Bought a D2 last week. How bad is the chassis rust?

Hello everyone,

Firstly, I'd like to thank you all for providing such good information on this website. Although I've only just joined, I have spent countless hours in the last week reading up about disco 2's on this forum.

I bought the D2 last week from someone at work. It's got a fairly hefty 190k on the clock, but mechanically it feels very good - I am starting to fall in love. I realised after looking on this forum that chassis rust on d2's is a significant issue. I took my camera under the car and, sure enough, there is plenty of rust down there.

Would you mind having a look at these photos and giving your opinions on how bad it is? The stuff which is black (doesn't look like rust) is still flaking off. Is this just rust which is caked in dirt, or some treatment layer that a previous owner applied? Sorry if I sound clueless, I don't have much experience with chassis rust.

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Sorry for the poor photography/angles. My DSLR only lets you preview through the viewfinder so I was shooting blind.

rhs rear leg looks like its repaired which means its most likley rotten, as chassis go not too bad ,youd need to poke with a large screw driver or tap with a hammer to prove the point especially up the sides of fuel tank, the rest wants waxoyling etc inside and out

Buying a D2 and then working out how rusty the chassis is is a fool's game.
I did it and I was lucky so I hope you are too.

Do an MOT history check on it, may give you some indications of where/when previous work was carried out

looks as though it is gonna need welding again on one pic, a fair old bit of work to rub down and rust proof, dirty job but worth it, plenty of waxoyl and fire it inside the chassis, liquid grease also works well, but as others have said, if rot is there no amount of treatment will cure it, only removal and weld up then treat,

discodrivercumbria said:

looks as though it is gonna need welding again on one pic, a fair old bit of work to rub down and rust proof, dirty job but worth it, plenty of waxoyl and fire it inside the chassis, liquid grease also works well, but as others have said, if rot is there no amount of treatment will cure it, only removal and weld up then treat,

Click to expand...

Thank you all for your input.

Could you please tell me which picture it is where you think welding is needed?

It definitely is a fools game not assessing the rust properly before purchasing it, but I bought it off someone who I trust and I got it for very cheap (a 190k mile land rover that doesn't leak or burn oil, I think I got quite lucky in that respect). The money I saved will easily cover a professional waxoyl job. I know there's no proper guarantees, but will a professional waxoyl job give the chassis an extra few years if the rust isn't too bad? Going to bring it to my local mechanic tomorrow so he can do a quick assessment on it.

There's no mention or rust/corrosion on previous MOTs, although I am aware that there are plenty of dodgy MOT testers out there unfortunately.

pic 19 the one with the fuel filter on! i maybe wrong, the seam/crack??? a pro job will not be as good as your own if you have the patience and time, wire brush, plenty of rust converter, then soak it in waxoyl, i do mine every year, inside and out, also of late i have blasted loads of liquid grease in, even fired hydrolic oil mixed in with it,
a compressor and a shultz gun and away you go,

Yes I think I will do it myself. Even though I will have to buy an air compressor it will still work out hundreds of pounds cheaper. I will be able to do it yearly afterwards for pocket change. AND I get to have an air compressor afterwards, it will be nice using air tools in the future. Thank you for the advice.

I hope the chassis isn't too far gone already, I suspect it is quite a bit worse than my pictures let on. Even the stuff that didn't look like rust seemed to flake away. Crossing my fingers for when the mechanic gives it a proper look over on Monday.