Another welding thread!

[Discodad]

Brought this Disco back in Feb with what looked to be a prefect boot floor.
Should have known better really. I was (and still am) very tempted to break it but the running gear is very good, achieves 30mpg (even with my heavy right foot) and it has no ABS, no airbags and no aircon.



I took it off the road when the MOT expired as I had already found some holes in the rear cross member. We have a laning holiday booked for Feb so thought we'd make a start on getting it sorted.

It just kept getting worse and worse and worse. We haven't even took the sill covers off yet



So many of the holes had been packed out, filled with putty and then undersealed over the top. What a complete total waste of time and effort






Lots of metal patches just riveted in


Then we started seeing what was solid






Then we cut out the rust to see what was left:





Bit daunted by it all tbh.
I welded at college about 20 years ago so hoping it will come back and we are very lucky to have the use of a workshop in the evenings and weekends.

Current thoughts are to buy:
Boot panel.
The three boot floor supports.
side panels.
I want to repair the arches as Auf_wiedersehen_pet's did in his thread as they are shockingly expensive to buy.

I would rather repair the cross member as the replacement panel is expensive and it looks difficult to replace.

I'll take plenty of photos as we repair it and hopefully get it ready for the welch green lanes.

 

[notenoughtime]

Well you should be good at welding by the time you have finished lol
Shame people do bodges!!!

 

[robbh]

Bloody hell now that's bad! Good luck your gonna need by the look of it!

I'd take the rear quarter panels off whilst your at it to see what else they are hiding.

Still at least it should be solid by the time your finished.

 

[Neildisco300]

Was there is just a little work needing done there. Is there any solid metal left?

 

[aaronmorris]

Wow, good luck, I'm sure it'll all have come back by the time you're finished

 

[Discodad]

I feel even worse now!!!
I was hoping for some RUST! thats not rust, this is rust comments

 

[SpiritMR]

Looks like it has been used to launch boats.

If you have a welding plant. I need some welding doing on mine. So if you would be kind enough to let me do mine, i'd happily do yours.

 

[haigy]

Bloody hell mine was smae with bags n news paper. But not as bad as yours mate. I welded mine over 3 weekends and now its solid. You will feel better when its done properly i bought a boot floor and the 3 struts and changed the top tank strap why it was accessible. Lift tank and check the side of the chassis where you cant c aswell and good luck

If you welded years ago then you will remember how much weld splatter hurts

 

[SpaceDawg]

Tiz but a scratch, good luck with it, get it done then you will know its solid.

Have you checked the inner wings yet?

 

[Discodad]

Tiz but a scratch, good luck with it, get it done then you will know its solid.

Have you checked the inner wings yet?

No , gulp.
But I just need this done and mot'd for a laning weekend early feb.
Hoping to get this done for feb and then attack the front in the summer.

 

[Discodad]

Anyone found anything better / cheaper than this?
LAND ROVER DISCOVERY 1 COMPLETE REAR BOOT FLOOR KIT 1989-1998 | eBay
Do I have to sand back all edges that are going to be welded (mig).

 

[winchman]

Anyone found anything better / cheaper than this?
LAND ROVER DISCOVERY 1 COMPLETE REAR BOOT FLOOR KIT 1989-1998 | eBay
Do I have to sand back all edges that are going to be welded (mig).

Looks a bit dear to me,

 

[b3nc123]

The tin worms definitely been busy on yours mate. Took me a while to do mine as it was on the drive and i only had weekends to spare but what your attempting is definitely achievable. I would advise you to steer clear of fleabay repair panels though. Think i remember reading Mr Noisey buying a kit like that and it was just paper thin. YRM products are really well made and have used them myself but probably a tad more expensive. Look at my build threads if you want a bit of inspiration to tackle it. I would have a look at the sills now as well, if it needs an MOT they will look at your body mounts and 4 of them are on the sills.

 

[ronsealdeath]

Problem with the yrm side panels is they arent cut to shape and that takes a lot of time to do. I am going to buy a pre-formed side panel to do mine so will let you know if its crap! They are twice the price of the yrm ones mind and thinking about it you can use the sound deadening as a template?

 

[Mr Noisy]

that looks as bad as mine was

took me AAAAGES to do and ive never since seen one as bad

if i wasnt naive when i was doing it i would have got a better shell, but i were young and foolish so i just cracked on

is reyt now though

be careful of aftermarket premade side panels, they are very thin and warp terribly when welding!!

good luck with it discodad!

 

[Discodad]

I'm starting to think this is a bad idea. Between myself and my brother we have a max of 80hours that can be dedicated to it before we head off for our annual laning weekend.

Might just buy another disco with a few mods already and then fix this one up at a more relaxed rate.

 

[notenoughtime]

To stop the warping weld small bits at a time and have a damp cloth to wipe on panel. You could get them all tacked in and weld one inch one side and inch the other so it cools

 

[another forum]

Mine was like that.a bit daunting at first but work methodically.the boot floor panel sits in a recess so I got some 16mm X 1.5mm angle from b&q and made a frame for the panel to fit in.use polyurethane sealant as it drys in 20 minutes and is paintable but wear gloves as it don't come off skin very well

 

[ronsealdeath]

Were the under floor crossmembers spot welded to the floor panel? Or do they attach to the chassis and floor just rests on them?

 

[Mr Noisy]

I cable tied my crossmembers to the brackets cos I use a Chequerplate floor panel!