Big Blue - The Rebuild

The date - August 2011, with an MOT looming on my Caprice Green 300 TDi, i prodded and poked too much, and found more rot (so i thought) than a 40 year old VW Beetle left on a beach......so the bank of mum and dad was pressed into action and.....

enter Discovery number 4..........another ES spec Disco in Oxford Blue, with all they toys (bar cruise control)



so, now the plan is to do the welding required on this one to bring her upto scratch, while still running TB2 until the MOT runs out (2 weeks), then depositing it in a friends barn/workshop to strip the back end out, weld her up, mot then sell her on......

first though i've got to swap all my toys over.........

A quick inspection after getting it home led to the August Bank Holiday weekend doing this (Bear in mind this is 2011!)














































lots of rust killer used (about 3 pots), copious quantities of seam sealer along every join, followed by plenty of underseal, brush on and aerosol all over, should stop the dreaded tin worm for a few more years.

Boost alloys refurbed, ready for my BFG's to go back on




and wheels are finished and fitted......

light bar finally fitted and wired up


illuminated switch on the dash, to isolate them from main beam

Fast forward to May last year.....

Had one of those moments - you know the one's "hmmm, weathers not too bad, i'll just clean and rust treat (insert part here) today"........well i do anyway. so i decided that now she's off the road for a bit, i'd remove the lights etc and clean, rust treat and paint the o/s headlamp panel and bettery tray......it kinda went a little bit further than that.........


























cut the repair panel from one piece, and shaped it to fit first. plenty of weld through primer applied to all bare surfaces beforehand too. there'll be lots of red oxide primer, seam sealer to all joints, followed by some runny cavity wax, then a nice coat or three of stoneguard, possibly followed by some high pressure shutz, want to keep the rusty stuff at bay for a few more years yet. inner wing will be red oxided, seam sealed, primed and repainted either black, or the proper oxford blue (my preference)

just got to finish a couple of bits of welding, then do under the battery tray and tackle the base of the A pillar, and the top, after removing the dash - phew, it's going to be a big job, as there is more rust on the n/s inner than this one, dread to think what the A pillar on that side will be like.

Drivers foot well cleaned and rust treated


Some more grot cut out of inner wing A panel


cardboard template trimmed to fit - then transferred to metal work


new plate welded in. rust converter/primer tonight, followed by some red oxide, then seam sealer, then underseal and wax - hopefully stop any further water ingress/rust


oh, and weld the wing stiffener back on as well







last few bits of welding on the rh side, seam sealer applied liberally to all the potential leak joints, followed by 2 cans of stoneguard







inner wing parts to reassemble, then wing back on, then onto the lh side

on to the n/s now..........



small hole in the floor on this side needs addressing, but generally appears better than the otherside did (until i get the wing off)

and this is how wet the underfloor sponge was, after all week baking in the sun in what must have been +50 deg in side the disco


RH inner wing now looking tidier than before.....




headlight relays and loom




and LH inner wing


































now undersealed all over the A pillar too, and the inside repairs. I've also cut the hole in the inner wing for the snorkel tube, and repositioned the bonnet switch as per the snorkel instructions.

just a few bits of wiring to tidy up under the dash area, then the dash can go back in - one milestone reached

new inner wing panel fabricated


and welded into place







ABS bracket has been cleaned and painted ready to refit, along with a nice clean washer bottle. Wiring for aux battery to be rerouted down there as well, but after i've applied some paint to the inner wing, and lots of stoneguard and wax to the underside. Then the wings can go back on a major milestone reached at last.

After that it's onto the rear crossmember......

inner wing has been finished off in oxford blue, underseal and wax applied, wing and snorkel back on even better is that the right hand side is now watertight even after recent "light" showers, not even a drop in the footwell. just got to stop the lh side leaking now although i 'm 99% sure it's tracking down the loom

hopefully this is the last of the rusty stuff in the bodywork.....










started chopping some more tin worm out last night, debating about removing the quarter panel to get at the lower rear corner better on this one as there's more rot than i was expecting......


....although i may just leave the grotty stuff as it is, and create some plates over the top, not really sure yet, but as i'm working outside, i'm not keen on leaving the quarter panel off for too long if i can help it....and with the weather so far (and in the immediate forecast) it's not looking promising - unless i can bribe one of my farmer friends to lend me some barn space for a week/month or two

Managed to get some welding done this weekend, before the light showers we had Sunday....(85mm at home on my weather station)








was going well, until i ran out of mig wire.....
now going to repair the crossmember that's on there, and hopefully have enough cash for a new one (plus boot floor) next year - as i reckon i can squeeze another 12 months out of it - plus it seems false economy to repair a 2nd hand one, only to have to do the job again in a year or two.....so managed to get some time on her today, towbar removed, as well as fuel tank to improve access....





i'll use the other crossmember to repair this one, as the metal will be nice and thick, plus it'll be the correct profile as well

December 2012 gave us the best weather of the year......

nice weather = more welding









another nice day = more welding done to the o/s rear 1/4 - should be able to get the 1/4 panel back on this weekend






...and the welding to the rhr quarter is now complete. Seam sealer and red oxide liberally applied, just a coat of waxoil and some stoneguard to go, and the quarter panel can be re-attached. Have already got some Tiger Seal for the sticky bits.



still got to apply some seam sealer around the extreme rear, as the red oxide was still wet.
It's finally coming together, and now only the lh end of the crossmember to patch, one piece of the boot floor edge and the rh sill to repair, the body repairs are then complete. Rear discs, pads, calipers and bearings to be done, as well as swap the head and turbo off my old one, and i can get it booked in for an MOT (after i've patched the chassis up) - still going to swap chassis's, but that can wait until spring now when the weather improves.

bit more done today....








getting there bit by bit
Last few bits....





had a bit of an issue with the ABS light coming on again, turns out it was the relay sticking, so that's sorted.

and that's it up to date. The chassis swap is still pending (once i can actually find the time to get the body stripped off the donor), but will happen this year.
There WILL be more to come.....

Errrr that is alot of welding.

Glad the one I have is a jap import and currently pretty darn good in the rust department.

Looks like your doing a cracking job on it, oh and I want your wheels

Glad the one I have is a jap import and currently pretty darn good in the rust department.

Click to expand...

Get it rust protected with lots of waxoyl then while it is relatively rust free, even if it involves removing the front wings to do the A panels, and make sure you spray up the inside of the inner rear quarters too.

oh and I want your wheels

Click to expand...

can't have them, sorry, took me a week and a half of rubbing back and painting to get that finish (colour is Arken grey BTW)

I've also swapped the head and turbo for lower mileage units, tweaked the injection pump, and added a few extra circuits too (rear work light and 12v socket in boot, both switched from a RRC soft dash switch panel.

being doing a great job, gives a nice feeling that its all sorted and nothin to worry about.shame you couldnt of done a new crossmember and boot floor at the time. bet you be pleased when its all sorted and moted

doing a great job keep the photos coming

What PATIENCE you have. How many hours did you give it to date .Well done mate buy you a pint.

Cheers all. She is now back on the road, mot was done 3 days before it snowed back in january god knows how many hours I spent on it. Given the funds a new crossmember and floor would have gone in. Hopefully next year when things improve financially

Body is now removed from my old disco, and chassis is now ready for its refurb