Hi, have a 96 Disco 3.9 with 130ks (not miles). Engine starts knocking once warmed up. Does not knock at start up, idle, runs fine for about 15 mins then starts knocking under acceleration or load. Oil pressure light is fine. Dropped the sump, cleaned the oil pick up. Both pretty clean to start with. Pulled big ends out. Worn down to the copper on upper half, lower half not so bad. Am I on the right track?

 

Well with only 80,000 miles on it I would not think that the bottom end was going bad unless the oil was never changed in this thing.
You already have it apart so go ahead and replace the rod bearings, once that is done and it still knocks we can figure out what is wrong.

 

"YUP", have you ever replaced a set of bearings before?

 

Yep, mostly on the bench, once inside engine bay. Happy to listen to any suggestions though.Thanks