Okay guys... Here's a good one.

My 2000 Disco 2 used to be my mom's before she passed away, I grew up in this vehicle and I don't want to let it go. But it's just been such a pain in the *** over the last year it's gonna get parked for a while until I can really put the time/money into it to make it a solid daily and reliable off-roader.

It's over 100k miles now and it needs some service because it was neglected in it's early life. Here's what I want to do...

>Swap the axles for Dana 44s or Dana 60s (either find driver side drop axles or have the axle tubes flipped and trussed. Custom mounts of course)
>2" Medium springs in front, semi truck air bags in the rear
>Get the LT230 kit off Toddco for the driveshaft adapters
>Also Toddco's 2wd/4wd conversion
>Swap the ZF4HP22 trans for the 04's ZF4HP24
>install trans dipstick if I can find a place
>Either Bore, Port Polish, roller cam/lifters/rockers, headers and propane dual fuel conversion on STOCK engine
>Or swap in Chevy 350/LS1 and adapt the Rover sensors on to it

im pretty sure I can make most of this happen over the next couple years... Really just hoping for questions, comments and concerns from you guys. Any obvious problems (besides the engine swap) that you see?

 

Ok, a few questions. First, why the axle swap? It has been done, but for tires 33" or less it's entirely unnecessary. Even for larger tires, it's my personal opinion that they'd be fine with chromoly axles and gears.

Also, curious about the 2/4wd conversion? It's a neat idea, but I doubt you'll see any MPG gains. From what I've heard from those who have dropped the front driveshaft, there is no change and not worth the $$$ for that conversion. Would still be fun for donuts in the snow, though.

Good luck boring the block. The walls are already pretty thin. If you're rebuilding then I would get top hat sleeves put in and then get 4.6 crank/rods and keep the 4.0 pistons. That will stroke it to a 4.6 and increase compression just a hair. Headers are a great choice. I have the hedmans and love them. Do yourself a favor, though; cut the ball and cup flanges off and weld on a set of v-band clamps. The ball and cup will leak. I would also recommend cutting down the stock bolts to be longer than the hedman bolts. The hedman bolts come quite a bit too short.

An LS swap would be sick, and it has been done. That said, not for the feint of heart. I would assume that isn't you, since you're talking about axle swaps, so maybe that's the route for you. That said, I'm a big fan of my ported and polished 4.6 with headers and a cam. It sounds great, makes buckets of torque, and it's a lot less work/cost.

 

Well, you sound pretty ambitious with this vehicle. I get that it has sentimental value for you.

Given your stated goals, I'll be the first to tell you that your checklist for what to do with it is not aligned with your desired endpoint. From the factory, your Discovery was exactly what you're looking for - a good daily driver, and reliable/capable off road. If this is truly your goal, I would recommend scrapping the list you have and focusing on bringing it back to factory-fresh condition, catching up on all the deferred maintenance, etc.

Based on your list of modifications, it sounds like you're looking for big project/toy/hobby. Most of the mods you're describing will push it away from being a daily driver, and may sacrifice reliability for capability. (meaning you'll be constantly tinkering or improving things) This is fine, and it's basically the way I treat my Discovery, but I went in with eyes wide open - It was always going to be a toy, driven a few times a month, comfort/aesthetic sacrifices made for off-road capability and ruggedness, and something I planned to wrench on at regular intervals. I don't rely on it for general transportation. To this end, it has been exactly what I wanted.

Just make sure you know what you want in the end, and that your plans are aligned with it, before you start spending money.

 

Thanks for the replies!

I like the idea of having Danas under the truck because it's just one less thing that I'll have to worry about. My stock axles need help, honestly. Before I came into ownership of it it was fairly neglected, so the ring and pinions are VERY worn, almost singing and I'd like to have lockers of some sort in the front and rear. The way I see it... Once it would be about the same cost to make myself some sturdy Danas as it would to build and/or rebuild my existing axles.

Is the mileage gain really not worth it? Im wondering if locking hubs on that Dana swap would give it enough... Plus donuts, yeah

I was referring to boring as more of a repair than increasing the displacement. Boring is worthless to gain power, it lowers compression.

The LS swap was in the same mind as the axles, Just pony up the time/money to put in a more solid, easier to fix engine than try and build the 4.0

I'm still on the fence about the conversions but thanks for the insight!

 

I appreciate the advice mate, but keeping these things factory fresh is an uphill battle that I'm not ready for mentally or financially. I'm not looking to build this thing into some big bad monster truck, I'm just wanting to swap out the existing parts with bigger, better, more reliable ones. I love the vehicle the way it was but I'm looking for more long term solution than just fresh rover parts. You know?

Also 5 days/week I drive a company van and I always have my trusty 81 Chevy as a backup DD

 

That's understandable on the axles. The modifications I mentioned to stock would take care of those issues, but a built dana will always be stronger still, though I doubt cost will be as close as you're thinking said and done with lockers and a gear ratio that will work with the size tires you want.

Definitely not. All of that rotating mass is still there and there wouldn't be any difference in rotating resistance in the driveline because the stock transfer case is designed the same as an open differential.

That is understandable, though I would still urge top hat liners over boring if you're going for longevity.

I totally understand that. You probably would get an MPG increase from that, and honestly the price difference over a new Rover engine probably wouldn't be that bad.

 

Have any pictures of the rig?? Give us a better idea of what your working with...

 

I I think if I can work the Danas out I'll go that route, but once I price it out vs rebuilding the existing axles I'll make that decision.

I think the 2wd/4wd kit in addition to locking hubs if I go with Danas would increase the mpgs, with the hubs unlocked in 2wd the front driveshaft, differential and axleshafts wouldn't be spinning.

The motor is where the big bucks would be. In all likelihood I'll build the Rover engine (top hats, port & polish, cam, etc) but an LS swap would be nice... Even a SBC 305 with injection would be reasonable.

 

Just a good ole Disco II

 

X1 .....