Hi Folks! New (battered) Disco 2 Owner

Hi Gang,
Well I've secretly wanted a Land rover for a long time, it must be something they put in the tea, in the Army.
I've previously had a old freelander and have been around lots of battered ex farm defenders.
My last 2 cars have been LPG from the factory (a ford and a Astra estate). I need to keep my motoring costs down, hence the lpg......But a recent family tragedy, means i need to try and squeeze more people in the car for family outings, so it had to be an LPG 7 seater, Luckily a disco came up nearby and i took the gamble/ plunge on this big, blue MOT failure, as i have a friendly garage who do could, cheap (in comparison) welding.
So as well as a big hello to you all, anybody happy to share some tips, things i should look out for, fix in advance alongside the obvious service and MOT fix.
Thanks in advance and i look forward to trawling through the forum for useful titbits.
Les

Also, the garage aren't going to get around looking at it for at least a week and have advised me to look out for and source the ball joints that need replacing. Can anyone signpost me to the best place or what to avoid.
cheers

Welcome to LoonyZone

Welcome to the forum

Welcome mate. Lots of sellers of aftermarket and genuine parts, I would start by comparing prices with Paddocks, John Craddock, Rimmer Bros and Island 4x4. Usually the easy way is to get a parts manual, work out the part number you need and do a search.
What welding needs doing - it is probably the rear? If you are keeping it for a while, rather than do a quick patch job that will just delay the intevitable, you might be better off buying a rear quarter or half chassis and having that welded on.

Si Click said:

Welcome mate. Lots of sellers of aftermarket and genuine parts, I would start by comparing prices with Paddocks, John Craddock, Rimmer Bros and Island 4x4. Usually the easy way is to get a parts manual, work out the part number you need and do a search.
What welding needs doing - it is probably the rear? If you are keeping it for a while, rather than do a quick patch job that will just delay the intevitable, you might be better off buying a rear quarter or half chassis and having that welded on.

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Thanks for the heads up, I'll look in to it. From the owners description and the MOT fail it sounds like it's a few patches, but i won't know for sure until my welder has been under it. I've loads of photos but I don't really know what i'm looking at....yet....but that is the joy of owning a LR i believe getting your hands dirty and learning how to look after and fix it
hopeful

Sounds like you are well suited to LR ownership! Welcome!
A word of caution, even though it may look like a few patches, D2 chassis are thinner than Defenders and tend to rot from the inside. Tell your welder to pay particular attention to the rear chassis, and to look closely at the tops of the rails where they are difficult to access as well as the shock mounting points. Often by the time rust has started to appear on the surface, the whole rear may be rotten inside. Check out the prices of half and quarter chassis members and ask your man to quote on fitting. It may delay the need for a new chassis by a few years.

Si Click said:

Sounds like you are well suited to LR ownership! Welcome!
A word of caution, even though it may look like a few patches, D2 chassis are thinner than Defenders and tend to rot from the inside. Tell your welder to pay particular attention to the rear chassis, and to look closely at the tops of the rails where they are difficult to access as well as the shock mounting points. Often by the time rust has started to appear on the surface, the whole rear may be rotten inside. Check out the prices of half and quarter chassis members and ask your man to quote on fitting. It may delay the need for a new chassis by a few years.

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Thanks Si, you've given me lots to think about. My welder is good and affordable but still totally swamped with work, so i've asked a few other local, reliable places but no one is in a rush in these parts so its going to be a waiting game. I'm hoping its going to be alright and not the dreaded money pit the neigh sayers bang on about. Fingers crossed

Welcome Aboard

Some good advice already above in posts 5 & 7. The rear chassis on D2's is notorious for rotting away from the inside - it's always the rust you can't see which will kill one ..... espescially "economically" .....*

Any vehicle can become a money pit - normally by conducting a series of "cheap" repairs to a problem that, if properly fixed, would outlast the vehicle if it was looked after ...

Case in point:- SWMBO's D1 had four sh*tty patches on BOTH NS and OS front A-post body mounts - all the patches were on top of each other - a complete recipe for disaster ...

So, for example, in your case, a new half chassis might seem expensive - but, if done properly, and looked after, it could potentially last, essentially forever.

Lots of info on here about rust treatment - one important thing to note:- NEVER use underseal - it traps water and rots your pride and joy for fun

* if you make an investment in this D2 on the basis of keeping it forever, then IMHO, make damn sure it's on agreed value insurance, so the ins co don't write it off for some minor nonsense, and give you £50 for it ....

Interesting , where do you put your LPG tanks on a seven seater D2?

Interceptorxj said:

Interesting , where do you put your LPG tanks on a seven seater D2?

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UNDERNEATH, Near the rot. The last owners Indie Land rover garage didn't want to weld near the LPG tanks or remove them, hence why he gave up on it. I dropped it off at an LPG garage in the dark so didn't look underneath myself, but I've seen them now siting in the boot. they are quite stubby twin tanks, not sure how low or high they sit, but it does look like the d2 was used off road. I do have photos, but its difficult for an untrained eye like myself to make head nor tail of it. I'm happy to post them if anyone is interested.