Well before my Jeep and Hummer days I was a Land Rover guy. I owned 5 of them and each one was truly excellent and they never let me down. I got away from them when D90's were just so much, and a Jeep Rubicon was much much cheaper.
I always missed my 97 D1 as I only had it 6-8months before it was totaled in a very severe accident, but it left me without a single scratch. Well recently my brother who also was a LR fan (he always had RRC's) bought himself another RRC and starting fixing it up. So I started searching for a D1. All the examples I found around here locally were dogged out, or complete trash inside/out. I then found a 98 D1 with a bad motor, but good interior, and body for 800.00. I had a 5K budget so I planned on dropping the 4.6L out of a RR into it vs replacing the 4.0L. Well after getting the 800.00 D1 home and inspecting it. It needed a lot more work than I had time for so I looked for yet another D1.
I looked on CL and boom a 98 LSE 50th Anniversary popped up for 3K only 90 miles away. From the pics it looked to good to be true. I emailed and text the guy but he would only answer to a phone call due to spam. I called him late on a Friday night probably 9:30 and asked to come see it. He said he had several people coming to see it in the morning, but since I was coming so from out of town he'd wait up for me. My wife was actually the one that convinced me to go as I said "Nah I'll wait until the morning" so we loaded up into the H3 with my 2 1/2 year old daughter in tow for a family adventure lol. When we arrived at his house all my concerns of a used neglected LR were instantly erased as it was parked next to his Bentley Continental............. He was a Doctor, and the D1 had been his wife's family car so it had never been off road or abused!!!! All work and service was the local LR dealership, and he was the original owner. I inspected it the best I could in the dark, and took it for a spin. The AC wasn't blowing, the ABS light was on, the CEL was on, but the interior/exterior was mint minus 17 years of use and the occasional door ding from idiots..
Handed him the 3K (could have haggled, but I wanted it and 3K was fair for it's condition and low miles 119K). Drove it home and noticed the dash lights barely lit up, and it really didn't seem powerful like it should be. Next morning I changed the oil, inspected the fluids, and fixed a lot of misc trim I took from the 800.00 D1. The suspension was sagging really really bad so I instantly ordered a Terrafirma 2inch lift with new shocks, coils, and steering damper. I also corrected the fan belt routing as the alternator was just replaced at LR, but they routed the belt wrong causing it to spin the fan and water pump backwards... So it went on for 2 weeks, go to work, come home, fix something, go to bed, go to work, fix something...... In that time I fixed so many simple things like the door locks, the shifter trim, dash lights, parking lights, CEL (loose EVAP hose), and I even replaced the radio. The HVAC issue was a bad blower switch (had a spare), and like 4oz low on R134a. Blows as cold as any English HVAC of it's time.
Funny thing I had to do first thing was remove a genuine LR bike rack. He had lost the key, and could barely open the rear door to gain access to the cargo area or jump seats. It was a high security hitch pin with hardened steel, and absolutely no way to cut it due to it's location. Would have honestly had to drop the fuel tank to get to the back of the receiver..... I grabbed my cheap pick set from work (I am a TX certified locksmith for Bank Equipment). I spent about 2min on it, and boom I picked it open!!!! After removing it I tried it again and I never got it open again lol. Next evening I noticed something run across the floor as I was working on it, and due to the bike rack the previous owner didn't fully close the rear door causing cockroaches to get into the D1....... (they had plenty of palm trees in their yard...). I placed some bait traps and within a week I found the 3 big ones (I named em Clarence, Christy, and Carrrrrrrrrrrl lol) on their last legs and barely moving so I removed em from my D1 and that was that!! I also found D2 door seals to be an exact fit, and much much thicker so no more bug issues or wind noise.
It's now running excellent with new Iridium Plugs (vs original copper core), several rubber lines replaced, throttle body cleaned, and just as a CYA a new AC Delco 241 fuel pump (66.00 vs 350.00 for the entire assembly), fuel filter, and I even replaced the exhaust manifold gaskets.
Got the lift installed, got new 245 Duratrac's, and I've now put about 3K on it in less than a month just testing it out, and taking it on a few trips.
Great to be back in a D1, but it so funny how back in 98 it was the premiere luxury SUV. The TC whines (always did), wind noise, and you just feel exposed with all the glass. In an H3 it's like a tomb, and you just hear a little wind and engine noise if you step on it. Things have certainly come a long way, but I love my D1 as it's an adventure everywhere you go. I am the only one in my area with a D1 so it's cool being in rare 4x4.
I've tried to sell the other D1 for 800.00, but everyone expects it to have a full tank of gas, be able to drive 500miles, and have current tags........... It runs, but previous owner let it get to hot so it's either got a collapsed lifter, or a slipped liner. Runs perfect when cold, but it starts to heat up, and when it does it starts knocking. I've fixed a lot of stuff on it as well, and I'd like the 800.00 to put towards an ARB or Tactical Rover front bumper, but I guess I'll hang onto it for parts as it's an identical twin to my D1 minus British Racing Green vs Woodcote Green.
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