89 LC FJ62 or 04 Disco II (1 Viewer)

[SadaJones]

Expecting a bunch of flak for this question however have found two extremely great condition options (mentioned in the title)for my first overland rig.
The FJ62 is fully set up for off road/ mint, everything you can think of except it coming with a tent or canopy. geared right to the 35" tires on it, v8 etc. Bottom line pretty much good to go but probably will need new tires by winter.
The 04 Disco II is well below 75k miles and literally mint and all stock except stereo upgrade.
89 cost is about $8k more than the 04.
I am leaning towards the FJ62 but I am toying with the idea of being able to add/make mods to the Disco.
I would appreciate the communities thoughts on which one they think I should get, pros/cons.
Thank you in advance.

 

[Boss Hog]

Expecting a bunch of flak for this question however have found two extremely great condition options (mentioned in the title)for my first overland rig.
The FJ62 is fully set up for off road/ mint, everything you can think of except it coming with a tent or canopy. geared right to the 35" tires on it, v8 etc. Bottom line pretty much good to go but probably will need new tires by winter.
The 04 Disco II is well below 75k miles and literally mint and all stock except stereo upgrade.
89 cost is about $8k more than the 04.
I am leaning towards the FJ62 but I am toying with the idea of being able to add/make mods to the Disco.
I would appreciate the communities thoughts on which one they think I should get, pros/cons.
Thank you in advance.

I currently have a 5 speed FJ60, and gave my brother a '94 Land Rover Discovery 1 (in exchange for a locked '94 Toyota extended cab longbed truck). I had the 60 and the Disco at the same time for a couple of years.

The engine in the Disco was a swapped in 4.6l V-8 that was standard in Later model Range Rovers and Discoveries. I had it serviced regularly at the local Land Rover guru in Golden. I put about $2500 in electrical repairs into it. But the engine itself he felt was very strong. Bulletproof in his words. And in the 2+ years I owned it, the only problems it gave me were electrical.

I loved driving both-but for different reasons. The Disco was awesome in the snow and reasonably comfortable on longer trips. The "command" seating position is awesome. I love how high I would sit. The 60 continues to be my huntin'/fishin/camping/sport UTILITY vehicle. I've hauled lumber and soil and dead birds and bloody dogs in it. I've offroaded the 60. Never went in the dirt with the Disco.

If the weather was snowy or hot, I'd drive the Disco. I'd hop in the 60 every other time.

So which one would I choose if I were you? If it's your daily driver, then the Discovery. So much nicer to live with. You're going to dump money into either with repairs over time. The biggest difference is when I've had to do field repairs on the 60, it was relatively straightforward. The Disco would leave me scratching my head. Now, LR guys will say all the info is available on the internet just like it is for Toyotas.

I miss my Discovery. But I love my 60. Lemme know what you decide.

Incidentally, I shipped the Disco to my brother. He LOVES it. 1st day of driving it to work, he gets the key stuck in the fuel filler door. Day 3, the water pump goes out. And he STILL loves the thing...

 

[SadaJones]

Thank you I appreciate your response. I'm leaning towards a disco at this point as i keep seeing ridiculously over priced LCs. I won't go into it but just fed up with flippers/dealers for that matter some private sellers as well expecting a mint for them. Unfortunately now seeing Disco IIs at dealerships, no mods but under 100k miles, for high teens and 20k prices. I'm new to this so its a steep learning curve. Also the 89 was not really a good comparison to a disco II. Ideally looking for a 95-97 fj80 or a 2004 Disco II.

 

[Land949Cruiser]

Good Luck with that!

 

[D21FJ60]

In new england i've checked the CLs there since everything is like 3-4 hours from each other, and it seems you can find 100 series cruisers for sub $5k, 60 series are hard to come by and 80s will be under $10k. Lots more discos than down in the DC area where I live, but remember the discos had rear frame rot BAD, although anything will up there.

I honestly considered a disco II when time came to buy, but had wanted a cruiser of my own for 10 years so did that.
I'm always on teh lookout becuase they are good looking trucks and if you overhaul the cooling system and upgrade front prop shaft shouldn' thave too many issues. Many 200k+ mile units out there.

Also look on facebook marketplace, sometimes someone will have a truck that needs just a little bit and they want to offload it.

HTH . . .

 

[MountaineerLC]

I've owned both a '99 and a '00 Disco II. They're very quirky vehicles with lots of character. Their biggest weakness is the engine. Overheating will kill it. I've done full engine swaps in both that I've owned due to overheating. Head gaskets are also a regular failure point. and seems to need changing every 80-100K. The second weakness is the ABS unit. Every DII owner can tell you about the "Three Amigos". (ABS, TC and HDC warning lights). All of that being said, if you have the time, room and skills to do your own wrenching most of those issues could be addressed at home.

For the price of a nice Land Cruiser (60, 80 or 100) one could buy an overheated Disco II and build a heck of a rig if you like turning a wrench. If I were building a Disco II I'd start with a blown up, but rust free example. I'd source a top hat lined short block, put some remanned heads on it, new radiator and all new coolant hoses. After that, baseline the fluids and roll on. I'm a LC fan (obviously) and cut my teeth on my grandfather's 60, but I've got a big soft spot for Rovers as well. One of these days I'd like to have another Rover to go with my LC 100.

Tough to answer your question directly without a lot more info on the 62. For me personally, half the fun is building the rig myself, vs buying one already built, so that's something to consider.

 

[too tall]

Landrovers will not last as long as a land cruiser. If you like investing in something that will last the cruiser is the way to go. Ive never lost on a land cruiser. Only owned one land rover and I'll never own another. I actually got rid of a 98 land rover and bought a 93 land cruiser to replace it. It has been one of the best vehicles I have ever owned.

 

[CruisD64]

89 FJ62. Probably not as comfortable but is a tank. Discovery's are garbage.

 

[yorkin]

If you were in Europe or other market with Td5 engine, I would suggest go with Disco and spend the difference on goodies in according to your taste. The build is half of the fun isn´t it? But those V8 are catastrophy waiting to happen. Reputable LR servicemen in my country say: buy 4.0/4.6 LRs only cheap with dead engine and then have the engine upgraded by knowledgable shop, othewise it is not worth the hassle. Similiar situation actually in different tiers of the market - LC vs LR . So in your situation I would go with the kitted out FJ60.

 

[AaronT]

This is a bit of a resurrection, but for anyone else coming along wondering, I've rebuilt a couple D2's and have had 4 project cruisers, including a FJ62.

The D2 and the 1FZ-FE were block up rebuilds, and I'm currently knocking out the water pump/radiator/belts/odds and ends on the FJ62.

The FJ62 is a cool, iconic vehicle, but it's hands down the *least* enjoyable vehicle I've ever wrenched on. The 1FZ-FE is a PITA, but the 3FE puts it to shame in terms of cussing and frustration.

In another thread, SKniper said:
"The front of that 3FE is a baptism of f-bomb, knuckle busted fire."

I couldn't agree more.

The D2 is a platform people love to hate.
Generally, they're people who've never owned one, or they bought someone else's problem and relied on a dealership to do the work.
LR dealerships are among the most predatory out there, but the good news is the D2 is one of the easiest engines to work on that I've ever cracked open. As mentioned, the big killer of the D2 is heat (aluminum block and heads), and the major annoyance is electrical.

The heating issues are generally because people don't like replacing worn out parts, and the D2 has some design flaws that make it hard to purge the system.

If you do a D2 build, you'll want to replace the hoses, fan and clutch, the upper T-fitting (with a brass nut, so it's less prone to failure), and swap in a 180 degree thermostat. Afterwards, install an Ultragauge and you'll be able to monitor your temps in real time, which is huge. The stock temp gauge on the D2 is an idiot light. By the time it starts reading hot, you're in trouble. By the time you've hit read, you've probably puked a head gasket.

The first D2 we picked up for a build we got for $200. It had been in a wreck so it needed some cosmetic work (which was fine, we wanted to replace a lot of the front end anyway). The second, which was in amazingly good condition, we got for $1370, out the door, and it needed a head gasket. It still made a 700 mile drive without overheating with a HG that looked like Swiss cheese. All in, I'm under $6500 with the D2... I'm in that in parts on the FZJ (with a blown HG it cost me $3500, and it took probably another $1200 in parts), and let's not even talk about the Diesel.

The LR was built at the end of an era, and there were a lot of corners cut. They suffer from cheap parts and mechanics who don't bother cracking open the RAVE (shop manual), and think they're working on a Ford. It has quirks, and you need to "learn" how to work on a Disco II, or your results will suck. If you do, your results will be enjoyable. Not too different than a Toyota.

Atlantic British puts out dozens of videos on almost anything you can imagine. I did the HGs in a weekend, and the "Option B", which bypasses the ABS's notoriously unreliable shuttle valve took about an hour and Traction Control, Hill Descent, and ABS all function fine and haven't had the 3 Amigos show up since in +/- a year.

As for wheeling, I do most of mine in an HDJ81/FZJ80 or the D2. This is probably not going to make people happy, but I prefer the D2.

The '04 came with the differential lock linkage hooked up (for some stupid reason, 99-2003 did not, though they all have a locking diff - more evidence of that weird LR quirkiness), and between the CDL and the traction control, the D2 is a total goat, and it's comfortable, offers great visibility, and is a generally lower risk vehicle to crawl in. Granted a lot of that is that I don't want to risk damaging the Cruisers now that their value has skyrocketed, but in general, you can tell there's a 9-14 year difference between them.

The Land Cruisers, by comparison, are a bit more Spartan, and once rebuilt, I don't think you'll need to worry for another 20 years.
The D2 doesn't let you relax quite that much, but the gap in capability and longevity isn't nearly as drastic as people say. Note: there are still a lot of Disco I and II's out there on the road.

A lot of it will come down to budget and whether or not you want to drive it daily. If anyone out there IS considering a D2 - buy it with the intention of rebuilding it immediately.
New water pump, head machining, new (good quality) HGs, and do it to spec as per the RAVE. It's not nearly as tedious as it sounds and like wrenching on a Yota, it'll reward you with a really cool, iconic vehicle that will take you nearly anywhere.

...but that's getting to be a common story with Cruisers as well.

In any case, hope this helps anyone coming along after, considering the OP probably made a decision already.
Cheers,

Aaron

Building an ISG Rig: The 80-Series Diesel Land Cruiser ...
Building an ISG Rig 2: The Land Cruiser - Integrated ...
Building an ISG Rig 3: Land Rover Discovery II Roverhaul ...

 

[Boss Hog]

This is a bit of a resurrection, but for anyone else coming along wondering, I've rebuilt a couple D2's and have had 4 project cruisers, including a FJ62.

The D2 and the 1FZ-FE were block up rebuilds, and I'm currently knocking out the water pump/radiator/belts/odds and ends on the FJ62.

The FJ62 is a cool, iconic vehicle, but it's hands down the *least* enjoyable vehicle I've ever wrenched on. The 1FZ-FE is a PITA, but the 3FE puts it to shame in terms of cussing and frustration.

In another thread, SKniper said:
"The front of that 3FE is a baptism of f-bomb, knuckle busted fire."

I couldn't agree more.

The D2 is a platform people love to hate.
Generally, they're people who've never owned one, or they bought someone else's problem and relied on a dealership to do the work.
LR dealerships are among the most predatory out there, but the good news is the D2 is one of the easiest engines to work on that I've ever cracked open. As mentioned, the big killer of the D2 is heat (aluminum block and heads), and the major annoyance is electrical.

The heating issues are generally because people don't like replacing worn out parts, and the D2 has some design flaws that make it hard to purge the system.

If you do a D2 build, you'll want to replace the hoses, fan and clutch, the upper T-fitting (with a brass nut, so it's less prone to failure), and swap in a 180 degree thermostat. Afterwards, install an Ultragauge and you'll be able to monitor your temps in real time, which is huge. The stock temp gauge on the D2 is an idiot light. By the time it starts reading hot, you're in trouble. By the time you've hit read, you've probably puked a head gasket.

The first D2 we picked up for a build we got for $200. It had been in a wreck so it needed some cosmetic work (which was fine, we wanted to replace a lot of the front end anyway). The second, which was in amazingly good condition, we got for $1370, out the door, and it needed a head gasket. It still made a 700 mile drive without overheating with a HG that looked like Swiss cheese. All in, I'm under $6500 with the D2... I'm in that in parts on the FZJ (with a blown HG it cost me $3500, and it took probably another $1200 in parts), and let's not even talk about the Diesel.

The LR was built at the end of an era, and there were a lot of corners cut. They suffer from cheap parts and mechanics who don't bother cracking open the RAVE (shop manual), and think they're working on a Ford. It has quirks, and you need to "learn" how to work on a Disco II, or your results will suck. If you do, your results will be enjoyable. Not too different than a Toyota.

Atlantic British puts out dozens of videos on almost anything you can imagine. I did the HGs in a weekend, and the "Option B", which bypasses the ABS's notoriously unreliable shuttle valve took about an hour and Traction Control, Hill Descent, and ABS all function fine and haven't had the 3 Amigos show up since in +/- a year.

As for wheeling, I do most of mine in an HDJ81/FZJ80 or the D2. This is probably not going to make people happy, but I prefer the D2.

The '04 came with the differential lock linkage hooked up (for some stupid reason, 99-2003 did not, though they all have a locking diff - more evidence of that weird LR quirkiness), and between the CDL and the traction control, the D2 is a total goat, and it's comfortable, offers great visibility, and is a generally lower risk vehicle to crawl in. Granted a lot of that is that I don't want to risk damaging the Cruisers now that their value has skyrocketed, but in general, you can tell there's a 9-14 year difference between them.

The Land Cruisers, by comparison, are a bit more Spartan, and once rebuilt, I don't think you'll need to worry for another 20 years.
The D2 doesn't let you relax quite that much, but the gap in capability and longevity isn't nearly as drastic as people say. Note: there are still a lot of Disco I and II's out there on the road.

A lot of it will come down to budget and whether or not you want to drive it daily. If anyone out there IS considering a D2 - buy it with the intention of rebuilding it immediately.
New water pump, head machining, new (good quality) Has, and do it to spec as per the RAVE. It's not nearly as tedious as it sounds and like wrenching on a Yota, it'll reward you with a really cool, iconic vehicle that will take you nearly anywhere.

...but that's getting to be a common story with Cruisers as well.

In any case, hope this helps anyone coming along after, considering the OP probably made a decision already.
Cheers,

Aaron

Building an ISG Rig: The 80-Series Diesel Land Cruiser ...
Building an ISG Rig 2: The Land Cruiser - Integrated ...
Building an ISG Rig 3: Land Rover Discovery II Roverhaul ...

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I saw you liked my earlier response...just asked my brother how much he’d sell me the Disco for seeing as how he just picked up an 80...cool vehicles.

 

[AaronT]

Is he going to sell it to you?

I do prefer the 80 and if I had to keep just one, it would absolutely be the Diesel, but the D2's really are fun, capable, and comfortable vehicles.
Cheers!
Aaron

 

[Boss Hog]

Is he going to sell it to you?

I do prefer the 80 and if I had to keep just one, it would absolutely be the Diesel, but the D2's really are fun, capable, and comfortable vehicles.
Cheers!
Aaron

He WOULD sell it to me...but he wants more for it than I want to spend!!