Sold 1994 Land Rover Discovery 300tdi ES. (Sold)

[mrbenn]

This isn’t like me... I’d get the fucker welded up and keep it.

 

Who are you and what have you done with sierraman??

[Mrcento]

I wonder if people who buy 300Tdi engines on Ebay are any more reliable than people who buy shagged Discos?   Not that it's exactly going to jump out onto a pallet by itself.

 

Is it the body crossmember that has gone, or the chassis?  I wouldn't fancy tackling a body crossmember much - needs more time, energy and patience than I could muster.  I'd take the back seats out and see what can be done with that inner wing (which can't need to be all that strong, can it?).   Only problem is, you would still have to sell it once it was fixed.

 

Body. Chassis is fine right up to the point it bolts onto the body crossmember, which is missing now, rust in piece.

 

I wouldn't even call it a shagged Disco per se, mechanically it's absolutely rock solid, this is the point i can't seem to get across to folk who even want the parts, it's mechanically fine. It drives great (well, comparatively, for an old Disco), a few drips, age whines aside and one clonky half shaft, it's pretty faultless. It has got a little bouncier at the back before MOT expiry, it's hard to say of that was the shocks or just the lack of structural integrity showing!,

 

But the transfer box actually works in all modes rather than seized up in 4 high like most that are being punted on, no power steering leaks, the brakes actually work on all 4 corners (the rears were replaced entirely last year), neither diff is pissing oil or whining (again rear was replaced last year)... it even pulls well and doesn't pour out smoke, has had EGR and cat deleted and i strongly suspect the fuel pump turned up, as said, my MOT place ran 200tdi and 300tdi defenders and they'd road tested this after doing the last MOT work and basically asked how much i'd turned the fuel pump up, because it flew for an old Disco!. (of course, i joked it was just lighter than normal because it came with less metal than from factory).

 

If i had a unit, i'd do it myself tbh.

[drum]

I'm off to Italy for a week. If you still have it when I come back we'll do a deal.

[Mrcento]

I'm off to Italy for a week. If you still have it when I come back we'll do a deal.

 

Well if a week in Italy doesn't put you off it, fire me a message when you get back and will see what's what

[sierraman]

Who are you and what have you done with sierraman??

I’ve had him welded up.

[Tickman]

I'm off to Italy for a week. If you still have it when I come back we'll do a deal.

 

 

Well if a week in Italy doesn't put you off it, fire me a message when you get back and will see what's what

 

If you need somewhere off the road to store it until drum comes back (if the welding quote is too high) I have somewhere it can be parked by Strathmartin road that should be without hassle. 

[Mrcento]

If you need somewhere off the road to store it until drum comes back (if the welding quote is too high) I have somewhere it can be parked by Strathmartin road that should be without hassle. 

 

Thanks, much appreciated (i'm not far from Strathmartine rd, i'm just off the law), it's still taxed and insured just now so not going to flag up anything nasty parked up mean time at mine...aside from sparking a couple of irate neighbours who were wondering why it has sat in a parking bay for weeks.

 

will see what Monday brings with the welder and take it from there i guess!

[sutty2006]

Deffo get it welded up. I’ve lost count of how much I’ve spent welding mine up, infact I’ve started welding over previous repairs now. Old discos are easy to maintain....got to be better than these new plug and cry piles of Chelsey tractor.

[Mrcento]

Deffo get it welded up. I’ve lost count of how much I’ve spent welding mine up, infact I’ve started welding over previous repairs now. Old discos are easy to maintain....got to be better than these new plug and cry piles of Chelsey tractor.

 

That's the stage this one is at, it has a pile of receipts and photographs from previous work, one of the jobs documented was a brand new rear body crossmember in 2013... the very thing that failed to the point of imploding in 2018, 5 years on what was a brand new crossmember is quite poor, but then, going by what was left of a sticker on one of the bits of it i pulled out from under the bumper, the replacement was a Britpart, so maybe lasted 4 years longer than normal.....

[sutty2006]

That's the stage this one is at, it has a pile of receipts and photographs from previous work, one of the jobs documented was a brand new rear body crossmember in 2013... the very thing that failed to the point of imploding in 2018, 5 years on what was a brand new crossmember is quite poor, but then, going by what was left of a sticker on one of the bits of it i pulled out from under the bumper, the replacement was a Britpart, so maybe lasted 4 years longer than normal.....

A very good friend of mine did my rear crossmember. Made it out of zintec box section. Along with the mounts 3mm zintec reinforced. Then the following year it failed on the 4 side mounts and sills. They were replaced with zintec box section and mounts aswell. Them buggers will never rot out again. I’ll dig a picture out

[sutty2006]

This is two weeks after it’s MOT from the previous owner.

 

Replaced with a better lasting material

 

 

Then 12 months later the sills went. Best pic I’ve got really

 

 

Spent way too much money and time on it to scrap it now. Currently got a wank clutch pedal and the parts cannon has been out.

[Rusty_Rocket]

Disco 1s are worth saving. Prices can only go one way, now that Defenders (that will be as rusty as your car) are making £6/7/8k+.

Not to mention, the Discovery is vastly superior to the Defender in every way possible apart from maybe perceived image.

My D1 will need welding on the front inner arches this summer and it will get it! They are the most practical vehicle available for under £1k, no question about it.

I know the rust is a major problem, but it's all simple flat sheet and right angles most of the time. Put a few hundred quid into it this time around and be smug that you've got a do-anything vehicle that owes you less than two doors for a Defender!

[Mrcento]

The fab'd cross member and box sills look very tidy. I've seen a few fabricated rear crossmembers but reckon most folk go with the pre built ones purely because it's a more complex shape. Have heard some folk say it wasn't anywhere near as bad a job as they feared and others say it's a pig,

 

Disco 1s are worth saving. Prices can only go one way, now that Defenders (that will be as rusty as your car) are making £6/7/8k+.
Not to mention, the Discovery is vastly superior to the Defender in every way possible apart from maybe perceived image.
My D1 will need welding on the front inner arches this summer and it will get it! They are the most practical vehicle available for under £1k, no question about it.
I know the rust is a major problem, but it's all simple flat sheet and right angles most of the time. Put a few hundred quid into it this time around and be smug that you've got a do-anything vehicle that owes you less than two doors for a Defender!

 

Agreed totally, they are vastly superior vehicles and don't draw the same attention as a Defender or RR, which are both thief magnets. Despite he D1 being as capable and comfortable as a blend of both. The fact they were actually designed for people with a right arm/shoulder is an immediate advantage over any Defender. And even the heater actually heats....

 

It's even surprisingly economical for a near 2 ton 25 year old 4x4 with the aero properties of a garden shed (and the technology of one too), i get over 30mpg without even trying. On a good long steady run it's in the high 30's.

 

We'll see what the welder says, ideally i'd like to keep it still but at the end of the day even paying to weld it up if he'd take it on at any kind of acceptable cost, it'll still be a tatty 25 year old Disco that's just had enough welding to get it legal again for a year. Another one of the "if i had a unit" points, but i'd happily (well, ish) do more of a resto on it.

[sierraman]

I’ve done with selling cars. It’s just not worth the hassle of dealing with fools wanting a new car for £300. I’ve a scrap only policy now, once it’s time for it to go or I’m fed up with it, it gets baled no question.

[Dead_E23]

I'm impressed with those pics of the rear body crossmember being fabricated, not least because the bodywork surrounding it is substantially intact. When I looked into doing it on my Range Rover, it seemed to involve dismantling pretty much the entire vehicle hence it got repurposed as a shed at that point. 

 

It'll have been repurposed again since, but this time in a foundry.

[Mrcento]

Still for sale, with one thing and another it's not been to the welder, really could do with it going and with the gumtree crowd as is, looking more and more like scrap

[sierraman]

200 pik up 2nite?

[drum]

Pm me your address and I'll pop down for a look one evening this week.

[Mrcento]

3 times in the last week i've ran through everything with a possible buyer and pretty much had the sale agreed, only for them to message "oh sorry mate, just bought one for £300". etc.

 

A lad even sent a pic of one he'd bought, needed all the same welding, plus mechanical work, new brakes and it was a lower spec model, with no spares etc and he thinks he got a better deal than mine.... i honestly don't get it. He'll spend another 300 just to get it starting and stopping and still have a lower spec model, no spares and all the structural issues needing resolved.

 

Anyway, i've pretty much had enough of this whole charade, I've a week left on insurance which is tied up on this and not paying another month for a car i can't even use legally, so last call before some bits are taken off for resale and the rest heads away for scrap.

[Andyrew]

If you wasnt so far away etc etc. .

 

If you can pull the engine and box you should see your £450 easily.

 

I've dealt with a few land breakers and most said that discos are a waste of time.

"Rip the bits off that fit a defender and bin the rest" was the opinion of one.

[sierraman]

You have my sympathies. This is the reality of selling cars at the few hundred quid level, the complete nut jobs you’ll find at your doorstep.

 

80% of them won’t have a clue about what they’re buying anyway, they’ll have seen a few episodes of Wheeler Dealers and come over all Mike Brewer.

[Mrcento]

If you wasnt so far away etc etc. .

 

If you can pull the engine and box you should see your £450 easily.

 

I've dealt with a few land breakers and most said that discos are a waste of time.

"Rip the bits off that fit a defender and bin the rest" was the opinion of one.

Sadly, living in a flat, ripping an engine out isn't an option. has to go as it is one way or another. Repair isn't an option for me any longer, same issues and nowhere commercial i can find will touch it. ( which is understandable to an extent, but I'm still sure if it was a Defender, they'd be all over it calling it classic restoration and seeing £ signs).

 

A Landy specialist breaker would say they're a waste of time, Disco's are one of their last remaining cash cows for them, the more they pretend they are worthless junk (a harder lie to pass with each year as cleaner ones get nearer defender money every year), the better value the bigger the profit margin there is. Between the all the parts that fit Defenders and RR classics, they effectively triple their money on every one (and then some, in some cases).

 

Engines easily go 3-400 on their own more or less bare, about another 100 in various ancillaries, gearbox and transfer box 150-200, diffs, £50 per pop, props around the same, same again for axels and brakes... and the steering box.

 

Another 100-150 for alloys, whatever you can get for various trim parts, likely around another £100 for a leather interior etc

 

Then if the chassis is useable, there's another £200+ on top of whatever they get for the scrap shell... if not they've got a raw body and chassis they'll get over £100 for from the crusher man

 

But of course... when it's on a Disco.... it's all "worthless junk"!

 

I'm open to offers tbh if it was going somewhere either for welding up or for parts to live on in something else, but truth be told, with scrap prices as they are, a few easy parts off and syphoning off the spares, i'll likely make most, if not all of the £450 anyway.

[Exiled_Tat_Gatherer]

ah fuck....…… could this be done? - Need to ponder...……...

[garbaldy]

ah fuck....…… could this be done? - Need to ponder...……...

Of course it could.

I can offer help if required.

[drum]

If I can offload something this week Mark, I'll give you a shout.

[drum]

A++ seller, recommended.

 

[loserone]

There's something very right about that picture.

[Mrcento]

A++ seller, recommended.

 

 

I absolutely love that picture!, it just looks so right and at home. Far better than sitting on the hill at mine with rear tail lamps randomly getting broken overnight..... (got to love the locals).

 

Pleasure meeting you (again) and Tam today.

[Exiled_Tat_Gatherer]

Saved by the bell Drum!