed window regulator guides...



Rust hole in front drivers corner (has been replace with new steel)



Dash out...




So, you can see the amount of work that has been done, along with how much is left to do.... a lot.

 

Link?

 

Ooops, wrong forum. lol
Parting out 95 discovery loaded w/ accessories

 

THought I forgot or given up on this project eh? NOPE! I've just been busy working and fixing up some of my other cars. The plan is to start on the rover again in 3-4 weeks. Hope to have it in a running and driving condition in 6, then will be the process of cleaning it all up and putting it all back together.