LincolnSteve
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Lovely work as always. Good luck with the wedding and the house move.
Classic LSE Not So Rolling Resto and Discovery 300Tdi Daily
- Thread starter RAW111111
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RAW111111
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So I've been a little distracted...
'98 Discovery 1 ES with a 300Tdi and ZF 4HP22. Within about two weeks of moving 100+ miles away work informed me that as the pandemic seems to be over the hump they want to see people attending the office again. With only one car on the road this wasn't really going to work so I decided to see what I could find to run around in for the winter until the Range Rover is sorted. No decent 306s or 405s seemed to be out there at the time. Decent old Volvos are as hard to find as Peugeots so sticking with what I know wasn't going to work. Didn't take me long to convince myself that actually, I could do worse than an old Disco as at least it would probably hold value and, with the licence rules changing, I would be able to tow things with it (Range Rover for paint etc). Man maths won and I started looking about.
First one I went to see was identical to this one. MOT history was terrible, it was further away than advertised and turned out to be totally rotten - literally no inner cills at all. One of the brake lines had burst when the seller ran it up to temperature before I arrived so it was hot and standing over a puddle of brake fluid. The wiring had been messed with. Most of the electrics didn't work including the ABS. First time I've ever walked away from a car!
Next one to look at was absolutely miles away in the Thames estuary and there was a fuel crisis by the time the seller and I were both available the same day. Still, seemed to be plenty of fuel here in Nottingham so how bad could it be? Had a look over it and agreed to buy. Didn't realise that, although there seemed to be plenty of fuel in Nottingham, there was absolutely no diesel within the nearest towns to the seller. I had told my other half I'd be back by about 2100hrs and ended up arriving at 0200 the next morning. Between that and an earth issue that saw it refusing to start a few days later it wasn't an auspicious start but it seems to have settled into a new home where it actually gets used now.
I'm loving having a landy on the road of my own finally. 300Tdi is really nice too (quite fancy one in the Ranger Rover to be honest). I've given it a set of Toyo Opencountry AT tyres, changed the oil and filters, replaced the 3 piece manifold gasket shown below (much cheaper than a turbo but makes a similar horrible screeching noise when failed), bodged the rust in the floors to keep the carpets dry and swapped some parts from a less worn breaker locally. All in all, pretty happy.
Took us on a short break to the North Yorkshire Moors. Learned not to take the other half on greenlanes without recceing in advance. Rutland Rigg was very pretty but a lot more rutted than reports on Trailwise suggested! Shed in photo was significantly less value for money than taking a caravan would have been in my opinion.
Other than being distracted by that, I have also been doing jobs related to the Range Rover. I had to get the new garage sorted before I started working on the car else I'd never get around to it. I haven't totally succeeded on that front as the top of the workbench still isn't attached but it's getting there. Finally last week I finished soldering the air lines and started to work on the Range Rover again having waited until the evenings are really short.
First job was to get a load of the grinding done on the O/S inner wing so that I could fit the battery tray. With that done and the tray welded in I decided to waste some time by test fitting everything that mounts to that side of the engine bay. I'm pleased to say that it all fits, including the previously missing charcoal canister which I managed to find new old stock with bracket for less than the price from a breakers. Forgot to take a photo of all this before I plonked the bonnet on so you'll have to take my word for it. New headlight looks good though? Going to need to find a grill, badge and corner lights though as they're going to look terrible in comparison once the bonnet is painted nice.
This afternoon I've been back at it again taking all that back off again and then annoying the new neighbours grinding more welds back. Here's a few shots of the inner wing as it stands this evening.
More soon hopefully. I have a new deadline as the Disco needs welding for its next MOT in April so this needs to be on the road for then.
Rich
'98 Discovery 1 ES with a 300Tdi and ZF 4HP22. Within about two weeks of moving 100+ miles away work informed me that as the pandemic seems to be over the hump they want to see people attending the office again. With only one car on the road this wasn't really going to work so I decided to see what I could find to run around in for the winter until the Range Rover is sorted. No decent 306s or 405s seemed to be out there at the time. Decent old Volvos are as hard to find as Peugeots so sticking with what I know wasn't going to work. Didn't take me long to convince myself that actually, I could do worse than an old Disco as at least it would probably hold value and, with the licence rules changing, I would be able to tow things with it (Range Rover for paint etc). Man maths won and I started looking about.
First one I went to see was identical to this one. MOT history was terrible, it was further away than advertised and turned out to be totally rotten - literally no inner cills at all. One of the brake lines had burst when the seller ran it up to temperature before I arrived so it was hot and standing over a puddle of brake fluid. The wiring had been messed with. Most of the electrics didn't work including the ABS. First time I've ever walked away from a car!
Next one to look at was absolutely miles away in the Thames estuary and there was a fuel crisis by the time the seller and I were both available the same day. Still, seemed to be plenty of fuel here in Nottingham so how bad could it be? Had a look over it and agreed to buy. Didn't realise that, although there seemed to be plenty of fuel in Nottingham, there was absolutely no diesel within the nearest towns to the seller. I had told my other half I'd be back by about 2100hrs and ended up arriving at 0200 the next morning. Between that and an earth issue that saw it refusing to start a few days later it wasn't an auspicious start but it seems to have settled into a new home where it actually gets used now.
I'm loving having a landy on the road of my own finally. 300Tdi is really nice too (quite fancy one in the Ranger Rover to be honest). I've given it a set of Toyo Opencountry AT tyres, changed the oil and filters, replaced the 3 piece manifold gasket shown below (much cheaper than a turbo but makes a similar horrible screeching noise when failed), bodged the rust in the floors to keep the carpets dry and swapped some parts from a less worn breaker locally. All in all, pretty happy.
Took us on a short break to the North Yorkshire Moors. Learned not to take the other half on greenlanes without recceing in advance. Rutland Rigg was very pretty but a lot more rutted than reports on Trailwise suggested! Shed in photo was significantly less value for money than taking a caravan would have been in my opinion.
Other than being distracted by that, I have also been doing jobs related to the Range Rover. I had to get the new garage sorted before I started working on the car else I'd never get around to it. I haven't totally succeeded on that front as the top of the workbench still isn't attached but it's getting there. Finally last week I finished soldering the air lines and started to work on the Range Rover again having waited until the evenings are really short.
First job was to get a load of the grinding done on the O/S inner wing so that I could fit the battery tray. With that done and the tray welded in I decided to waste some time by test fitting everything that mounts to that side of the engine bay. I'm pleased to say that it all fits, including the previously missing charcoal canister which I managed to find new old stock with bracket for less than the price from a breakers. Forgot to take a photo of all this before I plonked the bonnet on so you'll have to take my word for it. New headlight looks good though? Going to need to find a grill, badge and corner lights though as they're going to look terrible in comparison once the bonnet is painted nice.
This afternoon I've been back at it again taking all that back off again and then annoying the new neighbours grinding more welds back. Here's a few shots of the inner wing as it stands this evening.
More soon hopefully. I have a new deadline as the Disco needs welding for its next MOT in April so this needs to be on the road for then.
Rich
RAW111111
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Ok. Looking back it seems between the previous post and now there was actually from progress during the frantic run up to moving that I missed somehow. I welded the O/S inner wing on. Not quite sure how I missed that.
To start with I welded up the holes in the top of the bulkhead/footwell side panel mentioned on the previous page.
Then I found another one. No wonder it was always full of water!
No photo of that one done it seems but I'm sure I'll show it all ground back and painted at some point. Also don't seem to have photos of the whole wing assembled on the car, but here's some to show that I decided to assemble the headlight box off the car first this time.
I think this worked a lot better to be honest. Generally I feel like I made a neater job of the O/S having learned from the experience of doing the N/S. As with everything on this car, I'm improving as I go. I'm almost tempted to redo some of the work I did back at the start on the driver's footwell.
Rich
To start with I welded up the holes in the top of the bulkhead/footwell side panel mentioned on the previous page.
Then I found another one. No wonder it was always full of water!
No photo of that one done it seems but I'm sure I'll show it all ground back and painted at some point. Also don't seem to have photos of the whole wing assembled on the car, but here's some to show that I decided to assemble the headlight box off the car first this time.
I think this worked a lot better to be honest. Generally I feel like I made a neater job of the O/S having learned from the experience of doing the N/S. As with everything on this car, I'm improving as I go. I'm almost tempted to redo some of the work I did back at the start on the driver's footwell.
Rich
RAW111111
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Still plodding along. Really need to get this away to have the engine bay painted if I'm to have a hope of it being finished before the MOT on the Discovery runs out. Unfortunately, I'm currently stuck on the slow and tedious work of grinding all the welds and making sure I'm happy with everything before it goes for paint. Seems like 90% of the progress feels like it's in welding the parts on, but 90% of the work is in tidying everything up after. At least once it's been painted I can have the rewarding task of bolting everything back on.
Heres a few snaps of what I've been up to, not that there's much progress to see.
Welded patches into the bulkhead around the driver's side bonnet hinge...
Countless hours of grinding welds (and waiting for the compressor to refill - I think a more expensive version might be a little more efficient than my cheapo 20mm belt sander).
Still a few more plug welds to dress back here and there but I'm getting there now.
Got the radiator crossmember prepped, primed and welded in. The front end of the car still seems to fit together so I must have it somewhere near all in the right places.
Finished off the repairs to the driver's side bonnet hinge area by plug welding the panels together and dressing the welds back. Started stripping the bulkhead as the last thing I want is for the painter to find something I've missed after I've delivered the car to them. Nothing untoward found so far.
So I think i'm probably only a few more evenings away from it being ready for paint now. I have (hopefully) only one more piece to make and weld in (where I rushed something in the run up to the move and am not happy with it on the driver's footwell) and not that many welds left to dress now. The neighbours will be able to have a break from the noise soon! Currently can't quite decide whether to try to get some primer on the seams and the bulkhead before I take it to the painter, or to leave it all for them as the conditions will obviously be more favourable in their paint booth than on my driveway in January.
Managed to take a day to go out greenlaning with some of the Nottinghamshire GLASS members before Christmas. Discovery behaved well all day. Apart from the intermittent ABS light which I think might be to do with water ingress it generally behaves pretty well to be honest. All I've had to do since my last update is a rebuild of the Off Side Swivel Housing which had some play when I bought the car. I thought this might cure the ABS light but apparently not. Can't see the Discovery clearly in my photo from below, but we had an interesting range of vehicles, lovely weather, good company and other than one flat on the new Defender no problems all day.
That's all for now.
Rich
Heres a few snaps of what I've been up to, not that there's much progress to see.
Welded patches into the bulkhead around the driver's side bonnet hinge...
Countless hours of grinding welds (and waiting for the compressor to refill - I think a more expensive version might be a little more efficient than my cheapo 20mm belt sander).
Still a few more plug welds to dress back here and there but I'm getting there now.
Got the radiator crossmember prepped, primed and welded in. The front end of the car still seems to fit together so I must have it somewhere near all in the right places.
Finished off the repairs to the driver's side bonnet hinge area by plug welding the panels together and dressing the welds back. Started stripping the bulkhead as the last thing I want is for the painter to find something I've missed after I've delivered the car to them. Nothing untoward found so far.
So I think i'm probably only a few more evenings away from it being ready for paint now. I have (hopefully) only one more piece to make and weld in (where I rushed something in the run up to the move and am not happy with it on the driver's footwell) and not that many welds left to dress now. The neighbours will be able to have a break from the noise soon! Currently can't quite decide whether to try to get some primer on the seams and the bulkhead before I take it to the painter, or to leave it all for them as the conditions will obviously be more favourable in their paint booth than on my driveway in January.
Managed to take a day to go out greenlaning with some of the Nottinghamshire GLASS members before Christmas. Discovery behaved well all day. Apart from the intermittent ABS light which I think might be to do with water ingress it generally behaves pretty well to be honest. All I've had to do since my last update is a rebuild of the Off Side Swivel Housing which had some play when I bought the car. I thought this might cure the ABS light but apparently not. Can't see the Discovery clearly in my photo from below, but we had an interesting range of vehicles, lovely weather, good company and other than one flat on the new Defender no problems all day.
That's all for now.
Rich
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RAW111111
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Well the Range Rover is gone...
Henry_b
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where?
RAW111111
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For paint finally! Completely forgot to photograph the whole affair given that I only had a few hours off to fetch trailer, load car single handed with no steering box, take it to paint and return the trailer. Discovery managed nicely and the trailer was brilliant again (Startruck Trailer Hire - second time I’ve used it and they’re great if you need a big car trailer in Nottingham). Just need to get the bonnet and scuttle panel to the painter now and get on with prepping parts for reassembly. Strange not having the Range Rover outside the kitchen door!
Have some disco updates to make on here too but back to work for now. Need money to pay for the painter.
Rich
RAW111111
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So with the Range Rover away being painted it's time for some attention on the Discovery. I should have learned not to set deadlines with the Range Rover, as I never seem to meet them, but I had planned to have the Range Rover finished and on the road before the MoT ran out on the Discovery. Well the MoT on the Discovery is up on 23 Mar 22 so that's not happening! Better get the Discovery MoT worthy ish I suppose.
The list isn't very short so I'm going to have my work cut out to get it done in time. Fortunately I have some leave to use up. After a trip to an MoT centre for them to have a look over it and tell me what has to be done before the test, I set to last Friday with some exploratory surgery.
Not looking great so far. At least most of that isn't an MoT issue, but I might as well have a go at some of it if I have time while the interior is out.
That was definitely all roadworthy 11 months ago wasn't it!
Parts delivery from YRM this morning. 1 pair rear outer wheel arches, 1 pair front inner arch tops, 1 pair sill end body mounts, 1 N/S/R mud flap bracket, 1 narrow boot floor z section and 1 wide boot floor z section.
First off, O/S/R sill end body mount...
That's not looking so bad now all the rot's gone. Just have to put it all back together. I can't remember where I bought the sill end body mounts from for the Range Rover, but I much prefer these from YRM. They're the same as the originals. The ones I bought last time were made a different way which I suspect was easier to make, but didn't look as strong. Back together with a lick of epoxy...
I'm not going to bother doing any more than that for finishing for now. All the welds will get ground back and it will get proper paint finish after the Range Rover is finished when I've done all the bits I'm ignoring for now.
Rich
The list isn't very short so I'm going to have my work cut out to get it done in time. Fortunately I have some leave to use up. After a trip to an MoT centre for them to have a look over it and tell me what has to be done before the test, I set to last Friday with some exploratory surgery.
Not looking great so far. At least most of that isn't an MoT issue, but I might as well have a go at some of it if I have time while the interior is out.
That was definitely all roadworthy 11 months ago wasn't it!
Parts delivery from YRM this morning. 1 pair rear outer wheel arches, 1 pair front inner arch tops, 1 pair sill end body mounts, 1 N/S/R mud flap bracket, 1 narrow boot floor z section and 1 wide boot floor z section.
First off, O/S/R sill end body mount...
That's not looking so bad now all the rot's gone. Just have to put it all back together. I can't remember where I bought the sill end body mounts from for the Range Rover, but I much prefer these from YRM. They're the same as the originals. The ones I bought last time were made a different way which I suspect was easier to make, but didn't look as strong. Back together with a lick of epoxy...
I'm not going to bother doing any more than that for finishing for now. All the welds will get ground back and it will get proper paint finish after the Range Rover is finished when I've done all the bits I'm ignoring for now.
Rich
RAW111111
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I've also been practicing welding things apart...
Seat bolts I broke off when I changed the seats just after I bought the Discovery. These were actually surprisingly easy.
Will actually be able to bolt the back seats down properly when I'm finished.
Manifold to downpipe stud on the Range Rover O/S bank was harder. 2 of them came out fine and the last put up a fight but I won in the end.
That's all back on now. New gaskets and tab washers and new spark plugs. Once the rush job on the Discovery is over I'll turn the engine around and do the N/S bank.
Rich
Seat bolts I broke off when I changed the seats just after I bought the Discovery. These were actually surprisingly easy.
Will actually be able to bolt the back seats down properly when I'm finished.
Manifold to downpipe stud on the Range Rover O/S bank was harder. 2 of them came out fine and the last put up a fight but I won in the end.
That's all back on now. New gaskets and tab washers and new spark plugs. Once the rush job on the Discovery is over I'll turn the engine around and do the N/S bank.
Rich
RAW111111
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Thanks to everyone who keeps liking and commenting on here. Nice to know I’m not talking to myself even if nobody is telling me how I should have done it.
Rich
Rich
Keep it up mate
wish I had an idea how to do it to even comment. I've got a footwell todo in my 110 and keep putting it off but reading through threads like this gives me a little push every time RAW111111
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Keep it up mate
Give it a go. Get yourself a welder and some steel and have a practice. Nobody has ever taught me to weld but with a half decent MIG (mines an old Cebora I got for £50 off eBay so nothing special) it’s mostly point and pull the trigger.
Biggest improvements I’ve made to my welding are practice, practice, practice and a proper gas bottle rather than the disposables. You’ll learn quick enough not to bother trying to weld seams in one run on thin material like car bodies - even if you have the skill to do it without burning holes through, the panel will be so warped when it cools down you’ll want to cut it back out again. Better to just keep doing little tacks back and forward until all the gaps are full.
Watch some YouTube tutorials, get a welder and some off cuts and have a go. If you’re any where near Nottingham you’re welcome to have a go with mine.
Rich
RAW111111
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This afternoon I have cut some more car off...
Then I added some new metal back on. Fit for this bit was even worse than when I made the same one for the Range Rover so I still have to do some bashing and bridging gaps but it was too late to be hammering so that will have to wait for tomorrow.
Those are really out of focus! I'm sure it will be clearer in a future photo.
Rich
Then I added some new metal back on. Fit for this bit was even worse than when I made the same one for the Range Rover so I still have to do some bashing and bridging gaps but it was too late to be hammering so that will have to wait for tomorrow.
Those are really out of focus! I'm sure it will be clearer in a future photo.
Rich
Nice one mate, decided to go for it after I've gotten the bits in the garage on and picked up the new rock sliders.
I actually live in Mansfield so if all goes wrong I know where to come! Will keep an eye out for a mig for sale local and get some practice in!
Thanks Josh
RAW111111
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Cool. If I'm mobile and not busy I'm always happy to try and help. There's a good bunch from the Nottinghamshire GLASS group which get together once a month in Papplewick. Fair few Landy owners amongst us.
Rich
RAW111111
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More progress today. Had the afternoon off so got a whole afternoon.
First I got the outer arch stripped of powder coat and attached. I've welded it around the inside of the pillar per factory which was interesting - on the Range Rover I actually couldn't tell that was how it was meant to be done so welded a seam on the outside of the pillar. At the bottom I've put a short section of new flange long enough for a couple of plug welds onto the new closing panel that I fitted yesterday. I hope this should keep everything all in place relative to each other while I cut out the inner arch and the rest of the flange to repair that. Also finished bashing the closing panel into something like the right shape and welding it together. It's not my best work ever, but it's solid.
Next I decided to take to door off and lop the end of the B pillar off along with some more rusty outer sill.
Then I set too folding up a new section of outer sill. It's still overlapping all of the edges where it will be butt welded in place. Hopefully that should go in fairly quickly tomorrow afternoon and then I can close everything up. If I work really fast perhaps I can have a go at the inner arch as well, but ideally I could do with using the car Saturday to move a trailer so I might just throw it back together and leave the arch for next week.
Close of play today everything I won't be able to get to once the outer sill is on has had a coat of epoxy and I used the excess up covering up anywhere I didn't expect to burn it off.
More tomorrow.
Rich
First I got the outer arch stripped of powder coat and attached. I've welded it around the inside of the pillar per factory which was interesting - on the Range Rover I actually couldn't tell that was how it was meant to be done so welded a seam on the outside of the pillar. At the bottom I've put a short section of new flange long enough for a couple of plug welds onto the new closing panel that I fitted yesterday. I hope this should keep everything all in place relative to each other while I cut out the inner arch and the rest of the flange to repair that. Also finished bashing the closing panel into something like the right shape and welding it together. It's not my best work ever, but it's solid.
Next I decided to take to door off and lop the end of the B pillar off along with some more rusty outer sill.
Then I set too folding up a new section of outer sill. It's still overlapping all of the edges where it will be butt welded in place. Hopefully that should go in fairly quickly tomorrow afternoon and then I can close everything up. If I work really fast perhaps I can have a go at the inner arch as well, but ideally I could do with using the car Saturday to move a trailer so I might just throw it back together and leave the arch for next week.
Close of play today everything I won't be able to get to once the outer sill is on has had a coat of epoxy and I used the excess up covering up anywhere I didn't expect to burn it off.
More tomorrow.
Rich
RAW111111
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Hi All,
Another day - more progress. Don't get used to it!
Outer sill seemed to fit ok so I welded it on. Did a fantastic job getting the camera to focus as well.
Then I patched up the bottom of the b pillar and welded that back on. Looking at it now it looks like it might have been better to make a whole new one, but it seemed a bit complicated. The welds aren't quite as lumpy as they look - it's the light. They are still a bit high though to be honest as I really struggle with welding vertical. It'll all look ok when its been ground down but that's not going to be for a while.
Finally I made up a new piece for the door seal to fit on and welded that on and tacked the remains of the end of the heel board back on just so that I can move this trailer tomorrow.
Next week I'll have to repair that part and fit it properly, cut out and weld in a new section of the inner arch with the seatbelt mount, repair the corrosion within 30cm of the brake master and the N/S/R seatbelt mount. If I have time with that lot done, I'll also look to do the N/S/R outer arch, the front left corner of the boot floor and the right side of the boot floor. The N/S/R outer arch I'll probably get done as I don't think it will take much longer to do that than just to do the inner arch and seatbelt mount. The rest might get left.
More soon.
Rich
Another day - more progress. Don't get used to it!
Outer sill seemed to fit ok so I welded it on. Did a fantastic job getting the camera to focus as well.
Then I patched up the bottom of the b pillar and welded that back on. Looking at it now it looks like it might have been better to make a whole new one, but it seemed a bit complicated. The welds aren't quite as lumpy as they look - it's the light. They are still a bit high though to be honest as I really struggle with welding vertical. It'll all look ok when its been ground down but that's not going to be for a while.
Finally I made up a new piece for the door seal to fit on and welded that on and tacked the remains of the end of the heel board back on just so that I can move this trailer tomorrow.
Next week I'll have to repair that part and fit it properly, cut out and weld in a new section of the inner arch with the seatbelt mount, repair the corrosion within 30cm of the brake master and the N/S/R seatbelt mount. If I have time with that lot done, I'll also look to do the N/S/R outer arch, the front left corner of the boot floor and the right side of the boot floor. The N/S/R outer arch I'll probably get done as I don't think it will take much longer to do that than just to do the inner arch and seatbelt mount. The rest might get left.
More soon.
Rich
RAW111111
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Hi All,
Made a bit more progress on the Discovery. Still no news on the Range Rover from the paint shop.
I've had two days on the Discovery so far this week and still have tomorrow to go. I suppose I could work on it on Saturday as well but I think I ought to give the neighbours a break probably.
On Monday I stripped the interior back out of the car, cut the end of the heel board back off from the O/S/R and set to on the inner arch. Managed to get as far as having the arch welded back in along with the flange section that joins the inner and outer arches together.
Tuesday and Wednesday evening I stripped, dried out, cleaned and reassembled the O/S headlamp as it was full of water/condensation and aimed wrong apparently. I might try to park it facing a wall and level it up to the N/S one or I might just ask the MoT garage to aim it properly before they do the test. The adjusters are all free both sides so it shouldn't take them long.
Today I've finished off the O/S/R inner arch by making and welding in the reinforcing panel with the seatbelt mount on it, repairing and welding in the end of the heel board and making and welding in a couple of patches to the footwell.
Next I moved on to the N/S/R inner arch. Already had a patch cut that was useful as I managed to trim it too small for the O/S/R. Cut the arch out to match the patch and zapped it in. Managed to salvage the reinforcing patch from this side which was in amazingly good condition considering the state of the arch. Welded that on and slapped some epoxy over everything. I've changed my mind over doing the outer arch on this side if I can avoid it - looking at the bottom where it meets the sill I'm concerned that if I take the sill cover off I'll end up having to do the sill end and body mount!
Tomorrow I'm going to start by working out what I'm doing with the drivers footwell/bulkhead/O/S/F inner arch. I think the inner wing top I'll just put a patch over the hole closest to the brake master. the bulkhead I'm not quite sure how to sort as I don't really have any good access from inside or out without lots of disassembly and/or fire risk. I'm still not sure whether to look at the boot floor either - it's pretty bad along the O/S edge particularly and I have everything to do it. Thoughts?
More soon,
Rich
Made a bit more progress on the Discovery. Still no news on the Range Rover from the paint shop.
I've had two days on the Discovery so far this week and still have tomorrow to go. I suppose I could work on it on Saturday as well but I think I ought to give the neighbours a break probably.
On Monday I stripped the interior back out of the car, cut the end of the heel board back off from the O/S/R and set to on the inner arch. Managed to get as far as having the arch welded back in along with the flange section that joins the inner and outer arches together.
Tuesday and Wednesday evening I stripped, dried out, cleaned and reassembled the O/S headlamp as it was full of water/condensation and aimed wrong apparently. I might try to park it facing a wall and level it up to the N/S one or I might just ask the MoT garage to aim it properly before they do the test. The adjusters are all free both sides so it shouldn't take them long.
Today I've finished off the O/S/R inner arch by making and welding in the reinforcing panel with the seatbelt mount on it, repairing and welding in the end of the heel board and making and welding in a couple of patches to the footwell.
Next I moved on to the N/S/R inner arch. Already had a patch cut that was useful as I managed to trim it too small for the O/S/R. Cut the arch out to match the patch and zapped it in. Managed to salvage the reinforcing patch from this side which was in amazingly good condition considering the state of the arch. Welded that on and slapped some epoxy over everything. I've changed my mind over doing the outer arch on this side if I can avoid it - looking at the bottom where it meets the sill I'm concerned that if I take the sill cover off I'll end up having to do the sill end and body mount!
Tomorrow I'm going to start by working out what I'm doing with the drivers footwell/bulkhead/O/S/F inner arch. I think the inner wing top I'll just put a patch over the hole closest to the brake master. the bulkhead I'm not quite sure how to sort as I don't really have any good access from inside or out without lots of disassembly and/or fire risk. I'm still not sure whether to look at the boot floor either - it's pretty bad along the O/S edge particularly and I have everything to do it. Thoughts?
More soon,
Rich
RAW111111
Well-Known Member
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Bit more progress over the past week. Been busy with work and the dog's been being needy so not as much as I might have liked. Missed the MoT deadline on Wednesday so the next journey will be to the MoT station, but I hope that I'll get there next week.
Next section to deal with was these bits...
Now I lost quite a bit of time last Friday as a friend dropped in to let me have an off cut of Aluminium sheet. Three cups of tea and about three hours later he left. It was lovely to sit and chat in the March sunshine, but I didn't get as much done as I had hoped. Still, I did at least get the three patches in the inner arch where it meets the floor sorted.
I got a doubler plate welded in up the top of the arch as well, as I was concerned that the back edge of the patch I had let in to the inner arch wasn't technically 'continuously welded' since there was not really anything to weld it to. I'll fix this section properly once the car is off the road.
Last thing on Friday I got the bit of ali that my mate dropped off glued over the hole in the quarter panel using Sikaflex 552 and left it to cure overnight with the clamps on. Also slapped some black epoxy mastic over the new mudflap bracket ready for installation.
Saturday I had an unexpected extra day on the car as Kirsty had work to do apparently. Started off by building up the new mudflap bracket. I had to replace every single bolt as they all sheared off so I had a nice peaceful start to the day cutting bolts to size and installing it all. Managed to put a hole in the right place in that piece of aluminium second time around - filed the two holes together to make it look like a slot for adjustment.
Next I moved on to the boot floor section shown in the first photo of this post. Let in a bit of the floor side...
Patched in the crossmember including reusing the tie down weld nut. Then ran out of light. Monday I was in Bristol all day so no progress. Wednesday I managed to fill the hole in. I've made this patch in two pieces, as I had an offset of the boot floor profile from doing the Range Rover but only enough to do the section above the crossmember where I need to go further inboard. The creases don't line up perfectly with the original floor, but there's basically no access to the back side of most of this section when the body is on the chassis. When I do the rest of the work on this car including grinding all these welds back, I'll remove the body mounts and jack the body up like I did on the Range Rover to give myself some space. Hopefully I should be able to blend the creases in a little better then.
Yesterday evening and this evening I made a form and shaped up a section for the boot side on the O/S. As you can see, it needs a bit more work than the N/S did.
Made the form from some offcuts of 1" ply I had in the garage. Trimmed the wider 'z-section' that I got from YRM down and threw the flange over the form. I think this has worked better than the welded together version that I did on both sides of the Range Rover as I don't have weld distortion to deal with, but we'll have to wait and see what I think once I've welded it in. I wish I'd made the form a little wider so that I could get further around the ends of the arch, but it should get me far enough to remove all the rotten section on this car.
Should be able to work on it most of tomorrow, so hopefully I'll find out how well it fits and then get the floor and crossmembers repaired too.
More soon,
Rich
Next section to deal with was these bits...
Now I lost quite a bit of time last Friday as a friend dropped in to let me have an off cut of Aluminium sheet. Three cups of tea and about three hours later he left. It was lovely to sit and chat in the March sunshine, but I didn't get as much done as I had hoped. Still, I did at least get the three patches in the inner arch where it meets the floor sorted.
I got a doubler plate welded in up the top of the arch as well, as I was concerned that the back edge of the patch I had let in to the inner arch wasn't technically 'continuously welded' since there was not really anything to weld it to. I'll fix this section properly once the car is off the road.
Last thing on Friday I got the bit of ali that my mate dropped off glued over the hole in the quarter panel using Sikaflex 552 and left it to cure overnight with the clamps on. Also slapped some black epoxy mastic over the new mudflap bracket ready for installation.
Saturday I had an unexpected extra day on the car as Kirsty had work to do apparently. Started off by building up the new mudflap bracket. I had to replace every single bolt as they all sheared off so I had a nice peaceful start to the day cutting bolts to size and installing it all. Managed to put a hole in the right place in that piece of aluminium second time around - filed the two holes together to make it look like a slot for adjustment.
Next I moved on to the boot floor section shown in the first photo of this post. Let in a bit of the floor side...
Patched in the crossmember including reusing the tie down weld nut. Then ran out of light. Monday I was in Bristol all day so no progress. Wednesday I managed to fill the hole in. I've made this patch in two pieces, as I had an offset of the boot floor profile from doing the Range Rover but only enough to do the section above the crossmember where I need to go further inboard. The creases don't line up perfectly with the original floor, but there's basically no access to the back side of most of this section when the body is on the chassis. When I do the rest of the work on this car including grinding all these welds back, I'll remove the body mounts and jack the body up like I did on the Range Rover to give myself some space. Hopefully I should be able to blend the creases in a little better then.
Yesterday evening and this evening I made a form and shaped up a section for the boot side on the O/S. As you can see, it needs a bit more work than the N/S did.
Made the form from some offcuts of 1" ply I had in the garage. Trimmed the wider 'z-section' that I got from YRM down and threw the flange over the form. I think this has worked better than the welded together version that I did on both sides of the Range Rover as I don't have weld distortion to deal with, but we'll have to wait and see what I think once I've welded it in. I wish I'd made the form a little wider so that I could get further around the ends of the arch, but it should get me far enough to remove all the rotten section on this car.
Should be able to work on it most of tomorrow, so hopefully I'll find out how well it fits and then get the floor and crossmembers repaired too.
More soon,
Rich
