Casper & Outono - 2x 1998 Discovery 1 Builds

[bri]

Yea so the engine will need to be opened up to find out the condition. If everything looks great then I might just do the gaskets and call it a day. My gut tells me it won't be great, but you never know. There is a bit of valve noise at the top, but that's fairly common. I also have a lot of noise on cold start up, like the oil pump isn't happy, but that goes away when warm. Actually, I put some Ceratec in it recently and that really quieted things down.

Not sure ill be able to determine the engine year, but theres probably a serial number somewhere. Im also not an engine guy so this is all new to me. I dont have space to do the work myself so its going to be expensive

My novice but experienced opinion is rover V8 can make some noise for a long darned time.... knocking on wood. I don't think my brand new 95 Disco was quiet at start. Nor is my 98 and its still solid for 8 years. Done all the stuff you have done just normal parts and over time. Averages out to about $1k/yr, cheap IMO.

I wouldn't hesitate for a minute to drive my 98 anywhere. I trust it just fine and just ALWAYS plan to pack out or call for assist. Doesn't matter if you have new or old, anything will fail. I just make sure everything is in good order before I leave.

The D1 is easy to fix on the road. A simple tool and spares kit is all you need. A small leak in a head gasket is not likely to strand you, but I get the concern.

I haven't even thought through what I need to be prepared for a failure on my LR4. Right now I think Satellite phone might be the best.

 

[bri]

Not advising you try this at home(at least if you want to keep your wife) but I have discretely pulled off a Mercedes v8 engine rebuild in a guest bath of ground floor retirement apartment once upon a time. Hardest part was getting it in and out of the car under the carport under cover of darkness. . .

In a guest bath? Laughing my ****** off.

 

[2.ooohhh]

In a guest bath? Laughing my ****** off.

If I knew how many times I'd tell that story to people in my later years back then, I'd have taken pictures. It's often brought up when people tell me they "don't have anywhere" to work on a car. My general thought on the matter is that they haven't properly evaluated the FULL potential of their current living arrangements. I used a cheap moving blanket to protect the porcelain enamel on the tub and hot washed the cylinder heads and intake in it. These rover engines are super simple engines to work on and you don't even have to make space on the vanity for a bucket of carb dip.

 

[Outono]

If I knew how many times I'd tell that story to people in my later years back then, I'd have taken pictures. It's often brought up when people tell me they "don't have anywhere" to work on a car. My general thought on the matter is that they haven't properly evaluated the FULL potential of their current living arrangements. I used a cheap moving blanket to protect the porcelain enamel on the tub and hot washed the cylinder heads and intake in it. These rover engines are super simple engines to work on and you don't even have to make space on the vanity for a bucket of carb dip.

Haha thats seriously impressive. It's more than just space for me, it's also convenience and I don't think I care enough to go through that sort of trouble - i'd rather just take a hit to the wallet.

But you're an inspiration. If this was 5 years ago, I would have found a way, any way, to do the repairs myself.

 

[Outono]

My novice but experienced opinion is rover V8 can make some noise for a long darned time.... knocking on wood. I don't think my brand new 95 Disco was quiet at start. Nor is my 98 and its still solid for 8 years. Done all the stuff you have done just normal parts and over time. Averages out to about $1k/yr, cheap IMO.

I wouldn't hesitate for a minute to drive my 98 anywhere. I trust it just fine and just ALWAYS plan to pack out or call for assist. Doesn't matter if you have new or old, anything will fail. I just make sure everything is in good order before I leave.

The D1 is easy to fix on the road. A simple tool and spares kit is all you need. A small leak in a head gasket is not likely to strand you, but I get the concern.

I haven't even thought through what I need to be prepared for a failure on my LR4. Right now I think Satellite phone might be the best.

I have a pretty good kit that I can repair most things with on the trail; and i've done just that on a few vehicles of mine. In one trip alone, I had a blown coolant line and a burned out alternator on my LR3- both fixed while on the road.

The D1 probably could have made the trip and even if it lost more coolant than I was comfortable with, I would have found someway to get the truck home. What it comes down to is that this is the 1 big trip my buddies and I get to go on all year and I don't want to be the person that puts a stop to things because I decided to roll the dice, even if the chances were small something catastrophic would happen.

 

[Outono]

Just a quick update...

Well, it turns out it was, in fact, the headgasket. It's shot. So im having West Coast Rovers do the top end rebuild since I don't have the time or the space to take it on. We'll deck the heads, evaluate whether it needs a valve job, and then take a look at the cam. If the cam needs work, im throwing in a Crower 229 because, why not?

What else should I consider here? Anything in particular? All of the cooling system is replaced so that's not an issue.

 

[Outono]

Couple of fun notes on the engine rebuild:

• While the engine had been "regasketed" 2 owners back (allegedly), it appears they never bothered to machine the heads despite the engine having overheated several times.
• The engine has been heli-coiled and there was some damage done to the block. At this stage, it doesn't look like it'll affect performance.
• The cam is pretty worn and will require replacement.

For now, we're going to replace the cam with a 229 from Crower, we're studding the heads to get rid of the heli-coils, and we've obviously sent the heads out for machining. The concern right now is the health of the rest of the block. No other issues we can find right now and the truck didn't ever come close to overheating once I redid the cooling system so I dont think I have a cracked block or something just as sinister.

We may still do a valve job once the face is torn down. We might also need to replace the oil pump, but we shall see...

The price is getting to the point of just buying a new (rebuilt) engine from RoverParts, but I suppose the labor has added up enough that it probably doesn't make sense unless things get uglier as we pull the cam out.

The lesson here is: never trust anybody that tells you a shop did X or Y work. While it might be true, the quality of that work should always be questioned. I actually contacted the shop that dropped this engine into the truck (2 owners back) and they had "no records left" of doing it - now I know why.

Truck should be done before Christmas, though!

EDIT: I've been getting a few questions about Casper vs D1V2. Casper was the vehicle I bought at auction and have sold (or about to sell). D1V2 is my daily D1 I bought after I got Casper. D1V2 is referred to as Outono (my name here) and it's what most of the last couple of pages have been about.

 

[Nonimouse]

What are your liners like?

 

[YetiX]

Just read this thread. I was one of the people who contacted you about Casper but it had already sold. I'm presently looking for a D2

 

[Outono]

What are your liners like?

So far so good. Nothing slipped and I hadn't noticed any issues with the engine other than the coolant leak at the head gasket. I never overheated it.

Just read this thread. I was one of the people who contacted you about Casper but it had already sold. I'm presently looking for a D2

Awesome! The D2 will be more comfortable and have more power, but honestly, I love the looks of the D1 more so thats why I ended up with 2

 

[Outono]

Got the truck back today and it runs smoother than ever. A bit more work was done than expected, but I figured it's better to take care of anything that looks suspect while we're in there.

West Coast Rovers did a great job in a short period of time. While I try to do most of my own work, WCR is the only shop I trust taking this thing to.

Now that the engine is done, i've got several leaks to plug: transfer case, trans cooler hoses, power steering, and it looks like the rear main seal might be slightly leaking, but not 100% sure.



And Christmas came early! The new plates finally arrived.

 

[Outono]

The truck is running better than ever. Finally got it outside to stretch a bit and it performed extraordinarily well. The suspension is smooth and responsive and there weren't any alarming issues.

I did notice a new oil leak that appears to be coming from the oil cooler line just behind the oil filter. It's leaking enough to spray the axle a bit, but not enough to warrant immediate concern. It's likely just a little loose.

I also just noticed that you can see how my sliders don't fit flush against the truck. I need to re-drill some holes to fit them correctly; for now, they're just using the factory holes for the plastic slider. Sure wish Tactical4x4 made these to line up with the factory holes, I just don't get why they force you to drill new ones.

 

[2.ooohhh]

Looking sharp!

 

[Outono]

Well, 2023 is off to a good start. I managed to acquire 2 brand new in box OEM Saudi grilles.



I really like how the mesh is mounted to the plastic frame.

 

[YetiX]

Well, 2023 is off to a good start. I managed to acquire 2 brand new in box OEM Saudi grilles.

View attachment 761007

I really like how the mesh is mounted to the plastic frame.

View attachment 761008

Ok, I'll admit to being ign'ant. What are those and where do they go? I'm so new to the Discovery thing, mine is still 3 states away so go easy.