Just picked up a clean used 2004 Disco 2, with the intention to modify heavily and use to train for the Dakar Rally. I live in Utah, so have plenty of dessert, sand dunes, mountains, rocks and wide open space to train on. Any tips or info that could help me get this wonderful machine to Rally Raid form would be greatly appreciated.

Rolo.

 

Welcome.

Start with new front prop shaft, because the oem one is not fully greaseable and can/will split at some point and poke hole in tranny. Add an Ultra Gauge or scanner so you can see digital temps for coolant, the oem gauge points at 50% from about 130 to about 230F. If not comfortable with your temps consider the 180F "warm weather" stat, and a new radiator (old ones are not candidates for rod out of calcium). Be sure to exercise and lube if needed your CDL shifter, they can stick if never used on the soccer mom milk run. Do not install a rag material (KN style) air filter, allows MAF sensor to get very dirty. Don't run anythingW30 weight oil, the 30 is only rated by Rover for up to 95F ambient operation. Very popular is 15W40 Rotella, a diesel rated oil that has lots of cleaning characteristics that these old design engines need. Old as in late 1950's when GM designed it with slide rules. In real desert temps you may find your self running 20W50 or higher. There is no oil PSI gauge, you would want one. You would also want to test current engine with a mechanical oil gauge to get an idea of your oil PSI being good. Cracked oil pumps are not unheard of. Certain VIN number D2 had external oil cooler, this was dropped for later ones, but it could be added. It is between AC condenser and main rad, there is a tranny cooler there and they are vertically stacked if present. Stock water pump is a modest affair, stamped impeller, aftermarket you can get one with a larger bronze impeller for more flow (BP Utah).

The factory shop manual is called the RAVE and free download links are below. Our tech area has lots of DIY articles, plus high miles service list. Our search button will pull up posts for various things like stainless steel brake lines, etc.

Send pictures for the rest of us. Dakar - love the way Ofeibea Quist-Arcton closes her reports on NPR with that.

 

Thank you very much this a lot of good info. Downloaded manual and will spend some time looking at all this issues. This will be fun. Can't wait to get some decent tires on it and go play in the dirt.

 

Nice rig...looks identical to mine Does it have the Tundra (gray) interior as well?

Unfortunately, everything Savannah said is fairly necessary before you get to the fun stuff like lift kits and bumpers. I'd add an electric fan to that list. Aside from providing more airflow at lower speeds, it will free up a couple ponies and I've seen a 1.2 mpg increase (overall).

 

Where could I get that fan? Is it a generic one that I have to adapt or does someone sell a bolt in part?

One good thing is that Great Basin is just down the road from my shop. Will stop by there on lunch monday.

 

IMHO the electric fan mod (replacing main fan) is not very established on our forum. You'ld want to research that throughly for results. Many do replace the stock fan clutch with something else, and you can get HD ones that will provide more cooling but at a performance price. You can also tinker with different fan and clutch (I went with a deeper pitch fan on my D1, it has the same WP as D2 and they both use a six inch counter clockwise rotation fan clutch). The D2 ECU decides when to turn on the stock electric fan, I have always though a good rock crawler mod would be a manual switch you could use to bring that relay and fan on by demand.

Now I must admit that electric fans do work, I've got two on my Kia minivan 3.8 liter and it stays at 180F. But it was designed for them. If you wanted to tinker, there are plenty on Taurus's (Tauri ?) that are quite common at the boneyard.

 

This was my write up on the install:
https://landroverforums.com/forum/di...install-52940/

I understand there's not a lot of sample data out there yet, but this is fairly fool-proof. Electric fans have been out there for a long time. I've put them on off-road and racing rigs alike and I always get good results. My guess is the negative data out there is the result of cutting corners. Do it right, get a temp controlled unit and don't skimp on the CFMs. There's very few mods that yield better hp/mpg/cooling for so cheap.

 

Got a HD front driveline from GBRovers. Looking to do this next. Maybe look for a racing radiator that might fit too.

 

You won't find any race parts for the Rover unless custom made or some very limited parts for another application. I looked for a 3 core radiator for my Disco. Not gonna happen unless made to order and very expensive. The Disco is already a dog and putting bigger tires on it will make for an even slower dog. Unless you change the ring and pinion to resolve the issue I'd leave the stock diameter tires on it. Don't forget, that's 2 ring and pinion sets.

I'd focus on upgrading the engine power personally with a camshaft change, ECU tune, mild port and polish on the exhaust side, Cometic head gaskets, inline thermostat mod, and the drive shaft upgrade.

In stock form I'd bet the Rover would not even have a chance of finishing a race, let alone a trial run for practice.All in all a big fat dog. The engine is the weakest link in the chain.

You did say "modify heavily".... Good luck and open your wallet.

MAK

 

Dude, why did I have to see this as we are walking out the door to go to the beach?
Forget everything you have been told so far except for the HD front propshaft, I will post more when I return.
Since this is going to be a Privateer Dakar race truck, what would need to be done for daily driving is TOTALLY different than what you are going to use it for.