My Discovery 1 Progress

Mm... Shiny!

Yarwell

So on Sunday, we went to Yarwell as planned. There's a video below if you don't want to read my ramblings.

First time either me or my Dad have done this sort of thing. I was quite worried about the capability of my Discovery which is totally unmodified for off road use with road tyres with around 5mm tread, running boards, standard front lower bumper and a tow bar all hampering its clearance.

We arrived at about 11am, the site staff were friendly and we got stuck straight in (quite literally).

My Dad was leading and almost immediately ventured into a very muddy bog which was much deeper than it looked. At this point I thought perhaps we were in over our heads (or at least over his wheel arches ). I tried to pull the Defender back out of the ooze, but it was no good. A friendly passer by with what I believe was a Mitsubishi Shogun offered to recover him, but immediately got stuck as well. One of the site staff had to winch him out and then the Defender. The chap said he wouldn't even have attempted that in the kitted out Discovery they used having seen how bad it was.

After this, everything was fine - I think we got unlucky initially as the rest of the day went smoothly. I was astounded by how well my Discovery managed all day - tackling everything I attempted. I even did most of it without diff-lock in. I had relatively few battle scars (bent the bracket for the tow electrics). All in all it was a great day and both cars did us proud.














And this was my drive after I washed the car when I got home





Here's the video - excuse the crude editing - I was tempted to do like Homer Simpson and use a 'Star wipe' on everything

Good effort

A good pay and play day takes some beating. We go to kirton a lot and tong, we usually camp at kirton over the bank holiday weekends (not been in this disco yet as its not done) and we have had many a laugh there

Youll be making yours look more like that blue one if you go much more

Towsey

Looks like you had fun! Glad to see you're using it properly

Foz

Any more progress on this?

Hi all,

I thought it was about time for an update.

The Discovery failed its MOT for the first time in September!
-Patch needed on chassis near driver's side front wheel
-Rear brake pad worn down below limit
-Front indicators not working

Advisories were:
- 1 rear tyre worn low on outside edge (sounds like an excuse for some AT's!)
- Front brake pads getting low
- Light misting of oil from front nearside shock (I checked this as the shocks are only 18 months old but couldn't see any oil)
- Small amount of play in front suspension arm

I was most gutted about the indicators - they worked fine on the way to the MOT station! Stopped working during the test both of the bulbs were wet due to poor seals on the aftermarket clear indicator units. I cleaned it all up and sealed the bulb holders up - no issues since.

I got my usual Landy-man to do the welding - it turned out not to be as bad as I first thought. There was a split where somebody has incorrectly jacked it up in the past which had begun to turn nasty. I really want to get it protected underneath with some Waxoyl or similar as it has never had it, and I know it won't stay as tidy under there as it currently is.

When I got the brake caliper off, I noticed that one pad had worn down to the metal, whereas the other was only part worn! One of the pistons had seized (seems quite common?) I did manage to free it eventually - but it popped the seal off at the same time - I tried to get the seal back in but damaged the metal retaining ring.
I was 4 hours into a brake pad job and hadn't even done the other bloody side!

As I didn't have long to get the car re-tested for free at this point, I ordered a pair of new calipers for the rear (NOT Britpart!) but have kept the original calipers to get the seals replaced in the future as I would prefer to have the OEM Lockheed parts on there.

I changed the front and rear pads along with the rear calipers in the end and a brake fluid change to round things off nicely. The difference in stopping power is staggering. I don't think i realized how bad the brakes were before it pulls up really well for a big old bus now!


Anyway - I got the car re-tested and all was well.

I've replaced the OEM front fog lights (as they were full of Yarwell mud and one had stopped working as a result) with Ring Roadrunner fog lights which fit very nicely in place with some homemade brackets.

http://www.halfords.com/motoring/bu...lights/ring-roadrunner-rectangular-fog-lights



I've just finished my latest little project. The amplifier which drives my 4 rear speakers was very vulnerable in the boot - every time the seats were put down, the wires were getting pulled or something would get put under it which choked the fan.

The 6th and 7th seat rarely get used, so I decided to remove the right hand seat and mount the amplifier on its side out of the way. This quickly mushroomed into making an enclosure to protect it (also to reduce the noise from the fan) whilst still allowing it room for the air to circulate.

I broke out my (barely) GCSE level woodworking skills and came up with this:




I used a stainless steel vent on top (yes, it's from B&Q ..) to let heat out and left some room around the bottom of the door to let cool air in. The front is hinged and opens up to give access to the amplifier and to the tail light if you should need to change bulbs. I also used one of those magnetic catches to keep the front closed. It also doubles up as a crap coffee table for the 6th seat passenger if folded up

I'd also been meaning to paint the rear side trims black, as they were the only remaining bits of grey trim inside the car. Due to my inability to wait for anything to be delivered - I went out to Homebase and found Rust-Oleum flexible vinyl paint. It's brilliant! One can did the trim from both sides (touch dry in an hour) only one coat was needed. The finish is really good - not too shiny and nicely even.







I then carpeted the amp enclosure in black. I'm so happy with the result!

Quick modification -

My Discovery (being a 1998 model) had only the tail lights in the rear bumper, rather than in the main rear lights as some earlier models do. I did a bit of reading on here and found that you can simply solder on a wire to the cut connection on the tail lights, and tap into the tail light feed (which is there, but the pin is removed from the light cluster).

What surprised me was that the dual filament bulbs were already installed! I'm not sure if they originally were, or if a previous owner has mistakenly thought the tail lights were supposed to be there and changed the bulbs accordingly.

Anyhow, after spending precisely NOTHING, I now have quad tail lights!

Good mod, did this on mine aswell so I can take the bumper off for off roading and still have all the lights. But, all I did was plug the new (old type lights) in, with all the original wiring and they all worked fine. They even all work properly when I have a trailer on.

Only thing is that both lights come on the dash when indicating when they are all connected, but when the bumper is off it only illuminates the one light. I presume it detects the extra resistance and thinks the trailer is on, or something lik that...easy as ya like to do tho

towsey

towsey956 said:

Good mod, did this on mine aswell so I can take the bumper off for off roading and still have all the lights. But, all I did was plug the new (old type lights) in, with all the original wiring and they all worked fine. They even all work properly when I have a trailer on.

Only thing is that both lights come on the dash when indicating when they are all connected, but when the bumper is off it only illuminates the one light. I presume it detects the extra resistance and thinks the trailer is on, or something lik that...easy as ya like to do tho

towsey

Click to expand...

That's a neat idea. I had read about putting the old style lights on but wasn't sure if it would overload it somehow when towing!

Weirdly, when I'm towing, my trailer light doesn't come on I'd never really thought about it!

Yeah mine seems to be fine to be honest even with the 4 indicators, but it doesn't tow all that much. Does your trailer light flash on when you first put the indicators on without the trailer attached, just wondering if the bulbs out?

towsey956 said:

Yeah mine seems to be fine to be honest even with the 4 indicators, but it doesn't tow all that much. Does your trailer light flash on when you first put the indicators on without the trailer attached, just wondering if the bulbs out?

Click to expand...

I've never seen it come on at any point. You may be right there - bulb could be out.

I generally know if I'm towing by the fact that I've just hitched up a trailer, rather than by a dash light

Haha yeah too rite. Apparently if I change my flasher relay it will put the light out, but then I would need to change it back again when I take the bumper off to stop the indicators flashing fast like a bulbs out...but I also am not in the habit of riding about counting dash lights so it will be staying as is. But if you ever see early lights in a scrap yard it's a nice cheap easy mod, just plug and play.

towsey956 said:

Haha yeah too rite. Apparently if I change my flasher relay it will put the light out, but then I would need to change it back again when I take the bumper off to stop the indicators flashing fast like a bulbs out...but I also am not in the habit of riding about counting dash lights so it will be staying as is. But if you ever see early lights in a scrap yard it's a nice cheap easy mod, just plug and play.

Click to expand...

Yes I'll keep a look out for the older lights

Quick update - Happy New Year to you all.

Had a few issues present themselves in the last month or so.

My tailgate lock spring must have snapped as it won't open without turning the key in the lock. The left rear door is also doing this occasionally. I've replaced a lock spring in the right rear door in the past - i'm putting it off until it warms up as it wasn't an enjoyable job

Secondly, the front sunroof has started leaking quite badly - it seems to come through the button on the sunroof handle. I've run a bead of silicon around the edge of the outer plastic frame in the hope that this cures it - I'll admit I've made a right mess of it, but it will hopefully suffice until the spring. I was very wet, cold and hanging off the roof rail.





Also - it seemed that every god-damn piece of interior trim was rattling when the interior was cold. Drove me absolutely bonkers. I diagnosed two missing rubber stops on the rear seats (where the seat back latches into place), the driver's side knee level panel was rattling for no obvious reason and the walnut insert in the centre console was vibrating. All of these have been cured with slices of camping mat stuck in place with double sided tape! It's not pretty but you don't see them!





The largest problem was this (CLICK THE THUMBNAIL FOR VIDEO):




Battery had sounded weak for a few weeks in the cold. Luckily, Santa had brought me a new battery charger which also has an 'engine start' function, so I hooked it up (I was secretly very excited to try it out) and it worked like a charm. I fully charged it after that, left the car for 3 days and it was dead again.





Ordered a Varta with about the best CCA I could find. It fires up with a lot more gusto now!!








Speaking of gifts from Santa - I also got some new tail lights. One of mine had broken and would fall out of the bumper every so often! As it turns out, the new ones are much brighter - you'll notice the difference in the orange of the indicator lens below





I've also gone for an under-seat subwoofer, as in the Discovery you lose a lot of the bass when the car is moving. I chose this Kenwood active subwoofer - I'm really impressed with it, enough bass and it comes with a full loom, so just a case of connecting it up. I was planning to mount it in the middle of the rear seats on the bit of floor which goes up at a 45 degree angle. As it turns out, it fits underneath the driver's seat perfectly and is totally out of view.

Amazon product


Picture before I refitted the seat base cover.



I always fancied those front spot lamps which have a side light bulb fitted to them, so they are slightly lit when the headlights are on. So I ordered a couple of 501 bulb holders and set about drilling into my spot lamp.

Needless to say, I slipped with the drill and shattered the glass. I popped on ebay expecting to be able to pick up a new light - little did I realise that my car is fitted with Hella Rallye 1000's which are upwards of £120 a pair and are very difficult to get hold of!!!





Anyway, I eventually managed to find a single light for sale, and bargain with the seller to buy the lamp only (not the stone guard etc) for £30. I won't be messing with them again.


And finally, I (rather dubiously) ordered a set of pre-cut window tints to replace the privacy blinds. I did lots of research on how to fit them and went out there with my poor mum for assistance - total disaster, I crinkled the first one but it wasn't too bad ... the two rear side windows went ok, then I tried one of the alpine windows - it wouldn't fit properly and because of the shape it wouldn't sit flat at all. Tried one of the boot side windows - that didn't fit either and had gaps at the edge.
These got screwed up and thrown in the bin straight away


What I didn't screw up was the boost gauge - I love this, it's a TIM one and works like a charm - even matches the dash nicely.





And to finish - just a couple of shots of the car as it stands now.

Looking good
Nice and clean