Disco Fever

[Skut]

Hows the Zinga holding up on the roof.

[mat_the_cat]

Pretty well really - there's still no sign of any rust coming through, even though it has started to flake away from some areas where it's on top of existing paint (it's designed to only go over metal, not paint)

 

 

I may scratch one of the areas down to bare metal to see if that allows any rusting to take place.

[mat_the_cat]

Another nice day here after a couple of weeks of rain, so out collecting again!

 

 

 

This is all still wood left lying around since the last logging was carried out around 5 years ago. It's very well seasoned now, but don't think it'll last more than another couple of years before starting to rot so needs collecting now.

[UltraWomble]

How bizarre - I was sat in traffic on the way back from Blackpool tonight looking at 7 seaters (and I keep gravitating back to a S2 Disco when I need to replace Mrs Wombles car) and I was only just thinking about this one and wondering how its doing.

[djoptix]

Hi Mat - I only know you from BX land but I've thoroughly enjoyed this thread. Keep up the good work...

[mat_the_cat]

Yeah, I saw you had joined so welcome along!

[mat_the_cat]

Pretty well really - there's still no sign of any rust coming through, even though it has started to flake away from some areas where it's on top of existing paint (it's designed to only go over metal, not paint)

 

20170527_172346.jpg

 

I may scratch one of the areas down to bare metal to see if that allows any rusting to take place.

 

The top scratch is my first attempt, but I didn't manage to get through to the steel underneath. So the shiny metal you can see is the zinc particles, which appears visibly as a solid layer.

 

 

Scratch harder, and you get through to the rust underneath. Note that it has not 'cured' the rust (not that it is designed to) but seems to have halted any worsening. I would *expect* the sacrificial effect of the zinc to stop the rust in the scratch from worsening under the coating, but let's give it a year or so...

[Exiled_Tat_Gatherer]

a V8, glorious countryside, epic fixing  bodging and even a bit of market research thrown in.......... good read.

Is all the area you're lugging around in yours or are you renting etc..? Always wondered about renting on firestry or national trust land....

[mat_the_cat]

Part of it is ours, but we don't have that much. The rest is ex Forestry Commission, which was sold off in the 60s and is now privately managed. At the time the house was sold separately, and the land which came with it seemingly determined by drawing a rough circle around it on the map - so we're not *entirely* sure where the boundaries are! We've owned it around 10 years now, and have marked out and fenced maybe 50% so far. I think legally after a certain period of time, the land becomes yours after you've 'claimed' it, even if not originally so.

 

The wood we are collecting is a mixture of our trees which we've felled, and those left lying on the ground the last time they harvested timber. There's so much wastage that it will rot down before we can collect it all I have a week off coming up where I plan to hire a hydraulic splitter and bring in a good haul though

[UltraWomble]

Part of it is ours, but we don't have that much. The rest is ex Forestry Commission, which was sold off in the 60s and is now privately managed. At the time the house was sold separately, and the land which came with it seemingly determined by drawing a rough circle around it on the map - so we're not *entirely* sure where the boundaries are! We've owned it around 10 years now, and have marked out and fenced maybe 50% so far. I think legally after a certain period of time, the land becomes yours after you've 'claimed' it, even if not originally so.

 

Adverse posession

Google it - there is LOTS of stuff on it

Then perhaps look at your boundaries and sort out a proper boundary with the land registry using your land and whatever you have adversely possessed over the last 12 years.

 

Get it done before even thinking about selling

[mat_the_cat]

I don't *think* we've taken more than is rightfully ours - just that where the boundary was drawn on the map, the thickness of the pen line corresponds to maybe 10 feet on the ground! So we superimposed this over a Google Earth shot, and marked out roughly where we think it is, so I think we stand as good a chance as anyone of being correct.

 

Good point about sorting it out before selling - the next owners may be less relaxed about such things.

[mat_the_cat]

I keep the battery on this topped up with a solar panel, but it was fairly elderly and undersized, so no surprise that it failed a few weeks ago. The puzzling thing was that it wouldn't even start with a jump pack - a quick check showed no voltage present at the coil.

 

A quick bypass wire straight from the battery, but still no spark, and a check of the other coil terminal showed no trigger either  I've bought a new battery to make fault-finding whilst cranking easier, but as yet haven't been able to spend time on it. Fortunately I collected all the wood we will need during the warm weather earlier this year, so not a top priority.

 

Have a photo anyway!

 

[Minimad5]

Cor a V8 Discovery, fully approve !!

[mat_the_cat]

Update to this - with the new battery on all seemed absolutely fine! So I can only think that there was a fault with my meter (I really need to buy a new one - my main one has failed, and I'm relying on one I need to squeeze to register any reading!) or possibly the tool who was using it...

 

I've even re-piped the rear brakes, seeing as the pipe had rusted through and I'd been having to rely on the transmission brake Still a very long way from any chance of an MOT though!

[mat_the_cat]

I've been out in this again during the week, and to my surprise (most of) the HRW still works!

 

 

This weekend we went out into the forest to collect a Christmas tree - managed to find a decent one, if a little on the large side.

 

 

I've been getting sick of the green slime coating this, every time I get into it in the rain it gets all over me.

 

 

So for the first time in 8 years I gave it a wash!

 

[sutty2006]

Blimey it’s still alive! Epic!

[Skut]

If I was ever going to have a Discovery it would have to be this one.

[mrbenn]

Tease! You can't show it all foamed up then not give us the "after" shot!

 

Glad to see the old thing still rolling along.

[mat_the_cat]

Oh, go on then!

 

 

Not exactly pristine, but a hell of a lot better

[mrbenn]

Now then, that's looking rather presentable!

 

Plastic bumper, indicator and then MOT?

[mat_the_cat]

Problem is the exhaust system. With it being a 1994 model, it needs cats, so that's a few hundred quid straight away.

[sutty2006]

Looks worse clean, as do most landrovers. I hate cleaning mine, shows up every single scratch, dent and broken part possible.

[Minimad5]

If this was a 3 door, I would be beating your door down.

Well done for keeping it running and used

[mrbenn]

I hope this is still trundling around, @mat_the_cat?

[mat_the_cat]

Of course, although I've probably finished the log collecting for this year, so I've parked it up out of the way, and taken the battery out.

[mat_the_cat]

We've been using this to shunt the Airstream around, so no rest for the winter. Until...

A couple of weeks ago the engine just cut out. It would restart, just, but only run for a few seconds before dying again. I managed to lurch it out of the way by starting it at full throttle, and before it cut out shifting it into Drive.

Diagnosis was a failed vaporizer, which seemed to be dumping huge quantities of LPG into the inlet manifold. This was a brand I'd never heard of (Groot) and I couldn't find a rebuild kit anywhere.

Fortunately, a new one was under £50 delivered, and of an improved design too, having two-stage regulation for more consistent pressure control. Half an hour's work saw it in place and plumbed in:

Getting it to fire took quite a bit of cranking, but once running quickly settled down to a fairly smooth idle. I still need to adjust the high speed running, but happy with the result!

 

[rusty998]

I'm really happy to see this pop back up, I remember reading about it a couple of years ago, amazing vehicle 

[mrbenn]

Sounds very sweet! Glad to hear it is still in service.

[mat_the_cat]

Update on the green Discovery, which we still have. I was considering a swap with it, but after taking a look I found that storing it under a cover for 2 months had not been kind. The waterproof and breathable cover seemed to have turned into the exact opposite, and let the rain (we've had a lot...) in but trapped it from ever drying out!

Looking under the bonnet revealed a crusty mess

Battery was completely dead despite being on float charge, and sticking a new battery on produced smoke from the alternator. I did wonder whether corrosion has created a partial short inside, which has then flattened the battery and killed that too. Stripping it down shows nothing evident so far, but a fair bit of wear to the commutator. So I'll probably replace the whole thing given it's original.

Then I've got to sort out a leak from the gearbox oil cooler, and investigate why the brake pedal goes straight to the floor. I'm guessing master cylinder, but have a feeling this will lead to a full on brake overhaul...

[Heidel_Kakao]

That's frustrating I really dislike that furry kind of corrosion, just something about it. It doesn't help you now (power of hindsight) but I have heard a few people mention ACF-50 as a good product to prevent corrosion but I imagine you had the impression that the cover would be beneficial rather counter productive.

It definitely reinforces my intention of never using a cover on Cedric, I know how it holds up in the unit without a cover and don't want to take the risk of having a similar situation.