LiftedDisco
Member
- Messages
- 112
- Location
- Towcester, UK
A long time ago, back when God was a boy in short trousers, I thought it would be sensible to sell my ‘old’ Discovery and set out on a mission to build something a bit different…
So I started with £400 worth of MOT failure - going well so far, huh?
The thing was utterly minging - a hole carved in the driver’s door due to the lock being crocked, rust in the sills and a handful of shotgun shells and an empty half bottle of cheapo-spiritis under the driver’s seat - concours it wasn’t!
I wanted to build a Tornado - not the aircraft (as my wife first thought) but a tubular space frame that then carried fibreglass Defender-style panels. The challenge was that keeping the 100” wheelbase of the Range Rover but using the chassis with the revised body form meant that I needed to chop 18” out of the back end of the chassis, thereby triggering a requirement for an Individual Vehicle Assessment.
Now, the IVA comes with 278 pages of ‘thou shalt’ and, more importantly, ‘thou shalt certainly not…’ and then a £450, four hour session with the man from the Ministry. The IVA became my bible and I took all sorts of flack from others who thought my caution was all a bit unnecessary. However, IVA day came, it failed on a couple of small bits and a morning of work saw it back and passing - just then needing registering with a new age-related plate and Bob’s yer proverbial Father’s Brother!
This:
So… before I started this, I couldn’t weld… I’d like to think I’ve gone beyond that point now and will happily pick up the welder to knock up a bracket or more…
It’s been an adventure, it’s been a hobby that’s taught me a lot.
Mind you, when my Mother-in-Law asked if I would do it again, my wife was a bit quick to say, “No he wouldn’t…”
Hmmm, just thinking about a Discovery 4 with blown engine and all the independent suspension bits, a lightweight body like this and the biggest Tesla power pack that I can find…
So I started with £400 worth of MOT failure - going well so far, huh?
The thing was utterly minging - a hole carved in the driver’s door due to the lock being crocked, rust in the sills and a handful of shotgun shells and an empty half bottle of cheapo-spiritis under the driver’s seat - concours it wasn’t!
I wanted to build a Tornado - not the aircraft (as my wife first thought) but a tubular space frame that then carried fibreglass Defender-style panels. The challenge was that keeping the 100” wheelbase of the Range Rover but using the chassis with the revised body form meant that I needed to chop 18” out of the back end of the chassis, thereby triggering a requirement for an Individual Vehicle Assessment.
Now, the IVA comes with 278 pages of ‘thou shalt’ and, more importantly, ‘thou shalt certainly not…’ and then a £450, four hour session with the man from the Ministry. The IVA became my bible and I took all sorts of flack from others who thought my caution was all a bit unnecessary. However, IVA day came, it failed on a couple of small bits and a morning of work saw it back and passing - just then needing registering with a new age-related plate and Bob’s yer proverbial Father’s Brother!
This:
So… before I started this, I couldn’t weld… I’d like to think I’ve gone beyond that point now and will happily pick up the welder to knock up a bracket or more…
It’s been an adventure, it’s been a hobby that’s taught me a lot.
Mind you, when my Mother-in-Law asked if I would do it again, my wife was a bit quick to say, “No he wouldn’t…”
Hmmm, just thinking about a Discovery 4 with blown engine and all the independent suspension bits, a lightweight body like this and the biggest Tesla power pack that I can find…