Calico- 1998 Discovery D1 Build Thread

[cbalthazor]

Hi All-

After looking at many trucks and doing some definite soul searching on the purchase, I ended up with Calico, the 1998 Discovery D1 you'll see below. I was coming from a 2004 TDI Wagon that was set up well for travel, and got awesome fuel mileage, however getting off of the beaten path was the objective for the next vehicle. My lovely fiance and I are to be married in Ashland, OR this fall, and afterwards, we plan to head further east to explore the many hot springs in SE Oregon for a week long 'mini-moon'. The TDI would have been great for fuel, but they are really no fun to drive extended distances on gravel with, and although I like Subaru's I was not ready to compromise with a wagon again quite yet.

Thus, I was searching for Land Cruisers, and GX470's, with some peeking into the Rover spectrum. After driving a few GX's and LC's that were still priced at $14K and sat at 200,000 miles, I decided that financially it was probably wise not to start my new marriage in debt on a 200,000 mile Toyota. I started looking more and more at Rovers. I had seen a few on craigslist, and my co-worker owned a D1 as well that was his daily driver. He finally needed to get a truck to pull his boat, so he offered me the D1 one day, meaning that I was off the hook for sifting through craigslist ads. 114K Miles, Fluids are all baselined, recent nearly full replacement of the brake system, and already set up for travel with a lift, bumpers and newish tires. Perfect!

After a jaunt to Hebo Forest for a night of camping, it was apparent that the D1 was the perfect choice. While I loved test driving UZJ100's, my opinion as a former technician was that a lot of them at 200,000 were going to need a lot of catch up work to keep them reliable. That, and driving through the woods scratching an easily paid for cash Discovery versus a financed Land Cruiser made me more comfortable to 'just go for it' rather than care about pinstriping or dirtying up a $15K truck.


That said, here is Calico:

1998 Land Rover Discovery 1- 114,000 Miles
Current Upgrades:

- Safari Guard Front and Rear Bumpers
- Terra Firma Medium Lift (though heavy springs will go in as weight gets added)
- Maxxis Bighorn Tires
- SS Extended Brake Lines

Upgrades to Come By September:
-Drawer system (already built, need to mount it and bedliner paint it)
-BajaRack Roof Rack
-Winch (m8000)
-Snorkel (Maybe, mostly to allow for dual Battery)
-Dual Battery Set up
-Offroad light for visibility at night camping
-A stop to Green Oval Motors here in PDX for a professional check over and any needed service work to be reliable for weeklong trip.

More pictures to come as progress moves on!

 

[Ray_G]

Nice score, the color combo is interesting but provides character-good stuff with the SG bumpers.

Food for thought, at least from my experience with the platform:
-Snorkel may not be necessary for the dual battery, i.e. just cut the trumpet off and put a battery there if you want a 2nd one.
-That said, the dual battery may be overkill depending on your power needs, i.e. I've got one in my LR3 b/c of the fridge and I've run one in my D1 before but not my current truck, even when she was running the fridge. At present I plan on putting the fridge back into it when it gets back to the US (the fridge) and just threw a microstart in the truck as insurance which will probably be enough. If you're not sitting 4-5 days at a time, I don't know that the dual battery is really needed.

-Over time you may want to ditch the TF setup, particularly the shocks. Others seem to have better luck but I was not impressed.

r-
Ray

 

[ColoDisco]

Nice! I miss my 98. Had the 4.6 swap.

 

[fishEH]

Nice score. BTW those wheels are called Boost wheels and the D90 guys really like them. So don't go scrapping them if you get steel wheels at some point.

 

[cbalthazor]

Ray_G- Thank you for the input. There wil probably be a quick respray of the two miscolored panels coming up here pretty quickly, fiance does not like the calico look, and said she'd even pay for it! I think the 2nd battery is indeed overkill, will probably only get some LED Amazon floodlights for camping, really. The terrafirma stuff seems ok, on discoweb I caught a conversaton where the TF Medium is basically OME Heavy... So, I think I will leave the TF Springs out for now and see how things go once the trucks weighted down

fisheh- Good catch, I would not have realized that. Steel wheels may be in the future, so I will remember this!



As for an update: I pulled the truck in to change the oil and oil cooler lines to SS Braided, and found the head gaskets leaking coolant at the water jacket (front sides) a bit more than I wanted. Since the timing was right, I tore it down to do the head gaskets. I included replacement of the timing chain, water pump, radiator, hoses/thermostat, and reseal of the front cover for good measure; old timing chain was definitely slack vs the new one. I did not do the cam, there was some initial wear but I felt as though it should run a good bit longer as is given modern oil's additives (and running 15/40). Preload on the lifters was in spec, so valve covers went on last night. Need to bolt on the intake and plenum, and then button up a few things... Should be back on the road by the end of this weekend!

 

[mjm10]

How did you mount the shelf system to the trunk?

 

[cbalthazor]

mjm10- The Disco 1's apparently have four threaded holes in the floor in the cargo area, I believe they are 7/16s fine thread. On the forward most holes, I used the below anchor. The hole conveniently drops down into the middle of the rear spring, so I jammed a wrench in there and then tightened up the anchor using a nut rather than the supplied wedge thing. All threads were sealed up using rtv to help prevent water intrusion. Then, used a turnbuckle to give some slight downward tension. On the rear most section, I had to make an offset piece out of steel, that first bolted to the floor and then allowed a bolt to go 'upwards' so that a nut/washer could secure it down. This was due to me wanting to get the most width out of the drawers, they fit pretty much wheel well to wheel well. I also wanted it to be relatively easy to get the drawers out, just in case the fuel pump decides it needs to be replaced in the field, and this set up really facilitates that- remove two turnbuckles and two bolts, the drawers, and you can lift the 'frame' out.

Handily enough, my 5 gallon water cans fit snugly on each side of the drawer system. While not the prettiest, it works for me and our use. The rear seats still fold down flat, they just require some careful manipulation to do so. Luckily, as well, when the seats are folded it is a fully flat platform!



Truck is back up and running, need to reseal the oil pan because I tried to sneak the front cover on using RTV- which did not work so hot. Other than that though, runs well and seems like a happy discovery! Can't wait to get back on the trails, and finish up the more fun parts of the build!

 

[ColoDisco]

The threaded holes are for cargo tie downs. You can get the D2 cargo loops from the dealer and just source 4 bolts at a hardware store like Ace. You will have to cut holes in the carpet to accommodate the loops. That's what I had in my 98.

 

[mjm10]

Thanks guys! I need to do this in my '90 RRC - which I don't believe has pre-existing holes.

 

[cbalthazor]

Thought I would update this thread, since our trip to Ashland, OR and then east to Antelope Hart Wildlife Refuge is now complete! Calico performed excellently, and averaged 13mpg on our journey which I was very pleased with, given the amount of gear we loaded up.

Prior to the trip, I completed replacement of the head gaskets, reseal of the front cover with new timing chain/sprockets, replacement of the oil pan gasket, and also the installation of braided SS oil cooler lines. I also added a Blue Sea fuse panel with a thermal circuit breaker, to act as the hub for electrical accessories. Front Runner Rack was built, and accessorized. Lastly, I also sanded down the hood so that I could paint it with chalkboard paint, to use as the guest book for our wedding. Lots of work to complete while also finishing prep for a wedding!

Loaded up at home, ready to depart for Ashland, Oregon. 6 hours of driving down I-5 to Ashland! (note, the oil leaks are not mine, rather some Subaru that normally parks there that belongs to a neighbor... Guess adding oil is a solution for some.)


Arrival in Ashland, view of the rover from the balcony at the hotel. After this glamour shot, we took off all of the external accessories and went to Table Rock near Medford, OR for an evening hike to check out the sunset. Lot's of surreal photos, including this one by our wonderful photographer Lindsey Bolling


Willow Witt Ranch, where our wedding took place. Only 30 minutes off of I-5 rests this gem of a Ranch!


After roughly four hours of driving east from Ashland, we arrived at Antelope Hart Refuge. This photo is taken near the entrance road, as we ascended into the Refuge. We set out on a quick hike in order to try and catch the sunset; and it was definitely getting quite chilly as the sun drifted nearer to and then below the horizon.


First Night of camping, showing our sweet setup utilizing solar LED camping lights on the awning.



Moved camp spots, and did a reorganization of the Disco. Way too much gear onboard from the wedding, including dress clothes and SUP's that we would use in Bend later in the week. Definitely will be trying to fit a waterproof case for some gear on the roof this winter.


Some gentlemen passing though on a Mountain Bike Tour labelled this as the most creative vehicle hammock setup they had seen. I did not think it was too elaborate, but nonetheless, here's a photo:


Hot Springs! First one is the developed springs, which was quite comfortable. Second is of the undeveloped spring, which is hot, so hot that it was really only tolerable for a few minutes.



After two nights at the refuge, we did a bit of exploring on our way our and traversed some rocky 4x4 roads until we were limited by vegetation. From there, we took Oregon 3-10 and eventually connected to the Oregon Outback Scenic Byway which took us to Bend, OR. We cracked, and rented a house in Bend so that we could enjoy the river and the SUP's we had along. What a juxtaposition to go from a remote refuge, to a relatively catered society. I definitely recommend Salmon Wraps from 10Barrel brewing if you swing through, they were a great snack after a long day of driving. Two days of being river rats in Bend, and we ventured back to Portland after a successful 8 days on the road. Would have loved to get more offroading in, but realistically with all of the gear we had, and being solo, I am quite happy with the gravel roads and highway we did. The Disco worked like a champ, can't wait to hit some trails this fall close to Portland and use it a bit more as a 4x4.

 

[sheep_dog]

Looks like a build thread I will be following! Glad to see its coming along quickly and all ready hitting the trails. :beer:

 

[Outono]

Those are not Safari Gard bumpers. I'm 99% sure those are built by Tactical 4x4.