97 Discovery. Learning on the job.

aman · Jun 30, 2017

Let me introduce you to Muggsy, my 97 Discovery 1.
I bought it from the family of a recently deceased friend of the same name. They were going to scrap it and neither I, nor Muggsy whould have wnted that.
RIP Mugsy, I will look after your truck for you Bruv.

I know very little about this truck and I obviously cannot ask the previous owner anything so I am 'Learning on the job.'
There is a lot to do to this truck -as with most vehicles that at 20 years old- but I intend to keep it for a very long time so I don't mind taking my time and turning this vehicle into something to be proud of.
I don't have a lot of money to spend so -as always- I am going to have to do all/most of the work myself and be creative when it comes to sourcing parts etc.
I have always worked on my own vehicles so I have a general, DIY mechanical knowledge but I am relying on you guys for guidence from time to time.
Apart from a series 3 in the 90s this is the first Land Rover I have owned in a long time. I have always been a massive fan of the marque but I just never seemed to be in the right place at the right time to own another Landy until now. Concequently, I am not a Landy expert by any stretch of the imagination. This is why I am glad that I have ended up with a Didcovery 1. I woild have loved a Defender but -for me- this is the very next best thing. It doesn't seem too complicated ( although it does have electric windows) and I reckon I can learn to fix it and keep on top of the maintenance.
So, what have I learned so far. Well, mechanically it seems pretty sound. the engine runs smoothly dispite10,000 miles for every one of it's 20 years and the chassis is awesome for its age. It has some rust in all the appropriate places and most of the switches and buttons don't appear to do anything but on the whole I am not to daunted by the project. I have until November to get it to a state where it will sail through an MOT with no advisories. That is my main aim for now. I want this truck to be as solid as the day it was born and to just be a reliable and useable truck capable of towing our vintage Airstream around the countryside.

I will use this thread to document all the work i do to the truck

aman

Turboman · Jun 30, 2017

aman said:
Let me introduce you to Muggsy, my 97 Discovery 1.
I bought it from the family of a recently deceased friend of the same name. They were going to scrap it and neither I, nor Muggsy whould have wnted that.
RIP Mugsy, I will look after your truck for you Bruv.

I know very little about this truck and I obviously cannot ask the previous owner anything so I am 'Learning on the job.'
There is a lot to do to this truck -as with most vehicles that at 20 years old- but I intend to keep it for a very long time so I don't mind taking my time and turning this vehicle into something to be proud of.
I don't have a lot of money to spend so -as always- I am going to have to do all/most of the work myself and be creative when it comes to sourcing parts etc.
I have always worked on my own vehicles so I have a general, DIY mechanical knowledge but I am relying on you guys for guidence from time to time.
Apart from a series 3 in the 90s this is the first Land Rover I have owned in a long time. I have always been a massive fan of the marque but I just never seemed to be in the right place at the right time to own another Landy until now. Concequently, I am not a Landy expert by any stretch of the imagination. This is why I am glad that I have ended up with a Didcovery 1. I woild have loved a Defender but -for me- this is the very next best thing. It doesn't seem too complicated ( although it does have electric windows) and I reckon I can learn to fix it and keep on top of the maintenance.
So, what have I learned so far. Well, mechanically it seems pretty sound. the engine runs smoothly dispite10,000 miles for every one of it's 20 years and the chassis is awesome for its age. It has some rust in all the appropriate places and most of the switches and buttons don't appear to do anything but on the whole I am not to daunted by the project. I have until November to get it to a state where it will sail through an MOT with no advisories. That is my main aim for now. I want this truck to be as solid as the day it was born and to just be a reliable and useable truck capable of towing our vintage Airstream around the countryside.

I will use this thread to document all the work i do to the truck

aman

That's a good way to remember your friend.

For best towing performance, you might want to return to standard height suspension. All Discos are great tow vehicles.

Any pics of the vintage Airstream?

aman · Jun 30, 2017

Turboman said:
Any pics of the vintage Airstream?

Turboman · Jun 30, 2017

aman said:

Very nice, Thanks!

aman · Jun 30, 2017

Rusty bits are. Sills (surprise surprise), rear cargo floor (not too bad) and front inner wings (just bits and bobs). Oh and the rear cross member.
It sounds like a lot but it is all manageable and i am just going to attack it a bit at a time.
The rear floor is mainly surface rust but it has ruested through arond the wheel arch on the driver's side.

Wheel arches themselves look very good.
I will get on with this but first I want to stop the ingress of water that may be causing this. That is why i have decided to attack the rot in the roof first.
The roof has two small holes where the gutter meets the rear door. There is also a small amount around the windows in the side of the roof. This will be sorted next.
First the rot down near the gutters.

I started by cutting out the bad metal until I found solid.

Then I made a cardboard template.

I transferred this to some steel sheet

I then cut it out roughly with tin snips and shaped it with a power file and then hand files until it fitted the hole perfectly. I also had to shape the metal to follow the contour of the roof.

Then I tacked it in place

Continued to weld the patch in and cut out the rotten gutter.

Reconstructed the gutter and a quick coat of primer just to protect it until I paint the whole roof.

Only got to do one side before the rain set in for the week. Weather does not look too bad tomorrow so hope to get the other side done.

aman

AdamD1 · Jul 1, 2017

Nicely done, quite fancy learning to weld myself, bound to need to do some at some point! I also have a 97, my aim has been restoring it mechanically using standard spec parts with a few underbody guards added in for good measure, loving it so far!

aman · Jul 1, 2017

Another thing I did yesterday was repair the driver's door handle. The cast aluminium flap had cracked and then sheared due to the door handle mechanism being out of adjustment. It made getting into the vehicle very difficult as I had to clamber in from the passenger side.
I sacrificed the rear door handle on the driver's side and rebuild the driver's handle.

I now just have to find another handle from the same side to repair the rear handle.

aman

Turboman · Jul 1, 2017

aman said:
Another thing I did yesterday was repair the driver's door handle. The cast aluminium flap had cracked and then sheared due to the door handle mechanism being out of adjustment. It made getting into the vehicle very difficult as I had to clamber in from the passenger side.
I sacrificed the rear door handle on the driver's side and rebuild the driver's handle.

I now just have to find another handle from the same side to repair the rear handle.

aman

If you like, I can PM you the number of a chap outside Hayle that breaks all models of landrover?

aman · Jul 1, 2017

Turboman said:
If you like, I can PM you the number of a chap outside Hayle that breaks all models of landrover?

Yes Please. That would be very helpful
aman

Turboman · Jul 1, 2017

aman said:
Yes Please. That would be very helpful
aman

OK, on it's way.

Disco1BFG · Jul 2, 2017

Only just seen this.

- We've got 2 97 D1's !

Good work on the roof repair - good to see you cut the rotten stuff out too

Sorry about your friend - good on you for taking his disco on, and fixing it

Watched

aman · Jul 2, 2017

AdamD1 said:
Nicely done, quite fancy learning to weld myself, bound to need to do some at some point! I also have a 97, my aim has been restoring it mechanically using standard spec parts with a few underbody guards added in for good measure, loving it so far!

Thanks Adam
Welding is not as hard as you think as long as you are meticulous when it comes to preparation. Make sure you cut out all the rot until you find solid metal. You will always have to cut out more than you think and normally you will end up having to replace the support structure underneath the part you were originally trying to repair.

Make sure the repair piece fits really well, Tack it in place and then keep tacking until you have gone all the way round. Small tacks in different places on the repair to reduce heat distortion .

The welding is a very small part of the operation.

Make sure you practice on the same thickness of steel as you will on the car so you can check penetration without blowing through. Up the power on the welder until you blow through and then take it back a notch.

aman

aman · Jul 2, 2017

Disco1BFG said:
Only just seen this. - We've got 2 97 D1's !

Good work on the roof repair - good to see you cut the rotten stuff out too

Sorry about your friend - good on you for taking his disco on, and fixing it

Watched

Thanks mate. I am not the greatest welder in the world but I like to take my time and try to do the beast Job I can. I intend to keep this vehicle for a very long time so when I repair it I don't want to have to do it again in a hurry. Slowly this will become one very solid Discovery 1.
Muggsy was a great bloke and although his truck was a bit frilly round the edges it was his pride and joy. I hope I make him proud
aman

Turboman · Jul 2, 2017

aman said:
Thanks mate. I am not the greatest welder in the world but I like to take my time and try to do the beast Job I can. I intend to keep this vehicle for a very long time so when I repair it I don't want to have to do it again in a hurry. Slowly this will become one very solid Discovery 1.
Muggsy was a great bloke and although his truck was a bit frilly round the edges it was his pride and joy. I hope I make him proud
aman

Sure you will make him proud!

Don't forget to paint and waxoyl/Dinitrol thoroughly after doing the repairs, and that while the panels are cut open can be the best opportunity to spray waxes etc. inside the body sections!

aman · Jul 2, 2017

Turboman said:
Sure you will make him proud!

Don't forget to paint and waxoyl/Dinitrol thoroughly after doing the repairs, and that while the panels are cut open can be the best opportunity to spray waxes etc. inside the body sections!

I will. I am slowly building up a supply of paints and sealers etc. We produce all the graphics for a company that paint trawlers and they are giving me some special paint they use as a first coat on the bare steel. It is a rust stabiliser and etch primer etc. I think if it is good enough for a trawler it will be good enough for the Discovery.
aman

Disco1BFG · Jul 3, 2017

aman said:
Thanks mate. I am not the greatest welder in the world but I like to take my time and try to do the beast Job I can. I intend to keep this vehicle for a very long time so when I repair it I don't want to have to do it again in a hurry. Slowly this will become one very solid Discovery 1.
Muggsy was a great bloke and although his truck was a bit frilly round the edges it was his pride and joy. I hope I make him proud
aman

.
As Turboman said, above, I too am sure he would be proud - and as for your welding - it looks good to me. It's great to see another one saved - they are a fine truck with very few reliability issues IMHO. IMHO, the only real issue is rot

- but if you can weld, then that becomes less of a problem

. If you're gonna do the sills, just do em with box section

The "waxoyl" debate is an old chestnut on here,

, but IME, waxoyl has become less than it was, a lot less. Dinitrol and Bilt Hamber are the products we know about on here - and their technical folk are rather good too

aman said:
they are giving me some special paint they use as a first coat on the bare steel

Having mentioned the waxoyl "debate", it sounds as though you might be well placed to offer "us lot" some advice about rust treatment and prevention ! I'd be interested to know what you do, and how you get on using what are, presumably, highly rated products - if they'll stand immersion in the sea

, then they'll pretty good !

Turboman · Jul 3, 2017

Disco1BFG said:
.
Having mentioned the waxoyl "debate", it sounds as though you might be well placed to offer "us lot" some advice about rust treatment and prevention ! I'd be interested to know what you do, and how you get on using what are, presumably, highly rated products - if they'll stand immersion in the sea , then they'll pretty good !

Yes, I would be very interested in some of that, for use on my own boat.

aman · Jul 3, 2017

I will find out what it is called and will report back. From what he has said it goes on milky and turns black so it is like a lot of other rust treatment however I would imagine it would be a quality product if they use it on trawlers.
Time will tell.
aman

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