300 tdi discovery auto loom and extras into a defender

[islandman]

hi all

i'm looking for some advice?

i've bought a disco 97 300 tdi auto and want to build

defender using as much of the disco as i can! ( except

the chassis and body) i'm starting with a new galvanised

90 chassis and i know the engine/gear box mounts are

ok and will have to mess about with prop shafts and the like.

i'm thinking of using the loom from the disco as well and

trying to keep the abs, central locking, alarm, cruise control

and all the rest of the extras from the disco!

any advice, has anyone done this conversion?

any pitfalls to be aware of?

thanks in advance!

[tacr2man]

I have done similar , I used part of the harness, to retain the fly by wire , as I wanted to keep the EDIS . I also kept the immobiliser , you have to use the key fob. I have done a few different conversions over the years , but trying to retain any more of the disco harness to use abs , cruise etc would be a bit of a nightmare , as it would require taking the whole harness apart ,not terribly difficult , but having to mod it to connect all the bits and bobs that would have to be in different locations from on the discovery.

Have you got a defender to use as a basis , as you wont be able to use a defender chassis and body and then leave it on record as a discovery ? You would be building a kit car (sva etc) I had a defender 90 that i moved discovery bits onto ,it was a 95 300tdi auto , the discovery was scrapped . You will need a td5 90/110 speedo and transducer . HTSH

[western]

if your in the UK it can open a whole container of worms & hoops to get through.

please add your location to your profile, nearest big town & country will do, we can give you more accurate & relevant info then.

[Nigelw]

Biggest piece of advice I will give is to label every single connector and section of loom as you unplug and remove it, I used a DYMO labeler to do mine when I pulled the old V8 apart for salvage/scrap. One the same as http://global.dymo.com/nlBE/Products/LetraTag_LT-100H.html

Be sure to keep absolutely everything from the Disco until you have finished the Defender build.

If you are wanting to use as much of the Disco loom as possible then build the 90 as a shell with bulk head and body in place (a rolling chassis with axles and drive line in place is great but might give access hassles and is not strictly necessary) then try to position as much of the loom in the right places, this is where labeling saves you lots of time when you know what every plug is for Once you have everything in position you will know how much you have to modify it to fit your application.

Be sure to do a build thread in the members vehicles fora too.

[Maverik]

Interesting idea with regard to utilising the loom. If a can loom can be swapped over then you've got the highest possibility of making one fit into a Defender.

To do a good tidy job of it, you'll certainly have to get your hands dirty with the loom, I've presently got a disco stripped down just now and there are a lot of extra bits and pieces and from what I can see non is directly compatible with any standard Defender loom parts.

You'd have to dissect the instrument connections and re-wire to allow to work with the Defender console, then you'll have to carefully look at the MFU and other various bits as they can be a tad temperamental at the best if times in a standard set-up.

The relay locations and controller locations in a Disco are also quite unique so you'll have to be quite savvy in where you choose the locations in the Defender or you'll end up having to extend/ shorted (which is easier!) various parts to get it to physically fit. I actually quite enjoy electrical challenges like this but just thinking about it while I type, I'm not sure I'd go down this route.

I can see you're trying to utilise as much of the disco as you can but it may be worth considering trying to find a defender TD5 loom with a lot of the same functions already built into it, there have been a few folk on here that have successfully modified those looms.

By no means its not impossible, it would be a great challenge, but I think it could be quite a logistical challenge to locate all the disco wiring components without having to butcher and extend the loom in places...

[Bowie69]

You'd have to dissect the instrument connections and re-wire to allow to work with the Defender console, then you'll have to carefully look at the MFU and other various bits as they can be a tad temperamental at the best if times in a standard set-up.

I think someone, maybe miketomcat, managed to fit a Disco instrument binnacle to a Defender, looked very good in the end.

*edit* Found it

http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=25691&p=380127

[islandman]

i'm in n ireland and don't have a 90 to take bits from yet but will get one in due course

when a decent county comes up that is suitable to use for the bits and id.

i was thinking along those lines of setting the whole chassis/axles/bulkhead/ engine and gearbox

up and then starting with the loom,pipes to see how i get on. i can do a fair bit myself and know a lad

who is and auto electrician and is very neet/ good at what he does that i can pull in for

a day or two when i start to hit major problems as i,m sure i will! i also have a pretty good

and creative mechanic i can call on.

i can see a lot of wire and pipe work coming up to get everything swaped over, looms

abs and the cruise control etc. that was the my reasoning for trying to use the whole

disco loom rather than trying to marry looms together.

great idea about the labler, that is one to use ok as i'd say it would be very easy to

lose track of whats what!

great advice so far and will definatly post how thing's are going and pictures

as a guide for other .

thanks to all so far and keep it coming!

[muddy]

I have seen a defender built on a brand new chassis using the disco Id as it used axles engine boxs and suspension thus retaining enough points. Seems quite strange but I suppose it's just like using a kitcar