Just wanted to document the build a bit...and talk about issues and what i did to overcome them...

As per my intro a week ago found here:

https://landroverforums.com/forum/ne...surgery-58034/

I bought and towed home a 2000 Discovery 2 i purchased for $800 in fairly good condition. No body rust, slight chassis rust but all of it surface. Good interior, all electricals work minus the pass lock actuator.

The car is red and is an SE7 and came with running boards and OEM brush guard.

The engine is kaput. Originally i was told the engine seized and sure enough even with a fully charged battery the starter just clicks once but no cranking. Upon further investigation the engine is not seized as i can rotate it by hand on the crank pulley.

In any case, even if the engine did run its an absolute disaster. The entire front of the engine is covered with 1/2" of grease and grime. The ACE pump has been bypassed. By the looks of it, it leaked fluid out and grenaded itself. The ACE side of the reservoir was empty. Underneath are spots of oil and green colant everywhere, and even the transmission was leaking as i found red ATF fluid further down the chassis. In removing the engine i've taken some parts out, the AC compressor was detached and remains attached and just put off to the side, the PS and ACE pump bracket was taken off, and it looks like the valve covers were leaking like rivers. The entire engine is covered in engine oil. This is bad for the engine....but this is also good for me as the leaking oil covered most of the frame with oil protecting it from rust.

I havent had too much time to work on it. Last weekend a bit and yesterday and today as our Canadian spring went from 10C back to freezing and snowing with strong gusty wind. Not fun. I've also come down with a cold....i'm sure lying under the damn thing in the cold didnt help.

So far i've removed the exhaust, engine mounts (which were a PITA), the PS/ACE pump and brakets were removed, radiators, PS and ACE coolers, Tranny cooler. This allowed me to drop the engine down enough to reach the two top most bellhousing bolts. In fact all of the bellhousing bolts are out, the hidden port to remove the torque converter bolts was located underneath an inch of grease and the torque converter was unbolted. Rave said 3 bolts, i unbolted 4.

At this point only the wiring loom and fuel lines are attached to the engine. The tranny and engine are starting to split apart and i believe i got all the bolts out, I'm sure the only thing still holding them together is the tranny cooler lines still bolted to the side of the block.

Good news is that the front driveshaft has been rebuilt in the past as i've found grease nipples.

I'll snap some pictures so you guys can laugh at my project.

One thing thats stumping me is figuring out how to get a hand brake back onto the truck. What was LR thinking with that drum brake setup on the back of the Transfer case?

So there are two trains of thought here. Retain the drum assy and somehow find a way to bolt it to the Toyota transfer case or find a way to retrofit calipers which utilize a mechanical lever for hand brakes ala what Japanese cars use and run custom brake cables.

One thing i am really looking forward to is yanking that POS engine out and power washing the bay out...i hate working on it, you can touch anything without your hand coming off black and grease covered.

 

re: but this is also good for me as the leaking oil covered most of the frame with oil protecting it from rust.

Yes, the Rover self applicator under body anti corrosion system. Standard in most Rovers.

 

Just wanted to update the build a bit as i got some progress done. I was waiting on parts and selling off VW parts.

Salvaging the transmission and engine netted me $120 in scrap metal, another 250 for the two catalytics so the actual truck has cost me less than $500.

ALH donor vehicle was a 2000 Jetta 5spd i parted out. After selling the wheel, transmission and bits and pieces the Jetta is paying me to take its engine.

If you'd like to see all the pictures of the progress check here.

Here are some pics to get you guys going.

Stock 4.0 coming out



The disgusting mess left behind



Engine bay after degreasing, power washing and rust treatment of frame. You can see into the interior because i took the pedal assy out waiting for some parts to come from UK for the manual conversion



Wiring disaster i'm slowly working on. I started off with 50lbs of wiring as i took the entire wiring harness from the Jetta and slowly while sitting infront of the TV wittled it down. The engine bay wiring has been seperated. Since i'll be using the VW dash the remainder there is due to the dash wiring.



Power plant going in. Consists of a 2000 Jetta TDI engine, mated to a 1995 4runner V6 R150F transmission and transfer case.



The Disco its going in. Surprisingly good shape, everything but the pass lock actuator works.



Engine sitting pretty. This isnt the final resting place, its a bit more forward and less inclided. At this point the power plant is resting in the truck but the transmission is being suspended so it droops a bit.



For more picture please visit my library.

http://s1022.photobucket.com/user/Re...y%20TDI%20swap

Thoughts? Comments?

 

This looks quite interesting...

 

Keep the updates coming! This forum is full of threads that start to discuss plans for a swap but never go any further. It's great to see someone actually doing one.

Will you be doing any work on the engine to up the output? The VW TDI is a great engine and responds well to chips and injector upgrades.

 

I didnt want to update the post until i had an engine in the bay and something to show for it because of a lot of wishful dreamers.

Absolutely will be upgrading the engine. FMIC, Large injectors and tune should need easy 130 to 140whp. Upgraded turbo and we're coming closer to 180whp and 300ft/lbs. More than what the 4.0 makes with a flatter torque curve.

I think a daily driven 150whp/250 ft/lbs is enough to let the Disco get out of its own way and cruie at 65 mph.

I rode in a TDI swapped Jeep Liberty which had injectors and tune and the thing surprised me by how quickly it accelerated and cruised. That truck was a measured 4200lbs with 2" lift and 33" tires...obviously the Disco is fatter but i think i'll do okay.

Lets not forget that Defenders came with 2.5L naturally aspirated diesels cranking out 63hp....can you imagine how slow that must be?

 

Toyota master cyl can be used. The Discoveries pedal hangers are universal in that all the bits to hang a manual pedal are there, just have to drill a hole through the plate for the master cyl. I purchased Discovery 2 clutch and brake pedal from UK to swap it over without even thinking about the RHD/LHD issue. So even though the pedals fit they are straight as opposed to a curve to the right that LHD pedals have...20 min with a torch and they are bent. The master cyl bolts right up, the attachment pin holes on the rod and arm are the same size, and there is a ton of room in the engine bay for it. The master cyl sits just under the brake lines and it clears nicely, lots of room for the line to the slave cyl to exit towards the fender and do a U turn.

Why did i go with a 4runner master vs Land Rover?
For one, price. Although i do have a used master cyl for the Landy to replace it is in the order of $150+ and its gotta come from UK. 4runner master and slave cyl can be had for less than $30 each and are plentiful locally. A far bigger issue i wanted to avoid was the ratio. I'm not sure what the fluid displacement difference is between the two master cylinders. If the landy displaces much less or much more fluid for the same stroke lenght it would throw off the pedal engagement and travel way too much. I think its a given that i'll be using the 4runner slave cyl.

This is what RHD brake and clutch pedals look like. Straight! That is a brake pedal pictured, the clutch pedal has the top cylinder reversed. i opted to keep the auto pedal and just cut down the foot pad as opposed to bending and welding again.



Here is the clutch pedal bent into shape, the foot pad was removed and rewelded to a more suitable position.

dont mind the welds, i have a crappy flux core welder and last time i melted metal was probably 6 months ago with first time being 7 months ago! lol





Master cylinder hole cut and positioned. Only one bolt used for testing, second one will come later





This is what it looks like sitting next to the break booster.

 

How will system like ABS, SLS, air bag, etc still interface and operate?

 

The stock ECU, auto ECU, SLABS etc will stay in.

the truck currently has the three amigos so ABS TC and Hill Descent dont work. SLS as i said will be converted to manual control where i will control the raising and lowering.

All internal stuff works, the car locks and unlocks, windows, power seats etc etc everything works...the truck simply thinks that the engine is off.

 

Cool. Here's a link to a brief writeup where they allude to tweaking the ECU: Discovery 2 diesel conversion. I read a different thread about a diesel swap where they used an automatic from another manufacturer. They discussed how they dealt with the ECU. They set it up so that everything worked but the SES light was on. They pulled the bulb. I tried to find it but had no luck.