Robb's disco improvement thread

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robbh

Crazier than a box of frogs on acid
Posts
1,755
Location
Edge of the New Forest. Wiltshire
Hey guys and gals. :)

Well. I've finally bought myself another land rover after 5 months without one (these 5 months were hell with nothing to tinker with :() and couldn't resist buying another disco 1.as I seem to have a soft spot for these old rust buckets :p

Idea of the thread is to document pretty much everything as she will be mainly a weekend playtoy. And (funds permitting) hope to add plenty of mods/pictures of me out breaking it. :)

Anyway little about the disco...... It's a 95 300tdi ES model with 170k odd on the clock. Leather interior, leccy sunroofs, Aircon etc. Bought her as a non runner so the first job is to get some tax and ticket for her. And here she is......






Lots of plans for her, which includes plenty of off road toys and plenty of pictures to follow :)
 
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First job was to get the clutch to work so this meant gearbox out. And what a pig of a job that was....... Ended up having to do this to the bellhousing :eek:




The clutch was stuck on the input shaft splines on the gearbox so this was how it looked when I finally got the box out.




With the clutch cut off and the new clutch in I can actually drive it around the driveway :D

Next job involved pulling out most of the interior so I could rust treat and paint the floors. Luckily most of the carpet/sound deadening had already been removed so proved a relatively easy task.

And a pic or 2 of it all painted and ready for the interior to go back in.








And now the interior back in. Also changed the seats for cloth ones as I very much dislike leather. Carpets will never go back in either. Will stick with the rubber mats as it'll be simple washing out all the mud :p




Next job will be removing this axle for a non abs version I have reconditioned. As I plan on removing the abs completely.




For this........

 
Other bits already fitted which aren't worthy of a photo include, CB radio, steering guard, HD drag link, headlight relay mod and a decat front section.

Things left to be done to get her through mot.

Fit recon rear axle with new brake pads and discs.
Completely remove the abs system and run new brake lines.
Change serp belt as it looks ancient.
Find out why my SRS light won't go off.
Patch sill on n/s under rear door and n/s rear body mount.
Then little niggly bits..


Once she's mot'd and legit the real fun and mods can begin! :D
 
Nice one Rob. I bought those yellow springs off you a while back then had to sell on my rrc :(
I lasted 4 months landyless and then bought a d1 but alas I gave the springs away with the rangey.
Everyone thinks im mad buying an old banger from 1997 but I dont know why it appeals to me! I just like them.
I have a nice painted up a frame to fit this weekend with new ball joint and bushes (poly) plus a new prop donut and a hd steering bar set with new ball joints. Then the welding which is not too much in all fairness.
Good luck on this, im interested to see what abs removal involves. Mine is fine but has kicked in in a carpark once or twice at v low speed full lock.
 
Drive it around the driveway! How bigs your bloody driveway???
My driveway isn't actually that big..... It's more like 3 point turning it on the drive:D

Hi,

Just wondred what paint you used on the axel? It looks really good.

I used this stuff as a primer.



And this stuff to paint it. I've used satin black paint.

Landrover Vehicle Enamel Paint | www.paints4trade.com


All painting has been done with a brush. :)



Nice one Rob. I bought those yellow springs off you a while back then had to sell on my rrc :(
I lasted 4 months landyless and then bought a d1 but alas I gave the springs away with the rangey.
Everyone thinks im mad buying an old banger from 1997 but I dont know why it appeals to me! I just like them.
I have a nice painted up a frame to fit this weekend with new ball joint and bushes (poly) plus a new prop donut and a hd steering bar set with new ball joints. Then the welding which is not too much in all fairness.
Good luck on this, im interested to see what abs removal involves. Mine is fine but has kicked in in a carpark once or twice at v low speed full lock.

Yes mate I remember. And that's a shame about the rrc. :(
Definitely too long to go without a land rover of any kind. :p I'm telling you if there was such thing a rehab for landy owners I'd be in it. :D Just can't get enough of the damned things. But I'd rather have a rusty old land rover than a newer car! :)

Good luck with your a frame change if it's anything like the one I'm taking off currently you'll regret starting the job. :p (it's the removal of rusty nuts that's hard)
Rust again on mine too doesn't seem all that bad just a few small patches here and there. Nothing like others I have seen :eek:

Abs removal...... Apparently it's a simple job.
Most of the parts are already there to do it. It's just a case of removing one brake line all the way to the back to rear axle as there is 2. Then fitting a t-piece on the rear axle to connect the rear calipers.
Then also removing a plug from the brake proportioning valve thingy and connecting brake lines like they are on a non abs set up.
Apparently some people still use the abs master cylinder as they are different to non abs version. But I'll be changing it as I have a non abs one anyway.
I will however take plenty of pics and explain it all as I'm doing it. :)
 
Spent another couple of hours under the old shed tonight in preparation of removing the rear axle.

And what a relief it was when I came out from underneath victorious! Bruised, sweating and with bloody knuckles. All in the aid of removing 1! Yes that's right 1 A frame to chassis bolt! :eek::D

Just one more to go :eek: and the brake pipes to snap off then the axle should be free from the grip of rusty bolts! :p

Will get some pictures up tomorrow of it actually coming out as I have all day to do it :)

In the meantime though I'll show a sneak peak of one of the 4 gauges I'm fitting on the dash.........
 
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nice one mate, doing a great job, did you do the clutch on your own and how long did it take you ?

Thank you. :)

And yep clutch was done on my own with just an engine crane to do the heavy lifting. Only time i got help was when a friend of mine came round to turn the engine by hand as the box was going back in. Took roughly 2 days on my own but would of been quicker if i didn't have to cut a hole in the bellhousing to undo the clutch cover bolts :(

Luckily i had spare bellhousing so wasn't the end of the world :)

I will say though if i ever have to do the clutch again I'll take the engine out. It's so much easier to line everything up. And less awkward.
 
Cheers, just undid the a frame bj castle nut. OMG that thing took some shifting! I bought a 30mm impact socket with a tapered neck which fit perfect (laser make) and failed on a breaker bar. It sat solid for 30 seconds on my clarke 240v impact wrench at full beans. No nut has ever lasted 2 secs! I failed to undo the bush end bolts so they are being chopped of in the morning with a grinder. I have new bolts here in anticipation of this very occurrence:D

ABS removal sounds ok. Some pics would be great. Good luck on the other a frame bolt or just crack out the grinder :high5:
 
Cheers, just undid the a frame bj castle nut. OMG that thing took some shifting! I bought a 30mm impact socket with a tapered neck which fit perfect (laser make) and failed on a breaker bar. It sat solid for 30 seconds on my clarke 240v impact wrench at full beans. No nut has ever lasted 2 secs! I failed to undo the bush end bolts so they are being chopped of in the morning with a grinder. I have new bolts here in anticipation of this very occurrence:D

ABS removal sounds ok. Some pics would be great. Good luck on the other a frame bolt or just crack out the grinder :high5:

I'm not even going to attempt the castle nut until the axle is off! :p

I think I may use the grinder on the other side that bolt was a nightmare! Especially considering you need an extra long breaker bar as it's tight all the way until the nuts nearly free! :mad:

And I think I may have to invest in a impact wrench :scratching_chin:

Now you say you bought new bolts I wish I had too :D an angle grinder would have been so much easier :D I think I have a spare bolt from a previous disco somewhere :eek:

Will take plenty of pictures of it. Especially considering all copper brake pipes will be new so it'll look pretty good too ;)
 
thanks mate, engine out you recon, wouldnt that be harder or is it different for a td5

Yea definitely engine out. Not sure about harder . but it's a right pain rolling around underneath trying to get everything to line up correctly. There really isn't much room around the transmission tunnel which is the biggest problem. At least with engine out and off the mounts you can move it around easily to get the box to line up.
 
I'm not even going to attempt the castle nut until the axle is off! :p

I think I may use the grinder on the other side that bolt was a nightmare! Especially considering you need an extra long breaker bar as it's tight all the way until the nuts nearly free! :mad:

And I think I may have to invest in a impact wrench :scratching_chin:

Now you say you bought new bolts I wish I had too :D an angle grinder would have been so much easier :D I think I have a spare bolt from a previous disco somewhere :eek:

Will take plenty of pictures of it. Especially considering all copper brake pipes will be new so it'll look pretty good too ;)

Well the castle nut was the easy bit compared to your friends the bush end bolts. I couldnt get a socket on as no 28mm in my kit and my big stillsons fractured with too much force! So grinder came out but couldnt get the disc far enough in to chop it in one go so had to turn nut cut, repeat, and then smack it off eith bfh. Took about 2hrs. Then I had the joy of getting the bolts back in for the new frame! Lump hammers crow bars everything with leverage and got em in eventually. Had to take rear prop off and only just got it past exhaust. I smacked sh! T out of my nice painted a frame so it looks battered now.... polybushes in the a frame dont like going in too easy be warned!
Took her for a drive and its so nice not to have the the clunk on gear change. Garage quoted £80 to do the a frame so I can spend that on something more useful now:D
I put a new prop donut on too, but that was a piece of pi $$ :cool:
Impact wrench is a lifesaver, I have a clarke 240v one, its massive but is really powerful. It still beat the castle nut in the end!
 
Well the castle nut was the easy bit compared to your friends the bush end bolts. I couldnt get a socket on as no 28mm in my kit and my big stillsons fractured with too much force! So grinder came out but couldnt get the disc far enough in to chop it in one go so had to turn nut cut, repeat, and then smack it off eith bfh. Took about 2hrs. Then I had the joy of getting the bolts back in for the new frame! Lump hammers crow bars everything with leverage and got em in eventually. Had to take rear prop off and only just got it past exhaust. I smacked sh! T out of my nice painted a frame so it looks battered now.... polybushes in the a frame dont like going in too easy be warned!
Took her for a drive and its so nice not to have the the clunk on gear change. Garage quoted £80 to do the a frame so I can spend that on something more useful now:D
I put a new prop donut on too, but that was a piece of pi $$ :cool:
Impact wrench is a lifesaver, I have a clarke 240v one, its massive but is really powerful. It still beat the castle nut in the end!

Haha. That does sound like a right ballache! :eek: could be fun putting this new axle on then as I'm also using poly bushes. :D

As for undoing my second a frame bolt it was easy :rolleyes: I found a small amount of plusgas lying around and soaked the bugger in that. Came out as if it was new. :doh:


Definitely going to have a look at impact wrenches though and will keep an eye for the Clarke one if you rate it. ;)
 
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