Full Discovery I Rebuild

[discotaz]

Hi Folks,

Im new here and have started to tackle the rebuild of my 1994 disco. Ive owned it for a few years now and the last mot cost me a fortune in welding up patches in the rear floor. Rather than it attempt another mot test I have started replacing the rear floor and patching up any rust spots I can find.

Ive cut out all the old rot from the boot and have patched up the rear body cross-member. Both chassis mounts were rotted and fell off once i loosend the bolts off! I got some repair panels for the boot but looking at the rest of the underside it all needs refurbing. The brake lines are corroded, diff casing corroded and flakes off. While ive got easy access to the diff without the floor in the way im thinking of replacing the springs, dampers, bushes, propshaft doughnut and UJ. The rear axle has been leaving a nice puddle of oil on my drive for many moons now so may as well get that sorted too.

Its a big task! any guidance would be much appreciated especially where to get the replacement parts from. Ive had a look at paddock and they seem to have a decent website. Are they reasonably priced? Id prefer to get everything from one place rather than buy the cheapest from a host of places.

Im going to be using the car to tow my race car around to track days and act as a service vehicle. So maybe upgrade to polybushes, HD suspension kit and possibly stretch to a winch bumper and winch and HD rear bumper. I was also looking at the guardian tank gaurds with a tow plate on them, this a good idea?

Thanks in advance for your expertise.

Taz

[disco tony]

I use Paddocks most of the time, not always fantastic quality but cheap enough. If you cant find something on their website, they are pretty helpfull on the phone too. as for the disco, check also inner wings, front body mounts and take those stoopid plastic side sill jobbies off to reveal a whole load of welding fun!!!!

good luck!

[stuntman]

Gaurdian are fantastic to deal with, I've yet to hear a badf word said about them. While the floor is out swap the a frame bush as it's a pig to do from underneath. HD springs and dampers are a great idea, if you do fancy any off roading a set of diff gaurds (around £25 ish each) and a front steering gaurd (£80ish) are great upgrades. And very cheap. Weld and upgrade everything, the sills are best replaced with box section steel 60*120*1400 x3mm thick, very easy to do and quite cheap, so now worries abouthaving to replace them in the future, I have just done mine and I have never welded before, I had the help of a few mates to guide me through techniques and done a bit of practice pieces. I have only just done my inner sills and front floor and back floor.

If you want anyhelp putting a to do list togther just say.

I would recomend being very hard and writing do a list of all parts that need renewed and all parts that need welding, once you've got it you can then cost it up and see what can be replaced with stronger items or upgraded.

Regards Andi K

[discotaz]

I had the sills done at the last MOT and the side steps were rotton! the plastic covering was holding it all together, couldnt even see most of the steel box frame! Ill probably grind away any rust and replace the side steps with box section to act as rock/tree sliders. Ill probably get diff guards and the guardian tank guard with the tow plate as well.

Im considering making my own HD bumpers as well!

Now onto my shopping list!

Ive already got about 50' of copper brake line and loads of unions when I did my race car so ill replace all the lines from the MC. As well as new fluids. Is dot 4 good enough?

Braided Brake Lines

Spring and Damper Set - would a 2" lift kit be carp for towing? Im thinking I may as well get the lift kit if Im spending the money, Which Brand?

Polybush kit - Deflex? - Radius Arms (8), Panhard Rods (2), Rear trailing arms (4) and Rear A-Frame (2)

Track Rod Ends (4)

ARB Links (4)

Rear ARB Bushes (2)

Rear Axle Ball Joint

Prop Rubber Coupling - Is the UJ easy enough to change as well?

Steering Damper

Front shock turrets as mine had an advisory on the last mot

Rear seat belt mounts

Bodywork to chassis mounting bushes and bolts

Petrol Tank metal Strap

Discs and pads all round

I havnt really considered the front end just yet, wanted to get the rear sorted first then get it running again then look at the front end. But what other bits would i need for the front end?

How would I sort out the leaky diff casings? Im sure the front one is leaking as well

Is there a cheap way or would i need a new casing? If that is the case would it be economical to buy a good condition 2nd hand complete rear axle?

Thanks

Taz

[discotaz]

the size of the task ahead is daunting!

Just seen that the front diff casing is deffo leaking

[disco_al]

it is possible to get weld on replacement HD diff covers, most of the ball joints/track rod ends etc you will get from a local motor factor, or mail order from paddocks etc...

shock turrets, bushes, steering damper etc are all sourced from somewhere like Bearmach/Paddocks, again all straight forward stuff.

the rear seat belt mounts are integral to the boot floor IIRC (someone will correct me if i am wrong) which if you are replacing (about £60 for a new one, plus the x-members to go with it) will already have them.

[discotaz]

Cheers,

Ill have a scout about for the diff pans then or may just get some 2nd hand good condition axles. Will the axles likely to be worn? They have done 140k and dont make too much of a noise. The rubber propshaft joint is well worn so that will make a lot of difference i hope.

No the only thing im still stuck on is whether to get a 2" lift kit or not? Will i have to ditch the ARB for this kit? and will it be suitable for towing about 1.5 tonnes for 100 miles at a time?

[discotaz]

havent been on for a while so I thought I would give you a bit of an update and pictures later this week I hope.

For 600 golden coins i managed to get:

Britpart HD Suspension Kit - decided on a standard height kit for mostly road and a bit of towing.

Deflex Polybush Kit

Front and Rear Pads and Discs and caliper rebuild kit and new pistons

ARB links

New shock mounts front and rear

A-Frame Ball joint

All new seals and gaskets

Ive given all the rear suspension parts a good going over with the wire brush on an angle grinder to get rid of all the loose rust.

I will need to weld up a hole in the rear diff pan and strengthen the spring mounts and possibly damper mountings.

Trying to get the axle out was a joy but managed to do it by myself, took ages to undo the rusted nuts with the aid of my trusty hacksaw and grinder!

Cant wait for it to be done now, want to do a thorough job so i dont need to go back to it for another 5 years at least! will just give it a proper clean every 6 months or so.

[PEASEY]

just thought i would let you in on a little secret of mine that i have just found out,when you rebuild the calipers with the new seal kit the metal retaining ring is very difficult to replace without bending it so get loads of spare ones or do what i did and remove the seals with a pin being carefull not to scratch anything then carefully lift/prize the retainer up just enough to get some clearance so you can refit the new wiper seal,i used a small peice of soft wood,then clean underneath it with a cotton bud or simalar then slip in the seals covered in grease or brake fluid and then tap it back down with something the same dia as the seal.now obviously if the ring is goosed you will have to replace it but i found that all mine were perfect and just needed cleaning.hope this helps you mate when you come to do the brakes,oh by the way i order all my parts from paddocks they have never let me down on delivery and they are reasonably priced in my mind,hope things go well for you fella and dont forget to post some pictures of your handy work.

[freeagent]

personally i'd have given the deflex bushes a miss and fitted either Polybush/OEM or Superpro, but i'm sure the Deflex are OK...

I'd also do your rear wheel bearings while you're at it, but use genuine seals, and good quality bearings (don't buy the seals from Paddocks, they are carp) bearings OK from Paddocks as long as you go for Timken)

a new steering damper might be a good plan, and check your bumstops (MOT failure if one is missing)

[discotaz]

thanks for tips and pointers!

Will order a steering damper and probably other bits for the fron when i get around to that end. Concentrating on the rear end first then ill wheel it out the garage to do t'other end.

Will do the rear bearings as well, ordered the timken ones from paddocks. Ordered new bump stops as well, dunno how it passed the last mot they were completely corroded away! Just the plate with the 2 bolts attached to the chassis.

With the Britpart suspension kit i got a load of yellow bushes will these be better to use than the deflex ones that came in the kit?

I thought paddocks were pretty good, had most of the stuff i wanted in stock apart from the A-Frame ball joint.

I did find them helpfull to a certian extent but the dude didnt really wanna answer my questions properly was more interested in the credit card number!

[Gingerlandy]

Gaurdian are fantastic to deal with, I've yet to hear a badf word said about them. While the floor is out swap the a frame bush as it's a pig to do from underneath. HD springs and dampers are a great idea, if you do fancy any off roading a set of diff gaurds (around £25 ish each) and a front steering gaurd (£80ish) are great upgrades. And very cheap. Weld and upgrade everything, the sills are best replaced with box section steel 60*120*1400 x3mm thick, very easy to do and quite cheap, so now worries abouthaving to replace them in the future, I have just done mine and I have never welded before, I had the help of a few mates to guide me through techniques and done a bit of practice pieces. I have only just done my inner sills and front floor and back floor.

If you want anyhelp putting a to do list togther just say.

I would recomend being very hard and writing do a list of all parts that need renewed and all parts that need welding, once you've got it you can then cost it up and see what can be replaced with stronger items or upgraded.

Regards Andi K

Have you got any picsof the sills being replaced ? just bent my old sill and was thinking of replacing it with box section as well.