I got bit by the Land Rover bug just over 18 months ago.
I took my Freelander 2 to Parkwood 4x4 in Feb '10 and had an amazing day out with most of the 'black routes' conquered. Inevitably, the underside took a bit of a hammering so decided I needed something far more forgiving and easier/cheaper to repair/maintain.
In April 2010, I purchased a 1994 manual Discovery 300tdi but unfortunately, I knew little to nothing about them at the time.
The next 12 months were going to be a huge learning curve...
Long story short, I ended up with a bit of a basket case which I ran for 12 months - a basket which was never going to go through another M.O.T. due to the usual excessive rot. It was also heavily stripped out for green laning and had very little left in the way of sound deadening or comfort, so decided to keep the good bits & scrap it in April this year.
By now, I knew what to look out for and was on the hunt for a Discovery 300tdi project given the fact I now had various spares & off road kit for one.
In April this year, I managed to source a 1994 Auto (non sunroof model :5bhurray: ) with rotten body but mechanically sound M.O.T. failure for £500. It was factory standard & had a near mint interior, so decided it was a good base for the restoration which was to follow.
Little did I know exactly how far I was going to go with this "restoration"...
A call to YRM Metals soon sorted out all of the replacement metal I needed. This included a complete rear cross member, both front inner wings in their entirety, full length inner & outer sills & a battery tray.
The boot floor was cut out of the last one as it was still fairly new. Various repairs were also needed to the inner rear arches & front footwells.
Various off roading kit was then transferred from from the last one. This included the HD steering bars, steering guard, OMP Racing bucket seats, a Pro Comp 3" lift kit, extended brake lines, dislocation cones, rear shock droppers, cranked trailing arms, EGR valve removal kit, de-cat & straight through mid pipe and CB radio.
I've since sourced a winch bumper, roof light bar, rock/tree sliders, adjustable panhard rod, HD rear bumper, a set of steel modular rims on Special Tracks, various clear lenses, a set of rear tinted windows and the highly elusive fuel tank strap for a bargain £10!
A set of late Disco2 light clusters are also waiting to be added thanks to an early Xmas present from the Mrs!
7 months on and I'm now coming to the end of the restoration having replaced most of the external nuts & bolts, all window seals & weather strips, re-lined head lining, re-lined the entire rear floor with Noisekiller matting, all carpets stripped out & cleaned, anti-roll bars & tow bar removed, bump stops removed and (soon to be) replaced with extended ones, all redundant holes rubber sealed, various interior bulbs renewed, a new bonnet release cable, brake disc guards removed and half a tin of copper grease applied here & there!
Got a few more bits & pieces to get for it to make it a fully off road prepared weapon of choice. Just hoping it passes its M.O.T. next month so I can get out & actually enjoy driving it in the winter green lanes ahead! :crazy_driver:
