Hey there, I'm new here.

I currently have my sights set on a 1994 Discovery. It's at a pretty reasonable price, is sitting right around 120k on the odo, and is just down the road from my house.
1.) Is there anything serious I should watch out for when inspecting the vehicle before purchasing?
2.) Any common (expensive) failures with these vehicles? (I am a mechanic by trade, so no cost of labor... other than my blood, sweat, and tears.)
3.) How expensive/hard to acquire are parts? (My coworker says parts are hard to come by, and can be rather expensive.)

Other than my questions, if there is any input you experts out there have for me, please feel free to fill me with your extensive knowledge.

Thanks in advance

 

Just remember, you're buying a 23 year old vehicle. So, frame rust could be an issue (depends where you are located, for sure) and just about anything else. I guess, a lot depends on previous owners commitment to maintenance. Hopefully, they kept up on the basics.

If starts reliably, cold/warm, and runs good, shifts properly and goes down the road without any strange noises or vibrations...that's good start.

Brian.

 

A D1 Frame isn't nearly as rust prone as the Frame on the D2. Parts for a D1 are not that hard to come by. Plenty of aftermarket parts, vendors, and even Ebay. The 94 D1 will have a traditional dizzy vs coil packs and the 3.9L V8 with an OBD1 setup with a little code reader display under the passenger seat (unless someone has removed it). Although not a speed demon I've never had a single 3.9L ever let me down.

Interior parts can be delicate, but Ebay, Paul Grant, Abran, or Will are SUPERB sources for used OEM parts.

On a D1 look for rust on the rear Alpine Windows, the front floor boards, and the inner rear fender wells just below where the door closes at the rear.

I always wanted a 94/95 D1, but I was either to young to buy one when they were new, and now you mainly find 96-99 D1's. Something I always liked the look of on a D1 was using 99-02 D2 headlights vs the 94-99 D1 Chrome looking headlights. If the 94 your looking at has foggy/broken/cracked head lights I'd certainly grab the 99-02 D2 ones as they make a D1 look really nice IMHO.

Good luck & let us know how it goes.

 

Hmm, so other than rust, are there any other common problems? How's the drive train? Engine, trans, tcase, differentials; are they all pretty stout on a D1?

 

Yeah, I'll just have to see it in person and take it on a good drive myself I suppose. Have an appointment for 2PM today to go see it. Quite excited.

 

Take pics of undercarriage and engine bay. The folks here will tell you yes or no on that alone.

 

All Buick 215 based Rover Aluminum engines are subject to having issues "if" they've been run hot, but on the 3.9L it's nothing compared to the last 4.6L's from 03-04.

"if" it's got a lot of aftermarket wiring for the stereo, DVD's or some crazy alarm system I'd run away from it as fast as you got there. All LR's DO NOT do well with crappy done audio/video, or alarms since they tap into 12v wherever they can and that can drive relays, and power sensitive items completely crazy.

Transmission wise they're ZF German transmissions and very robust unless the previous owners DID NOT do any maintenance on them. Rear drive shaft rotoflex could be worn, but easy to replace. Diff's are strong unless they've been running x5 larger tires or once again not maintained.

Common RRC/D1/D2 issues are window regulators dying due to broken rollers, alternators eventually dying (Slap in a P38 Range Rover higher amp unit when it dies), worn seat bottoms from people sliding across them exiting the vehicle, bad clock bulb, broken coin/cigarette pockets (easy to fix with zip ties), worn out shifter boot/ebrake boots. Also a lot of D1's will have destroyed PRND321 Bezels, or film. Once again it's cosmetic, but fixable.

Rust on the Alpine rear windows, the floor, and the rear door latch area on the body are way more bigger issues vs the frame on a D1. The D1 frame is basically a RRC frame and it's way more robust vs the D2 frame. I'd be more concerned on the Alpine Windows, floor, and rear door area vs frame on a D1.

 

Not too worried about cosmetics, this one looks pretty darn clean.
Let's say the engine has been run hot, head gaskets are popped. When I get those heads off, and inspect the block, if I don't like what I see... About how much does a transplant run?

 

Depends on what you want to swap in.

A 94 will be a 3.9 dizzy motor and are not as prone to head gasket failure and overheat issues.

If it runs drives and you like it go for it