Hello everyone,

I've been the proud owner of a 2003 Land Rover Disco 2 SE7 for almost 3 years now. I bought it non-running from a guy that was going to scrap it, and knowing next to nothing about these trucks at the time but wanting to get into offroading (I'm a Volvo guy), figured there wasn't much to lose at the price I paid. Needless to say, I learned quickly. First thing on the list was taking care of a nasty engine tick (link to the 100+ post thread that issue resulted in before the Land Rovers Only forum mostly died off), but more pressing was the fact that it didn't run. After putting a battery in it and messing with some things, I got it to run, but it wouldn't go into gear. Turns out the front driveshaft let go on the previous owner and put a crack in the transmission, and there was only a few tablespoons in it. After filling it (and changing the nasty oil), as well as an XYZ switch replacement, I got some miles behind the wheel and fell in love.

The day I got it driving.

Next step was replacing the questionable suspension and dry rotted tires. I ended up going with the Terrafirma medium duty 2" lift kit, as well as 275/65 R18 Kanati Trail Hog A/T tires, which transformed the look of the truck. Soon after I installed a steel front bumper and winch since the original was cracked and Harbor Freight was running a wicked deal on winches at the time.

New bumper, winch, tires, and lift

Without boring you guys too much with the details, I ended up replacing the entire cooling system (with 180 t-stat, radiator, WP, the whole deal) after a blown hose made for a fun night of AAA, and I decided that if I was gonna build it, I should do it right, so I went through the truck and did as much preventative maintenance as I could (plugs, wires, deleted the SAI, and a lot of little odds and ends). Gas was cheap, and I was loving this thing and driving it everywhere.

Now, the fun part. I have absolutely no use for a 7-seater SUV, so I decided to do something I'd been dreaming of for years at this point - gut the back and turn it into a overland camper rig. There's a full thread about the process here if you're interested, and there's tons of info there, but I'll give a synopsis. I wanted something that was livable, with a counter, sink/wash station setup, a place for an air mattress, and plenty of storage for gear, tools, and parts. The end result, after almost a year of carpentry and wiring, was this:

Camper setup in "bench mode". The bench folds out into a platform that fits an air mattress, with storage for parts and tools underneath.

Sink/wash station with fold-out spout. Runs off a 12V air compressor, VW washer style

( to a YouTube video highlighting the camper conversion)
(Link to a YouTube playlist with some mediocre videos centered around this build)

Halfway through this project, I had to put it on hold for a month after it blew the head gaskets as these like to do. Long story short, lots of sludge, almost clogged pickup - it was a mess. Replaced every gasket I could get at, the lifters (which finally fixed my ticking), oil pump, timing chain, and probably a bunch of stuff I'm forgetting. After that, got it back together, finished up the camper build, and it's been mostly the same since - I've just been enjoying it, albeit less lately due to gas prices. I've messed around with lighting, cabinet latches, and some other minor stuff, but have been avoiding putting money in it for now, as my V70 project is now at the forefront now that thing is at a point where I'm happy driving it.

Overall, it still needs a new transmission due to the crack in the case (I've JB Welded it as best I can for now, but still have to add fluid occasionally), and it's started to shift funny and I generally don't like the autobox, so I'm planning an R380 swap at some point in the future. It also needs a new rear bumper, and as they say, a project is never done, so hopefully at some point I can go crazy with it when I have more time and money, but I'm mostly happy with it for now.

 

If you're planning on replacing the transmission, maybe look into a 2004 transfer case as well so you get the CDL function.
There's a great thread on this forum that details the whole process of installing a manual transmission instead of an autobox at https://landroverforums.com/forum/di...al-swap-79203/

 

Thanks for that link. Certainly going to go that route. Three open diffs is no fun off road, even if the traction control is decent

 

Or you can go ham and get TT or air lockers

 

True. Not trying to spend that much money on it though, at least not at this point.

 

Nice build and I love the 2in lift. What color is your rig - black or Adriatic Blue? I have on '04 SE7 in Adriatic Blue, it looks black in some lighting.

 

Thanks! It's black - I wish it was a unique color like that

 

Where are you located? I expect PNW, based on the pics.

Also, you write that you deleted the SAI. Are you just living with the SES light and codes, or did you do something with the ECM so that it's not looking for the SAI components?

My truck doesn't have SAI, thankfully. Just curious.

 

New England actually. I deleted SAI by cutting the tubes ff at the nuts and capping the nuts with some sheet aluminum cut to size. I'm just dealing with an SES light, which I've removed the gauge cluster and put a piece of black electrical tape over the light to "fix". I hate that system and sure as hell wasn't going to spend the money to fix it the right way after the tubes refused to come out without damage when doing plugs and wires

 

So.... you have no idea if your truck throws any other trouble codes, since you can't see the light and it would always be lit in any case?