munkymush Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 (edited) im looking to replace my 1998 disco 1 with something a little newer without breaking the bank ,i dont really want to go over 5-6k as i only do about 3-4 thousand miles a year in it towing a boat mainly in summer, ive had my disco ten yrs and its been brilliantly reliable and still is although a bit heavy on diesel. my question is are all later discos rotten underneath ? ive looked at three so far 2002-2005 and im shocked by how bad they are ,or is it just bad luck with these three? would an older rangerover fill my needs better i just need reliabilty and something thats gonna last a few years.. Edited July 17, 2018 by munkymush Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 Making a sweeping generalisation; All D2's are going to be rotten and all D3's are going to be expensive and complicated. Both are going to use way more fuel than your D1. They're making galv chassis for D2's now - but not D1/RRC yet! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blanco Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 My P38 2001 vinatge certainly doesn't have a rusty chassis, and I don't think that it is unusual in that. It is a step up in complexity but if you found one from an enthusiast with everything in known good order I reckon they take some beating for value. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwakers Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 ^^^ this. if you arent scared of the electronics, they are brilliant value. i loved mine. i didn't love the fuel economy.... but i did choose a v8 lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe1 Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 On 7/17/2018 at 4:56 PM, FridgeFreezer said: Making a sweeping generalisation; All D2's are going to be rotten and all D3's are going to be expensive and complicated. Both are going to use way more fuel than your D1. They're making galv chassis for D2's now - but not D1/RRC yet! Unfortunately this is completely true as Fridge says. I could also add a word about D2 td5 head problems and P38 diesel overheating issues.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 3-4k a year mainly towing I'd say a V8 would be my choice, you're not doing enough miles to save much fuel and V8's are cheaper to buy because no-one can afford to run them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ally V8 Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 I recently had a customer in the same position as you,very rusty 300TDI Disco used for towing a horse box. Not many miles a year,but had been very reliable and he likes it. He chose to have it welded up, £2500 later he his chuffed to bits with it,couldn't wait to pay me and went off with a big smile. He now has no rust issues for probably another 5-10 years by which time his wife will no longer need to tow. He is happy because its simple and fixable. Plus the car was worth little as a scrapper and the £2500 would not have bought much of a replacement - Which would be an unknown quantity to him as well. Just saying... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe1 Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 8 hours ago, Ally V8 said: I recently had a customer in the same position as you,very rusty 300TDI Disco used for towing a horse box. Not many miles a year,but had been very reliable and he likes it. He chose to have it welded up, £2500 later he his chuffed to bits with it,couldn't wait to pay me and went off with a big smile. He now has no rust issues for probably another 5-10 years by which time his wife will no longer need to tow. He is happy because its simple and fixable. Plus the car was worth little as a scrapper and the £2500 would not have bought much of a replacement - Which would be an unknown quantity to him as well. Just saying... Yep that money should buy boot floor and sill replacement plus a few body mounts (but not all of them!) - that could equal the running cost for a D3 for a year..... seems like a no brainer to me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 £2500 buys a decent welder, auto mask, wire, bottle of gas, decent grinder, and a load of steel & repair panels with change for the bus fare home... and then you own a welder and all the gubbins. If you're that way inclined, of course - welding up rusty junk is not super fun but it does give you a future-proof Disco. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blanco Posted July 26, 2018 Share Posted July 26, 2018 And if you need encouragement you could do worse than watch George's Soup, Classic Motoring series, anyone can do it! Great stuff that..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwakers Posted July 26, 2018 Share Posted July 26, 2018 (edited) yeah but... buy a better welder than his! the guys fab work for making panels etc is excellent, he is so very let down by weld quality. and its ALL down to his machine. Edited July 26, 2018 by qwakers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe1 Posted July 27, 2018 Share Posted July 27, 2018 Name and shame then - what weld kit are we talking about there (I havent seen the vids) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted July 27, 2018 Share Posted July 27, 2018 I think he's got either a stick welder or a cheapo gasless hobby-MIG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwakers Posted July 27, 2018 Share Posted July 27, 2018 the latter, FF, its gasless, which isnt great to start with, but its wirefeed rate never stays constant and i have a feeling the voltage moves around a lot (just my observations from watching him weld) dont get me wrong, this is in no way a slur on his welding, the best welder in the world wouldn't improve on his welding with that kit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ally V8 Posted July 27, 2018 Share Posted July 27, 2018 On 7/25/2018 at 10:49 PM, FridgeFreezer said: £2500 buys a decent welder, auto mask, wire, bottle of gas, decent grinder, and a load of steel & repair panels with change for the bus fare home... and then you own a welder and all the gubbins. If you're that way inclined, of course - welding up rusty junk is not super fun but it does give you a future-proof Disco. And its also an honest way to earn a living,the owner of that car had no interest at all in doing his own repairs,it was a legitimate business expense to him. I'm finding its more rewarding than dealing with shi--y diagnostic jobs on newer LR's with huge parts costs and the high risk of of whatever warning lamp coming back on a week later... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe1 Posted July 28, 2018 Share Posted July 28, 2018 Gasless MIG - Sheesh. Why would anyone bother. Also just as bad in a different way are the 'home shopping' type welder offers - those tend to have short lifespans. But having said that you don't need anything particularly fancy or expensive to do decent welds - at the price point the Clarke Machine Mart stuff is ok in my experience, but there are lots of others. There are probably lots of threads on welding kit on this forum if anyone wants to read more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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