John F's Discovery 300 TDi thread

[John F]

So, I knew that my Disco needed structural attention after it slipped out of gear on the 'railway sleeper' bit of Bastard Lane near Aberystwyth and landed hard on its arse... but being busy at the time fettling my Series IIa 109 I'd put it on the back burner for a while.

 

But then the notorious Disco knackered clutch fork malady struck, leaving me without a clutch. Arse biscuits. Ah well, the box needed reconditioning anyway, so out it comes.

 

Clutch fork pivot, poking its head out to say hello:

 

 

Gearbox out:

 

 

 

So far so good. And whilst I was waiting for the box to come back from the reconditioners I decided to investigate the tinworm at the back end.

 

Oh dear.

 

 

 

 

Even worse, the body cross-member that supports the rear body mounts was UTTERLY BORKED. I could poke holes in it with my finger.

 

Right. This has now become a Major Repair, and a Fucking Pain in the Arse because it's going to take bloody ages. Out with the interior, and fire up the grinder:

 

 

 

(^ This was definitely a low point in the job)

 

Repair panels are available, but they didn't appear to be particularly high quality so I decided to fabricate the bits I needed. Acting on advice, though, I did buy a boot floor centre panel because they're a bitch to make and don't cost much more than I'd have to pay for the steel.

 

Some industrial racking provided the basis for a new rear body cross-member - here's a pic of an early trial-fit:

 

 

 

About 25 separate pieces of metal had to be used making the cross-member (including its rhombus-section structure, not shown), and it was a bitch to stop it from twisting out of shape during welding... but the end result is quite acceptable and is only about 1 mm out of true from end to end

 

It cleaned up pretty well...

 

 

 

 

Lick of red lead:

 

 

 

Trial fit of o/s boot floor side piece:

 

 

 

Body mounts made from a piece of box section & welded on, side pieces and centre section welded in:

 

 

 

Back door trial-fitted - fits perfectly

 

 

 

Today I've welded up the sills and plated a crumbly front body mount, no pics of those though. So tomorrow everything needs a coat of paint & underseal, then with a bit of luck I'll get around to refitting the gearbox over the next few days

[cort16]

Good work. That looks like a lot of hard graft.

[John F]

You could say that, lol

 

I've been working on it for the last 3-4 weeks fairly solidly...!

[twosmoke300]

Are these the only 4 be 4s left on the planet or something ? Fair play to you but I really cba with jobs like that.

[John F]

twosmoke300, on 03 Sept 2014 - 9:52 PM, said:

Are these the only 4 be 4s left on the planet or something ? Fair play to you but I really cba with jobs like that.

 

Nope... but the 300 TDi is regarded as being one of the better Discovery models in terms of general reliability and user-friendliness (also, they're largely free of the electronics that infest later models). Body rot is an issue in all early Discos, but once it's fettled it should be solid for a good while.

 

I don't know about other brands of 4x4, I'm sure they have their good & bad points but most people I know with off-roaders have Land Rovers so there's lots of knowledge in the group to fall back on.

[mercrocker]

True spirit of Autoshite - preservation through perseverance of something many others would chuck in the bin.   Good work!

[cort16]

It really does take pissing ages to make up your own bits. One of these days I'm going to get to fit a sill or floor from a replacement panel and I recon it'll feel like a piece of piss.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Splendid work there John_F_Kennedy! Lovely tinbashing. I havent picked up the mig for ages

[jakebullet]

And that's why I bought a disco 2 (base model with minimal electrical crap) instead. I'm too old for 15kg of mig wire later marathons.

 

I salute you Sir!

[stuboy]

very nice keep up the good work

[RichardMoss]

It's threads like these that make me glad that I live in a desert and have a Discovery 2 rather than a D1. Fine work there, that man, keep it up

[dollywobbler]

And that's why I bought a disco 2 (base model with minimal electrical crap) instead. I'm too old for 15kg of mig wire later marathons.

 

I salute you Sir!

 

Do you want the bad news? While the bodies are better on DIIs, the chassis seem to be made out of old Disco 1 boot floors. 

 

Good to see though. So many of these just get thrashed into the ground. I miss my Disco.

[John F]

dollywobbler, on 04 Sept 2014 - 1:05 PM, said:

Do you want the bad news? While the bodies are better on DIIs, the chassis seem to be made out of old Disco 1 boot floors. 

 

Good to see though. So many of these just get thrashed into the ground. I miss my Disco.

 

Yep... Disco IIs have their own share of faults. They do look nice though.

[catsinthewelder]

Top work John,   I wish mine was that solid.  I've just checked this morning and DW's old Disco has 4 days MOT left and about 2 square metres of steel to replace.

 

Austin has been found a temporary new home so I can make a start,  wish me luck.

[John F]

catsinthewelder, on 04 Sept 2014 - 4:10 PM, said:

Top work John,   I wish mine was that solid.  I've just checked this morning and DW's old Disco has 4 days MOT left and about 2 square metres of steel to replace.

 

Austin has been found a temporary new home so I can make a start,  wish me luck.

 

I definitely wish you luck... which bits are crusty?

[twosmoke300]

Just the bits between the front and rear number plates ?

[dollywobbler]

IIRC, front inner wings, nearside sill. Boot floor needs a proper repair - it looks like someone just fitted a new one on the top of the old rusty one! Can't believe it's already a year since I MOTd it! Good luck Mr Cats.

[John F]

Front inner wings only need to be solid near suspension / braking components, I've seen a few pass an MoT with lumps missing in non-crucial places... sill is fairly straightforward as it's basically just box section. Boot floor? See pics above... chase the cats out of the welder, order in plenty of mig wire and 17-gauge steel, and and keep your fingers crossed that the body cross-member hasn't gone crunchy too

[panhard65]

I have just sold my series 2 discovery. I only bought it a couple of months ago with a full mot. The poxy heap started to leak transmission oil (it's an auto) I had a look at it on monday to do the job and thought I better just check the chassis first. I am still sweeping the bloody thing up. They rot worse than the 300tdi and are much harder to repair. I am now bidding on a 300tdi with a rotten boot floor as at least once it is done it will last and a boot floor is a piece of piss compared to chassis outriggers and the whole rear end. I know that any solihull product will rot like buggery but they are so much better than most jap stuff. I replaced my previous discovery with a 3.1 Izusu trooper which was gutless in comparison. The only one I would have over a land rover is a landcrusier as the 4.0 turbo will pull a house down. Trouble is they are bloody expensive

[catsinthewelder]

As Mr wobbler state's plus a good chunk of nsr inner arch for good measure. I'm cursing myself for not sorting it out sooner as I've got load's of proper work to do as well but meh, I'll get there in the end.

[J-T]

Are there any disco 1s left with their original boot floor intact

 

I do like them though, definitely something about them, maybe it's the spot the BL parts bin element. Good luck with the rest of the weldathon, not that it looks like you need it!

[Rusty_Rocket]

Ugggh, I feel your pain, John.

I have two Discos, both early ones.  The K-reg is one the road and works hard, the L-reg is currently undergoing surgery.  I want this rusty old bastard nice economical 4x4 ready for the winter (it's not looking hopeful)-

 

 

My pal at work describes Discoverys as the Forth Bridge- once you've finished one corner, it's time to start on the other side again, and so on 

Mind you, he's a Defender 'nut' so what does he know?!

[John F]

Wooo, good luck with that!

 

It might seem like a lot of work to some people, but early Discos are such astonishingly practical and useful vehicles to own – so the work is worth doing.

 

Mine gets used for tip runs, DIY / target sports load-lugging, trailer towing and as an occasional genuine 7-adult trip bus, and is just as much at home crawling up a rocky mountainside or driving through a river as it is crossing the Continent in reasonable comfort for the annual ski trip to Austria. And it manages all this whilst delivering around 30 mpg 

[Rusty_Rocket]

Yes I completely agree. Their only vice is the rot. My two tow 3t trailers, took seven of us to a family wedding, get filled to the roof on tip runs and are happy on biodiesel.

I also have sills to do on the blue one- will probably replace with steel box-section. 

[dollywobbler]

Oh shush. You're really making me regret getting rid of mine!

[John F]

Oh yes, that's definitely worth doing.

 

I'm planning to box-section the sills on mine next summer, I just can't face another mammoth welding session on it again at the moment...!

 

Ian: go on... buy another one whilst they're still cheap

[mat_the_cat]

Are there any disco 1s left with their original boot floor intact

 

Yes. Although it's just starting to rust and swell in the seam, so it'll need doing at some point. Remarkably solid in that area, although less so in some of the other rot spots. But having seen this thread I think I've got off lightly!

 

 

 

 

 

[Craig the Princess]

This thread is really making me rethink the offer of our neighbour farmer's Disco 1, was boot floor welded for the last MoT so that was done and 2.5 diesel too in beautiful Tahiti Blue.

 

Shame I have no cash and less need for a 4x4.

[drum]

Good work john.

 

My disco 2 has been off the road for the summer and needs a steering fluid leak sorted before I put it back on the road. The three amigos need sorting too.

 

I gave it a spot of welding on one of the rear chassis rails for the last mot.

[John F]

Work is progressing nicely...

 

 

 

Unfortunately, nothing I've done will be visible from the outside