Trillo's V8 Disco 1 Build

15 now
Thanks lots for the comments tho.

TrilloThrillo110 said:

15 now
Thanks lots

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Well that changes everything, I take it all back you old git!
(From Watty, aged 48 and a half).

Haha, cheers

Better?

Yep. Thank you very much
Saw it change when I refreshed it. Appreciate it. But can you make it so I can edit post 33? Coz I have a couple of things needing fixing (photo failed and want to go back to photobucket)

TrilloThrillo110 said:

Yep. Thank you very much
Saw it change when I refreshed it. Appreciate it. But can you make it so I can edit post 33? Coz I have a couple of things needing fixing (photo failed and want to go back to photobucket)

Click to expand...

Nope, sorry, the last time I lent my magic wand out I didn't get it back for a month, all hell broke loose and Accy took away the staff biscuit tin

Post YouTube addys straight into the reply box, no need to use link buttons or anything, the software recognises it and does everything for you

Probably a good idea to break everything up into shorter posts as well because trying to preview or worse, edit, such long posts is a bit of a nightmare.

Good work though

Thanks. Have been talking to ratty. He's sorting it out (hopefully )

TrilloThrillo110 said:

Thanks. Have been talking to ratty. He's sorting it out (hopefully )

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Oh yes?

Fine. *flounce*

lol. He was the first to give me a hand. First in first served Thanks for fixing the embedding tho. Appreciate it. But can you make it so I can edit post #33

TrilloThrillo110 said:

lol. He was the first to give me a hand. First in first served Thanks for fixing the embedding tho. Appreciate it. But can you make it so I can edit post #33

Click to expand...

Which hand did he give you? Was it washed?

I don't think I can, Rats might know how but this is pretty new to us anorl.

If it's that vital tell us what needs to be changed, better still repost and I can move it into post #33.....probably

If you can't move it tho????
And where will the current post #33 go?

Update:

Alright, got some work done today. So far I've only been running my truck in the riverbed because the bumper gives no protection to the lights (indicators are the first thing that'll hit a bank on and side track). So Dad came up with an idea to weld on end pieces to give me more protection, so that hopefully we can have a go at some side tracks. (It probably won't be the most beautiful bumper out there but it'll do the job until I can buy something like a Cheviot 4X4 Predator bumper )

Bumper off (and battery on charge cause it's dying )



How the second mount looks (don't think I ever got a good photo of it)



A-Frame with 2"x2" 3mm wall square tube



First cut done (left) and second wedge marked out



Cut



Folded



RH side layed out



LH side was a little different because we found that the A-Frame itself was 4mm shorter so using the wedge offcut from earlier to to join the 45° bar to the A-Frame (as above) would leave us with less protection so Dad marked out a pattern so that we didn't have to use a wedge and could still extend 4mm more

Cut



Both ends welded up



All done



Painted



Today I have also been working on a storage box to sit in the back of my truck. I built it in Woodwork at school and took it home to paint. It has 2 compartments, a dry bin (where everything will normally be) which will be sealed and have a lid, and then a wet bin for tow ropes and snatch straps etc. if they'd already been used in the water and needed to dry out. This bin will be sealed too but will have no lid (so no D-Shackles or anything heavy which might fall out will go in it) but it will have a drainage hole with a bung so that any water can be drained out when I choose. I've already primed it and today I focussed on getting all the screw holes and cracks, dents etc. filled with Polyfiller. Anyway, here's how it looks (still needs sanding tho)







I have some sprung hinges for the lid that have test fitted (and are very springy) that will be refitted when all the other work is done (sanding, sealing and painting). I know I will be painting the inside of it with truck bed liner (hard, waterproof coating) but I don't know whether I'll paint the outside dark grey or tan (like my interior). Any opinions?

Hopefully we'll fit up the bumper tomorrow morning and go for a trip down the river (and side tracks ) with Dad and my Uncle for a few hours and now that there's 3 vehicles hopefully we can try some harder tracks (and deeper crossings).

Update:

Today we got the new bumper/A-Frame mounted up. But before that I put 500 mph tape over all of the old holes in the A-Frame that weren't being used.

Covered



Primed



Mounted



It isn't fully finished, as I plan to put rubber matting on the top to cover up the gap



How far it sticks out (protects)



While this isn't a permanent bumper it'll be on here probably until I put it back on the road.

Thought I also put in a few photos of the bin. Here is a better photo of the filling I was doing yesterday (still needs sanding).



And the sprung hinges



I've also just bought a Contour HD 1080p camera so I can film my trips to put on Youtube. I haven't got a windscreen mount yet but that'll be on it's way soon but I need to try and figure out a way to mount it using the mounts it came with for the trip. Sorry I didn't get any pics of the whole bumper but Photobucket doesn't want to work with that one photo so I'll try get another later.
Cheers,
Trillo

Update:

Alright guys, big update. Kinda been off LZ for a while, been kept busy by school and other money pits (mainly trials bikes and my RC) so progress has been really slow. I have fitted a few trips in with the Disco since the last update and.... what a beast It drove everything I pointed it at and in general it was great. Unfortunately, when I went to start it to head down the river after a 4WD comp. got cancelled and we had to go to plan B, it didn't start. I wasn't too suprised, because the battery is dying so put it on the jumper leads and turned the key.... click. That's all I got. So we didn't go off roading . Dad's had this problem on his Rangie, the starter solenoid giving up after too much water. Then a few days before we were going to pull out the starter to swap the solenoid Dad injured his back, which held up the job a bit more. Last Friday we finally got it out (and what a pig of a job!) and found the part number for the new solenoid. Sure enough it was fun of water, rust and mud so a new part was ordered. Well, nearly ordered. After this job having been done on one of Dad's Disco's for around $60, I figured we'd just buy one and bolt it in. After ringing the Auto Electricians Shop, we got a price for the solenoid of $255! Why? Because the the starter in my truck is a Bosch one, with a GRU in it, so makes it far more expensive. So I plan to buy a whole unit second hand for $70, which won't blow the bank so much!

Anyway, back when I built the bumper, I mentioned putting rubber over the gap by the indicator. After having a look round, Dad decided he'd use some ally and get it cut at work. Here's how it came out.



And sitting over the gap



We then chamfered the edges and painted it (yes, it's a horrible paint job!)



We then masked out a line to run RTV along, and then ran it under the plates too. It should be plenty strong



Finished product





While I worked on this, Dad worked on our other project (and vice versa). When I bought the truck Dad put on a 2 inch receiver for a while but then needed it for his 300TDI so I've had only 1 tow point at the front but Dad said he'd get me a second one, and we'd put a second one on Dad's Disco.

The plate



For the hook I decided to use Toyota pick up hooks (from the 70 Series I think?) which are as rare as hen's teeth. The reason they're rare is because they are so good. They are plenty strong and have a sprung wire keeper on them. We rung about 13 places before finding one!



We then had to drill the holes for the hook in the same spot as the other side. We made a template using card and a hammer



Painted



All bolted up



We then put the number plate back on. The front with the two hooks repainted, the side plates and the number plate now looks very good, much better than what it did before (to be honest, it didn't look that great).





The last thing we did was made up a new keeper out of some springier steel, which is a bit more better than the mild steel keeper that came with the rear hook.



Cheers guys,
Trillo

Update:

Hey all, so in the end I decided to buy a brand new starter motor assembly (rather than just a solenoid) which arrived from England to NZ in 6 days, all up costing less than a price for the solenoid alone in NZ. While the old one was a Bosch and the new one had no markings apart from 'EU' they were identical (all mounding and machining marks) so it is likely that they're the same thing.

New vs. Old

Put in (sit awaiting the shields)

Once we got the wiring done it started up first try, and almost immediately

Then took it for a run down the river, and got a few pics

I also got the opportunity to test out the new bumper, by ploughing down a riverbank. It performed well, coming back exactly the same as we left, doing much better than a stock bumper.

Video of how it looked straight after!



And a photo from after a while

It also took plenty of rubbing up against trees and other banks and apart from scrathes it's all good. I'm very pleased

Hopefully I'll get a video of the whole run up once I get my editing software running properly
Cheers guys

Update:

I've finally finished my woodwork box project. Here's how it looks



So I've painted it in an enamel that's very close to the interior of the Disco. Inside it's been painted with truck bed liner, which is really potent stuff! Today job on it was fitting the life jacket pull tag and re-fitting the sprung hinges.

Pull tag



Fastened on (using staples)



Open



Closed



Sitting in the back (between wheel arches)



Opened



I'm very pleased with how it's ended up looking, and with my mark

Update:

Today Dad and I decided to head down the local river for another run after a club trip was cancelled. We've had a lot of rain recently so the river was up a bit and provided plenty of entertainment! All the dried up bogs from the last flood are now all boggy again and there was plenty of water to test out the waterproofing! We headed straight upstream to see how far up the water was running above ground and then headed back downstream, and that's where things got interesting! I had spotted a bit of a bog on the way up and passing it on the way back I decided to give it a go. I got through easily and threw a bit of mud around and then ran it a second time, getting this video

The bog



I managed to get a bit of mud inside, but nothing like what you English lot manage on pay and play sites, but for a kid who only has driven braided riverbeds where there is little mud it was quite good

Anyways, here's a shot I got of my Disco that I really quite like



And Dad's Rangie



The two side by side



As you can see the weather was beautiful, and really hot!

Dad found a bit of a climb which we've only driven in the dry



It was a great day thanks Dad, and really tested out my truck (bonnet deep water)
Cheers guys

Update:

Yesterday I headed down the river again with my mate. He mounted up a camera inside and here's some of the footage. Wasn't too hard a trip, but still plenty of water.

And I forgot to mention that I bent my rear end cap and creased the bumper