Project DiscoShed

[mrcheese]

No, not a place to to listen to 70s music. But my Land Rover Discovery.



It is a 3.9 V8 Auto with an LPG conversion. It cost me £350 last August and even came with £60 of petrol in it. The previous owner bought it as a project but decided not to go through with it. He did point out all the rust he knew of.

As it had tax and MoT (the inpectror must have been blind or very lenient) I enjoyed the vehicle as an off-roader for a few months. Now it is time to do some work on it.

So here is what I need to do.

The boot floor is shot.






All the floors are covered with a foam sound deadening layer. It is a big sponge that soaks up water. It has rusted from the inside out due to a leaky roof. A common Disco problem.

 

[mrcheese]

On to removing the boot floor.The spot weld drill was next to useless as rust bubbles were stopping me seeing where the welds were. So I used a grinder to thin the metal in about the right place and gradually peeled the floor back.



The inner wings are OK, but the lip the floor sits on is badly corroded.



Now I could blame the broken damper on the make (Procomps have a bit of a bad reputation), but it is more likely because the bump stops have fallen off

Both rear out wings have holes at the top.




But lower down they are sound.

 

[mrcheese]

The sills are covered by a plastic trim that acts as a mud trap.
I was not sure what I was going to see when it was removed.




The worst of the rot is at the back of both sides. The rest is mainly OK, but I won't know if they need patching or replacing until I have cleaned it all up. It is difficult to see the inner sills as the LPG tanks are in the way.

There is a hole in the sill on the underside of the passenger side.



It is the mid point of the front passenger door.

The drivers side B pillar base is gone.



Must be a common problem as you can buy a repair patch for this.

 

[Shox Dr]

Bobtail it problem solved

 

[mrcheese]

When I took out that awful sound insulation it was very wet underneath.
So I was pleasantly surprised by how good the floors were.



Only a small hole in the driver's footwell. It is not as rusty as it looks in the picture. There is a lot of clay in there.



And there was me thinking that the wet carpet was caused by a failing door seal

This is a picture of one of the rear body mounts. It will need fixing or replacing



I have removed the rear bumper. Rust and some big knocks had made it loose.



I plan to make a replacement out of some scaffolding pole I have. Hopefully the hole can be patched.

 

[john224]

All of the bits shown are common faults on discos,,99% of the pannels that have gone you can get replacements for ,,
I tend to use 3"x2 or 3"x3"" BOX and 2mm plate for the sills as a lot stronger and if built right they are rock sliders as well the rear cross member 2"x2" thin wall box section And All other patches = 1,1/2mm or 2mm sheet,
The worst bits i can see is round the rear floor where it mounts to the wheel arches just Be carefull when round the tank sender unit as the pipes break off easy,,,
What are the front inner wings like ??
JUST one thing check the rear seat belt mounts as they might look good but might be totaly rotton,,, Any way Good luck with this as it is just the start of a long on going project,,,
Mines be on going for 2 years now allthough this is the 4th disco i had all seem to be good when brought but after a bit of off roading they fall to bits quickly,,,,,

 

[mrcheese]

I also own a Defender, which I have had for a few years now. I am quite confident in doing the mechanical reapirs, but welding and fabricating is new to me. So starting the actual repairs is quite daunting.

I decided to start on the boot floor first. You can buy the replacement panel, but due to rot in the recesed lip this was not going to fit easily. I decided on a sheet of 1.2mm steel cut to fit the hole and to fit flush with the sides. The cross members were OK so I could use those without repair. The area just needed cleaning up.



It has been seam welded around the edges and plug welded to the cross members. You can see two extra cross members.These were plug welded in place before the floor was fitted. The floor would be wobbly without them and there is no room underneath for them due to the fuel tank. They will act as mounting points for the LPG tanks when they are removed from under the sills.

I have started to repair the NS rear wing. I didn't have to cut back very far to find sound metal. Beats spending £30 on a replament panel.



Using a template I cut a piece of metal and roughly formed it. After tacking the bottom edge I hammered it into the right shape and welded the patch into place.



It is not quite finished yet, but I reckon with a bit more finishing and a skim of filler it will be OK.

The picture below is just bodge a previous owner has made to a hose on the engine. Do you recognise it?

 

[mrcheese]

I'd love to bobtail it. But I am working on the street and the neighbours would probably complain.

The rear seat belt mounts were so badly corroded I ended up cutting them out. I should have some replacements next week.

If I can patch the sills I'll add rock sliders later as the bottom of the doors are very vulnerable. If they are beyond repair I'll replace with box section.
I have found a great metal supplier in Reading who lets me buy sensible quantities for a DIYer.

Front inner wings seem to be OK.

 

[Curt]

A mate of mine done the sils on his disco a few months back, replaced with box section which handly doubles up as a tougher rockslider and jacking point

One of the other fellas in the local offroad club went a wee bit further though

 

[Angusdog]

^^^ Ha ha - looks like a photoshop job even though I know it's not.

 

[Tomlt]

Is that a NOBO DRY Erase marker I see in that there engine bay

If so then thats a bodge of fantastic propotions!

 

[mrcheese]

Tomlt - You win. Your prize is a Nobo dry wipe marker. Where do I send it?

 

[bill_gj]

The advice about using box section to replace the sills is sound, I think.
My lad started patching his Disco sills and we realised too late how much work there really was!

 

[mrcheese]

I think the original sills are badly designed. They are not completely sealed so water can get in but not out. They can't breathe and there is no way of flushing or adding waxoyl. Something I will have to think about.

 

[naughtyboy]

just had txt from mate. hes been down and removed brackets ready for me to send when i get back sat.
cant remember what type mounting bolts i used on mates if you pic of old ones ive got box full of different seatbelt bolts i should be able to throw some in for you.

 

[bill_gj]

It may be possible to waxoyl via the holes that are used to attach those plastic trims to the sills. The trim is held on by plastic fittings, so waxoyl could go in via those holes. There are several down each side.

 

[mrcheese]

**********,

This is what I have.

 

[chunkolini]

I was expecting this thread to be about making a shed out of a car, not a car out of a shed..
I have seen a lovely garden shed made out of a car, scottish islands a long time back.

Chunko'.

 

[lotus_esprit_s1]

Check your Windscreen pillars, I've had two 300's go there, rot from the inside out and not noticable until gone through

PS I've just stripped down a 300TDi ES model that I was given, had brand new 2005 engine fitted in 2005 and transferbox, only got 5k on them now, almost new General grabber tyres, failed on usual rot spots so the gave it to me. In the glovebox with the manuals there was a receipt for £26995 for the vehicle in 1997 2nd hand!

 

[metalspanner]

Along the back edge of the sills there are flared out portions, that are supposed to let water out, but you have to physically clean them out periodically, but these areas are the most prone to tin worm and no one ever cleans them out anyway.
If you want to clean them out (the sills) remove the plastic finishers, cut a hole out front and back get in there with the pressure washer and jet out all the rubbish, then weld the holes up and drill out a hole large enough to accomodate whatever wayoil applicator your using and fill the sucker up, after this seal this hole with a rubber grommet and you have permament access.
Bear in mind you will have to repair all the tinworm damage first, and a couple of coats of red oxide is preferable to that black sludge (underbody sealer) that allows the rot to set right back in.