Project Discovery // Part 1 - Purchase & Inspection 

I don't know if you agree, but the more damage and work for you, the more entertainment and joy for us 😁

"I need a car, not a project". Looking forward to seeing this project...

The plan: I intend to focus on the Discovery until it is road safe and not disgusting to sit in. I don’t want this project to displace the Series 3 restoration any more than it needs to. Fact is, we have two old (not that old!) BMW’s, and all of my spare time was being consumed fixing BMW problems instead of working on the Series 3 anyway. When the red BMW’s gearbox decided it didn’t want to shift properly, I was done. F that car. Literally bought this Discovery the same day the BMW broke. Long term, the Discovery might be mint - but the initial focus is just to fix any problems and make it good for the road. That way I can push at least one of our BMW’s off a cliff. Then focus will be back on the Series 3. I post images of what I’m working on via Instagram stories. Follow me there if you want to see what’s going on in real time.

I like the idea of "keep it forever" I also want to refresh an older tired car and use it daily

I've had a few of these and it's like fixing up a house. Start with the roof as that's the main contributor to the corrosion. All of the glass bits leak, especially the safari windows and the top of the windscreen. Land Rover must have made the seals on the roof bars out of water soluble material as they just disappear without a trace. All that said I have a massive soft spot for the Disco and look forward to the teardown. No point kidding yourself Geoff, you can't avoid the inevitable. 😉

"Saving the planet by recommissioning Rover V8s". I'm completely down with that - I've got two of them now. Marvellous engine. If you can't have a Rolls-Royce Merlin, it's the next best thing.

We choose to restore this Discovery in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.

Lovely, looking forward to see more of this non-project!

Saving the planet by reconditioning v8s. Best line ever. Looks like a good project.

quote: "i need a car not another project", well what you have there is another project, i've had a few of these and regularity is the word i would use for work required. looking forward to videos on this :D

Well done on your purchase. I look forward to seeing its rebirth. My first car was a 1954 86 Land Rover. It was in similar condition to your purchase. It had been used for beach fishing on the NSW Northern coast. Rust in the chassis cross members, no brakes, an engine that was well beyond its use buy date. But it had a really great hardtop made of plywood and skinned in fibre glass which made it quite quiet. It was great for Scout camps etc but I eventually had to have the engine reconditioned. This was totally screwed up by the reconditioner as he put the centre main bearing in backwards thereby blocking the oil to the big end bearings. He fixed it and the second time IT WAS THE SAME. Third time lucky. I sold it and bought a 1968 SWB ex government. It was great. These days I am in my 70s and I have a Disco 2 Td5 which I bought for AU$6000. It only had 211,000 km on it and has been remarkably good so far. I have now owned it for three years. Apart from a diesel pressure regulator it has been really good. Best of luck with your Disco 2. We had one at one stage. It was great. Mike in Oz

1:20 British automotive industry slogan

This channel is highly underrated

Fantastic ride, cannot wait for the fixing series!!

I like the factory installed rain roofs and the sprinkler system around the windows. Goes well with the green house effect of the windows, really. Perfect for growing... stuff. Don't worry about the 120 grit sanding. It'll buff right out.

Its a damning statement for BMW when a disco is a better replacement! Looking forward to seeing more though, I had to sell my disco for scrap as it was more holes than floor sadly.

Good to see another old battler being ‘re-commissioned’. I did similar to you; bought an ‘89 RR Vogue which looked immaculate in pics. Flew in and was not impressed. It overheated on the 8 hour drive home but got me back nonetheless. It too had rust and many issues but I restored it and passed it on to the next vict….I mean enthusiast. At least I was more honest with my description. Cheers mate. 👍🏻🙏🦘🙈

I appreciate this video so much, very funny. I bought a 95 discovery 1 that sat since 2009 and was about to be scrapped. Naturally as a great husband does I bought it and had it towed to our house without telling my wife. Im about 4k into it and counting. I've gone through all the same rust, leak, electrical issues or and cannot forget the mice that turned it into a home during that decade of sitting. I've never spent so much time fixing and diagnosing on any other car in my life. The forums online have been a lifesaver. At first I was frustrated when I ran into issues but now when I fix something I'm like okay bring it on, whats next. Definitely a love hate relationship but I won't get rid of it, it's truely a great ride.

Love it, the amount of daily drivers you could of bought is enormous, yet you went for a 30 year old V8 Land Rover. I approve very much👍😊.

Love it! Certainly a Disco 1 fan! I own two and love them and hate them, haha. Always something to keep you busy!

About 4 months ago I bought a patrol MK from 1989 and I perfectly understand you. I'm still working about the "Not disgusting to sit on"....

My uncle worked at Land Rover when these were being made. At the point in the assembly process when they were fitting those rear side windows, they often found the body wasn't square so they would gently reverse the car into a piece of 4x4 braced against the factory steelwork. Apparently they had to use this piece of wood so often that it had its own part number and was checked in and out of the stores.

What a fantastic purchase! It looks virtually factory fresh! 😂 Can't wait to see it nursed back to health - it's going to be a brilliant series of videos!

Black Sheep!!! One of NZ’s best ever movies. As a suffix D RRC with a 300tdi/R380/LT230 in it owner here, good luck.

This is so.. bizarre for me. Whole car floor rusted and classic Land Rover response: "that's not bad" 😂

Love your videos. I sure enjoy watching someone else work on these old Land Rovers. 😀

The Morris Marina door handles; priceless!

Good luck with your project. I bought a 1993 disco 200tdi and did what you are doing. Discovering rust. Drove it for 8 years until wife got trashed by a walking tree. 😅

Hi great to see you back I had one in similar condition it can all be fixed . Mine the engine was completely sludged up I took some off inlet manifold off soaked for a week with degreaser steam cleaned down through top of engine reassembled flush the oil a few times replace air flow meter and ran for two years until I sold it . Speaking from experience I fear for your San. Seriously good luck.

I've worked out that I'm incapable of just fixing up vehicles. I can't stop myself going into full restoration mode. Hopefully you're not like me. Fun project car. Definitely interested to follow.

Started this process 17 years ago… Ironically, the drainage holes in the floor (for when you are wading) let in the water and the foam underlay holds onto the water really well. I ditched the carpets, plugged the holes, and it was dry for evermore. The boot floor patch is there because the water migrates to the back when you drive forward! So it just rusts through. Got fed up of patching and so cut out the floor and put in a new one.

Lol, My day just got to feel so much less complicated 👍 Just love your videos, thank you sir 😀

Congrats on your Discovery! I had a 96 D1 here in Kenya with a 300tdi/5speed. I loved it to pieces but rust was the death knell of it. The chassis was perfect but the body was beyond repair. Check the area under the windscreen/upper firewall/bulkhead, front floors, rockers and inner sill panels. The area of the roof around the alpine windows also rots (one of the only steel exterior panels). Also the upper door frames, as you already Discovery-ed. Mine would have required an entire new body shell and in the end I sold it for more than I bought it for and moved on to the next project.

Yesssss. I can't wait to follow this build.

I just notified the colored text on the thumbnail. Nice touch. Excited to watch this thing restored to (near) perfection!

I really like your project. Fingers crossed all the vital systems hang in there while you sort the most pressing issues out one by one.

This will be interesting! Great purchase, welcome to the Car Hoarders Association. 🙂

Nice Geoff, You need to check behind the plastic kick panels in the footwells for rust, I’ve got 2 slightly newer dead discos that are similar condition as yours. Both have footwell issues (read that as gaping holes) that sort of sneaks up on people cause no-one looks there until water stuffs up the relays, wiring etc and no-one ever cleans the mud from behind the plastic inner guard. The clock has a lamp behind it, I’ve never been able to keep one of those lit up for very long either.

Can’t wait to see the process and the final outcome!

Currently daily a D1, looking at doing a bit of rust repair and stumbled across this series and channel they are great! Thanks for making the videos.

For an old discovery 200 I’d say you’ve got a pretty solid one compared to the ones I’ve seen in the UK! Most have been scrapped now because of rot or the valuable 200tdi engine which made great conversions in anything Land Rover!

Never seen a pre-airbag Discovery interior. Fascinating. Looking forward to seeing this one fixed up! Always loved sitting in the jump seats in my mom's Disco as a kid. Forgot about those.

Bugger, now I’ll be checking every day for the next episode.

Off topic; seeing that I see Air NZ.. The preflight safety video Air New Zealand puts out had me laughing as I absolutely did not expect to see naked flight attendants with painted-on “clothes” on the video screen. Definitely had my attention! Something like that definitely wouldn’t fly in the US hahaha!

looks good , hope it works out well for you and i will follow any progress with interest, thanks for your humurous and informative vids. Cheers

Nice motor, I miss my 300TDI Discovery 1 very useful and practical car. Stuff Greta, the fact that your keeping a car on the road rather than buying a new one has to be better. Maybe we can get conversion kits for hydrogen or hybrid power in the future, Looking forward to seeing yuo work on this one too.

I daily my 96 300TDI disco. 450k on the clock. Super reliable only had the motor out twice in the last 60k.

ca-CHUNK '...Perfect', Congrats on the Disco, wear well! Lovely to see you in front of the lens a bit more, great little addition to the video. This rover may need its own patreon tier 😂

I was getting worried for a minute the upbeat dance/rock was not going to feature. Your videos are truly superb.

I bought a brand new one of these in the day, loved it..solid machines..

Hi 👋🏻 buddy. It’s going to be a great journey with you lol 🤣 At least there’s plenty of parts for LR discos 😊🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

We want more from this Discovery project

As usual very entertaining, can’t wait for this projects next episode!

Boy... I truly enjoy your videos. I hope this restoration give tons of good content for us. And help to boost your channel

looking forward this! I have a P38 Rover that was in rough shape when I got it (but no rust). I drove it every day and wrenched on it every weekend for the first year I owned it. So many electrical issues! After about a year of wrenching it actually became very reliable and its now my favorite car!

Lol. LOVED your final comments I have a forever D2 as well Good luck have fun

So pleased to see another Land Rover on the channel! I wish literally any Discovery here in the UK looked like that! Over here that would be concours! As I'm sure you're aware, the door lock problem is most likely to be the little spring s

You is a fan gentleman to watch....Came for the rover stayed for the delivery

The hand print is GOLD ! Can you leave that in please ? 🤣 Good luck with it.

HELL YEAH!!! Excited to see the work!!!

I’d go the full Peter Anderson on the seats you know. Get them sparkling clean and you’re grand!

For 1993 and 260K's I reckon it's pretty darn good. Well worth saving. Never had a Discovery but my mate had a really old and rusty V8i that was so comfortable and wafted along. Terrific ride and great soundtrack so I can really understand the appeal. Good on you for saving it.

Cant wait to see what you do with it

Love the video's, can't wait for more..🤗

This is going to be very interesting

really looking forward to this. I too bought a 95 Disco 1 and am planning on making it my forever daily driver. Mine has rust in the rear pan and I"m going to spend more than the car cost to replace it. Halfway through doing the engine gaskets and replacing tired tubing. Can't wait to see more videos

Love the video. Can’t wait to see the next

I bought a 95 Disco during the pandemic and drove it from Salt Lake City, UT to Irvine, CA in the summer with a freshly broken foot. It's my daily with 225,000 miles on it. Good luck with this one.

Hello! Good to see you again!

hahahaa my favorite part of the story is the desperate decision making process, in which you buy a rusty old land rover because you NEED a reliable vehicle immediately lol. You have no idea; I had a broken down other old car and needed something to tow, cross country! I made mine (in good engine shape but not nice general shape) tow a loaded sedan and heavily loaded rover with a a loaded old school car topper over 1000 miles, straight! only stopping for gas every ten minutes, for like 15 hours (well, that was the second leg of the trip; the first was about 350 miles through terrible winter weather, not towing anything). This was all after I stayed in a hotel for like a week, after purchasing - completely desperate because it immediately was killed by the cold and didn't start after purchasing (! so I thought I was scammed lol!) then after I had the starter replaced, it quit starting again like a day later! (I thought I was scammed and bought a lemon again); finally they replaced the starter solenoid as well and after like over a week in hotels and multiple towing fees..finally I had a starting 98' Discovery1 (auto, gas).. and it still is an old smelly truck that I need to not be a project! (I hilariously have the same decision making, desperate, non-project tendency lol). cheers. (but I was in an even more desperate situation stranded at a hotel with a u-haul and a dead car and all my stuff BEFORE I decided the rover was my ticket to security and luxury, and towing capacity...and sticking it to U-haul by not paying like $2,000 just to rent a moving truck to tow my damn other old car and like $3k worth of stuff...And it worked! And I was not sane or healthy enough to make a youtube video about any of it, but the plan worked and I got home with a discovery to slowly try to refurbish and drive in the meantime while I fix my other non-project car that overheated and needs an engine.

Thank you for making me laugh. I absolutely loved this. Really looking forward to seeing you fix it all.

Excited for this!

Awesome Geoff. Looking forward to weekly videos for the next two years on this. Take the seats and carpet out and power wash them.

I have always loved the idea of owning a Discovery. I enjoy camping and generally getting out of the city. I couldn't afford one, so I ended up with an Isuzu Trooper until I couldn't easily get parts. I hope you document your clean-up of the Disco on RU-vid. It will be fun to see what I missed out on. 🙂

He's back! I'm so happy!

Nice one Geoff. I am strangely interested in old discos too. Looking forward to seeing how this works out.

Cannot wait to see what you make of this it! Plenty of entertainment for us!!

More LR restorations is a good thing. Especially since they are hard to come by on YT. Big thanks and hello from the states.

Can't wait for your engine fixes, that's next on my list for my 89 rangie. The lack of rust on the sills underneath is impressive.

I can't wait to see what surprises lay beneath. Hopefully not too too many.

Ooooo... Looking forward to more of this!!!

I'd order the full over-haul kit for the front axle now... Never known one that age that didn't need it if it hadn't been done! Have fun ... sometimes miss my Disco ... but two 110's is more than enough trouble!

It was fun to watch

Just something about these old Discovery Is. We had one in the early 2000s and bought another about three years ago. Refreshed all the hoses and fluids, fixed some electrical issues and now use it for errands. The window seals were always crap, lucky Land Rover Tampa replaced all our originals just before the warranty ran out. Our new one has the originals so I just park it in the pole barn.

Really excited for this, not too bad of a purchase I reckon. It seems like all 90s real 4x4 are going up in value at least here in France. It might not be a money pit, specialy if you make it tidy. Cheers

Looking forward to this 👍

HE’S ALIVE!!!!

Love crocker and his channel. Probs my favs. You have defo bought another project but HAY! This guy has my sense of humer and also my failed love of beautiful (shit box) LR's. I myself bought my old P38 back and regretted it instantly, but as said; I'm in deep and she's staying this time. Can't wait buddy to see what you have in store for us. TOP content. 👌👍💪

LOL I love your videos. You're hilarious and fun. Hope you film some of the fixing up.

Dude I always laugh my ass off watching your vids, Such a great youtuber man. Keep it up!

I'm completely expecting it to get out of control. and I am here for it.

I have a 97 Disco. It's one of my favorite vehicles to drive. It's a lot of fun. But It's been an endless nightmare and a money pit to keep fixing. It literally just sits there most of the time because there's always something wrong, and stuff still just breaks sitting there on it's own lol. Good luck! That's all I'm saying.

Ah yeah new video!

Love the '93 discovery, specially the front end. Mine is half the v8 and all original powertrain. Needs a few bits specially in the gearbox department but it's in good running order and with only 2 big rust spots in the floor panels. Take care of your fluid levels and it will go anywhere.

I had the exact same vehicle and same colour, but a 1991 model, the first year of the fuel injected but it was 3.5 litre not the 3.9. I preferred the 3.5 because they were far less prone to cylinder liners coming loose, (which happened to my later series 2 Disco) one thing you didn't check rot wise was the rear outboard seat belt mountings on the wheel arch as they are notorious for pulling right out of the arch. I know you have got a fair way along with this project and I as yet don't know what you have found. I owned my series 1 Disco for 11 years and ended up welding it from one end to the other. As for the steering, mine when I got it used to 'Dive' around the corners. You turned the wheel say coming onto a reasonable sized roundabout and all of a sudden the side you were turning to the front wing would dive down halfway round the corner. That I cured by putting Pollybushes in the front axle mounts in the longitudinal arms and also at the end of the arms at the body mount and the pan hard rod bushes. A bit of work but by god that totally transformed the handling. I later pollybushed all the rears suspension then the car would go round corners as fast as you like and as if it were on rails. The only thing limiting then was the tyre grip. I'm going to watch your series now and see what you find! By the way are you related to Geoffrey Croker? I followed his series 3 was it rebuild?

Awesome, always liked the early disco's too. Be interested in your comment regarding the background for the purchase!

I love your commentary 😁😁😁😁😁

Not surprised the top sealant on the rear quarter panel is pretty average. Making that seam look good is hard work. That dipstick you checked is the gearbox not the transfer case

Love it!

That's great news! You've already fixed the clock! What a deal, $3000 for reliable transportation with a 30 year resume