We had a 51 plate D2 ES TD5 from new at work and while it was a vast improvement over the 200TDi D1 it replaced, it still drove like a truck. You didn't get the 4.6 V8 but you did get the 4.0 litre Thor, that's what BrianH runs. Unfortunately they are very few and far between as most people that wanted a V8 went for the P38 so most of them were the TD5 version. Much like the later D3, almost all have the oil burner and only a very few were sold with the 4.4 Jaguar/Ford V8.

To be fair the steering and general setup underneath is almost identical to the P38 apart from not having air bags on the front, quite a few D2's benefitted from ACE which transformed them into another league handling wise.

You also lose the chassis to rot on the D2, suffer with poorly designed sunroof that will leak when the rear end of the car is lower than the front, and the ACE system on a lot of them can be a bag of problems due to pipes rotting away I gather (not got ACE on mine but that seems to be what some end up scrapped for).

Personally I find the handling on the D2 hideous at times, though mine has coils on the back which probabbly doesn't help any. I've not been in one with aigbags. The other D2 I've been in was a sickly TD5 (Failed head gasket) and it seemed slightly more pokey than the p38 diesel I've been out in, though both seemed to be noisy and slow compared even to the D2 with the V8. I'm not sure the P38 diesel in that case is in the best condition it could be though, as it starts with cloud of smoke when warm so maybe that isn't the best one to judge it by. Owner doesn't seem to want to do anything about it, hes been driving it with a suspected blend motor fault for over a year, so heater is stuck on the hot position (for some reason my Nano won't connect to his hevac, it just sits there flashing as soon as you try, though it will connect to other modules just fine).

The Chassis on mine is a mixture of welded repairs, rust and oily bits up the front end. The p38 we have had on the lift and the difference between the state of the chassis on that (which is a 98 model so is older) and the chassis on my D2 is very noticable - slightly scabby in a couple of places, but nothing that you'd really worry about and could easily be sorted with a wire brush and some paint.

Of course some will have brought the D2 ES to get the extra seats in the back as well, an option that wasn't there for the p38.

My Dad had a couple of D2 ES’s that he bought new, I previously owned a D2 4.0 V8 ES, and whilst I was running a P38 my brother in law was running a D2 ES.

IMO, the D2 is a bit like a Defender with a nice interior. The P38 is much comfier inside it and is much quieter to munch miles in. ACE does cure the body roll but that’s about all I liked about them.

For some reason, D2’s rot horrendously compared to P38’s too.

David.

dhallworth wrote:

For some reason, D2’s rot horrendously compared to P38’s too.

David.

I gather they treated the chassis on the P38 (possibly galvanised it?) and didn't on the D2 to stick with Land rover traditions (like the series vehicles). So the body stays reasonably ok (except for the boot floor in my case, though that was minor compared to the issues the RR Classic or D1 have there) whilst the chassis rots from both inside and out. Supposedly something that BMW ownership made happen in the case of the P38?

We had 10 D2s at work and all were ES models with ACE, mainly because 6 of them had an 8m Clark pneumatic mast stuck through the rear sunroof. When they were being disposed off at least 3 of them sat waiting to be collected with their arses on the floor.....

P38 chassis isn't galvanised but the metal is very thick, unlike the chassis on a Classic or D1, and the D2 apparently, which is wafer thin. I always thought the Disco was a luxury Defender, aimed at the farmer who's wife wanted something a bit more presentable, the D1 certainly was.

I don’t know how an ACE/SLS D2 drives, as mine is non-ACE and non-SLS, but my P38 drives much nicer than my D2, especially at high speeds, and also when off-road. I really like both vehicles though.

Removed the headlining. Took 3 hours in total. Two of us ..... me and my 12 year old grandson (teenager in 2 months).
Most fittings removed without drama but two seat belt clips cracked. Otherwise OK.
A lot of time spent sussing out how how the fittings are clipped together. Disappointed the backing had to be bent to get it out of the car.

Next stage is repairing the backing and getting the orange foam residue off. Then the fun starts .... glueing the new headling on.

For cracked ABS bits, I've got a bottle of this stuff, https://www.amazon.co.uk/Plastic-Cement-Stick-Plastics-Weald/dp/B00QQNNWIW/. Paint it on with a small paintbrush and it dissolves the surface of the plastic and melts it back together. You can get the backing out without bending it but it does involve reclining the front seats, taking the headrests off, folding the rear ones and opening top and bottom of the tailgate so it can come out the hole diagonally.

Thanks Richard. i did all that ..... seats all reclined and head rests removed.
I think maybe I should have opened the bottom tailgate and forced the headlining down lower to prevent bending it.

I do 3d printing and ABS welding with heat or acetone is an easy to do.

I am not sure at this stage what the headlning backing is exactly made from. Will examine more closely tomorrow.
It looked like a fibreglass backing but not so sure now. I have a gallon can of epoxy, which I use for my wood turning, that I will can use.

IIRC it’s something like 2 thin sheets of fibreglass or kevlar with foam sandwiched between.

Thanks Harv. It is a bit friable around the edges and now has a few additional cracks where I bent it to get it out. It certainly looks like a composite material with a fibreglass backing. You can see the fibreglass matt. It is very thin.

I will scrub the orange foam backing off from the headlining material first. Then I am thinking of mixing some clear epoxy/hardener and just paint it on with a paint brush round the edges and on the back to beef it up. Should be an easy job says he.

I agree, it shouldn’t be difficult to repair. Unless it’s quite bad it probably doesn’t need much.

The headlining panel does, as Richard rightly says and I followed his advice, come out the tailgate. I had to remove all the boot area trim down to the wheelwell panel, and then gently bending the panel pulled it out.

Again, as Harv says, it is two thin sheets of fibreglass with foam sandwiched in between. I am sure that it is repairable using a car fibreglass kit. If you have experience of the old way of car repairing using fibreglass and Isopon then it should be easy enough.

What I would say is to take a lot of care if, and when, you repair the panel, and make sure that the downside-facing surface is absolutely smooth before you glue the material back on otherwise you will definitely see the edges afterwards. I have a small edge line showing beside one of the pull handles because, for some reason, the panel had a crack in it. The fibreglass wasn't actually broken but if you ran your fingers over the surface you could feel a slight difference.

I thought that this wouldn't be noticeable, as there wasn't a visible crack or split but you can see it if you look carefully.

The edges are a bit tricky, just try your very best to avoid the two fibreglass surfaces from seperating around the edge when cleaning off the old material. It comes apart very easily, and, unfortunately, the new material won't really pull it back together. The edges also need to be quite firm as they hold the roof panel in place by sitting in the door seals inner track.

My advice for the holes, for the grab handles, roof lights, and other bits is to cut an "X" in the material from the back surface, and make sure not to go too close to the edge of the hole, just to let the material pull through to be glued down on the back of the panel. I tried to be more "creative" with one such hole but it meant that the very corners didn't pull right through the hole onto the back. Fortunately, there is a reasonable edge around the fittings which will cover any small issues.

I found that the easiest way to get the rear reading lights back was to use one screw which was about twice the length of the original screw and let it pull the light fitting up to the plastic plugs in the roof. I think that the light fitting could break if you try pushing it too hard to get the original, short screws in place.

Also, the grab handles can take a fair bit of shoving to get them back in place. They have small lugs that push into a hole in the roof, but I found that I had the stick the screws onto a screwdriver and then, pulling the spring-loaded handle down, drive the screw into place. A bit a a pain but not too difficult.

The sunvisors are a bit of guesswork, but if you have cut a small hole for the mirror light cable then you should easily find one screwhole. Get one screw in, and you should be able to feel the hole through the roof panel by running your fingers across the material, and then push a screw through the material until you feel the screw hole in the roof.

I found that I had to bend the newly upholstered panel a little bit to get it back into the vehicle. But if one is gentle and wiggle it about a bit it goes in pretty easily. I think the best method of getting it into position without doing damage, especially if you like me have a sunroof, is to get the panel to sit in the rear passenger door seal track first. This will take the strain off the panel and give you time to get the front door seals done.

After that, refit all the pillar trim pieces. It should be easy enough to get a couple of replacement seat belt adjuster covers. I just made sure to wash [clean] the pillar trim pieces before refitting.

Good point. The flock coating on the pillar trims gets dirty, comes off in places and generally looks a bit crap. I cleaned mine off, initially with white spirit then found that warm soapy water and a plastic scraper works just as well. Once off it leaves a clean surface which initially I was going to cover with something as I noticed reflections from other cars lights in the shiny pillar trims. But, after a while I got used to it and have left them as they were.

Richard, I was fortunate in that my pillar trims cleaned up well with a bit of warm water and "Dodo Juice" Purple car shampoo ! I didn't scrub them too hard but rather wiped them firmly with a wet cloth. I had considered putting the roof material on them but when I trial wrapped the back door seat belt trim I felt that it was too thick and would almost certainly wear quickly, and then look awful.

Pierre3.

Hi Richard, I have sent you a PM, if you get a chance to have a look I would be most grateful.

Pierre3.

Wasted a day of my life that I will never get back.

Headlining job is ongoing. I cleaned off the foam backing by scrubbing with an industrial vacuum cleaner and a stiff brush attachment followed by a small wire brush. I then painted epoxy on one edge and clipped it with about 50 clothes pegs. Will finish it off over the next few days.
Thanks by the way for all the tips and advice. Much appreciated. It is good to hear from people who have done the job before.

Then my problems started. I thought it a good idea to run the engine to charge up the battery. Too late ... battery flat. I hadn't used it for 4 or 5 weeks. Put it on charge for a few hours. Would still not start.

Thought it had lost sync. Got the diagnostics out. EMS code was unchanged. Still would not start. Had a spare engine ECU on the bench. Swapped it over and changed the code. Still would not start.

My fuel gauge sometimes sticks on zero. Problem has been there for a bit and it seems to be a sticking float. Only this time I think it really was zero in the tank. Decided to put some diesel in from a full 20L jerry can. Seemed a lot heavier than I remember. LOL. Gauge goes up to about 1/4. Still would not start.

Starts pouring down.

Finished epoxy'ing the edge of the headlining. I just brushed it on after mixing and the laminate was held together with clothes pegs. Stiffened the edge up nice. Then stuck sound deadening panels to the inside of the roof and cleaned up some of the pillar trims.
Need to get some mates to help now with glueing the fabric.
Car will still not start. No diesel at the injectors and bubbles in the fuel line to the FIP.

Got myself a 3 door discovery V8 today