JeffR Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 Got a crazy idea taking place in by head at the moment, but need to know how heavy a Discovery 5 door body shell is Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonr Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 I would guess at about 1100kg A 5 door 300Tdi (you didn't say which type) weighs 2100kg. The engine weighs 205kg, Gear & transfer boxes about the same. A 90 rolling chassis (minus engine & transmission) weighs 550kg apparently. A disco being a bit longer, say 600kg - so that leaves 1090kg Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffR Posted January 30, 2014 Author Share Posted January 30, 2014 Now I wonder how much all the attached external ally panels would knock off that? Why? Considering having a fully repaired shell galvanised and they charge by the kilo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonr Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 That also includes seats, dash, carpet, wiring windows etc. I doubt the actual steel shell being more than 200kg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigelw Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 Close, when I weighed my 3door in it was 360Kgs light iron, it is amazing how much the interior weighs, the sound deadening is very heavy especially when wet!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jad Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 Now I wonder how much all the attached external ally panels would knock off that? Why? Considering having a fully repaired shell galvanised and they charge by the kilo! They charge per kg of zinc usually. So they weigh before and after to determine the amount of zinc used. You shouldnt have to worry about the weight of the body itself! I think... Jad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigelw Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 You are a glutton for punishment Jeff :rofl: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffR Posted January 30, 2014 Author Share Posted January 30, 2014 You are a glutton for punishment Jeff :rofl: I've just got the urge to fully restore (to factory spec) a 200 Tdi that will last, they are getting rarer and rarer, and I think they are the most bullet proof of all the Discos, and even better, no bloody electronics!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymorris Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 They charge per kg of zinc usually. So they weigh before and after to determine the amount of zinc used. You shouldnt have to worry about the weight of the body itself! I think... Jad No they don't , they charge you the outbound weight of your item , and things such as structural steelwork will pick up approx 6% during the galvanizing process Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Noisy Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 You're onto the right lines Jeff, we'll all be buggered when the 200 and 300 discos have run out People are used to waltzing to a scrap yard and having million of discos to choose from This will be a thing of the past before too long Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigelw Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Jeff, when I told my girlfriend about you wanting to do another Disco, she simply said "if he wants a divorce why doesn't he just ask and not put that poor woman through it all again" , she would have logged in and wrote it for herself but the high life sees her at a big international show in Austria this week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffR Posted February 1, 2014 Author Share Posted February 1, 2014 Jeff, when I told my girlfriend about you wanting to do another Disco, she simply said "if he wants a divorce why doesn't he just ask and not put that poor woman through it all again" , she would have logged in and wrote it for herself but the high life sees her at a big international show in Austria this week. She would never divorce me - poor bugger would get custody of the kids!!!!!! :rofl:s To be honest, the first one is always the hardest due to a very steep learning curve and not knowing what to expect. Reckon I could do a noter in about a quarter of the time it took me with the first one - I know the shortcuts now! Yesterday I ordered £300 worth of body panels for the wife's Mini 1000, so I'm back in her good books, odd thing is, her Mini is over 30 years old and had less rot than the Disco, says a hell of a lot about the decline in build quality of cars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boydie Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 I used a shoddy very very second hand 200TDi wiring loom as the basis of my re-wiring my 300Tdi, now the only electronics remaining is the speedo unit and electric window gizmo - relocated behind the windows switch panel where it should have been in the first place !!!! Incidentally the loom is now 1/3 of the original Disco 300TDi size and all wired in minimum 10 amp cable. For examplen none of this single 5 amp wires to every light bulb, one 30 amp cable supplies both headlamps (high beam) 20 amp cable to the low beam and (fully compliant) both low and high come on when high beam is switched. I honestly believe that the MFU (Multi F'ed Unit) was designed to complicate life. My 5 door is a permanent two seater, the rear floor space being taken up with a 90 litre water tank, the relays and circuit breakers (no fuses save the large amperage ones in the engine fuse box) are all mounted on a panel behind the freezer/fridge where the rear left hand passenger seat used to be, no more crawling arround on my old knees trying to find a blown fuse in awkward places on dark nights. The cables run inside a S/S box section bolted to the passenger side chassis rail, very few cable openings into the cabin remain to prevent water entry when fording deep rivers, where the main loom enters the rear it passes through a proper cable waterproof gland. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shackleton Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 Jeff, I've been chasing the same idea for my 2 door RR for the past year. You're missing one vital issue. Your shell will be unusable after galvanising. The steel in the shell is too thin and the amount of warping that will happen will destroy it. I've talked to most of the galvanising companies in Ireland, and a handful in the UK and the ones who will agree to do it, (many won't), are categorical about the warping. I have one guy who seems very conscientious and who is interested in the project so he's waiting for me to bring him my shell to appraise it. But that was more due to me persisting with him, than him reversing his original opinion that an acceptable result was impossible. If you talk to any of the Defender guys who've had their bulkhead galvanised you'll find that many will tell you there was warping, but the panel was useable. Those have to be done sympathetically by a good galvaniser because from what I've been told it can go very wrong. I've drawn the conclusion that the best bet would be to literally break the shell into it's component parts, thus allowing greater scope for pre heating the panels, and reducing the possibility of extra warping due to panels of different size and gauge pulling on each other at different rates. I have a feeling dismantling the shell on my early RR will be easier than on your Disco though. I've also investigated spray galvanising, but the exact same problem applies. Someone offered me e-coating, but to me that's just a fancy spray paint. And there's also plasti-dipping, but again, it's just a top coating. We want no rust for 40 years, not 4 years. Just to say, I've very limited knowledge on galvanising, what I know is a hazy mixture of what I've been told, and what I've concluded in my own little head. I could be bonkers. So I'd be very happy to be contradicted, cause... I RR 4 ever. I'm still hoping that it's just a case of finding a galvaniser who is willing to invest the time to find a way to make the process feasible. But the laws of physics may prove that it's a pipe dream. (I have a classic Mini too, and I'd say there'd be a far greater chance of pulling it off on that shell. Classic Mini's are made of much thicker steel than modern cars.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve b Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 I would have thought an early 2door RRC bodyshell pulled down to individual steel parts would be fine for galving , maybe a few braces on weak bits - sideframe rear window/ roof edge etc . The outer skin is all ally apart from rear wing corners so any distortion and subsequent fettling would be hidden? As for cost , its based on weight of zinc applied , parts are weighed in and out of the platers so make sure there are plenty of drain holes in sections cheers Steveb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffR Posted February 2, 2014 Author Share Posted February 2, 2014 Jeff, I've been chasing the same idea for my 2 door RR for the past year. You're missing one vital issue. Your shell will be unusable after galvanising. The steel in the shell is too thin and the amount of warping that will happen will destroy it. I've talked to most of the galvanising companies in Ireland, and a handful in the UK and the ones who will agree to do it, (many won't), are categorical about the warping. I have one guy who seems very conscientious and who is interested in the project so he's waiting for me to bring him my shell to appraise it. But that was more due to me persisting with him, than him reversing his original opinion that an acceptable result was impossible. If you talk to any of the Defender guys who've had their bulkhead galvanised you'll find that many will tell you there was warping, but the panel was useable. Those have to be done sympathetically by a good galvaniser because from what I've been told it can go very wrong. I've drawn the conclusion that the best bet would be to literally break the shell into it's component parts, thus allowing greater scope for pre heating the panels, and reducing the possibility of extra warping due to panels of different size and gauge pulling on each other at different rates. I have a feeling dismantling the shell on my early RR will be easier than on your Disco though. I've also investigated spray galvanising, but the exact same problem applies. Someone offered me e-coating, but to me that's just a fancy spray paint. And there's also plasti-dipping, but again, it's just a top coating. We want no rust for 40 years, not 4 years. Just to say, I've very limited knowledge on galvanising, what I know is a hazy mixture of what I've been told, and what I've concluded in my own little head. I could be bonkers. So I'd be very happy to be contradicted, cause... I RR 4 ever. I'm still hoping that it's just a case of finding a galvaniser who is willing to invest the time to find a way to make the process feasible. But the laws of physics may prove that it's a pipe dream. (I have a classic Mini too, and I'd say there'd be a far greater chance of pulling it off on that shell. Classic Mini's are made of much thicker steel than modern cars.) Well chatting to the company that would do it, they reckoned that if the pre heating is done very sympathetically, then, yes there will be some deformation (mainly on flat panels), but, it can be kept to a minimum, I have seen a Lancia Fulvia and Mini shell galved in the past, the Fulvia sugared as there were see loads of flat panels. Don't know, gonna have to think long and hard about this. Looking at photos I took whilst rebuilding the current Disco, I can see some areas that would probably benefit from bracing, but removing the bracing afterwards would damage the galv.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shackleton Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 That's promising news Jeff. What is sugaring? I was also told that the washing process directly after has a lot to do with the warping. If I remember correctly the newly galvanised metal has to be rinsed with some chemical or other (or maybe just water) for the job to be done right, and the knock on effect is rapid cooling.... warping. Regarding the bracing, I suppose a few spots on a fully galv'd shell where you'd cut off some tacked on braces would be far better than not having a galv'd shell. If you get moving on this please do keep us up to date. I'll be starting my build sometime between now and late April, and I'll be documenting everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soren Frimodt Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 Probably not to any real help to you guys, but ever since the 80's people have been hot dipping all sorts of vehicles here in Denmark, a favored one being the Citroen 2CV But also some RRC's and warping isn't that much of an issue, well not to any of the guys I've met atleast. I remember as a kid someone had has his 70's RRC completely galved and people was wondering why on earth he'd do that, you could get them on every corner! But what do you guys think it would be worth now? Probably not a bad investment He who has the last laugh.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shackleton Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 That's really helpful Soren, and music to my ears. My RR is a '73 and whereas most of the shell I think would be fine, the front floor pans are flat, and as my local blacksmith described them, thinner than biscuit tins. If you happen to run into anyone with a galvanised car, or even better, a galvaniser... I'm sure I speak for Jeff too when I say we'd love to know anything he could tell us. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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