Sounds good Stirlo. I would love a Disco ute but with kids it is a bit impractical. Watching with interest

are you looking at extending the chassis as well?

Lights are included They are just sitting in the boot. Although engine, gearbox and transfer case doesn't come with it... and it looks like no radiator either.

Hey angus,
Hard to say on the time frame. You are right though, if you have no deadline it can just drag on... Perhaps 1 year at this stage? I intend to spend $500 a month on the project. So it will take a while to get all the bits a pieces!

Thanks for the offer to help out though! Will keep it in mind.

Yep, that's what i'm hoping for, get them to kick in nice and low. I don't want to run intercoolers so i'm going to have to select the right compressor map for the engine... that will come later though. And I suppose I will need a decent transmission fluid cooler too!

No, I'll either leave it as is or perhaps shorten it a bit. When I start sizing a tray on the SolidWorks model i'll have an idea of what looks right.

I've started chopping up the model, looks like it would need to be cut somewhere around here, with the standard 29" tyres it seems there is about 200mm clearance between the tyres and the body, so 35's would fit if cut somewhere around this area.





When i've finished trimming it down i'll then try to build up a rear wall and move onto a tray concept.

Sounds great mate,
I'll be watching with interest.

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'95 Discovery 300tdi Auto - mine
'97 ES Discovery V8 Auto - "town car" - hers
'95 Discovery X300tdi Manual - parts

Huts Photos

That 3D modeling is awesome...really allows you to start visualizing things. It will definitely help cause some rangie or disco utes sometimes look out of proportion.

Angus

Hi all,
I've had some progress on the model. I still have to figure out how I would shape the joint between the rear doors and the rear wall. It would be great if people could comment on the shaping so far.

I upsized the tyres from 29" to 35"... they definitely don't fit with standard ride height!

I can already see that the shaping of the roof is going to be very difficult... I can already see myself cursing about it when it comes time to actually do it. But I really want to avoid simply cutting it and having it flat with the rear wall.

would it be possible to use a range rover roof?

just thinking might make life easier for you in regards to the disco step down...so you wont have to encompass a slope

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Our Land Rover does not leak oil! it just marks its territory.......

Thanks for the suggestion. But I think i'll stick with the disco roof, I don't think the flat range rover roof would look quite right. I don't know how I'll shape the rear of the roof like the way I've shown... but I'll figure something out. I'll just have to take my time with it.

What do people think of the shape of the rear wall so far?? Yay or nay?

Well, I suppose silence is the sign of consent eh?

This is what it all looks like with the rear wall finished off, lifting the body by 2" and adding the basic shape of a 1.8m x 1.3m tray.













I admit, the rear wall is looking a bit flat panel-ish... which makes it look a bit cheap, but I am thinking of perhaps only doing the chamfered section in the region near the wheels (to act like arches) and bringing the center section out to give more room inside the cabin. Thing is, with the complicated profile of the door it will be very difficult to make something that looks nicer for the rear wall... Maybe I need to think about that a little more.

According to the model this shape has 6" of space from the head rest to the rear wall and 15" of space at the base of the seat to the rear wall.

With the tray where it is shown it sits about 1.2m above ground level and gives about 15" of space above the tyres.

Hey Stirl, I think one way of finishing the rear would be to use the back door section of the rear bodywork. It would have a lot of inherent stiffness and the hole where the door sits could be filled with panel steel. The height of it would have to be reduced but the roof end is there to play with, if you know what I mean.

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Cheers
Wayne.
Not far from stock '76 Rangie.