Discovery 1 - Restoration!

Hello there, I am here looking for some advice! I have a 200tdi Discovery which is suffering from rust, inner wings, front body mounts, headlight enclosures, rear arches etc... just ordered all the bits to re do the engine bay came to £380 just for metal.. friends have told me it's not worth it as I'll never get my money back! however I feel this was one of the best 4x4's ever made, reliable, economical, practical and easy to maintain! all apart from the rust, plus on the good side no ECU to go wrong!

has anyone ever restored one before? if so please could you give me some tips if you have any! I did the boot floor last year, I know both floor pans need doing! drivers side and passenger side!

I am looking at re spraying the old girl, re doing the brake lines front to back, upgrading headlights (although i want to keep the original headlamps would just be nicer if it gave more light on low beam) i want to change interior, I have seen someone has put vw golf seats in one before? looked nice! again if anyone knows about this please let me know

please do not reply telling me I'm wasting my time, I realise I'll never get my money back (not in the next 10 years anyway) but even if this project costs me £4k I'll have a good as new 4x4 I can work on and one thatll still be around longer than half of the x5's and disco 3's

i dunno if i'd go as far to say it'd be good as new, but if you enjoy driving it and want to keep it for a long time then why not??

Just don't keep track of how much you've spent

agree with above, do not keep track on costs, its a labour of love and you'll never get any cash back. However you cant put a price on the feeling that you did it, whatever job, big or small. search these pages and you'll find some eye watering photos of rust repairs and rebuilds. If its anything like mine is/was there times you think, i'll scrap it, its not worth it. but then the "bug" kicks in and you plod on!!!

muddytrax said:

I have seen someone has put vw golf seats in one before? looked nice! again if anyone knows about this please let me know

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Recaros from a Cosworth 4x4. Dead easy.

Do it. I did and I haven't looked back.

Started off as a £500 basket case:



...and now looks something like this:

I had RRC seats in my 200 very comfy, theres a guy on here selling a set of baige leather 300 seats front and rear think he wants £85, i would stick with landrover seats straight forward swop? Or was for RRC in my 200 goodluck

auf_wiedersehen_pet said:

Recaros from a Cosworth 4x4. Dead easy.

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these easy to get a hold of? they look awesome!

Mark L said:

Do it. I did and I haven't looked back.

Started off as a £500 basket case:

...and now looks something like this:

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WOW! well I'm not much good at welding yet! hopefully I'll be able to do something like that good work!

muddytrax said:

these easy to get a hold of? they look awesome!

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Check out ebay

FORD SIERRA SAPPHIRE RS COSWORTH 4X4 SEATS, BLACK LEATHER RECARO | eBay

Do it, and take plenty of pics too. Have done the front end of mine already and am now onto replacing the sills.

Here is the finished front on mine


The full thread is here

I bought an old dog 200 tdi and did it up.. I would leave the painting etc til last, get the important stuff done first. http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f20/hello-cornwall-disco-project-165186.html

Green hornet is an inspiring read.. http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f8/discovery-rust-boot-sills-wings-161843.html

You can pay a lot of money for Cosworth Recaros especially if they are in good nick. I fitted Rover 400 seats in mine Not as nice as the Recaros but a hell of a lot better than the standard seats plus they only cost me £40.