Disco 1 Welding near me: Weybridge Surrey, if worth it?

Spareroom · Jun 7, 2020

Hi all,
Iv'e just joined the forum & need some advice.
Hopefully attached are some pictures of the rear of my Disco in need of some tlc.
I have never attempted welding before nor do I have any equipment. So I need to get someone to do this for me. Several pertinent questions:
Assuming it's possible, how much should I pay for this?
I'm interested to know what thickness of metal would be used / needed to do this?
When it's completed by the welder, what should i be looking for/
Is this part of the Disco classed as structural & therefore part of the looming MOT?
Am I legal driving it as is? ie without the bumper fitted?

Thanks

Spareroom

Spareroom · Jun 7, 2020

....not the response I was hoping for, has nobody any comments?...I don't mind laughter....

lynall · Jun 7, 2020

Th problem is it is such an open ended question.
Best bet is going to be finding a mobile welder.
Then only you can decide if it is worth it, as he may well find more issues.

kermit_rr · Jun 7, 2020

Worth seeing if there are any prefab parts so you can cut the rot out and start again, will be better in the long run

Disco1BFG · Jun 7, 2020

The rear body cross member, and the extensions are available off the shelf. Replacement is not too bad a job - ideally, you'd want someone who had done one before ....

The real issue is that D1's, unless looked after, do rust quite seriously. I would advise you to have a look at the rest of the vehicle for any issues - sills, and body mounts in general - plus the chassis, which, unless treated regularly, might be showing some issues by now too

In terms of cost, my standpoint is that you need to decide what you could replace the D1 with, before considering whether the repairs are worth doing... For us, anything else is a complete no go area due all the sh*t electronics which refuse, point blank to live high up in the Pennines .... your situation might be different.... but, frankly, even if ours were, I wouldn't have a more electrical vehicle given me

Europa486 · Jun 7, 2020

I have had my Discovery 1 from new and rust proofed the chassis and wheel arches when I first got her
In 1990, In 2010 I layed her up because I had a later Discovery to play with and decided to put the earlier one back on the road as a retirement project,
Now I has assumed ( Wrongly) that she would be in reasonable shape rust wise, But though the chassis is good both front floors and outer sills needed replacing, and recently found another hole in the rear floor area, these were all down to leaking rubbers around the windows due to ageing and cracking,
So even if she looks ok it’s really necessary to give her a good look over by removing all trim and seats to give you a good idea of how much needs doing,
Depending on what you find it may be cost effective to buy a mig welder and some steel and do the work you’re self instead of farming it out,

Spareroom · Jun 7, 2020

Disco1BFG said:
The rear body cross member, and the extensions are available off the shelf. Replacement is not too bad a job - ideally, you'd want someone who had done one before ....

The real issue is that D1's, unless looked after, do rust quite seriously. I would advise you to have a look at the rest of the vehicle for any issues - sills, and body mounts in general - plus the chassis, which, unless treated regularly, might be showing some issues by now too

In terms of cost, my standpoint is that you need to decide what you could replace the D1 with, before considering whether the repairs are worth doing... For us, anything else is a complete no go area due all the sh*t electronics which refuse, point blank to live high up in the Pennines .... your situation might be different.... but, frankly, even if ours were, I wouldn't have a more electrical vehicle given me

Thank you for the replies. I guess I'm a little apprehensive because when I found the rot in the pictures I was quite shocked. I new there was an issue there because it was just taped over with black fabric tape but It looked worse than I thought.
I agree entirely with the electronics issue on newer models. I habitually buy older cars because I can sort out the mechanics & electrics etc - I'm old school & believe that keeping things simple is better: long live wind down windows.
It's the bodywork & welding aspect that is my achilles heal because I have no experience of it. I would like to buy all the gear & have ago myself but it's not feasible right now.
I have inspected the rest of the bodywork: sills seem OK to me, rear floor has some surface rust but seems OK too. I might be lucky!
Other than this I really like it, drives lovely & I want to do some off road driving at some point.
So, to rephrase the question: assuming everything else is OK & have to pay someone else to do it for me, how much should I be paying to deal with just this issue?
Is it a days work? Half a day, 2 days? I don't know & was expecting lots of very experienced welders on the forum to clue me up....

Spareroom · Jun 7, 2020

Europa486 said:
I have had my Discovery 1 from new and rust proofed the chassis and wheel arches when I first got her
In 1990, In 2010 I layed her up because I had a later Discovery to play with and decided to put the earlier one back on the road as a retirement project,
Now I has assumed ( Wrongly) that she would be in reasonable shape rust wise, But though the chassis is good both front floors and outer sills needed replacing, and recently found another hole in the rear floor area, these were all down to leaking rubbers around the windows due to ageing and cracking,
So even if she looks ok it’s really necessary to give her a good look over by removing all trim and seats to give you a good idea of how much needs doing,
Depending on what you find it may be cost effective to buy a mig welder and some steel and do the work you’re self instead of farming it out,

Sorry for any dumb questions posted but what does one use to rustproof the chassis & wheel arches. Years ago I used to use Holts underseal, a rubberised paint but what these days?
Also, when you layed the 1 up was it stored inside or out? ie do they rust regardless?

lynall · Jun 7, 2020

Spareroom said:
Thank you for the replies. I guess I'm a little apprehensive because when I found the rot in the pictures I was quite shocked. I new there was an issue there because it was just taped over with black fabric tape but It looked worse than I thought.
I agree entirely with the electronics issue on newer models. I habitually buy older cars because I can sort out the mechanics & electrics etc - I'm old school & believe that keeping things simple is better: long live wind down windows.
It's the bodywork & welding aspect that is my achilles heal because I have no experience of it. I would like to buy all the gear & have ago myself but it's not feasible right now.
I have inspected the rest of the bodywork: sills seem OK to me, rear floor has some surface rust but seems OK too. I might be lucky!
Other than this I really like it, drives lovely & I want to do some off road driving at some point.
So, to rephrase the question: assuming everything else is OK & have to pay someone else to do it for me, how much should I be paying to deal with just this issue?
Is it a days work? Half a day, 2 days? I don't know & was expecting lots of very experienced welders on the forum to clue me up....

No idea on time, but whatever you think it will take, double it!
Not many people do serious welding on discos, try a search there has been some amazing stuff done over the years on here.
Most on here can bore you to death ref mechanical issues on any model land rover, but will shy away from welding/fabricating.

Europa486 · Jun 7, 2020

Spareroom said:
Sorry for any dumb questions posted but what does one use to rustproof the chassis & wheel arches. Years ago I used to use Holts underseal, a rubberised paint but what these days?
Also, when you layed the 1 up was it stored inside or out? ie do they rust regardless?

Unfortunately it was outside, should have brought a cover at least, I used waxoil and dinitrol originally but my corrosion was the result of the window rubbers perishing and allowing water to get inside,
But she is now well on the way to being back on the road after I repaint her, just finding getting 2K paint impossible due to lockdown,

Spareroom · Jun 7, 2020

lynall said:
No idea on time, but whatever you think it will take, double it!
Not many people do serious welding on discos, try a search there has been some amazing stuff done over the years on here.
Most on here can bore you to death ref mechanical issues on any model land rover, but will shy away from welding/fabricating.

Yeah, I have seen a couple of welding theme posts on here...very clever work.
I plan on spending tomorrow trying to find someone to take a look at it

Spareroom · Jun 7, 2020

Europa486 said:
Unfortunately it was outside, should have brought a cover at least, I used waxoil and dinitrol originally but my corrosion was the result of the window rubbers perishing and allowing water to get inside,
But she is now well on the way to being back on the road after I repaint her, just finding getting 2K paint impossible due to lockdown,

OK....yes I have heard of waxoil, not heard of dinitrol before but that's a starting point for me to investigate..thanks.
Good luck trying to source your paint

lynall · Jun 7, 2020

Spareroom said:
OK....yes I have heard of waxoil, not heard of dinitrol before but that's a starting point for me to investigate..thanks.
Good luck trying to source your paint

Waxoyl pretty poor, nowadays much better stuff, search for rust proofing and get reading.
Main thing to remember is none of them last forever, and any of the wax based one need checking annually, and redoing in some areas.

Disco1BFG · Jun 7, 2020

Spareroom said:
Thank you for the replies.

HTH.

Spareroom said:
I agree entirely with the electronics issue on newer models.

Good. We've been bitten, pretty hard by electronics on a "modern car" ( I.E. P.O.S ) - which is why we went back to D1's - we have one each, and they are our forever vehicles. I really have no interest in what any repairs cost - the issue is simply that if we spent money on some modern thing, we could be done over, again.

The other thing with D1's is that the important bits are all independent of each other - e.g.:- engine blows = buy new engine ( or second hand off the bay ) and carry - no re-programming etc. to deal with

Spareroom said:
So, to rephrase the question: assuming everything else is OK & have to pay someone else to do it for me, how much should I be paying to deal with just this issue?

I'd be finding a resto type place - possibly out in the sticks who is used to working on stuff like D1's, and making the financial commitment to the vehicle - fix it properly, and it really will last for another 25 years - especially with proper rust treatment - which, IMHO requires the rust to be neutralised with something like Fertan, and then protected by either a Dinitrol or a Bilt Hamber wax system - loads of info on here - both in my posts and a guy called @gstuart - forget Waxoyl - it used to be good, but has been sanitised and made "safe" to the point of being, IMO, utterly useless now.

Replacing the rear body cross member should be doable in a day - especially if you were able to go and help the guy do some of the heavy lifting ( read door off ), and you'd stripped the relevant bits of the interior out too.

One more thing - If you make the commitment to fix it properly, make damn sure it is on agreed value insurance - good D1's are starting to appreciate now ....

ronsealdeath · Jun 7, 2020

If your crossmember looks like that, your boot, inner arches, sills, body mounts and front body sections may be as bad or worse. But you wont know until you take the outer ally arches off. Its a few bolts not too involved. When i did this on my tdi i wished i hadnt, and it really was an explosion of corrosion.
Tdis with lots of rust is not worth much and welding them up these days when they look like yours, is a diy job to be economically viable. Thats just my 2ps worth. I gave up on tdis due to body rust and a lack of time to chase it around.
If you have time id buy a mig from machine mart, panels from Froggats or YRM and some gas. Learn how to weld and diy it. Its not too difficult

Disco1BFG · Jun 7, 2020

ronsealdeath said:
If your crossmember looks like that, your boot, inner arches, sills, body mounts and front body sections may be as bad or worse. But you wont know until you take the outer ally arches off. Its a few bolts not too involved. When i did this on my tdi i wished i hadnt, and it really was an explosion of corrosion.

I agree that careful consideration needs giving to the state of the rest of the vehicle. The chassis needs including on this list IMO, due age.... They are not immune from tin worms - drain holes get blocked, and it all goes down hill from there

ronsealdeath said:
Tdis with lots of rust is not worth much and welding them up these days when they look like yours, is a diy job to be economically viable. Thats just my 2ps worth. I gave up on tdis due to body rust and a lack of time to chase it around.

Fair enough - and I do know what you mean - SWMBO's D1 is a 3dr - and anyone who thinks a 5dr can rust, ..... needs to have a look at a 3dr

- Which is why I mentioned making a financial commitment to the vehicle - I'm not disagreeing with you - I'm sure there are plenty of "garages" out there who would love to keep patching up a D1 every year for its MOT - and laughing all the way to the bank

ronsealdeath said:
If you have time id buy a mig from machine mart, panels from Froggats or YRM and some gas. Learn how to weld and diy it. Its not too difficult

Agreed. Completely, Utterly. No question at all. Much the same applies to rust treatment. ( though, TBF, there are better MIG's out there than MM's offerings

)

Europa486 · Jun 8, 2020

If your discovery has been used to launch boats of a slipway especially if salt water then the
Rear crossmember will suffer badly, so hopefully your corrosion will be confined to that area,
Good luck with the repairs ,

Spareroom · Jun 8, 2020

ronsealdeath said:
If you have time id buy a mig from machine mart, panels from Froggats or YRM and some gas. Learn how to weld and diy it. Its not too difficult

Thanks for all the advice. I plan on keeping this 'ol 'gal & want to get the rot sorted. I have had good look around now & one of the rear body mounts has already been welded & the other needs it. There are no holes in either sill but have found a hole about the size of a 5p in the chassis, nearside to the rear. I saw another thread on here where a guy is working on a Disco he calls rusty & he removed the front bumper & found rot! I haven't taken the front bumper off yet! I looked at Froggats, interesting, preformed body bits, brilliant!
My Disco still has plenty of MOT & I have other daily transport so there is no urgency. I need it to be strong & able to pull a horsebox. I'm researching now to buy my own welding equipment. It defo will not be coming from China, likely to be purchased in Germany - a decent mig welder & gear. I'm retired now, an 'ol git who has plenty of time to learn how to do it.

Spareroom · Jun 8, 2020

Europa486 said:
If your discovery has been used to launch boats of a slipway especially if salt water then the
Rear crossmember will suffer badly, so hopefully your corrosion will be confined to that area,
Good luck with the repairs ,

Thanks.
Mine has been a London tractor, I got it from someone I know who has bought a modern, new version to replace it. It never had a tow bar on it before, I was fitting the towbar & knew about the tape covering the rot up but only realised the extent of it when I took the bumper off. It will be sorted.....

ronsealdeath · Jun 8, 2020

Yes if you can afford a welder with a euro torch, they are much better than the hobbyist welders. But my clarke 151te is ok and did my RRC sills ok. Enjoyable putting fresh metal in if it isnt a rainy Sunday night and you need to commute 50 miles in it in the morning

Disco 1 Welding near me: Weybridge Surrey, if worth it?

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