Disco Fever

[mat_the_cat]

Next was the passenger door - I wasn't looking forwards to this as the roof above it had taken the brunt of the force.

 

 

Even when I had straightened the top edge of the door frame, when I hung the new door you could see that the A pillar had been pushed back too.

 

 

So I tried jacking across the door frame, which worked reasonably well although it kept springing back.

 

 

In the end I hammered the A pillar the last few mm and at last the door closed! Panel gaps with the rear door nothing to write home about, but at least it should be reasonably watertight.

 

 

Windscreen next - I've bought some wire to remove it; just need to find a replacement screen for little money.

[Rocket88]

Ref windscreen; If it's just for off road use, sheet of perpex and gaffer tape?

[Rusty_Rocket]

You're getting dangerously close to getting the old girl back in the black!  Nice work!

[mat_the_cat]

Ref windscreen; If it's just for off road use, sheet of perpex and gaffer tape?

 

 Perspex was actually my first thought, but after a quick search for prices was around £80 delivered for the amount I need! No local suppliers unfortunately.

 

What I'm thinking of doing is giving a local windscreen fitter a call, so if they have to remove a chipped but otherwise OK windscreen, I can take it off their hands for a few beers. Plenty of 200 series screens on eBay, but the 300s are bonded in so more difficult to remove intact. Not sure what, if any differences there are between the two screens, so a 200 screen + Sikaflex may well work acceptably well for off road use?

[dollywobbler]

Pretty sure I've seen 200s with a 300 screen - because you've got that black bit at the bottom to mask the raised dashboard height. I think. I therefore wonder if the actual aperture was changed in anyway? Could you even use a 200 screen with its seal?

[mat_the_cat]

I think I'm going to need the aid of sealant rather than a rubber seal, as the aperture is unlikely to be spot on in shape any more! I'll look into the 200 screen, as that would simplify things. Hoping to surprise Lana with it once it's usable again, as it had become her car pre-accident and she'd got quite attached to it..even given it a name!

[dollywobbler]

Just had a thought. Wondering if it could have been that the Disco 200 I saw had a RRC soft-dash windscreen. Wonder if they changed the windscreen method for those late Rangies? Same structure after all.

[Rusty_Rocket]

I'd love to see this Disco legally back on the road again with all the bodywork dents left in place 

[Minimad5]

Don't use perspex, use Makrolon (Polycarbonate)

[mat_the_cat]

I'd love to see this Disco legally back on the road again with all the bodywork dents left in place 

 

Must admit the thought has crossed my mind...

So far I've not done anything which would stop it legally going back on the road, so I may keep my options open. I bet you not many people would park next to it at the supermarket!

 

Actually giving it a bit of use has got to be better than it just sinking into the undergrowth, and once the screen is done I'll be able to drive it into the forest and see how it behaves. Maybe a short term project to get it usable, and a longer term view to get it on the road?

[mat_the_cat]

After a bit of digging I've found that the screens are the same size, the only difference being the black bonding strip on the 300 windscreens. That's just to give the adhesive a better grip and maybe a bit of UV protection too. So if I get a 200 screen I'd have to prep the surface with glass primer, or possibly use something like this which doesn't require the primer:

http://www.sealantsonline.co.uk/product.php?product=SIK3295&category=00010005&utm_source=google&utm_medium=products

 

Fair enough, the bond strength may be lower but my understanding is the main reason for moving to bonded screens was to give the airbag something to inflate against. As this is a very early 300 and no airbags, I'm not massively concerned about that even if it does go back on the road. eBay here I come!

[mat_the_cat]

I've bitten the bullet now, and bought a 200 screen from eBay. Just over £30 which I thought was pretty good, and although it's not local, there is method in my madness! I'm inbetween jobs next week so will be travelling around a bit and visiting mates - it's only a few miles off the route I'll be going down to Cardiff and Bristol

 

To bond it in I've ordered the proper stuff, including glass and metal primers. Heard a couple of bad reports about primerless adhesives so will play it safe I think. Then it's simply a case of waiting for a dry day, which we haven't had since early October

[dollywobbler]

Ooh, if you've got any bonding stuff left (especially glass primer) I might well be interested in nabbing a bit for the XM's sunroof. 

[mat_the_cat]

No worries, I'm sure there'll be some left over and I'm unlikely (I hope!) to need it again within its shelf life. If you collect it you can help me lift the windscreen in

[dollywobbler]

Sounds like a deal.

[mat_the_cat]

Well, that was tongue in cheek if you were up here anyway, as I'm guessing the fuel to collect would be similar to buying the sticky stuff yourself! So let me know if you plan to venture north...

[mat_the_cat]

New windscreen has been collected, and yes, it appears as though a 200 screen is the same size. As as a bonus, it seems like the aperture hasn't distorted as badly as I'd feared, so any 'irregularities' should be easily taken up by the adhesive.

 

I was thinking about putting it in this morning, but two things changed that plan. First one being that it looks like it will take an absolute age to cut through the original bonding with the wire I have, and secondly I don't think I can physically lift the screen into place on my own. No problem sliding it over the old one to check the size, but obviously I need to lower it onto the bed of adhesive. Unless I can rig something up, but not sure I trust the sucker pad completely to hold the weight alone...

[dollywobbler]

Are you around tomorrow? Or at a push, I could head up today. However, I'm being selfish and only offering assistance as I'd like to change a front strut on the XM...

[mat_the_cat]

Not looking too promising for tomorrow as we'd planned, as I've spent 3 hours on it tonight to get to this stage:

 

Oh what an exciting Saturday night I'm having! Broken glass absolutely everywhere, the cheese wire is VERY hard work and keeps getting snagged on shards of glass etc. Going to have to break out the rest piecemeal I think. Remind me why I thought this was a good idea again...?

[Geep]

Bit late now but windscreen guys tend to use these.

 

 

and for the lower edge

 

 

Which is just a long bladed knife you can use inside to cut the bonding.

 

I had to do windscreens on sierras when they were under warranty because Ford wouldn't pay for specialist windscreen companies. (Bonded screens were new to Ford UK then) The official tool then was a cheese wire which threaded through a pointed handle one end with a conventional handle the other end. It was a two man job, one inside using the pointy tool to anchor in to rubber/bonding, the other outside pulling the wire once inside was anchored. Bit at a time and long winded, had to do the bottom edge the same in those days.

 

Windscreen guys I had change one on a C3 for me used the above kit. The first tool is slotted between the screen edge and body then turned 90 degrees cutting in to bonding, Then use handle to pull along cutting bonding as you go. Once done all round, the long knife can reach over dash and used to cut the lower bonding. With three sides of screen cut, it can be pushed out slightly to allow access for cutting lower edge. Any *longish knife should do, just make sure it's sharp. Fitting new, make sure seal trim is on screen before fitting and two man job to lift in. Sometimes there are small rubber blocks or spacers at the base to align the screen, once in tape the top corners of trim down until set.

 

*Stanley knives are too short really to be effective.

[mat_the_cat]

Thanks for the pointers - with hindsight the tool would have been £6 well spent! As it was I'd seen fitters using either, so went for the wire on the basis that it would also do the lower edge too. Although in reality, the lower edge had pins protruding from the frame which made using the wire more difficult Plus, I was using the wire alone, so for some of it had to loop it back and pull it in a U shape, increasing resistance. Handles would have been a better idea too...

 

Still, it's out now although didn't feel like uploading a picture in the early hours! Hopefully will be able to get back on it this afternoon.

 

[mat_the_cat]

FFS.This weekend was forecast to dry, the first days without rain since the beginning of October. Got back this afternoon to find it raining    There was a break in the weather so I cleaned up the frame and primed it with etch primer (rags on the top are to absorb water and stop it running down while I'm painting).

 

 

It turned out that if I knelt on the bonnet I could lower the screen in by myself, so I primed the glass for better adhesion, and while that was drying put the sealant around the frame. Then put the screen in!

 

 

For the first time in years it's actually usable as a vehicle, and (hopefully) watertight, at the front end at least...

[dollywobbler]

Nice work sir! Do you have any leftovers?

[mat_the_cat]

Annoyingly, I actually ran out of adhesive! Did the bead all the way around (just) but there was a small gap where the frame was distorted. So I gave another squirt only to find there was bugger all left. Fortunately I had some Sikaflex 221 left over, so filled the gap with that. You're welcome to the glass primer though if that's useful.

[dollywobbler]

Could well be. Thanks. One less thing to buy.

[mat_the_cat]

Took it for a bit of a spin today, seeing as it has stopped raining! The engine pulls well, although rather loud seeing as I pinched part of the exhaust for the green one. Filmed with my bargain dashcam:

 

 

And on the way back collected a few logs, so it wasn't a wasted trip

 

 

I would have fully loaded up but the back door has seized, so had to put them in from the side.

 

[mat_the_cat]

Well, this has been useful up to now in collecting wood, but it had the first 'failure to proceed' earlier in the week I'm running purely on gas (petrol pump was swapped for the one on the green Disco), at least until the tanks ran dry. Inconveniently blocking the track. This left a bit of a problem, as I can't (legally) get it to a petrol station to fill up...

 

So I managed to rig up a hose from a Calor bottle to the vaporiser, minus the regulator, which was enough to get it out of the way. Seemed to run OK too, although I needed to drill out the excess flow valve in the hose to get enough gas through to keep it running.

 

[jakebullet]

Turn gas bottle upside down so you get liquid to the vapouriser instead of gas? I'm sure this will be totally safe*.

[mat_the_cat]

I could do that if needs be, but I'm only trundling round in low gear so the vapour off the top of the bottle is fine. Might get a forklift bottle though at some point. Or a new petrol pump...

[mat_the_cat]

I've been giving this a fair bit of use recently...still on the same bottle Got a decent load of wood in this afternoon:

 

 

Which must have been quite a weight looking at the suspension!