98' Discovery 1 advisory help needed.

OK So I've had the worst luck in the world with cars. I'm pretty poor, young family loads of debt etc etc so I've generally bought "end of life" vehicles that I run into the ground for a year and scrap. I decided to take a risk on a "mint, rarely seen in this condition" Discovery 1 on ebay .. as surely I couldn't be lied to 5 times on the run... so I travel 200 miles on the train and the poor thing is covered in corrosion and a lovely list of advisories suddenly appears attached to the MOT but assured they were "minor". After a search on the DVLA site it appears it failed at one station, was taken to another place 2 days later and they were given as "advisories". I know very little about cars, but I really need to learn. Can anyone help me with the following...

Reason(s) for refusal to issue Certificate
Nearside Outer Front Track rod end ball joint has excessive play (2.2.B.1f) **DANGEROUS**
Offside Rear Lower Anti-roll bar linkage has excessive play in a ball joint (2.4.G.2) **DANGEROUS**
Advisory Notice issued
Nearside Rear Upper Shock absorber has a slightly worn bush (2.7.4)
Offside Front Upper Shock absorber has a slightly worn bush (2.7.4)
Slight corrosion to rear of sills
Slight corrosion near servo mounting


basically I want to know what I can do myself with limited tools and skills, what parts I need to source online, and what I really need to save to get it into a garage.


The rear sill has an obvious hole in it that needs welding, I guess I should get this and the servo mounting (poss just passed the inner wheel arch) welded at the same time in a garage.


Can I do the shock absorber bushes on my drive ? Is it cheaper/easier to buy a whole part.


same with the ball joints listed. I've read they can become stuck on and it's better to buy a complete arm or somethin ? any links to parts, how to's, images, etc etc much appreciated. I'm basically going in blind but I really want to gain some repair skills.



One more thing how much should I expect to pay in the garage for some of the above items ?



Thanks in advance.

yes you can be lied to 5 times on the trot as advisories show !!
track rod end do asap dangerous + will scrub tyres and cost more cash you say you aint got spare, log onto somewhere like padocks for parts prices not hard to do but will prob need ball joint splitter (don't by cheap you will regret it)search anti roll bar some say not needed ?

Halfords | Laser Ball Joint Separator Scissors the best thing I bought to do ball joints, can probably be bought cheaper else where!

The guy in halfords recommended it and I thought he was taking the **** cus it was about £10 more expensive than the others but I tried the other ones and this was by far the best!

The track rod ends can be a bit of a bastard to get out but think the best way i found was getting 2 hammers and hitting the bar opposite sides at the same time to break the rust seal (if that makes sense ) and eventually it will start turning remember to smother it in copper grease when putting the new one in.
Plenty of different techniques to try have a search Track Rod End Removal - Discovery Forum - LR4x4 - The Land Rover Forum

The rear anti roll bar...just remove it although dont know if the next MOT guy will pick up that its been removed if it was an advisory! Not sure on the exact rules...


The rust...make friends with a welderer or buy one and learn to weld best thing you'll ever do owning a Land Rover!

Can't help with the shock absorber bushes but can't be too difficult

Good luck, hope that helped a little.

the only problem with ball joint seperators is damage to joint or gaiter ,hitting arm near tre doesnt

They are all easy enough to do, and as my learned friend says, Paddocks or similar will have the bits you need. Get yourself the Haynes manual, as it will come in useful. If you are near Leicester, I'd be happy to pop over and have a look. AND YES, GET A FRIEND WITH A WELDER, AND LEARN HOW TO DO IT. HAVE FUN

thanks for the replies! I'll get stuck into it asap. Appreciate the offer of help too blackhadder but I live in Liverpool

Just nick a newer one then :behindsofa:

ouch

Not mentioned so far ... When you successfully replace the track rod end(s) get to your local tyre depot immediately to get the tracking set up on a laser measuring machine.

Just a few quid and it'll save you loads of ££££ in scrubbed tyres.

lol very original Steve

Cheers Brian, what should I expect to pay for a tracking set up ? What's a reasonable price ?

£30 at my local tyre supplier last week

I wish my list for failing was that short my was track rod ends, drake link arm ends, rear shock absorber bushes, rear antie roll bar drop arm bushes and a bit off welding needed near rear body mount and battery tray. all I did with the rear shock abobsobers was took the grinder to the bottom bolt and undid the top bolt and just replaced the lot it was so much easier then trying to undo the bottom bolts, took off the whole track rod system heated every thing up with a blow torch and just refitted all new ends and damper as well cus the parts are so cheap off paddocks. will say get grease able track rod ends and don't forget to ask for a right hand threaded 1 and a left hand threaded 1 good luck its all easy to do. I'm just teaching meself to weld so I can have a go at the welding.