Rusty

[dieseldog]

I am currently looking to refurbish this steering box if possible by fitting a sealing sleeve, the sleeve will become the sealing surface for the shaft and will be like new, but first I need to rebuild the box with the new seals and then locate a speedy sleeve to fit the shaft, this is the state of play so far.



New seal going in.


New seal retainer and dust seal.


All secured with the circlip.



Just need to find a supplier for my speedy sleeves to fit the shaft and then it is game on.

[Peter Puma]

Just out of curiosity, how are you planning to fit the sealing sleeve ?
Any examples out there ?

[dieseldog]

Just out of curiosity, how are you planning to fit the sealing sleeve ?
Any examples out there ?

This is merely an experiment for me to see if it is possible to actually make a semi-permanent solution to the leaky power steering boxes, but the seal cannot be fitted as per the norm of fitting to the shaft and then re-assembling because it will not pass through the roller bearings in the housing, true enough I could replace the roller bearings and fit new bearings to the shaft then the sleeve but the cost of new needle roller bearings is colossal!! So in order for this to work the seal will have to be fitted from the outside going in, basically the shaft will be fitted and the sleave then knocked up the shaft under the lip of the seal, who knows if it will work??? Other option which I found out today is possible is to have the shaft built up and turned down by an engineer in Houthalen.

Time will tell, but for today I was busy with this

Got to wait for my speedy sleeve to be delivered as they do not have one the size I need in stock, but oh well, some other fun stuff to do today, like tackle the rotten inner wings and the horrendously rotten front body mounts.

But first a little cleaning, the turbo to intercooler pipe was oily and filthy and I was not happy to refit it in such a grubby state so a good degreaser and hot soapy water made it look like new and I also did the qir cleaner too and have decided to paint that when I have done a spot or two of welding,


Took off the front grille and lamp surrounds in readiness for combat.


This is what I am up against in today's mission.






I think had we had any type of front impact it would have been a disaster after a few slaps with a hammer the body mount looked like this.


Only one solution for this......


Now lets see what the pig tail cup wire brush makes of the tin work....








And time to start cutting it all out and rebuilding it.



I know a lot of folk will say, "just buy the panels from YRM" well yes, I am going to, but not yet, this is a front end patch up for now as I have an awful lot of money already tied up in new parts and I really would like to drive this thing this side of Christmas, still got a lot of work to do and more parts to buy but we actually want to do a full front end revamp in a couple of years time with a 300Tdi front end upgrade and so we will do the whole lot again but with all new metal.

Still a long way to go but we are making good progress again.

[Henk]

If it's a D1 lhd steering house 3 bolt: I have one here on surplus

[dieseldog]

Unfortunately the steering box on a Discovery is a 4 bolt unit

Couple of days of not doing anything apart from measuring and cutting steel plates for repairs to continue, my oh my, did I really buy this thing almost a year ago well it was a month waiting for me to collect it and get it brought back to the farm so I can be excused there

More to come tomorrow I hope

[dieseldog]

So I have gone with the speedi-sleeve route as my first attempt to see if I can help others find a cheaper solution to the dreaded leaky steering box, now in hind sight(such a wonderful thing is hind sight :rolleyes: ) I should have actually ordered the size smaller sleeve due to this shaft obviously having seen a sheet of emery cloth before now but hey ho, the size for the shaft is 32mm I got a 32mm sleeve but really would have been better off getting the 31.75 to give a better friction fit, live and learn hey but I have fitted the sleeve with a lock and seal compound so it should not move once cured, I had originally wanted to go down the route of grinding and building up but for the benefit of others I have chosen to explore other avenues to see what can be done and how cheaply it can be done too, so I had built the box up ready for a refinished shaft to be fitted.



So before I could begin it was a case of removing the circlip, dust shield and seal retainer washer, and then the seal, once out the shaft could be refitted and with a good wipe around with acetone to clear off any grease or oil back to bare metal, when burnt off a cotton bud dipped in the lockseal can be wiped around the area the sleeve will sit.



Then basically just reassemble the seals and dust sheild/retaining washer and circlip and wait for tomorrow to fit it, the lockseal should have cured by then.

Let us see how long this repair lasts shall we

[dieseldog]

Since re-sealing my power steering box I have not really done much apart from look at my truck and laugh at myself for being such a divot!!!

But last night I did go shopping for some more goodies.



Now in that little lot is-----

4x Terrafirma Prosport std height shocks.

1x pr front brake discs and pads (Bosch)

1x pr Rear brake discs and pads (Bosch)

1x pr head lamps, Genuine!!!

2x 2nd hand Good year wrangler tyres in 235/85-16 flavor(these are almost the same tread pattern as my STT but struggling to find the €200 for 1 spare and these came up as a pair part worn with 10mm tread for a quarter of the price of a new one!!!)

Plenty to keep me busy when I get round to going back out in the cold.

[dieseldog]

Unbelievable!!! I managed to run out of welding gas today when doing a few bits for work, rubbish!!! Good job I have some other stuff to do until I can get more on Monday.

Today saw me in shock fitting mode, those shiny new Terrafirma shocks have to go on there some time

Rear shocks tonight as short on time for the fronts.

Shunt back and forth until CDL is in and lamp is illuminated and then chock front wheels and apply H/brake and leave in gear with the keys removed.

Then crack off all ten of the wheel nuts.


Once all nuts are cracked off, jack up the axle and rest on axle stands.


Ooohh!!! Rusty.......


Now the rear shocks on a Discovery 1(the same as a RRC/90-110-130) are a top eye and lower pin configuration, so getting the old one off requires the 19mm nyloc nut and domed washer to be removed, and good luck chuck with the lower pin on an age old shock, just get Mr. Angry out and buzz it off in seconds if you think you may want to keep them as spares then you need to be a soaking the nuts in penetrative spray for a week!!!




I fitted a later 1998 24 spline rear axle to my truck and it has these funny little bushing cups, think I gonna name them the "bush bra"


Ooooh!! Shiny :moglite: I bought a full truck set of Terrafirma Prosport shocks, yeah, yeah, heard it all before, and I have nothing to loose with the deal I have with my supplier, better than OE guarantee wise;)


Before fitting it is best practice to extend and close the shocks three or four times before putting them on the truck.


Be sure to wipe some copper slip on the shock bracket and inside the steel insert of the bush, it stops corrosion and makes future dis-assembly much easier, then secure with the domed steel washer and a new nyloc nut.


Remember the "Bush bra" from earlier? Well, normally you had two washers in the new bushings kit with the shocks, these went between the bushes and the axle mount, but the "bush bra" does away with the need for these washers and you only need the top retainer and the outer/lower bush retainer and with the 22mm nyloc on you just need to wind them up tight.


And all done

Also had fun and games with the tyre fitter last night as I wanted my new tyres fitted on their respective rims, and well, the steel rim was a doddle, no problem, but getting the other on the alloy was a right PITA!!! Ended up having to leave it there while he stuck a tube in it and blew it up over night then fitted this morning ready for me to pick up, so thought I ought to fit the alloy on the spare carrier tonight now they are done.


And holy cow it's a tight fit with 235/85 R16 tyres :huh: :huh:


Guess I can do the front axle shockers tomorrow night :rolleyes:

[Peter Puma]

Interesting to see the progress being made
Looking forward already to the story on the front shocks

[dieseldog]

Just for you Peter

The front shocks although not past their sell by date are also being changed to give me a balanced performance of my suspension, new shocks all round should equal predictable ride and handling I hope.

I have illustrated here the procedure for changing these shocks as a double up on changing front springs also as you do not need to remove the spring if you are only changing the shock!! This will become clear later on.

This is how it went.

Hand brake on and CDL locked with rear wheels chocked you need to jack the vehicle up high enough to allow the axle to gain full "droop", I placed my 2T axle stands under the chassis rails behind the radius arm mount, I also went as far as to put some support blocks under the front chassis cross member before letting it down.



Remove road wheels and it is game on!

At the top of the shock turret the shock is secured with a nyloc nut and a bush on the top with some washers.


And exactly the same at the bottom.


Be sure to use a good penetrative spray on the lower nuts a few days before you plan to do this and a small wire brush helps loosen and remove scale and rust, on the front axle there is no room to get the grinder in and you have few options available to actually remove the shock, one is a hydraulic nut splitter, I have these and they are great!!! Or you need oxy/acetylene to cut the nut off, I shy away from flames when rubber bushes are involved, the acrid smoke has been classed as a carcinogenic substance and has been linked to cancer so be aware!!

First slide your trolley jack under the radius arm and support the axles weight and then undoing the nut on the top is easy, you have good access to the top of the shock where there are two flats on the end to enable you to get a spanner on there to help, it comes apart looking like this.


The bottom requires the use of either a set of stilsons or a chain wrench similar to what you might use on oil filters.



Now, with the nuts removed you may find you need to remove your brake caliper at this point, but you will only know for sure as you slowly lower the axle down on the jack until it is resting on the bushes. Now comes the dangerous part!! I have used spring compressors a lot and needed my set here to persuade the spring to compress enough to let the shock out.


once compressed the spring can be tilted out and removed if necessary or just the shock slid out the middle.


This picture shows the shock turret has also been removed.


Here I have refitted the spring as to show that if you are only changing the shocks then the springs need not be disturbed and simply removing the turret from above will allow the shock to be extracted and a new item fitted and relatively quickly too!


Be sure to prime the new shock by compressing it at least 3 times and then it is ready to fit, the bushes are the same top and bottom and are assembled just so too.



You can just see my trolley jack as it is now lifting the axle and supporting it as I position the shock to slide into the turret as I inch it up on the jack.


Then it is a case of tightening down the turret and then the top and bottom shock mounts and another job done, the road wheels can be refitted and the vehicle can be jacked up and the axle stands and blocks can be removed. I personally like to check and re-tighten if necessary the shock mountings after 50 miles, it just gives me a warm snug feeling to know they are tight after everything has settled.

[Peter Puma]

Hi Dieseldog,

Thanks again for another marvelous write up .
Jolly good as they say .

I'm left with one question here and it is about the removal of the turret.
With the axle down in its lowest position and with the turret removed I would guess that one can take out the shock without using the spring compression tool, correct ?
Perhaps a daft question but I've never replaced a front shock (yet) on a vehicle with coil springs .
I recently did the shocks on my Iveco Daily but the suspension is radically different with a transverse leaf spring instead.

Anyway, I'm already looking forward to the next part

[dieseldog]

I'm left with one question here and it is about the removal of the turret.
With the axle down in its lowest position and with the turret removed I would guess that one can take out the shock without using the spring compression tool, correct ?

That is correct Peter, there is in reality no need to even remove the road wheel, it is simply a case of top and bottom shock mounts and the four nuts securing the turret to the spring cup, see this picture here.


Then simply slide the new shock down the spring and onto the spring plate and refit the turret and do them up tight

Although if you feel you are in need of a new set of shocks fitting then I would be more than happy to offer assistance or just plain guidance over a coffee and a waffle

I will forever be amazed by the people who only replace springs and shocks when they are leaking oil or just plain fail the safety test, I am pro-active on maintenance and springs and shocks actually have a maximum 80,000Km life span, after that they are worn out and sagging, to some I waste money being the way I am but to me it makes sense to minimize the opportunities for accidents and breakdowns, it is better to spend pennies and save pounds, and that is how I see maintenance, servicing is pennies compared with lump sums for major components!!

[Peter Puma]

Thanks for the further clarifications, this is really clear now .
It is actually a clever arrangement how this setup has been put together; other cars can be a real pain in this respect.

On the early replacement of parts, I feel the same about such things actually.
I've replaced the shocks on my Iveco with only 75.000 km being covered.
After 8 years this sure won't hurt .

I don't have any plans to change the springs on my Defenders (both are on their standard factory set-up) but I do like the idea of coffee and waffles .

There's always this thing about bigger and higher but I'm quite happy with the way LR defined the Defenders capabilities .



Photo taken during our recent trip to Morocco

[dieseldog]

I totally understand about the "bigger and higher" subject, and it always seems to be one of the first things people do when they start modding their trucks, I only feel the need to go higher to clear the taller tyres than fitted as standard, the Discovery is a very capable truck straight out of the box!

I am staying with the crusty old springs until after the safety test as he failed on the dampers they needed replaced but I want to go up 25mm to give clearance in the arches under articulation as I will need to fit extended bump stops to make sure I don't bash them in.

I am busy cutting and welding today and will have the first of the two inner wings re-mounted and that will be one side of the truck fully repaired, then it is just the passenger side to go at, not decided on whether I will remove it totally or not as I am yet to inspect it with the outer wing fully removed, but I can see it is very bad as is the foot well, pictures posted previously show how bad

That is a great picture of your vacation

Did you post a thread with pictures from your trip? I would love to see some more

[Henk]

I suggest Peter should write an article about his trip so I can publish it in the clubmagazine

[Peter Puma]

I have plenty of pictures, but I'm not going to spoil your story here .
This was just to illustrate that a standard Defender (as far as suspension is concerned) can already give you a lot of fub

Enjoy the welding; one thing is for sure, your Disco is getting better and better

@ Henk, I'll think this over .

[dieseldog]

Finally got my pics off the tablet but lost the camera now :blink: This is how some of it looks.... Shiny new bits.....





Then mutilate inner wing until there is space enough to put the new bits under...





Once gutted of its rot then it can pop back on so it can all be spot welded back together, also note repairs to body mount and there wasa patch made up on the back of the light box under the battery tray too....







As well as a repair to the battery tray....



When I find the camera I will upload and post some more of the progress.

[dieseldog]

Thought there were more pictures on my camera of how it was going with the drivers side inner wing build but here you go.













More to come in a few days when I have time to do a bit more.

[Peter Puma]

Looks like this will be stronger than it ever has been before

Keep them pics coming

[dieseldog]

Found some more pictures so you can see how much better it all looked once it was finished and how bad the other side was too.





















And that was the drivers side all done and complete, loads of stone chip spray on it inside and out along with a good thick smear of seam sealer along the joins, inside the arches will be done with body schutz to give it longevity against the elements and then Dinitrol all round.

I got lucky for a change with finding a supplier for the P clips to secure the cables with and the brake pipe clips are genuine parts too as he had them in the stores, need to find the right size/part number for the bigger single clip that holds the speedo cable in place now though as I lost/can't find the one that came off, put it in the box but as usual it vanished.

So this is how bad the other side was, not an uncommon sight on a truck as old as this.







Also found a good sized hole in the bulkhead too.








Right,now start digging around under the under seal and see how bad it gets.













Remove brake pipes and start cutting.....



Nice hey.

More to come........

[dieseldog]

Some more pictures

Thought I had better grace the thread with some pictures now that I have fitted the shiny new steering damper, also managed to locate some more from the inner wing saga too











After test fitting the washer bottle and the expansion tank I could drill the holes for them and the body earth from the battery, after the paint had dried I did sand back the paint and the eye of the earth lead to ensure a good contact was made and after fitting the nut and exposed bolt end were painted an the bolt head and eye were smeared in vaseline to try and prevent future corossion.





And the steering damper

[Peter Puma]

Nigel, by the time your done with her she will be much much better than ever before
When do you think you'll be ready to hit the road (or the mud ?)

[discojo]

I didn't realise Rusty was a she...
My Disco is definitely a he.

[Peter Puma]

It's all a matter of preference, isn't it

[dieseldog]

Fingers crossed should be ready for the safety test in about a week, then will just have to see what happens at the lotto station

Really want him on the road for Christmas, that would be the greatest gift to myself I could ever have after such a long slog of a rebuild, I mean seriously, this was supposed to be a quick bit of wiring and a few patches welded in, who would have thought it would turn into this

Still got some more to do but slowly we are getting there I think

[dieseldog]

On the point of the him/her, Rusty should really be a woman as it has cost me an absolute fortune so far and I have not started seriously modifying him yet, roll on readiness for the safety test

[Peter Puma]

So ? who's right then

Either way, you're doing a fantastic job here with things that many of us would not be able to do or would have given up already a long time ago

[dieseldog]

So ? who's right then

Either way, you're doing a fantastic job here with things that many of us would not be able to do or would have given up already a long time ago

Yeah, well, the whole Discovery thing is a mystery to me, I mean, I can look at a similar aged Defender and it has been to the moon and back but they are looking for in excess of €5/6,000 I look at the Rusty one and yes at €1200 not cheap but complete and with all correct papers.

What do I get with the Discovery that I don't in the defender, well, of the same vintage as a stock base car I get comfortable seats, a heater blower that actually gets the car warm, I get a spacious cabin without bashing my left elbow when turning, I get car type comfort and on top of that I get some generous luggage space and pretty much the same off road ability of a Defender.

If you were to take a 1992 Def and then spend as much as you paid you will still bash your elbow but it might be more bearable in terms of sound proofing and insulation a stereo and comfier chairs. Oh and you will most likely be doing as much welding on it too.

Some dislike the Discovery because it has a reputation to rot, it is not the reputation to rot that is the actual problem it is the amount of work and skill needed to effect factory type repairs, on a Def it's just nuts and bolts on a Disco it is spot welding and drilling out and getting new metal panels to weld in, seriously, look back at the inner wing repairs from the last guy!!!









All of that was old metal salvaged from an old washing machine, but why? I was originally just going to patch them up for the safety test but actually thought WHY BOTHER???? I mean look how good they are now!













I mean what were they thinking when they did this to the base of the "A" pillar where to door post is mounted to the sill???



In this picture if you look closely you can actually see where they actually left an open lip to catch wet and silty water, a proper mud trap!!!



And what does my own repair look like??



I will be doing the passenger side shortly when I have gotten over my current bout of man flu, just so you know it won't be getting left like a pikey mobile, I could rattle on forever about how much love and attention to detail has been paid to the reapairs executed on this truck but it really all comes down to what you are looking to achieve, for me, a truck for another 10yrs, for the last girl she just needed it back on the road to tow her horse trailer, but the people before just needed to get it through the keuring and get it sold.

If and that is an enormous "IF" I were to ever sell Rusty he would have a price on his head of over €10,000, seems a bit steep right? But there will be very few left soon and in a few years when Rusty hits "Old Timer" status he will command a better price than a Def of the same age as the Def will be rough and rotten but sought after just because it is a Def. This is why people give up, they want it back on the road, they don't want to pay garage prices to get the repairs done, they are shocked at the prices for repair panels in Belgium but don't know where to look in the UK to get the panels shipped for half the price, it amazes me to see so many broken for spares for the want of a bit of welding, if I had a nice warm workshop and time enough in the summer months then Rusty would be done now, but this is my hobby, I love to tinker, and when he is on the road there are a lot more things coming in the interior and in the mechanics too

If you buy an old Discovery then you need to expect to be welding it up for a few weeks if it has not been done previously(read as maybe you need to remove the previous repairs to make new ones too

Sorry for the ramble tonight, just thought I would share the thoughts of this old Dieseldog

Oh and Rusty is a "HIM"

[dieseldog]

Now gotta have a bit of a rant, tiz my thread so I can

I just can't seem to help myself as I have been trying to maintain some sort of progress without getting too bogged down I was re-fitting the wiring harness to the passenger side headlamps, now this is really good but really bad, because some kind and thoughtful previous owner had put relays in the lighting circuit, and also fitted a diesel fuel pre-heater with thermostat and with relay etc, see here,.

Bank of relays and fuses, right three relays are for the lights.



Diesel fuel pre-heater.



And this is it's relay on the left hand side of the bank.



And this is the unholy birds nest of wires I am trying to sort through to ascertain what is what and where the bloomin hell it goes



And there was me thinking it was getting easier towards the end.....

[dieseldog]

Merry Christmas Rusty.

Look what he got for Christmas

All loaded up in the back of the van ready for home.





Admittedly Rusty is light freight and will only have need for the front two seats but these will be turned into a small sofa for the bedroom, just a bit of box section and a couple hours welding up a frame should be nice enough



Mmmm, heated leather

[Fredd]

Nigel,

You're doing a great job !!!

this was supposed to be a quick bit of wiring and a few patches welded in, who would have thought it would turn into this

Many of us who have BTDT could have told you this.
A small job that ends up as a total rebuild, BTDT also ...

[dieseldog]

Time to add some more pictures of what has been going on these past few sessions.....

We all love a bit of rot, but time to investigate how much more I have to deal with and it turns out a lot more than I had realized

As I had just finished the passenger side inner wing it seemed fitting to carry on and sort out the door post and foot well......





So first bit of trauma to start me off was the sheering off of the brake line as I attempted to remove the union that holds it all together and passes through the door post and floor support strut.



So trim out a bit of the rotten floor and get the door post braced with my make shift iron work.



I used this on the other side when I did that too, it works, fashioned in a way as to allow you to cut right through the door post and it won't move anywhere.



Then start cutting......





I hate this bit, it is not until you actually cut it open that you find the full extent of what you are dealing with, and you can guess how it goes, poorly executed previous repairs to the sill, door post and the support really showed how incompetent the previous owners were!!!







Only one solution, chop it all out and start again....



First repair piece going in but loads more to go.



Rear passenger side sill body mount, and yes this really is only being held on by a little bit of tin, as you can see the rest has rotted away.....









The last bit to be attacked...





Could be busy for a while yet......

[dieseldog]

Well the camera finally turned up after clearing away the rubbish in the lounge also known as piles of presents and wrapping paper

So time to bring this up to speed.....

Inside the new door post bottom you can just see the extra support I fitted to help brace the pillar and add strength.



Now this being a new second hand repair section it had a small amount of rot that needed addressing, think I did a better job than the last guy who attacked this door post with his welder.







Time to sort the floor out....







There is a support strut that goes in to the door post that has a brake pipe run through it and had to make a new one and also mangled the brake line when disassembling it as it was so rotten.







All seam sealed over the welds and stone chipped, looks much tidier.

Will get round to the brake line when flaring tools eventually turn up, bloomin Christmas holidays

But the rear sill body mount next, it was not actually attached to anything it was little more than a rusty pile of, well rust and bushes.











So still some fettling to do and it is a waiting game for parts but should be ready for the safety test next week as very little left to do.........

[Peter Puma]

Nigel, it is amazing to see how you keep on welding new pieces of metal on this Disco .
But it is definitely worthwhile as the end result is really looking great !
Excellent job you're doing here

[dieseldog]

Hi Peter, I am glad to say that all the welding has been completed and I am now well under way with the re-wiring of the head lamps and hope to have them completed tonight after a little bit of interior finishing off but really pleased with it so far, only the timing belt and timing chest to re-seal and to keuring we shall go

Dammit, brake pipe and rear discs too Just remembered them but shouldn't take too long me thinks

[dieseldog]

After the weld-a-thon was over I decided to do a bit of tidying up and as my brake pipe tools are still not here I had to do some of the other jobs, oh yes, wire in the new relays for the head lamps.

Very pleased with this little job and although it took me ages to do I think that I did a good job



You can see the nice little bracket that I made to mount the relays onto, even painted it with 3 coats of paint too





As I forgot to take my pictures and had completed the other side I was sure to get some progress shots of the drivers side.



On this side you can see I have opened up the split conduit and threaded some new wires through to connect to the new relays, but why?



Simply because I had the wiring still from my 300Tdi shape V8 and the wires to the head lamps are thicker on the later model, so to me it made sense that as I was ensuring the highest possible currents going to the lamps I needed to make sure the cables were strong enough to handle the loads and also because the newer connectors were in much better condition too.



As there is no bracket to mount them to this side I will mount the bracket onto the inner wing panel at the back here and it will still look very tidy compared to what it was.



There are future plans afoot that will most likely see a whole new under bonnet fuse board and relay board, but this is proficient enough to give me the best light output for normal driving, and when SWMBO allows me some more tokens I have my eye on some very nice LED light bars that will go on the modified winch bumper, but that is for another day.

[dieseldog]

Brake pipe flaring tools still not here

But I have removed the old brake pipe and used it as a template and with the help of some tape I stuck the new to the old as I bent it and formed the shape, if the tools are not here by Tuesday I will resort to Reekmans and just get them to flare the two ends in exchage for some tokens.
My bumper project has begun also with the "A" bar being cut to size and welded on the top, now that is welded on and has had a couple coats of paint I will secure it firmly and mount the winch.
Pictures to follow as my laptop has died and now relegated to my tablet

[dieseldog]

With great thanks to Chris_g from the landroverlimburg forum who kindly offerred to flare my brake pipe after begging on the forum, brake pipe is now fitted and almost there with bleeding, new back discs and pads next I think, electrical issues in my barn so can't do anything at night as no power and gotta go on the road tomorrow so probably won't be anything for a day or two

[dieseldog]

Managed to find time to track down our electrical gremlin in the barn and it turns out to be fluffy and rodent shaped and now a little charred too

Who would have thought it could take so long to bleed a set of brakes? In my defence I do have six bleed nipples on the front brakes and after draining the entire system whilst replacing the inner wings and the broken brake pipe saga it was empty!

Very happy with pedal feel now and I only need to change the rear discs, but that has to wait til my day off next week as I want to do the both sides from start to finish and I still have a lot of small tidying up and finishing jobs to doas well as mounting the winch so the grille can be cut and the front finished completely.

So progress continues

[dieseldog]

Managed to find time to track down our electrical gremlin in the barn and it turns out to be fluffy and rodent shaped and now a little charred too

Who would have thought it could take so long to bleed a set of brakes? In my defence I do have six bleed nipples on the front brakes and after draining the entire system whilst replacing the inner wings and the broken brake pipe saga it was empty!

Very happy with pedal feel now and I only need to change the rear discs, but that has to wait til my day off next week as I want to do the both sides from start to finish and I still have a lot of small tidying up and finishing jobs to doas well as mounting the winch so the grille can be cut and the front finished completely.

So progress continues

[dieseldog]

Some picture goodness to bring color back into these pages

Brake pipe being freshly formed using the old one as a template and a some tape to hold it all in place while I formed the rest.







Then thanks to outside help the ends were flared for me.



Once fitted, time to get busy......



Next installment is the last of the fun bits.

[dieseldog]

Time for some picture goodness in this thread

I fitted new brakes front and rear, and while the front hibs were apart I changed the 4 short studs in the diff housing and all new hub seals all round, happy I did the fronts especially as they didn't look so good.







Good to see the drive shafts are barely showing any signs of wear.


Using correct box spanner for the hub nuts not a cold chisel


This picture shows a method of removing the old disc from the hub, you can do it this way but you "will" require a new hub seal as the block needs some mighty bashing to free the disc from the hub, I just put it in my vice and vented my frustrations upon it


Always be sure to clean off the old thread lock and rust, either by wire brush, or by the appropriate tap and die.




New discs on and torqued up with thread lock.



New Corteco seals





Although the new seals are pre-lubed, I like to add a bit more and add a good smear on the stub axle too.



Locking washers are pennies, fit new ones, your life depends on it!



Finished article



Repeat times 4 and jobs a good un, unless the calipers stick

[dieseldog]

Should the transmission fluid come out looking like this?




Found me a Christmas tree on the sump plug too.



Here's a look at how the fluid that came out compares to new ATF.



Found a few chunks and flakes in the filter but hope there is nothing much to worry about.

Oh the joys of refilling it, best advice I could ever give is to buy a good quality oil syringe, the one I bought was expensive by my standards but it was still rubbish, will invest in a better one or maybe a pressurized filler for the future.

[dieseldog]

Been fitted a couple weeks now but here are some pics of the winch being fitted, not wired it in yet as really would rather wait for the second battery and split charge to be installed first, having trouble finding the €200 for the 1000CCA battery but not planning on getting stuck anytime soon





Trim grille to fit and done.





Looks quite good now

[dieseldog]

Went shopping today



Been busy tackling some of the jobs I missed too, mud flaps.

Take one piece of old conveyor belting, an old card board box to make a template and a sharp stanley knife.



Make template to suit, cut belting to size.





I used a hole punch for the bolt holes but an over sized drill bit works fine too.

Fit and forget.





This last picture demonstrates the width of the new flaps too.



Very happy now, back ones done, front to do next.

[dieseldog]

Problems with the DIV so still no plates :angry2:

But I did decide to put my van plates on and go for a little drive to see the horses that we have on 8 hectares some 18 or 20 kilometers from here, so a few snaps for you.









And decided to get chips on the way home.

[dieseldog]

Found some LED lighting to brighten up the interior a little at night when I need to see what I am searching for.

Before.



After.



Not bad hey

Then came the fun bit I have been putting off for the last few weeks, finding a good way to wire the winch in that does not make it look like a complete after thought, came up with this idea, cable tie cables to the radiator valance panel and then drill some holes through into the engine compartment to connect up, was going to re-locate the solenoid pack but it is very well sealed as I discovered when I opened up the housing so just brushed every terminal and connection over with vaseline to stop corrosion and water immersed contacting.







Test fit over and happy, get it done



Used a small piece of hose pipe with a slit in it to sheath the slam panel stay and then cable tied the two cables to that.







Really want to get the split charging sorted but not 100% on how I want to do it!

[dieseldog]

Was posting on another guys thread on an English forum about him finding all his receipts and bills for his Discovery for the 9yrs he has owned it, with the £5500 purchase price he has spent £8600 on it in 9yrs, I have owned mine for a year and a half and only had 70kms on the road in it these last few weeks as currently waiting for the DIV to find their next problem with my papers, but after writing it all out on what I have spent so far I am more than a little shocked at how far out of hand my build has gotten.

I started off with a €3,500 budget to get a Discovery and get it on the road in a tidy order, kind of went a bit over the top.

€1200 Discovery.

€860 tyres

€750 winch and bumper

€375 repair panels

€160 replacement blower motor

€480 power steering box

€450 new shocks all round

€85 steering damper

€300 Discs and pads all round

€40 HD drive flanges (to stop oil leaking from front stub shafts)

€145 replacement oils, fluids and filters

€165 polybush kit

€80 genuine part headlamps (old stock from an independent supplier)

€130 seals, gaskets and sealants(hylomar and silicones for engineering purposes)

€80 miscellaneous second hand trims and interior parts

€320 new batteries(main starter and second aux battery)

€125 various electrical parts, components and cables

€200 welding wire and gas

€75 cutting and grinding consumables

€240 primers, paints, stone chip etc.

€100 on vinyl to re-trim dash

€140 complete new exhaust system

Think I'm up to date there.

total €6180

+ another €450 in tests and garage fees to enable getting to the test as it had to go on special trade plates and I cannot take it on those.

Oh my!!!

Not even started the mods and upgrades yet

[dieseldog]

The good bits and bad bits update.

Bad bits first, well, I, erm broke the indicator stalk off in my hand after getting a little heavy handed whilst trying to turn left, looked a bit like.....

This..............





I can still use the turn signals and turn the lights on and off, but the horn, flash and high beam are currently unavailable until I get a new switch.

Now some good new and an improvement. Anyone who owned a car in the 80s and 90s will be able to recall how woefully inadequate the interior courtesy lighting was, now I had already addressed the front lighting with the LED panel replacement of the tube lamp and wanted to get another to fit in the middle light unit but they had sold out, time to get creative!!!

Went from....



To this.....



Left the back still dark and seedy, much like a hookers den not the back of my working truck!!!



NOW this is a vast improvement over that pesky little 5W tube lamp.......





Getting there slowly...............

[olav]

You're really doing great things with those older Discovery's

i guess you like welding...