Alright Guys,

If you read my introduce me post, this is the burnt out D2… All my fault. I had a lapse in what I normally would do, I left a dirty greasy rag on the rear drivers axle and it caught fire from a bit of glue that was on fire from welding on the edge of a spot welded section in the rear drivers quarter. Pretty sure there was oil and brake fluid on the rag and that ignited like it was friday the 13th.. oh wait.. lol. I didn’t have my hose ready to go on standby just in case as I usually would, nor did I clear the area or flammables, very expensive lesson. I was welding inside and felt the floor getting really hot and was like wtf the floor shouldn’t be that hot I’m welding the corner, jumped out and a big “OH SH!”, too late fire took a hold very fast, oil, grease, brake fluid all sorts splattered around underneath and up it went.

Please learn from my very stupid and expensive mistake. clear the area before welding, have a hose on standby or fire extinguisher.

It is all my fault, I am absolutely gutted. Bought this in 2023 and was lead to believe it was better than it was and i then just started working on it and fixing a couple of bits but it snowballed. That couple of bits turned into every god damn bit and the hole got deeper. I have literally welded every rust/corrosion spot on it, rebuild the entire wheel arches by hand as they were so bad, sills fully redone with box and many, many more bits. Lots of mechanical issues went wrong and I’d fix one and another appeared, well not appeared it was always there but didn’t know it lol.

I genuinely think I have spend on top of the purchase price(£3k -.-), at least another 2k on parts and probably another 1k on tools. fk my life.

Completely rebuilt both axles, front had new shafts, CV’s, all balls joints, ENTIRE braking system renewal on both axles. I even treated myself to stainless steel brake hoses last christmas cause I was so damn please with the work I had done and really wanted to braking system to just be faultless and it was.

I’m absolutely gutted guys, I know it’s just a car but my heart and soul went into this, my kids adored it as much as me and mrs thought it was amazing but it’s like my heart has got a hole in it now, so much work man.

Well needless to say I’ll be stripping what i can off it, most new parts were front axle and engine bay and that’s untouched besides black smoke around places and i’ll save those parts for the replacement when i can afford to get one now and find one with a good body on it then i’ll just scrap the rest. I doubt people would want to buy an engine and rip it out themselves, same as gearbox(reconditioned too). Also lots lots of tools inside, mig welder, grinder, nanocom, welding gear other bits and bobs. :/

I think this post is more of a vent for me in all honesty, i don’t think anybody else besides you lot will truly understand how I’m feeling right now nor get the attachment but I’m getting another, I swear Fudging TD5 till i die man…

So gutted…

strip off the bits you can as you may need them for the new one you will buy

Man I feel for you.

Sorry for your loss
Thankfully it did not spread to the house!


Kev

OK, I'm going to dare to say it.

Isn't insurance involved?

Absolute Agony, hope you feel better soon, have to try and find some positives out of this at the end of the day it can be replaced you can’t.
There may be more salvageable parts other than just the front end. House insurance might cover other bits in car Mig, nanocom, Henry etc.
Plan for how the shell will be removed before it’s too immobilised
Good luck keep yer chin up

Stanleysteamer said:

OK, I'm going to dare to say it.

Isn't insurance involved

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It is fully insured, comp too but the cash value they’ll pay is around 2.2k and I obviously can’t strip a lot of anything off that has had all the new parts, front axle for example. That’s if they’ll actually cover it and not put it under negligence while doing my own repairs or something so they can wash their hands of it. Also there is then the loss of no claims as not protected(doh!) and having to inform future insurers of my claim.

I do have to claim on house insurance though as garage door was actually open when the fire was raging and it’s warped, also the firemen sprayed a tonne of water into the car and the garage right behind it so everything is soaked. There is a lot of stuff inside that’s damaged now, drills, electric battery chargers for power tools etc, then i’ve got to get the electrics looked at in there to satisfy they’re safe for the house insurance cover still. I may be lucky and the house insurance will cover what I lost in the car and around it as it’s literally on my drive, that’s a conversation for Monday though.

In my head, I’m thinking house insurance for the above and the actually disco just strip as much off it for parts then scrap the shell, either sell parts I don’t need or retain as spares and save money in the long run. Thinking not just the “now” but overall.
The insurer is a bog standard one so they see it as old car and that’s it. If the disco hadn’t had any new parts at all and I took a insurance payout, i’d be down £1k, fair enough but it has had £1k in parts easily at the front so a £2k insurance payout doesn’t cover a lot realistically as compare to stripping what iI’ve put on.

what do you reckon?

steve2286w said:

Absolute Agony, hope you feel better soon, have to try and find some positives out of this at the end of the day it can be replaced you can’t.
There may be more salvageable parts other than just the front end. House insurance might cover other bits in car Mig, nanocom, Henry etc.
Plan for how the shell will be removed before it’s too immobilised
Good luck keep yer chin up

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Cheers, I’ll be better when I’m sat in a working disco 2 TD5 LOL! Yea I’m good and the family, only was car and garage stuff so very lucky really. I do have contents insurance for the house so I’m thinking they will cover the stuff lost but definitely not the car itself. I’ve had a look and I can probably get a scrap place with a hiab or similar to take it away, wont get a lot if anything for the shell and chassis but it’ll be gone. I may stick the other tyre on and see if I can whip the auto box in N and push it forward more so easier to be taken away. Need to clean the drive a bit first though as glass everywhere.

I am tempted to strip all the doors off as it looks like only the door cards melted inside, may have salvageable door locks too.. I think I’ll have to clean up and investigate a bit more… I’ll definitely update this post on how this goes and what I do in the end.

Helluva loss but at least you and any of your family weren’t hurt. That would have been a disaster. Hope you get sorted out there.

Luke2025 said:

It is fully insured, comp too but the cash value they’ll pay is around 2.2k and I obviously can’t strip a lot of anything off that has had all the new parts, front axle for example. That’s if they’ll actually cover it and not put it under negligence while doing my own repairs or something so they can wash their hands of it. Also there is then the loss of no claims as not protected(doh!) and having to inform future insurers of my claim.

I do have to claim on house insurance though as garage door was actually open when the fire was raging and it’s warped, also the firemen sprayed a tonne of water into the car and the garage right behind it so everything is soaked. There is a lot of stuff inside that’s damaged now, drills, electric battery chargers for power tools etc, then i’ve got to get the electrics looked at in there to satisfy they’re safe for the house insurance cover still. I may be lucky and the house insurance will cover what I lost in the car and around it as it’s literally on my drive, that’s a conversation for Monday though.

In my head, I’m thinking house insurance for the above and the actually disco just strip as much off it for parts then scrap the shell, either sell parts I don’t need or retain as spares and save money in the long run. Thinking not just the “now” but overall.
The insurer is a bog standard one so they see it as old car and that’s it. If the disco hadn’t had any new parts at all and I took a insurance payout, i’d be down £1k, fair enough but it has had £1k in parts easily at the front so a £2k insurance payout doesn’t cover a lot realistically as compare to stripping what iI’ve put on.

what do you reckon?

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Can you take the insurance value and buy the wreck off them?
Then at least you can salvage what is worthwhile.
Are you sure the chassis is fecked? I can't help but think it'd take a heck of a lot of heat to do that.

whatever, best of luck mate, seriously.

Stanleysteamer said:

Can you take the insurance value and buy the wreck off them?
Then at least you can salvage what is worthwhile.
Are you sure the chassis is fecked? I can't help but think it'd take a heck of a lot of heat to do that.

whatever, best of luck mate, seriously.

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Honestly I don’t know, I’d had thought you’d pay back what they paid you for the write off so you’d be at net zero. Not sure as first write off tbh. I don’t want to test it then find out I can’t buy it back and i’m a lot worse off.

No the chassis isn’t fubar, only the body but I don’t know how I’d get another facelift auto body with all internal wiring and seats etc without just buying an entire disco and then I don’t see point body swapping etc. I’ve done a fair bit of welding to the chassis and it would pass a MOT and last a good few years yet. Probably could sell it i suppose, if I could source a body of the same year with all wiring/internals then I could just drop it on and connect it all up + a new tank and rear brake/fuel lines/abs sensors. Not sure if all my ECU’s inside are ok though, they look like they are besides the slabs, that’s bbq’d.

Honestly if I could save this by sourcing a facelift body with all seats/carpets/wiring everything, that is cheap then I’d definitely do it man but I don’t think I’ll find one, any cheap mot fail disco’s seem to get bought fast and stripped for parts… I’d love to save this.

Sorry for your loss, but you're lucky it didn't spread to the house.
I think buy back from the insurance, won't be much, when they see what's left.

Fingers crossed, you find another one soon.

Jeepers that's bad, devastating. Nothing to say that could make you feel any better. Gutted for you.

Luke2025 said:

Honestly I don’t know, I’d had thought you’d pay back what they paid you for the write off so you’d be at net zero. Not sure as first write off tbh. I don’t want to test it then find out I can’t buy it back and i’m a lot worse off.

No the chassis isn’t fubar, only the body but I don’t know how I’d get another facelift auto body with all internal wiring and seats etc without just buying an entire disco and then I don’t see point body swapping etc. I’ve done a fair bit of welding to the chassis and it would pass a MOT and last a good few years yet. Probably could sell it i suppose, if I could source a body of the same year with all wiring/internals then I could just drop it on and connect it all up + a new tank and rear brake/fuel lines/abs sensors. Not sure if all my ECU’s inside are ok though, they look like they are besides the slabs, that’s bbq’d.

Honestly if I could save this by sourcing a facelift body with all seats/carpets/wiring everything, that is cheap then I’d definitely do it man but I don’t think I’ll find one, any cheap mot fail disco’s seem to get bought fast and stripped for parts… I’d love to save this.

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I've bought several write offs back from the insurers. They ask scrap value which is naff all. I then repaired them and ran them until it wasn't worth it. Scrap value on yours would be pretty well nix as they would have to pay a scrap yard to take it away, and I dare say some wouldn't want it.
I wouldn't do the work on this one. I'd scrap the parts out, the chassis if decent, the headlights if they are still ok, engine block and head, etc. Cut the rest up and trailer it to a scrapyard.
Very similar to what I have had to do to the donor vehicle when building a kit car.

Yea I’ve decided I’m probably just going to remove anything on value off the body that is salvageable, get rid of the body check over the chassis backend that the fire was at and rear axle. If all seems ok then I’ll just wheel the chassis, engine an all into my garage when i’ve cleaned it/sorted the insurance claim and leave it there for now, then decide in future what to do with it all.

I really don’t want to be faffing removing engine, gear box etc right now nor do I want to just scrap it all when it is all working great and has no issues that I can see. Fire didn’t get that far, hell I was even able to put the auto box lever inside the car into neutral and take hand brake off so I can move it.

I think you should buy a couple of these ...


Or if (like me), there is no commercial application or 3rd party/persons involved .. these are the way to go.

Luke2025 said:

Yea I’ve decided I’m probably just going to remove anything on value off the body that is salvageable, get rid of the body check over the chassis backend that the fire was at and rear axle. If all seems ok then I’ll just wheel the chassis, engine an all into my garage when i’ve cleaned it/sorted the insurance claim and leave it there for now, then decide in future what to do with it all.

I really don’t want to be faffing removing engine, gear box etc right now nor do I want to just scrap it all when it is all working great and has no issues that I can see. Fire didn’t get that far, hell I was even able to put the auto box lever inside the car into neutral and take hand brake off so I can move it.

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I've had another look at the pics and agree it doesn't actually look disastrously bad. electrical bits under the dash seem to have only had smoke on them, which shouldn't hurt, much!

There is a company that offers kits you can convert a Disco to. Advertises in LRM, if I can find an ad or more info I'll put it up. They more or less just replace the body.

found it, they used to be called "longranger" but the kits still exist.

You could also convert it to a camper or summat.
"On the otherside of a disaster is an opportunity"

That is a really horrible thing to see. Yes you were lucky more damage wasnt done, and is a warning to others.
So when the dust settles you can think clearly.
So you could claim on insurance and just forget it, start again another day. All the other costs have to be considered of course.
Not claim, take it on the chin and save what you can for later, you may find an MOT failed 1 cos of rotten chassis.
Which sort of doesnt go with my next line, but a clean V5 and chassis go well scrotes.

Stanleysteamer said:

I'd scrap the parts out, the chassis if decent,

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Very contentious subject.

J

marjon said:

That is a really horrible thing to see. Yes you were lucky more damage wasnt done, and is a warning to others.
So when the dust settles you can think clearly.
So you could claim on insurance and just forget it, start again another day. All the other costs have to be considered of course.
Not claim, take it on the chin and save what you can for later, you may find an MOT failed 1 cos of rotten chassis.
Which sort of doesnt go with my next line, but a clean V5 and chassis go well scrotes.



Very contentious subject.

J

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Hmmm.
How would you tell if the chassis was still OK? Not that you'd be bothered on selling it, if you are a dyed-in-the-wool scrote.

This has got me thinking.

If the running gear is still OK, i.e. bushes etc, tyres, shocks it MAY be an indicator that the heat on the chassis wasn't too bad. But then if it got really, really hot and was suddenly cooled by the fire brigades hoses..... Hmm, could be made brittle or summat.

Me no metallurgist, so me no know!

I’ve had a look at the chassis cause been doing a bit of sweeping of glass etc. The rear is/will be fbar’d, all the coating has burned off from where the floor arches up for rear seats, body undercoating from there backwards is also burnt away. From the lower half forwards, chassis and body the coating is intact.. inside the landy the floor from rear seats forward is ok and not burn the paint off. Same with doors, besides the rear 2 are half scorched outside, fronts have just the door cards, glass and anything flammable gone. The driver door still locks though and handle etc work fine.. O_O.

I wouldn’t sell the chassis tbh, rear will rot so fast now but front may not or may be slower. Rear axle paint is all burnt but axle structurally looks fine, same with brake calipers etc all coating burnt but looks ok, i doubt I would trust the rear calipers now though.. maybe rebuild them and they’ll be ok. shocks at rear, fbar but i needed to replace them soon anyway haha, all the bushes were cheap ebay ones just to get through MOT and see how long I can drag them out for in all honesty, most money was spent on brakes and engine parts/steering etc. I think the most heat was all contained at the rear inside and moved to front seats etc but stayed near roof cause drivers carpet isn’t burnt but only were some melted seat dropped on it and steering wheel.

What you’ve shared about that long range thing stanley has got me thinking, it could really be changed to like a tray back or pickup. I need to get the body off to investigate more but need a tyre to move it forward to do so.

Would it be too difficult to rip the dash out and wire pods in and get it start like that, i’m thinking wiring wise would it be a pain in the butt to do? hmm…