I use this thread to introduce the other Money pit in my life ;)

My beloved MY1999 Land Rover discovery II TD5..

Bought in December 2018 as an early Christmas present to myself she was/is truly mint!!

Built in 1999 painted in Blenheim silver metallic with the offroad pack..

Bought with 177k and now on 185k it is a great thing to drive, and everything works...

I even bought it from a dealer a hundred yards away from her supplying dealer in Droitwich..
It was a great car to drive to and from Droitwich "where i was working" at the time 60mi there and back.

In the few months i had her an Alive stage II map and Turbo were fitted along with a few other things stock these things usually put out 136hp and 310nm with the map it takes it up to 170'ish HP and 390nm and she does go very well...

With her on the road i struggled to justify putting the P38 on the road..

However when leaving my workplaces carpark i decided to giver her some hoof and the flexplate shattered!!

so..

P38 back on the road and the TD5 lies in wait...

Anyway Lockdown blabbering on!!

I'm board! lol

I'm gonna drop the autobox off next week "hopefully"

Anyone else LOL

We had a 51 plate Disco 11 TD5 at work and while it was a vast improvement over the 200TDi Disco 1 it replaced, I would never have described it as great thing to drive. Not in the same league as the P38 even when it was straight out of the showroom. It was the ES spec too as all our company vehicles had to have air con, central locking, etc and it was cheaper to get the ES spec than a base model and have them fitted as options.

My other toy is about as far removed from the two P38s as could be, it's this:

Built in 1988 according to the VIN plate, but not registered until 1990 (so sat around in a field or in a dealers for a very long time). 2.8 litre, twin turbo V6 with overhead camshafts and 3 valves per cylinder (two inlet and one exhaust) and produces something in the region of 260 bhp. Not that much by modern standards but weighing only 1150 kgs, with a 60/40 weight distribution biased to the front and fitted with a Limited Slip Diff but none of this traction control or ABS nonsense. That makes it very tail happy so needs treating with a great deal of respect in anything other than ideal conditions. Turbo lag caused by the length of the pipes between the turbos mounted low down on either side of the engine blowing up to the top middle mounted throttle body via two intercoolers in front of the radiator and an auto box means it creeps up and bites you about a second after you hit the throttle. Turbo lag and kickdown are an interesting combination.... The auto box is the ZF 4HP22 identical to that fitted to the Range Rover Classic and the non-electronic version of the gearbox in the 4.0 litre and diesel P38. Turbos are Japanese IHI watercooled units. It also costs a fortune to run, averaging 20mpg on Super Unleaded.

I bought it 13 years ago with the intention of running it for a while, sorting out the wonderful Italian electrics so things worked when you wanted them to all the time rather than as and when they felt like it and selling it on in the spring when people wanted a convertible. Although I sorted the electrics (13 dry solder joints in the fusebox alone wasn't helping), I never got around to doing much more other than taking it for an MoT every so often and using it. Recently decided I needed to do something with it, as it's pretty surplus. We've got Dina's Merc SLK when we need an open top sports car and I've got a 600cc Yamaha for when I want to scare myself to death. I've fully overhauled the brakes, replaced the steel pipes with Kunifer, tried (and failed) to buy a pair of front brake hoses (no longer available from Maserati) so bought Goodridge braided hose and fittings and made them up. About a fiver cheaper than original rubber ones would have been too.

There's a leak from the power steering rack so that has got to come off and I'll need to source some suitably sized seals to replace the ones that are obviously worn out. The interior, all wood, leather and suede is a bit tired but should clean up pretty well while the hood has a couple of splits and could do with replacing. Hood is available from a company in the US but I'll likely leave that for a new owner to deal with. There's the odd scabby bit under the paint as can be seen on the bottom of the front wing (the other side is the same but on the rear wing too) but it was Dinitrol treated when new so is far better than you would expect from an Italian car.

A nice little project to keep me busy during lockdown......

Apart from my wife's 02 plate Golf GT TDI which she absolutely loves (and frankly, it's all the car you really need 360 days of the year) my other charge is a 1997 Jeep Cherokee XJ which I may have mentioned on occasion:

That's it freezing its nuts off outside my old house, ready to go to work. There's something very reassuring about the XJ as it has nothing too complex and everything you need. Live axles, ABS, 2WD, 4WD, Low range and comfy seats. Great heating and aircon too (the yanks can do aircon!)
Lots of bits can break - mainly wires as the harness isn't great quality - but the aftermarket support is amazing. Sadly it's all in the USA so shipping kills it but I love mine. If I had to take someone to hospital, that is the vehicle I'd take.

Mine was converted to LPG by a total dickhead using the wrong tanks and old LPG kit. By the time I bought it, the reducer had gone and the injectors were knackered. It barely ran on LPG at all. It has since been re-converted by another company local to me and then taken to Simon to actually finish the job properly. As ever, I should have just taken it to Simon in the first place!

The engine is the amazing AMC 4.0 litre, affectionately known in the Jeep community as the 4.slow as it puts out between 180 and 210 BHP depending on age and emissions spec. It's plenty for a relatively light vehicle like the XJ which weighs around 1420kg wet. For comparison that's almost 800kg lighter than a P38!! The 4.0 (or 232 cu in if you prefer) is a straight six with 7 main bearings, iron block, iron head and pushrods. It's fuel injected and pre 2000 they run on a distributor. Simple, reliable and re-buildable. Jeep made 6 million of the things and they run pretty much forever. They were killed off in the UK with the 2002 model year like so many classic engines (including our fave V8) :(

To drive, the XJ is nothing like a P38a and not what you'd expect from the outside. It's light, peppy off the line and corners flat. It's also noisy, jiggly and much smaller inside - although I'm OK at 6'4" in the front, rear space is much more limited. The brakes, when in good condition, are Perfectly.... acceptable :) It has rear drums which are a pain in the arse like all drum brakes I've encountered. There's a hiliarous self adjustment facility which needs you to rock the car back and forward a couple of feet 10 times. It works and sharpens up the rears, until you don't bother for a few months and the auto-adjusters seize again.
For towing it is plated at 3250kg which I probably wouldn't exceed without a rear disk brake conversion (you just slap on the rear disks/calipers from a ZJ)

Transmission is the bombproof AW-4 as used in many other trucks including contemporary Toyotas which makes it a bit easier to get service parts. It's a 4 speed. No modes in my year. TC locks up at about 45mph and that's it. The only pain is the lack of a 1 setting. The 2 setting is the lowest and you can sometimes get a fierce downshift when using engine braking. It's not exactly a crippling fault. If you're towing, use 3rd as it's the 1:1 ratio. All UK spec XJs that I've seen came with a transmission cooler. I did have some funky shifting in mine at about 165,000 which was solved with new transmission solenoids for about £70 for the set of 4.

The whole thing is relatively OK on cost. 20mpg UK is the offical stat, which is bearable on LPG. I got just over 50k from a set of General Grabbers, using 235/75r15 which are one size bigger than stock and look better :)

So, that's it!

In the last few years we've cycled through a few. There was a 2017 Astra that we moved on from through boredom. It was perfectly functional, no faults but it was just so dreary it had to go.

In its place we had a 2003 Freelander that was utterly disastrous. It cost well over it's purchase price in repairs in the 12 months we had it. Worst car I've ever had the misfortune to travel in let alone own.

We've settled on this pair along with the Range Rover. After the shocker of the Freelander we decided we wanted some warranty for peace of mind with our daily drivers.

Technically my girlfriend's car but I get to drive it lots too. I've probably put just under half of its 4000 miles on it. It's great fun. 1.5 litre engine, around 130bhp bit it's so light it feels like you're flying.

This next one is my daily driver.

70+mpg, plenty quick enough, free road tax and nice and comfy. It's everything you expect of a Honda without suffering the dreary boredom of a Vauxhall Astra. Fancy clever rear seats are amazing with a toddler too. Can fit so much stuff in the back of it!

This is the reason we got our first 4x4!

My Dad had an XJ Morat..

I remember them being a great car - S568KNK - Dead now i think, twas a funky shade of purple..

Ah yes, the colour that people go to great lengths to describe as anything but "Murple" in ads.
It looks good in person though :)

My XJ is Gunmetal Pearl which is nice enough but needs US levels of sunlight to really show the pearlescent paint. Most of the time it looks light grey but in strong sunlight it looks very dark grey and is actually gunmetal to look at.
My favorite colour was the Green we had on our first Jeep. IIRC it was Moss Green which was metallic/pearlescent and showed a very restrained sort of bronze under the green when the light hit it right. The only pic of that Jeep I can find is of the dogs and the jeep is filthy.
Try post #32 on this forum :) https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f46/96-moss-green-pearl-i-love-gas-guzzling-97813/index3/

Don't know what model it was but a few years ago my neighbour was buying a caravan and asked me what I thought he should buy to tow it. As it was at the time we had the TD5 Disco at work I told him to get one of those. So he went out and came back with a Jeep Cherokee of some description. Went away with the caravan for a weekend and came back with a howling rear diff so he went back to the dealers that he'd got it from, a specialist 4x4 dealers. They agreed that the diff was shot and asked if he'd been towing with it. When he said he had, the response was that while they look like they should be good for towing they aren't really up to it. They refunded his money, he added a bit to it and came away with a TD5 Disco.......

My TD5 towed/tows very well only issue is on the Auto the TQ stall is 2800rpm so it's revving the balls off itself almost all the time!!

I've got a V8 Disco 2, and have ridden in the TD5 one and found the TD5 was much noiser and seemed to need reving constantly to get it to go anywhere than the V8. Drives with a trailer on the back with no issue at all, nothing like the weight that Richard puts on it but its like theres nothing on the back unless you check in the mirror.

Gilbertd wrote:

Don't know what model it was but a few years ago my neighbour was buying a caravan and asked me what I thought he should buy to tow it. As it was at the time we had the TD5 Disco at work I told him to get one of those. So he went out and came back with a Jeep Cherokee of some description. Went away with the caravan for a weekend and came back with a howling rear diff so he went back to the dealers that he'd got it from, a specialist 4x4 dealers. They agreed that the diff was shot and asked if he'd been towing with it. When he said he had, the response was that while they look like they should be good for towing they aren't really up to it. They refunded his money, he added a bit to it and came away with a TD5 Disco.......

He probably made the mistake of buying a post 2001 "Cherokee" known as the Jeep Liberty or KJ in the US.
They're the Freelander of the Jeep world.

I'm no shed-dragger but the XJ is a reasonable tow car for caravan type loads (like 2000kg) according to what I've read. I'd still take the P38 for a big load.

Pic has appeared elsewhere, but here are my twins - 50th Defender and 50th RR. I've had the Defender 15+ years, and it gives me very little trouble although I'll need to get a new rear x member at some point - or when I retire maybe I'll just rebuild it on a new chassis. The Defender has a 4L GEMS and '22 auto box - so there's a lot of synergy with the RR. They're both 1998, and both Atlantis Blue - which is a pearlescent blue-green, and looks awesome in the sun (if they're clean)

Always wanted a matching pair of LR's.

I had the choice of a MC blue D2, but it was a V8 and i couldn't justify the 16mpg thirst without LPG..

In retrospect, i should of bought it, as just after i bought the diesel one the company i worked for gave me the sack!!! LOL

My other car is a Volvo V60 diesel hybrid. I wanted a car that would tow 2 tonnes as a back up to my p38.
Very cheap to run (excluding maintenance costs). It will average 52 mpg on a 100 mile run and 40 mpg round town.
The first 30 miles are on battery. I can get the equivalent of 4.2 battery charges for the price of a gallon of diesel or 126 mpg in theory. 90% of my journeys are on battery. Zero road tax and £360 fully comp insurance. 300 bhp !

I've got to many cars really...

A Pair of 2002 Vogue SE P38's... (There's a 4.6 HSE that I don't have any pictures of too)

A 1998 Citroen Xantia Activa V6 (Has hydraulic rams instead of drop links so there's never more then 0.5 degrees of body roll) In the UK we only ever got a 2.0 Turbo which I didn't like so mine was converted to a 3.0 V6 24v manual in 2014. Currently covered 56k miles. She only gets taxed for the summer months.

A 2000 Citroen XM V6 Exclusive - One of the last V6 XM's off the production line. Currently sitting on 53k miles. She only gets taxed for the summer months.

A 2010 Peugeot 407 Coupe 3.0 HDI (Only around 40 in the UK as 3.0 HDI) Remapped and running 300bhp.

A 2012 Citroen C6 3.0 HDi Exclusive (On 25 3.0 HDI in the UK so I went to France for mine)

A 2014 Jaguar XFR (510bhp, RWD, stupidly quick impulse buy... seemed a good idea at the time)

A 1954 Ferguson TEF 20.

And the one I never should have sold...

A 2006 Range Rover Supercharged. The previous owner spent £7k on it in 2013 doing a 2012 facelift on the car...

You got a few cars David

I really like the XM!!

Seems we're mostly a bunch of masochists. I ran Citroens for years, a Bijou, an ID19 Safari, two DS21 Pallas, a DS21 basic (that was converted to Pallas with the trim out of one of the others), a DS23 EFi a CX2200 and a CX2400 Estate. The D series were mechanically bulletproof, although the hydraulic suspension gave some interesting times. A rusted through pipe filled the boot with LHM fluid and a snapped pushrod on the rear caused the suspension piston to overtake me down the road and the motorcyclist I'd just overtaken to go bright green from the cloud of vapourised LHM. However, after finding that the CX rusted just as badly as the DSs did, I moved away from them to something completely different for a while.

I've never owned anything simple, always going for things that have a reputation for either unreliability, incredibly complex or being a pig to work on. I once told someone I owned a P38 and a Maserati Biturbo. He asked how I had sex, standing up in a hammock maybe?

Having to work on both of them requires some good flexability and a sense of balance...

So eh?

Was he right Richard?!

Could coin that as a new position for that fangled book on how to bend in certain positions during sex...

LOL

I'm glad to say I came from 6 BMWs in a row. 4 E30s, and E39 and an E46. Sadly they're as electronically opaque as anything else now. I don't understand the fear of P38s now that Nanocom is available.

Of all of them, this is the one I miss the most:

Although this was fun, and at the time FWD was all I knew:

Damn - I really am the odd one out on this round! I've only ever owned P38s!

1995 4.6HSE to start, then a 1998 4.6HSE, and now the 2001 4.6 Vogue.

Add onto that the 1998 4.6 and the 2000 4.6 Vogue sitting at my workshop awaiting me to get my butt into gear and get them road worthy again...

I think you can see the pattern here....