CompoSimmonite
Member
- Messages
- 5,930
- Location
- Werrington, Staffordshire Moorlands.
I've currently got a Mahindra MM540 to restore after years of owning various types of Land Rover. My health is fast deteriorating so accept I need to reduce / get my projects under control and have reluctantly decided that I should have something needing repair rather than restoration.
With this in mind I've made up my mind to look for a larger 4x4 that is big enough to carry my large mobility scooter plus have load bed (with rear seats folded down / removed) long enough to allow it to be used as a micro camper ( often need to lie down and rest which restricts where I can go and a micro camper would allow me to recover for journey home if visiting shows, days out and such).
A Discovery is a logical choice based on my previous experience of Land Rovers and expect that things like rear floor, inner wings, rear crossmember, sills and inner rear door area wheel arches would probably need attention. Looking around, however, it seems that the chassis are often as bad as a 1970's Series that has been used in the sea - ie rotten.
For me once a chassis starts rotting there is very little you can do to stop it progressing until it gets to the point where either it's beyond worth repairing or replacement (galv) chassis required. I've had 3 Range Rovers where even when body had fallen apart the chassis was still 99.5% sound, even on a 1972 model, so am surprised the Disco items is so poor when almost exactly the same. Looks like I might be in for a long search to find my ideal vehicle
Anyway it's got me thinking about alternatives to the Discovery. Requirements are diesel automatic (with Disco's I would even consider a v8 manual Disco as plenty of scrap 300TDi autos to provide parts to convert but it would need to be priced accordingly), cloth interior (don't like / can stand leather but obviously that can be changed if cloth available on other models), large load area (around 6' long with rear seats down) and max of £1500 for a "ready to use" / MOT'd vehicle. Ability to sit in load area, as Disco on the "jump seats", also required for my micro camper idea.
I can't think of anything that rivals the Discovery - any anyone else ?
paul H
With this in mind I've made up my mind to look for a larger 4x4 that is big enough to carry my large mobility scooter plus have load bed (with rear seats folded down / removed) long enough to allow it to be used as a micro camper ( often need to lie down and rest which restricts where I can go and a micro camper would allow me to recover for journey home if visiting shows, days out and such).
A Discovery is a logical choice based on my previous experience of Land Rovers and expect that things like rear floor, inner wings, rear crossmember, sills and inner rear door area wheel arches would probably need attention. Looking around, however, it seems that the chassis are often as bad as a 1970's Series that has been used in the sea - ie rotten.
For me once a chassis starts rotting there is very little you can do to stop it progressing until it gets to the point where either it's beyond worth repairing or replacement (galv) chassis required. I've had 3 Range Rovers where even when body had fallen apart the chassis was still 99.5% sound, even on a 1972 model, so am surprised the Disco items is so poor when almost exactly the same. Looks like I might be in for a long search to find my ideal vehicle
Anyway it's got me thinking about alternatives to the Discovery. Requirements are diesel automatic (with Disco's I would even consider a v8 manual Disco as plenty of scrap 300TDi autos to provide parts to convert but it would need to be priced accordingly), cloth interior (don't like / can stand leather but obviously that can be changed if cloth available on other models), large load area (around 6' long with rear seats down) and max of £1500 for a "ready to use" / MOT'd vehicle. Ability to sit in load area, as Disco on the "jump seats", also required for my micro camper idea.
I can't think of anything that rivals the Discovery - any anyone else ?
paul H
