Gazbo
Well-Known Member
Still many nice original ones here in Australia, the dry climate in some places means little or no rust, I managed to buy one absolutely rust free 1998 D1 about 5 years ago that had lived all its life in a desert community, lots of dust in everything but it had been serviced ok.
Only issue here is the extreme sun means the plastics that compose most of the interior bits of a Disco are falling off and break very easily, so apart from that and a clutch replacement it has been totally reliable, of course you need to keep onto all the little bits and pieces but that is all part of the fun of owning a Land Rover product. Enjoy the results of all your work, they are a great 4x4.
I cut chassis on few places to get better access to inside...cleaned with steam cleaner and then painted with primer and waxed with Dinitrol wax. Only part with rust was behind the part wich is connecting left and right side of chassis (I don't know the word for this part of chassis) - there is steel on steel.
However It seems that Land Rover used very bad steel for Discovery body. Interiour plastic seems fine on mine except steering wheel, but I already found almost new steering wheel from Rover 600 series car.
Gazbo
Well-Known Member
Any car used in a place where salt is put on roads in the winter will dissolve pretty quickly. Fortunately we only have a very small number of places where a little snow falls so salt is not required. Not sure if there is such a thing as "bad steel", more like badly designed body component assemblies that leak and trap moisture, but I do see your point.
You have different type of steel....with carbon steel the rate of cooper can increase or decrease rust speed. I'm not expert for steel...so much rust behind body panels...that's unacceptable for such car
Gazbo
Well-Known Member
Do you know the brand of Italian car Alfa Romeo?You have different type of steel....with carbon steel the rate of cooper can increase or decrease rust speed. I'm not expert for steel...so much rust behind body panels...that's unacceptable for such car
They are the most rusty cars in our country, half rusted away when you buy new.
Turboman
Mab An Gov
Used to be like that here. In the 80s Fiats and Alphas were complete rustbuckets, used to rot out completely in ten years.
Now much improved, what really seemed to help was when they started fitting plastic wheel arch liners.
Just a thought. Are the new Alphas shipped out there on the deck of ships? Doubt if a few months of salt spray improves the situation.
Gazbo
Well-Known Member
I think that the new wave of Alfas are assembled better now, (as with most new cars), and are not such a problem, but they sell so few here because of their crap reputation that its almost insignificant, people have long memories.
Funny you mention the "deck cargo" thing, we used to joke about them rusting so bad through the tops of doors, guards, roofs and bonnets, that they had come as deck cargo upside down on a slow tramp steamer from Roma.
Discos I think were made of lighter panel steel but a lot of the rusting was due to poor design and assemly without any pre treatment of seams, a common problem with many vehicles of that era.
davidsmith1307
Well-Known Member
The cross-member.
Excellent work. Great to see these saved.
Thank you!
ifloochies
Well-Known Member
+1 Very very nice work!
