o_teunico

Very nice setup

Hi all! I´m looking for a Disco, and have, at the moment, three options: -A friend´s 200 Tdi, 3 door, very clean, low mileage and with O/R preparation -A friend´s 300 Tdi, stock, very clean and low mileage. -A friend´s friend´s 300 Tdi, not very straight, with O/R preparation. On weekend I tested a (not for sale) 300. It was much more pleasant to drive than my bro´s 200, because of the adjustable steering column. Despite beeing a 3 door, the O/R prepared 200 is the best of the three options. If I go for a 200, can I fit an adjustable steering column system from a 300, maintaining original 200 spline/steering wheel?

Some data taken from the battery pack from the Still R20-15 forklift that we have at work. 48V 24 elements 625Ah 866kg

Swiss Army knife style camper...

I remember that spanish motor magazines published various tests of a (french?) compressed air car. A factory was going to be built in Spain...but then project vanished. This was going to be my hybrid van. A SEAT Terra with 1.3 VW N/A Diesel engine and FWD. It´s based in a Fiat Panda chassis, so, I could fit a rear axle from a Panda 4X4 and drive it, directly trough the diff, with an electric motor, taken out from a forklift. I calculated a 200Nm and 5000rpm motor. Base vehicle: about 500/600 Eur. For the conversion: -Motor -Controller -Rear axle from 4x4 Panda -Lots of deep cycle batteries -Solar panels for roof -Engineers project + MoT approval Base vehicle was cheaper than seconhand motors, batteries, about 200-300 Eur. each, rear axle 300 Eur....then I stopped calculating. How many batteries will I need for a 80-100Km range? What life expectancy wil, they have? Will roofs panels charge them in 8-10 hours, while I´m working with the company´s lorry, so I could go home at night? Standard diesel engine was going to be just a emergency/back up system. Free energy from the sun sounds good, but spending 6000 Eur per year in batteries dosn´t sound so good... Here a very interesting video about the EV1 death

Today I have been looking at my bro´s Disco. I think that the best solution will be adding a pair of speakers to the rear doors and placing a pair of (small) self powered subwoofers at the boot.

I´m doing now 80km per day, and building an hybrid diesel electric van has been one of the ideas that have been in my head for cutting my fuel bills. Some calculations showed that it will be cheaper to run on diesel, but i will add old cooking oil time to time, as we made some years ago in our beloved Santana 88".

Some more google search has showed that there are small subwoofers with incorporarted amplifiers, like the Pioneer TS-WX22A This one, the WX-11A is so small that it can even be located under one of the front seats. Space problema solved

Thanks!

Oh no, I have not stolen it! I never go faster than 50-55 mph. It has nearly 260000km and 23 years. Maybe thats the reason for such a bad fuel economy...

The jerrycan subwoofer box, as seen in the Bronco pimped by Foose

According to the www, a 12" subwoofer needs 60 litres of box volumen. In a 7 seater it´s difficult to fit a 60 litre box and maintaining the seven seats. I could use a 20L jerrycan + doors thickness + spare carrier "box" for obtaining the 60 litres I have to look it carefully, because I don´t want to end with a weak, crack prone, tail door

Maybe those 46 are 100% town driving. That´s even less than my Tipo! I´m doing slightly less than 31.5 MPG

Hi there, It´s quite probable that I will have a Discovery in the next months, and I will like to have a decent ICE system. Problem is that subwoofers take a lot of boot space. This is my idea: drilling the boots door skin and use the spare´s carrier as box. Will it work?

Hi all! I have been busy this weeks because...I have a job! (again). After more than one year of unemployment and a job in June that lasted just one week (company ceased business) now I´m working as lorry driver/delivery for a company where I worked six years ago. Company´s premises are located 40Km from home, so, I drive with my Fiat Tipo 1.4 carb. 80km per day. Good news is that two friends of mine have both low mileage Discoveries for sale. One is a three door 200 with off road preparation and the other is a five door stock 300. My Tipo is doing 7.5 litres of petrol every 100Km. I supose that, with diesel beeing cheaper than petrol, a Discovery will give me same euros/Km. How much L/100Km-MPG are normal for a Discovery used in main roads at 80-100km/h (50/60mph)? I have joined www.fuelly.com , a place where users can share and compare their MPG. They have even an App so you can upload your litres-km/gallons-milles with the phone every time you fuell up.

Poor Disco!

When I posted it, it was working. Let´s try this other one More info (spanish) at http://www.motorpasion.com/clasicos/gaz-24-95-pionero-en-eso-de-los-suv

Not all VOLVO buses are mid engined. For example, a B10R will be a "B" bus chassis, "10" 10 litre engine, and "R" rear engine. B9M will be a 9 litre engine with mid mounted engine. Some years ago I saw, during hollydays in Portugal, a double decker bus with mid mounted engine. It was great because rear of lower deck had windows, that will make a great living room. I was driving, so couldn´t take any pics, but was similar to this I will not buy TATRA. European network is not great. I will stick to well stablished makes: MB, MAN, SCANIA, VOLVO, IVECO (MAGIRUS) and RENAULT. In the bus industry there is a recently formed company called IRISBUS, made by the union of IVECO and RENAULT bus divisions. You could also have a look to ex-circus equipment. They use plenty of expandable semis.

Our Lancia Phedra is just a rebadged Peugueot 807. Not sportive, but a good touring car for long journeys. VOLVO network, at least in Spain, was excellent, with friendly help over the phone and fast parts delivery. Mid engined VOLVO buses are the best handling buses ever built, but mechanics hated them because of difficult access to engine. A curious thing about SETRA, at least in their 15m 319s, is that side glasses/windows are all different. They look similar, but there is a 2 or 4 cm difference in length. That was a big problem for us because we needed a big stock with lots of references to service them. What about an LPG conversion? Will help with economy and envioroment. Have you explored the deployable shelter idea? Instead of a big bus or truck you could always use two smaller (LR) vehicles, one towing the studio and the other the sleeping and coocking facilities. Keep going and don´t let anyone kill your dreams!

Factory built: soviet GAZ 24-95

If you are still interested in soviet trucks, just google ZIL and GAZ truck and you will find plenty info. GAZ 3308 double cab

We faced the same problem in our familly (well, at a different level). We wanted a motorhome, but driving arround those lovely mediterranian villages with such a big vehicle is a real challenge, so we opted for a Lancia Phedra MPV + Roller Caravan. We proceed as you will do with your 6x6: park the caravan in the suburbs and use the Lancia as a "shuttle" to go to centre of the village, and back to the caravan at night. There has never been a production LR with (comfortable) 10 seats. Difficult to obtain, but you could try to locate an arab limmo from the 80's Cheapest way is using "off the shelf" vehicles. Maybe a 15-17 seats bus will provide you with a good 10 seats + cargo vehicle that could tow safely your 5th wheeler with a dolly. Some years ago I worked in the parts department of MONBUS, spanish biggest bus fleet company. SETRA is, along with MB, part of the EvoBus group, so you will have parts in any MB Truck dealer in Europe. NEOPLAN is part of M.A.N., so no worry about parts. IVECO has a good network all over Europe, with excellent prices for their genuine parts. IRIZAR spanish coachbuilder solds it´s products in Europe trough the SCANIA dealers, so again, no worry about parts availability. The smaller the bus is, the cheaper it will be to service. A tyre alone for a full size coach will cost you arround 300-400 Eur. and air brakes are also expensive to maintain (filters, compressor...). If you are going to use the vehicle off-road (concerts held outdoors in rain and grass) MB has made both 4x4 versions of Vario and Sprinter buses. You could buy first a 4x2 and then convert to 4x4 if you don´t find at first a 4x4 unit.

A bus/coach can always be converted to pick up and 5th Wheel added Have a look a this. Something similar, but with a 4x4/6x6 towing vehicle could fit your needs. EDIT: STOP PRESS - BREAKING NEWS One of NEOPLAN Jumbocruiser (only 12 ever built) is FOR SALE IN GERMANY! If you want a cool vehicle, this is your oportunity. Your LR Budget will be too short, but with this bus a 5th wheel trailer will not be needed, so you could use part of the trailer Budget for the bus. It´s on the Guiness record book, so will be great as a promo for your recording business. More info: http://www.derbus.de/

Using Defender/Series panels over a LKW chassis you could make your own Land Rover 129" Building your own forward control... ...but as I have said, I think that a Land Rover will be extremly overstressed with your intended trailer (but good for a 2x2.5m mini studio). For the mini studio even a 4x4 will do, with some more rear overhang

Karma has decided to change plans. Yesterdsay, after a meeting between our office´s manager and company´s CEO, they have decided to close their premises in Lugo. I have been given the chance to join their team at the Vigo office (200 km from home). I cannot move home now, so will be forced to unemployment again this tuesday. Bye bye Discovery...