M005

Congratulations, now the fun starts

Thanks Mark, another half-arsed idea bites the dust

The search continues then Wouldn't need one if there was a lower profile tow bar available for the Disco. Have been wondering if one of the small ones from a 90 would fit, but can't even seem to find oneof those to try either.

Thanks Mark. The guard in question is This One Beginning to think it might just be a cradle??

It's on ebay, so not really. Am in two minds as to whether it is a tank guard or just a tank cradle though....

As above. Looking for a bolt on fuel tank guard and wondered if one taken off a RRC would fit, as a lot of other bits are interchangeable?

Lara; despite my moanings, I knew by taking it there he would go through it with a fine tooth comb and tell me everything that was wrong, because he does a 110% job. In the past with my LR's I have wanted a 110% job and have been more than happy with his work. The fact that he didn't tell me anything over and above what I already new, i.e. confirmed that I had bought a good, solid vehicle with no hidden issues, was pleasing to hear. Having said all that, as I've outlined above, I had intended for the Disco to be more of a bangernomics approach, rather than main vehicle reliability, but if it gives me a couple of years of trouble free offroading I don't suppose I can complain too much. Interestingly enough, I've just seen a few pics of a side exit exhaust on a Disco, and they had removed the rear box and angles the pipe through the rear wing, this is effectivelyt he same as mine was, just without the extension.

Chris: You are right, at a loss as to who else to use locally though, but will be doing the work myself from now on. The rear box was missing from the exhaust, although it didn't sound any louder than it should and the MOT guy (old school mechanic & long time LR owner) said as it wasn't the silencer that was missing it was OK. I told him I wanted a bare bones service and the few bits doings and made it explicitly clear it needed to be as cheap as possible. After all this, to find he had put the exhaust on without calling first was what annoyed me the most. Lesson learnt from all this, but don't have the time to spend hours fettling the Disco, hence having to pay someone else to do it. It's been getting a fair bit of use, more than I expected, but will have to make sure I get out & about and use it properly now it's costing me money.

He certainly did the exhaust without asking, and at £120 +VAT it's a big part of the bill. I should have know from mine & Bushman's past experiences, that he does things 100%, when sometimes you don't want 100%, so I should have explicitly told him not to do the exhaust. I asked him to take it off when I went to pick it up and to put the old one back on, but was told the old one wouldn't go back on and it was illegal anyway. But if it was illegal, then it wouldn't have got it's MOT????

The Disco was a bargain, is fairly solid and went through it's MOT with only a few advisories. Even the fact that the last 18" of exhaust was missing wasn't an issue. The intention was that it was to be an 'as cheap as possible' offroader, which wouldn't cost much over a year or two. All was going swimmingly, I have even been holding back from buying loads of accessories as I wanted to treat it as a pure toy, almost disposable. It needed a few bits doing; boot door didn't lock, NSF window needed a new regulator and despite having comprehensive history, it hadn't been looked at in 18 months / 5k miles. So my mistake was to ask my LR specialist who I've been doing business with for 10yrs, to give it a basic service, replace filters, check oils in diffs / gearboxes, sort out the door lock & window and tighten wheel bearings / replace anti roll bar bushes as advised by the MOT. Just the basics. On picking it up he mentioned the all new exhaust system he'd fitted Aparently the other one was illegal. So now I have a bill for 50% of the value of the vehicle Shoudl have just done an engine oil & filter change myself and left the rest, as with 12 months MOT it would then have been 'free' motoring. But my problem is I like my vehicles to be 100% mechanically. Lesson learnt

As Tony said I ran 255 85 16 BFG MT's on mine with no noticeable rubbing - certainly nothing to make me trim anything. They really look the business too Also ran them on a stock 110 HT with no issues.

I'm now running 235 85 16's as a mud tyre on my standard Disco, with only the camel cut to the rear. No issues as yet with articulation, however they do rub on full lock (only one direction though) so I need to adjust the steering arms (?)

My son likes seeing the tank wrecks on the Warminster side of Imber and I ofter criss cross there on the moutain bike when it's open linking in other, more interesting bits of the Plain & surrounding areas.

Good spot Chris, saves me trundling up there over easter and being disappointed.

PM Sent Andy

Rigid aerial Looking for an alternative to the usual short springer aerial. Am thinking of one of these MOUNTS on the spare wheel bracket on the back of the Disco, as a bit more of a descrete install that a huge springer hanging off the top.

My NS light has condensation in (not sure if there is a chip though) and it passed it's MOT this morning. All he checked was the angle of the beam and whether the side, main & full beam worked.

That you get when your Land Rover passes it's MOT. It's even warmer when said LR was a £900 ebay find from deepest, darkest Cornwall that I'd taken a flyer on. MOT tester is an old school mechanic and LR Nut and spent over 90 minutes testing it and talking LR's this morning, underneath everything is very solid with loads of new bits, he was impressed. A few advisories for slight play in a few bits, and it seems I've lost the rear foot of the exhaust at some point Even having to call the RAC out yesterday to get it started due to a duff battery, and the subsequent £80 for a new one this morning, can't spoil the day.

Any issues in fitting Wolf rims to a D1? Would have 235 85 16 MT's on, so offset is going to be the main issue. Is the offset the same as Disco steels & freestyle alloys? Thanks.

After a jaunt across the Plain on Friday (it was the most direct route home from picking up the new LR - honest ) I can confirm that I found the auto great offroad. Although I did feel that it added an additional element to the armchair offroading that the Disco gives, no leather though so still not the dizzy heights of BishBosh & Bishtail

Thanks for the input, now hopefully surplus to requirements.

Fitted prices if possible. I don't have the time myself. GUess it depends on how bad it is as to how urgent it is. Things are starting to crawl out of the woodwork that weren't previously disclosed..... Need to decide before I get on a train to deepest, darkest Wales tomorrow lunchtime.

Morning What would a benchmark cost for a hub seal and new discs & pads on a Disco 1? Is Les still around these parts as a local, friendly mechanic? Thanks.

Delivery was dragging, giving me time to consider exactly how much use it will get with a 3.5yr old and a 3 month old taking up all of my free time, I concluded that I would get just as much fun out of a less than £1k LR as I would out of a £4.5k one. Horses for courses, I've always had a soft spot for a well sorted Disco, and as this one isn't standing me at ~£9k like my last one, I can do what I want to it as it's disposable at this price. And as Tim knows, the cash saved is going into another vehicle.

I'm assuming that dropping to 245 70 would make some difference but not a lot? Vehicle will be only used as a toy, so not too fussed about how quick it is. Are the HD rear bumpers strong enough to mount a recovery point onto directly?