Before purchasing my '03 Discovery in July, I sold my 2004 Jaguar XJR that I drove for 4 years. Since I already had experience with unreliable English vehicles, I figured what the hell, why not build an offroader. I've always loved the Discovery.
I found one located in Parker, AZ (about 200 miles from my home in Scottsdale, AZ). The big red flag with the Facebook Marketplace listing for this Disco was that it said there were 64k miles on it. I had to call the seller to make sure he didn't leave off a 1 before that number.
He didn't. It really only had 63,993 original miles on it. He told me it was a drug seizure vehicle from 2010. It sat in a Sheriff department warehouse for 7 years, then in the blistering AZ sun for another 3. I immediately called in sick to work, loaded up the family and drove to Parker. The exterior was sun rotted and oxidized, but the interior was in excellent shape. It ran great because the seller installed new fluids, tires, battery, fuel pump, etc.
Best of all, no leaks. You read that right, no leaks (yet).
I forked over $4,500 dollars and it was mine. The truck did great on the 200 mile drive home, except the A/C didn't work (does now) and it was July and 115 degrees outside. That was a long hot ride.
I did the 60k mile service on it, replaced the front drive shaft, rear rotoflex, 180 degree thermostat, and new radiator (it was weeping a bit). I also confirmed it's way outside of the oil pump failure VIN range.
Next was addressing the exterior. Chalky Alveston Red is not a good look. Now, it's a budget build so I wasn't going to spend 5k to paint it, I didn't want a Macco crap paint job and Plastidip probably wouldn't last long. So, I Raptor Lined the whole truck Sarge Green in my garage. I was skeptical, but it turned out great. I'm not a fan of typical bed liner texture, so figured out a way to make it really fine and I'm happy with it. Still have to paint the door jambs but that'll come later.
Of course, I wanted to address the wheels and tires and get a lift, along with a huge list of other things (bumpers, rock sliders, etc, etc). Then @Blue listed his Disco for sale, which had everything I needed and he lives about a mile away. He's a great guy and we worked out a deal. Now I have 2 Discos. I did buy a front bumper before the deal, which I really like and will be keeping.
I'm almost done transferring the parts and it's really coming together. I have a few more days of work to go (probably more like weeks to have time for the CDL).
Anyway, that's the story of my '03 Disco so far.
I found one located in Parker, AZ (about 200 miles from my home in Scottsdale, AZ). The big red flag with the Facebook Marketplace listing for this Disco was that it said there were 64k miles on it. I had to call the seller to make sure he didn't leave off a 1 before that number.
He didn't. It really only had 63,993 original miles on it. He told me it was a drug seizure vehicle from 2010. It sat in a Sheriff department warehouse for 7 years, then in the blistering AZ sun for another 3. I immediately called in sick to work, loaded up the family and drove to Parker. The exterior was sun rotted and oxidized, but the interior was in excellent shape. It ran great because the seller installed new fluids, tires, battery, fuel pump, etc.
Best of all, no leaks. You read that right, no leaks (yet).
I forked over $4,500 dollars and it was mine. The truck did great on the 200 mile drive home, except the A/C didn't work (does now) and it was July and 115 degrees outside. That was a long hot ride.
I did the 60k mile service on it, replaced the front drive shaft, rear rotoflex, 180 degree thermostat, and new radiator (it was weeping a bit). I also confirmed it's way outside of the oil pump failure VIN range.
Next was addressing the exterior. Chalky Alveston Red is not a good look. Now, it's a budget build so I wasn't going to spend 5k to paint it, I didn't want a Macco crap paint job and Plastidip probably wouldn't last long. So, I Raptor Lined the whole truck Sarge Green in my garage. I was skeptical, but it turned out great. I'm not a fan of typical bed liner texture, so figured out a way to make it really fine and I'm happy with it. Still have to paint the door jambs but that'll come later.
Of course, I wanted to address the wheels and tires and get a lift, along with a huge list of other things (bumpers, rock sliders, etc, etc). Then @Blue listed his Disco for sale, which had everything I needed and he lives about a mile away. He's a great guy and we worked out a deal. Now I have 2 Discos. I did buy a front bumper before the deal, which I really like and will be keeping.
I'm almost done transferring the parts and it's really coming together. I have a few more days of work to go (probably more like weeks to have time for the CDL).
Anyway, that's the story of my '03 Disco so far.