Hello from Australia!

Here's an update of things progressing yet again! I installed the Alpine ipod controller, and omg was there some excessively long wiring included...far more than is necessary. I would only recommend buying one of these if you plan to permanently install it like I have, otherwise you'll be overwhelmed with cables all over your dashboard. This is the only thing which I feel would steer a lot of buyers away from an otherwise excellent product.

It makes navigating through the ipod so much quicker and is a lot safer than doing it directly from the headunit. There's a heap of useful features onboard, including bluetooth connectivity which is brilliant for controlling your phone while driving. With an incoming call, the music is muted and the conversation is put through the stereo's speakers with good clarity. Phonebook access is also very easy to navigate.

The remote control is compatible with the Alpine headunit also, and is smart enough to know whether you are pointing it at the headunit or the ipod controller, and enable functions accordingly...this is a very cool feature.

I installed the module and wiring for the ipod controller under the drivers seat, and added a dual 12v socket arrangement while I was at it (the controller only allows for a 12v socket). This gives me a spare socket for any use like a worklight, etc. One thing I thought was rather stupid was that the ipod controller set-up doesn't charge the ipod, so I decided to leave the ipod cable which is connected to the headunit, which does do charging. This also means that I can connect a 2nd ipod, iphone or even an ipad (great for passengers on long distance trips!).

The next item on the shopping list is an Optima Yellow Top gel battery to support the growing number of electronic gizmo's, and is 'phase 1' towards a dual battery set-up. Hehehe!

hehe, sir mix a lot........
Anyway, in terms of distance london to moscow is around 1900 miles.So yeah that is a long way!!!!!You can fit france in 7 times, i think they can fit us in 5 or 6 times, but with a similar population

goonarmy said:

hehe, sir mix a lot........
Anyway, in terms of distance london to moscow is around 1900 miles.So yeah that is a long way!!!!!You can fit france in 7 times, i think they can fit us in 5 or 6 times, but with a similar population

Click to expand...

Geez, when you put it like that, it makes me realise how complacent we are with distances down here! Funny how one persons epic journey, can be a lazy weeks drive with the tunes cranked for someone else.

The weather's improved out of sight today, so I thought I'd give my toys a wash while I have the time. The Jeep's absolutely filthy inside n the photo flatters the exterior (it's really grimey). The Disco's got a bit of grime on it from a light bit of 4x4'ing on sunday night to see what it's like offroad. Here they are anyway!

The past few days have been spent doing some prep & painting on the house, so no love for the Landy. My mate who's got my amp atm hasn't had time to remove it from his Patrol yet, but I'll be picking it up from him this weekend, and fitting it then.

My diff-breathers finally arrived today, as did the 'Land Rover' sticker to put on the bonnet protector (I can get a bit ocd at times, hehe!).

I've been inundated with 18-hour work days, and the weather's been pretty sucky all last week, so there's not much to show for my efforts lately. Yesterday was perfect for going nuts on the Disco, but had to go to a function. :S

In the quiet moments, I've been measuring up the tailgate area and working on some designs for a rear drawer/shelving system...there's SO much to consider! I need to fit a Waeco CDF-35 fridge/freezer, a proper tool chest, drawers and water tank in the back...the remainder of the space will be used for shelving.

You can buy pre-fabricated drawer systems, but they are horrendously expensive and don't suit/fit what I need to do, so figured I'd make my own and do a bloody schmik job of it. I should have the plans perfected in the coming days and get cracking with the build-up of it, and I will put this up in a separate thread for the benefit of others who are wanting to do something similar ok. I've scoured the net but nobody who's built one themselves has shared any detail or measurements for a Disco 1. If anybody has some useful it would be greatly appreciated btw, and credit will be given.

Anyway, I mentioned to dad over dinner at his place on friday night that I was working on some designs for rear drawers/shelving. He tells me to go to the office and look on a certain shelf, and there was a surprise for me...he'd guessed correctly what I was going to do and bought 4 sets of 550mm Hafele 100kg drawer sliders for me. Score! Hehehe!

In the post today, the Uniden MS-100 extension speaker arrived, for the soon-to-be-bought Uniden UHF-015SX radio.

Just an added thought to the Mods...could this thread please be moved to the 'Discovery' section and renamed to 'Disco 1 300tdi Tourer Build-Up'??? It's gone well past an intro and is destined to be quite an epic write-up...possibly as an overseas-expedition tourer.

In between the rain this morning, I managed to fit an on-board air compressor which was given to me a while back. It fit perfectly in the space in front of the brake booster and the power button and hose fitment is easy to access.

My cargo barrier, battery and roof racks should have arrived today, so I'm waiting for a phonecall back to collect them. I'm also still chasing my mate for my amp back...I know he's busy, but he still hasn't removed it n this has been dragging on longer than I'd like. I'll have it in by the weekend one way or another! Hehehe!

Today I did a trip to the city to collect my cargo barrier and a pair of Thule roof-racks which had finally arrived! I haven't got the cargo barrier installed yet, but the racks are on, and I've also put on the Thule roof basket which I bought a few back. This is only a temporary setup until my roof-top-tent arrives, but certainly looks the goods!

The battery was meant to arrive this afternoon, but now won't be ready until after the weekend. It means another trip to the city, but I'll probably buy a few other items while I'm there to justify the trip...hehehe!

Anyway, here's some update pics as usual!

Oh can any mods please move this thread to a more relevant section please?!?!

Oh I forgot to post up one of the designs I've come up with for the rear drawer/shelf system! Any comments and suggestions are most welcome!

Wow this weekend has been productive!

It started off by finally getting the amp back off my mate, and enjoyed a few beers with him as a thanks. I made up some mounting brackets for it and installed it, as well as running some of the wiring through (not yet finished).

I also picked up my cargo barrier and installed that...it looks sensational! I also picked up my Thule roof-racks and fitted them with the Thule roof-rack basket I bought a little while ago. Suddenly the Disco is feeling closer to being 'finished', which has it's good and bad points.

I am picking up a fuel tank bash-plate this week, which gives me a lot more confidence playing harder off-road. The new battery was meant to have arrived on friday when I went to the city, but won't arrive until tomorrow. That's worked out ok, because I need to go way over the other side of the city to pick up a full set of Cooper STT 235/85R16 tyres which I snared at a bargain price. Hehehe! I've already ordered a set of 30mm spacers, and will commence cutting the rear lower-guard prior to getting the tyres swapped over. I also gave the exterior a quick wash cos the Disco was absolutely filthy and was getting far too much attention from 'joe-public' for it's own good.

The timing of everything has worked out nicely, as it's my 29th b'day this weekend and had planned to go 4x4'ing and camping with a few mates...the new mods are very welcomed for such an occasion. Mum n Dad have also offered to go halves in the remainder of my layby for a Waeco fridge/freezer. Quite an epic week for mods n upgrades!

I'll post some update pics up tomorrow, as it's far too dark here to even bother atm.

goonarmy said:

g day mate.Very purpose ful looking motor that, could do with some more agresssive tires tho!

Click to expand...

I've just sorted that out for your benefit! Hehehe!

Here's some update pics of the amp, cargo barrier, maglite and fire-extinguisher fitted.






Here's a pic of the fuel tank bash-plate. I'm going to clean it up and repaint it in the next couple of days.


And here's the early stages of a rear shelf and drawer setup I'm knocking up. This is the 'quick and easy to fit' for random weekends away (like this one for example). It's made of square section aluminium (Connect-It) as well as their plastic joiners...this this is disturbingly light, weighing approx 3-4kg's, and is absolutely solid. There's still a way to go with it yet, and the finished item should weigh approx 10kg's. I'll be building the one displayed earlier, but not just yet...

Looking good.

certainly is,and a belated welcome to the site

Thanks for the kind words! It's certainly a creation in the making, plenty more stuff to do be done yet, but I'm very happy with how it's progressing.

I was driving along the highway to the city this morning, chilling out to some tunes while enjoying a coffee, window down, etc. Suddenly when going up a set of hills, I smell a horrid burning! I immediately turned the stereo off, and moments later hear a nasty shreiking noise, so I decided to pull over.

It turns out that the fan pulley had decided to let go in style, and there wasn't much I could do really, other than nurse the car into the city, pretend the shreik wasn't coming from my car, and drop it at dads mechanic. He was waiting on some pulleys earlier (we decided that it best to change the lot over at the same time), so the Disco should be ready to collect very soon. This worked out alright in the end, because I had to collect my new battery from him anyway! Hahaha!