The Little Discovery That Could (financially ruin me)

Wow. I didn't realize it was like that.

Come on, don't keep us in suspense, did it pass? Or is it taking you this long to write the post of all the things it's failed on? LOL

The trick is to get really good at handjobs

Nice one

Great news. Well done.

Tried to snap it in half today.



Didn't work.

Had a nice day out with the dog doing some greenlaning. It's been a while...





And the shackle holes in the bumper turned out to be useful moving a log that was blocking the trail.



Dog approves of this XL stick





Nice to be out breaking in instead of in the workshop fixing it.

Got to sort out the clutch, it keeps losing pressure as you drive and you have to crunch the gears into mesh.

I just replaced the slave cylinder but that seems to be where the air is getting in as I can crack the bleeder with the pedal depressed and it sputters some air out then comes out clear. Ideas?

If you take a brush to the tiger seal while its still tacky you can give it a stippled effect which erases the weld beads and looses the repair .. works a treat and you cant pick it off once its cured .

Got some work done to get that winch mounted up this evening. Previously I made up a lower plate to bolt the winch to, and a front plate that will take the fairlead:



This will be welded up under the front bumper, but needs side plates/gussets to strengthen it properly, so I made up some cardboard templates that fit snugly around the motor and freespool drum.



Transferred two of those with different size holes to that 6mm plate. Always fun trying to cut out a circle with an angle grinder...





Welded that together, I won't bore you with the details, but it came out nicely.











It'll sit up under and behind the bumper box section like this, with the fairlead level with the front



I was (was ) feeling good about that so called it a night, cleaned up and drove home.

A police car followed me all the way back home and once there the officers informed me that their car's ANPR camera had pinged me as the disco doesn't show up on the motor insurance database, and hasn't since mid 2020.

I insured it with Adrian Flux on the 20th of last month (at great expense), and I had it insured before that with Sheilas Wheels since i bought it last year, and presumably the last owner had it insured before then as well.

I provided a copy of my insurance certificate to the officer (who was very pleasant and sympathetic) and I'm told that she'd have to contact the underwriters etc. to find out what was going on, which could take weeks.

She said if it turns out to be an administrative error then all good, no worries, but if it doesn't than I will be done for driving without insurance.



I drive HGVs (mobile cranes) for a living so... on top of all the bollocks that follows you around for years if you get points on your license. Mine's totally squeaky clean and always has been.

Out of curiosity i checked the askMID service and



So god only knows.

I'd put my last pound on it coming back as no insurance despite this and all my other proof, and then I'll get absolutely shafted for no reason.

I'm not religious, but do you ever get the feeling that someone somewhere wants to **** on you from great height?

Looks like I'll be commuting on the motorbike for the forseeable future

Sorry to hear of your plight. If it were me, I would phone the insurance company, explain the situation and ask for confirmation from the via email that I was insured, and, assuming a positive result, continue driving. ANPR database errors are not uncommon and shouldn't mean you have to stop driving if you can get positive confirmation from the insurer. Normally an officer can contact the insurer at the roadside to confirm insurance. Anyway, askMID should give you enough confidence to confirm that you are insured!
On a different note, I've really enjoyed reading about your rebuild and your fabrication skills are something to be very proud of. Good luck with it all- you are well overdue some enjoyment from the Disco!

If MID says you're insured then you are insured.......the ANPR is a Police admin error........Oh and by the way , your workmanship is excellent .....I would be well pleased with how your Disco is going

Thanks both, I think I’ll contact the insurers and ask for something in writing

Alright, the police came back and said they found everything to be in order, so that's nice.

I welded the winch cradle to the bumper this evening



Then hit it with some primer (I promise one day this will be painted properly...)



Looks nice tucked up under there I think



And with the fairlead and winch fitted



Hopefully fairly protected from damage too





Need to wire it in but that shouldn't be too bad, i pulled most of the brackets for the relays etc. from the Jimny when it blew up. Probably the hardest bit will be wiring in the rocker switch inside the cabin and passing it through the bulkhead. I also need to figure out where to put the socket for the remote, I never got around to that on the Jimny.

Really glad you got the insurance thing sorted. You can do without that sort of worry hanging over you. More cracking work again. Good on yer.

Thanks

Nice fabrication work

Tango91 said:

Probably the hardest bit will be wiring in the rocker switch inside the cabin and passing it through the bulkhead

Click to expand...

On the passenger side of the bulkhead, there is an unused grommet which you can use to pass wires through. You will have to peel the soundproof material to get to it though if you still have it fitted.
Will try to find a pic for you

There you go, mines a facelift not sure if the earlier models have it though

Thanks Steve

Had an hour or two after work Saturday to sort out some wiring.

Started by wiring in the winch, I tucked everything in the bit by the ECU where the jack should live, hopefully it stays somewhat dry



While I was buggering about under the dash I noticed why my back power windows don't work...




Yup. Borrowing one of the other relays confirms that at least one of them now works, so ordered one of these relays.



Then on a whim I decided to investigate the wiring for the light bar on the roof. Spoiler: farmers







Thought it'd be best to, uh, take that off for now.

Also of note, they bolted it straight through the roof destroying parts of the plastic cubby things above the sun visors, and no sealant was involved whatsoever except where the cable goes through the sharp hole into the cabin.

Cut a length of that rectangular box section for the back bumper today and took delivery of some nice LED Autolamps low profile lights and resistors to go in it, looking forward to getting started this week.

Is the little disco behaving itself?

Believe it or not, it seems to be (for now).

I just haven’t had time to tinker with any new stuff, apparently sorting out the garden comes first