Fellow Forum Members, I moved one step further in achieving another "fun" life objective. I have for years wanted to buy a Discovery Series II and enhance it. I bought a 2004 SE today with 71K on the clock. It was a local North Texan "around town", errand car and it is in great shape. I figured it would serve as a solid foundation for projects. I will be looking to this forum for inspiration so please do not hesitate to throw ideas or "must-dos" my way. I will use the car off an on to commute but for the most part it is a third car for me so I can have some fun with it project-wise.

Hoping to get to know folks here and maybe even meet a few of you that may reside here in Texas or surrounding states.

Two projects on my immediate list are to replace the air intake plenum (infamaous cracked plastic issue) and to replace the headliner along with repair a slightly warped center dash. I met someone today who is looking to fabricate a plenum using metal so we'll see what happens with that. If you have any thoughts on any of this, please send them my way. I take delivery this coming weekend and will get to work right away on it.

Glad to be here!

 

Order the plenum from these guys over in Malaysia. They fabricate it out of fiberglass, far better product than the OEM was.

Land Rover Discovery 2 TD5 Windscreen COWL Under Panel Trim Plenum | eBay

Pair it will a purchase of their A-Pillars as well. Seeing as your's will break if they haven't already, and you can have the seller wave the shipping cost if paired with the plenum order.

LAND ROVER DISCOVERY 2 TD5 PAIR OF A PILLAR EXTERIOR WINDSCREEN TRIM PANEL | eBay

 

Thanks Street Wolf! I'll go check these out. I appreciate the advice.

 

Anytime.

Also, don't worry too much about the shipping time from Malaysia. It's actually pretty quick, I was surprised. I've ordered two sets from them so far.

 

Great! Do you recall whether either part (the plenum and the windscreen trim) comes with the trim clips (the black plastic thingies the press into part to assist in locking it down)? In looking at a photo I have from the current owner, the plenum is pretty broken up and it's looking like one or more trim clips could be missing.

 

Oh yeah, about that. The fiberglass replacements do not come with any hardware, and they also attach in a slightly different fashion then OEM.

The cowl/plenum itself attaches with two push pins (One driver side, one passenger side. Replacement pins can be had at any part store if needed, they're pretty basic) and then also held into place by the windshield wipers once you reinstall them. The aftermarket fiberglass replacement goes one step further and uses a strip of 3M adhesive tape to then affix the cowl to the windshield to ensure a perfect seal.


As far as the A-Pillar covers go, they now attach using the usual set of four push pins along the inside of the door, and a strip of 3M adhesive tape has been added to secure it to the windshield on the outside.


I'll go get a few pictures for you from my Disco actually in a moment.

 

Alrighty, it sounds more difficult than it is when reading a wall of text, but it's all super simple.

Easiest way to install the new cowl and give yourself all the working room you need is to remove the four bolts holding the hood on and get rid of it.

When you receive your cowl/plenum in the mail it will look like this, and you will need to get a 1 1/2in or 38mm hole saw to punch the holes out where your wiper blades attach. This is easy because there are distinct circles in the fiberglass where you need to drill.






Once you lay the new cowl into position, the only thing you really need to do is insert the push pins seen below, one on the passenger side, one on the driver side.




I then suggest removing plastic from the adhesive and adhering the cowl into place. Then installing your wipers and hardware.



The A-pillar covers are pretty self explanatory, and have a super nice fitment once you adhere them afterwards.




...and that's pretty much the end of your cracking/breaking cowl and A-Pillar problems for now on. The fiberglass is far better, can take a lot more stress than the ABS plastic used from the factory. Not to mention fiberglass can be repaired if need be.

I'm not sure where "North Texas" is for you, but if you need any help or advice when the time comes, feel free to get in touch. ;P

 

Thank you! These are excellent directions and pose no concerns from my perspective. As far as North Texas, I am in McKinney, north of Dallas. If you're ever in this neck of the woods, look me up. Coffee or beers on me. I may be back in touch to get your perspective on other projects. From your pics, thinking you have quite the rig setup on your Disco. I'll post follow-ups on this one.

 

Thanks man, glad I could help. I'm sure we'll cross paths at some point, I'm around the DFW area from time to time. Looking forward to it.

And by all means, feel free to ask anytime.

 

I spy a snorkel.

Hello from Longview!