s3 and discovery hybrid... lets go

good afternoon chaps, i have a plan...

I have brought an s3 ous of a field for 200 pound, here it is as it sits today



I intend to strip it right back, repair what i can, replace what i cant then sit the whole thing on a shortened discovery 200tdi chassis, with all the discovery suspention and running gear engine the lot, and ant mod cons i can steal from it and shoehorn into the s3 like power stearing and such like

i have a donor discovery so have most of the parts i should require. but can anyone let me know if i'll need anything else major that i might not have and also how much of a headache are the electrics going to give me

i will be posting a build thread as i go along so i can share the ballache with everyone and also to reap the knoledge of the masses.

looking forward to it

How familiar are you with the SVA regulations?

unfortunatly my knoledge of SVA regulations extends only as far as spelling it

I see from your photo your S3 has freewheeling front hubs. They sell well on ebay.

crashbox said:

I see from your photo your S3 has freewheeling front hubs. They sell well on ebay.

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good good, i intend to make a pile of good bits, then when ive finnished the build ill sell what ever i dont use, things like the s3 hubs would be for sale anyway because ill be using the disco running gear

Another series to be butchered in the name of a so-called "hybrid" ?
So basically your going to hack apaprt a Discovery and put a S3 body onto the chassis then....right ?

unfortunatly my knoledge of SVA regulations extends only as far as spelling it

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:doh:

I suggest you do some serious paper bashing and familiarise yourself with the SVA regs as MHM says.....i think your in for a nasty surprise...

and then, maybe, get yoself a coilspring conversion chassis and do it the easy way, if yu must.

The Mad Hat Man said:

and then, maybe, get yoself a coilspring conversion chassis and do it the easy way, if yu must.

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point taken...

however, how much will i have to pay for a coil sprung conversion chassis, im an appentice farrier, we earn peanuts. But my labour is free and welding wire, brains and sweat are very cheep.

dirtyrhino, yes i am going to hack it up and put the body on a discovery chassis, but there isnt a fat lot on the s3 that could be left origional appart from the body and engine as most of the chassis isnt there anymore

Im no pureist, i dont want the rough ride, wheezy 2 1/4 engine and rot that comes with a 70's landy, i just like the basic agricultural look of series landrovers.

I intend to make a good job of the conversion, and of any repairs to the bodywork as i want it to look clean and standard at a glance, and to serve me well. You cant say its a crap idea otherwise it wouldnt be something people do.

i can see the sva could be a problem so ill have to be smart about bits i use and make a good job in accordance with reg's so i will pass. never mind if its on a Q plate

If you like an agricultural look and something thats fairly nippy and easy to drive, buy a fookin JCB fast-trac.

Weld the s3 chassis up, put the disco engine in, retrofit the PAS to it and put the disco axles under it and leave it as a leafer.. That way you will have a s3 that is not bad to drive and most likely won't need an SVA, but I might be wrong with the SVA bit..

to be honest, i think ill just chop down the discovery chassis,

how complex are the discovery electronics on the 200tdi as ill have to swap the dash loom to then cut it down a bit.

and are there any bits that wont fit that i should be panicing about

I've just spent the past few hours reading up about series body on a Disco chassis,

From what it seems, you'll need to take it for an SVA and probably need an Enhanced SVA test rather than the standard one

Looking up about the actual SVA, it's not too much to worry about - have a read of this. If it goes in as a light goods vehicle even less gets tested, apparently you just have to prove it cannot have rear seats (this only came from what I read on a forum so don't take it as gospel)

You'll always upset a few people by doing it as it's not 'pure' any more, as long as you don't try and keep the series registration you should be OK,


As for 200tdi electronics there aren't any.....feed to starter solenoid and then just sensors......

I'm pretty sure Disco Axles are wider than Series ones, so you might end up needing wheelarch extensions.

disco axles are same width as defender ,defender body same width as series ,we often use series bodies etc and fit def outer skins with std def arches

jamesmartin said:

disco axles are same width as defender ,defender body same width as series ,we often use series bodies etc and fit def outer skins with std def arches

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Just looked it up, Track for Series is 1.68m, Defender is 1.79m.
Series width 1.68m, defender 1.79. I'm assuming the 1.79m is allowing for the wheelarches on a defender made necessary because of it's wider track.

I only say that because when I drive ruts made by Defenders/Discos my tyres don't fit in them width ways, always very tight on the inside.

If you fit swb rims to a series with disco/defender axles you don't need the arches,the wheels just fit inside the series body.

leaving the series nearly original but restoring it the value would be high
if i was you, repair what you can on the series, and take a few bits off the disco to make driving a little easier, power steering, 200tdi ect then once that was all done you would have a landy that was nearly original, drives nice, and youve saved the majority of the series.

Yeh 200tdi wiring is non-existant.

If you want a disco / series hybrid then go for it and enjoy it - just keep it legal.

You're 'wrecking' an old, decrepid landy which is rotting away in a field and unlikely to see the light of day again. Why not re-use parts of it and have fun?

My view on Landy's is that they are designed to keep going, you can swap parts which die, upgrade parts, etc. Its nice to see some pristine shiny perfect condition series around, but, they don't all need to be like that.

Enjoy

Bump said:

Yeh 200tdi wiring is non-existant.

If you want a disco / series hybrid then go for it and enjoy it - just keep it legal.

You're 'wrecking' an old, decrepid landy which is rotting away in a field and unlikely to see the light of day again. Why not re-use parts of it and have fun?

My view on Landy's is that they are designed to keep going, you can swap parts which die, upgrade parts, etc. Its nice to see some pristine shiny perfect condition series around, but, they don't all need to be like that.

Enjoy

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No they don't need to be all shiny. But once he has trashed the series, it's gone... forever.



Why not sell the series to someone who really wants one. Nothing to stop you 'building' a series shell from various panels - no need to destroy anything then. Or perhaps put a defender body on it instead?

protactor said:

No they don't need to be all shiny. But once he has trashed the series, it's gone... forever.



Why not sell the series to someone who really wants one. Nothing to stop you 'building' a series shell from various panels - no need to destroy anything then. Or perhaps put a defender body on it instead?

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There are 100's of series being 'broken' for parts across the country as you get more for them in parts than as a whole.

That can be seen as sacrafising some to keep the rest going, or, removing some from the road pool which could have been restored.

What this guy wants to do is re-use several parts and sell the rest - similar to a breaker really. Least a series body will still be on the road.

If somebody else wanted it they would have gone and bought it off the farmer for £200.

Well unless he sells the chassis for someone to rebuild, the ID is gone forever.