If you are going to be in South America and taking the spare starter, I would recommend a couple other small spare items that can be show stoppers.

1) Crank Position Sensor
2) Brake Pedal Switch
3) t-stat 180 degree model
4) Used wheel hub assembly
5) Replace rotoflex & keep old one as your spare

 

I don't think I have a slipped liner - I think I may have a small crack behind the liner. I don't see any evidence of a slipped liner in the headgasket, but I don't see any evidence of a coolant leak either in the headgasket. This could be evidence that there is either a crack in the block behind the liner OR a leak in the cylinder head. My next step tomorrow is to take the passenger cylinder head to be pressure tested. If it passes then it is more likely that I have a crack behind the liner and need to buy some top-hatted liners.

I'll ask them tomorrow if they have any laying around. I paid my machine shop $100 to clean and paint the block, but they had to clean it by hand in their spirits tub because I didn't know if I could get a hold of finished cam bearings. Then it was:

$68.50 - hone cylinders
$65.00 - polish crankshaft
$40.00 - install cam bearings (took 3 guys and I arrived late due to receiving the bearings late in the day from UPS and then they stayed 40 minutes past closing to install them).

I also was charged the following for the heads:

$98.50 - clean, change valve seals, and resurface heads
$175.00 - factory spec valve job

Are these prices normal?

 

I bought the Bosch to use as the spare if the stock one is in working order. I also bought an extra Gates serpentine belt and will work on the other items.

Thanks

 

NICE! there is a nice silver 03 looking to be in pretty good shape over all sitting on side of road with 3 flat tires for last 2 years... I may ask em if they will let me tow it off for free! if it has clean title! I love the wheels it has though!

 

Can we get an update on how this project went and how it is doing?

 

hey man good job with the picture. I like to know where you got you parts from I'm rebuilding my engine and need a new camshaft. atlantic british has one.

 

I wish there were updates to this thread.

 

wow! Talk about leaving you a cliff hanger???

 

Unfortunately, so many 'is my liner slipped?' or 'what is this knocking?' type threads end in this unsatisfying way....
Which leads me to think that the investigation often takes a death-spiral downward toward a pile of scrap metal and the guy/gal never visits the forum again...
In this case, my wild and baseless guess (but hey, with a cold-case cliffhanger like this, wild and baseless guesses is all I have!) is that with the possibility (probability) of a cracked block on the agenda, he flat-out ran out of time. He was already in this for way more than he likely expected on purchase (head gasket) with a hard-stop event in the very near future.
Shame, because it was all going so well - confident, capable, energetic and for the most part spending the money to do it right.
I hope I'm wrong and it did end well and that Rover is rolling over 250k miles on LPG in S. America somewhere, and he just didn't ever find time to post around the distractions of life.
Still, I'd love to know what really happened!

 

Update - going on 10 years since starting this thread - have put about 16,000 miles on it since rebuild (total mileage a little over 138,000 miles). I have had it sitting multiple times for more than a year while traveling and with a new battery it starts on the first crank always. Ended up rebuilding engine with top-hat liners and getting crack in cylinder TIG-welded.

A list of problems/fixes/upgrades since engine rebuild:

• Had coolant leak from rear upper block plugs of coolant - eventually this went away because pressure test showed no leaks - I think the coolant eventually crusted over sealing off the leak?
• 2" Terrafirma lift with LR 16" aluminum wheels + 265/75-16 A/T tires - makes going over very rough rock roads at 30+ MPH bearable and haven't had a flat-tire in 10 years with same tires (yes, they are 10yrs old now), but have been through at least 5 batteries that get eaten up by potholed roads and bad country gravel roads.
• Replaced squeaking passenger front upper/lower ball joints - what a PITA - took me an entire day to swap one side. Need to change driver's side as I feel it pulling to left.
• Locally fabricated steel rear bumper after being rear-ended several times by careless motorcycle drivers
• Locally fabricated steel Sahara/Saudi/desert grille from steel with mesh to allow for improved air circulation
• Going to fabricate a steel front bumper when time permits
• Replaced horn button springs
• Replaced front sunroof motor
• Replaced driver's window regulator
• Reupholstered Alcantara insert on all door panels
• Dealing with high temps with AC on:
  • New NISSENS radiator,
  • Replaced bad AC condensing fan
  • In-line thermostat mod (have 170F stat installed which throws low temperature code),
  • Replaced Cracked plastic overflow reservoir
  • Installed a 2nd auxiliary fan wired into an on-off original cruise control switch on the instrument cluster to help with coolant temperatures,
  • Replaced leaky o-rings and leaky high-pressure line on AC compressor (swapped and AC blows cold),
  • Modified fan clutch to be engaged 100% of the time (drilled a hole and passed a bolt through)
  • Considering upgrading to a FlowKooler high-flow water pump - need to check if the fan clutch modification has blown the current water pump bearing?
• Had a bad ground connection which caused M&S lights/limp-mode and also melted the parking brake cable to the jacket as the ground was flowing through there. Added some new ground points and changed the parking cable.
• Blown automatic transmission line left me stranded once, but had the line repaired for like $5 locally. Another part of the flexible line is leaking but I haven't had time to fix it.
• Saggy headliner, so removed foam and painted black
• Leaky oil pan (even though installed new gasket when rebuilt engine)
• Leaky transfer case (even though sealed when rebuilt engine)
• Leaky front and rear differentials plugs - have new brass ones, but again no time to swap.
• Leaky steering box - have everything to rebuild it but it is easy to just fill up with ATF as needed.
• Good engine oil pressure 60+ PSI easily via Glowshift oil pressure gauge - sometimes if it is sitting for a year I'll forget to top off the oil and see like 20 PSI, but once I fill it back up, it has really great oil pressure.
• Now I'm dealing again with flashing M&S lights due to AC condensate dripping on switch after years without any issues

The air conditioning causing high coolant temperatures in 90+F stop-and-go traffic seems like an issue on other discos as well. When on the highway or even just moving some, it doesn't overheat with AC on. Going downhill with engine braking will be around 175F with the current 170F in-line thermostat in 90F high-humidity weather. In stop-and-go with 90+F weather will get the OBD2 scanner showing 215-220F before I turn the AC off for fear of engine damage. The AC condenser was clean last I checked.

I've considered swapping out for a more reliable Toyota, but I have probably $30-40K USD into so I can't justify a change for the minimal driving I do. Honestly, other than the AC overheating issue, I have no real complaints - it always starts up, only left me stranded once with a blown transmission line.

*For safety reasons there is limo-tint all around and it isn't safe to drive with the windows down, so the AC is important and it becomes a sauna quickly inside without it.*