Poida4x4's Disco 1

There is a couple of vents on the drivers side in the boot space, there behind the trim under the window. I sealed mine up when I soundproofed all the back. Also your rear tail lights leak dust and sound a lot also. Try making a flap or something to cover them. All my back trims are cut at the top of the wheel arch to accommodate my drawers, there is a lot of hidden space behind those cardboard panels in the load space and a lot of unused holes that just leak dust and noise. If you pull your panels off mark what holes you need and seal all.the rest with silicone.
Also had a bolt hole in each rear wheel arch, I found out when I got stuck in some water.
I have a dirt driveway and after sealing all these I've noticed a big difference in dust and sound.
Cheers Jim

I got a report over the phone of what's needed for a RWC. There's nothing too alarming in it. New rocker cover gasket, the boot on the A-frame ball joint is torn (perhaps replace the whole joint?), diff pinion seals (I knew about these, and a new headlight). The guy I took it to is a mate who specialises in French cars. He's not interested in doing the work. I've done some research and got some leads on some people who are likely to be good for this work, but Les Richmond is closest, and I was planning on taking it there for a Madman 2 install anyway, and to talk about suspension. Do you think that's the sort of place that would do this RWC stuff without charging heaps? I get the impression they specialise more in modding than general stuff.

I'll give them a call tomorrow and pick the Disco up from my mate with the full list of stuff.

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Originally Posted by Poida4x4

I got a report over the phone of what's needed for a RWC. There's nothing too alarming in it .....

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Are U handy with tools yourself?
If not, don't read past this part! [biggrin]
... but it could be an advantage to become handy with tools when you own a landrover!!

If so, other than the balljoint you could do those jobs in a few hours.

Sorry, have no idea on trustworthy mechanics in Melb.

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Originally Posted by Poida4x4

I got a report over the phone of what's needed for a RWC. There's nothing too alarming in it. New rocker cover gasket, the boot on the A-frame ball joint is torn (perhaps replace the whole joint?), diff pinion seals (I knew about these, and a new headlight). The guy I took it to is a mate who specialises in French cars. He's not interested in doing the work. I've done some research and got some leads on some people who are likely to be good for this work, but Les Richmond is closest, and I was planning on taking it there for a Madman 2 install anyway, and to talk about suspension. Do you think that's the sort of place that would do this RWC stuff without charging heaps? I get the impression they specialise more in modding than general stuff.

I'll give them a call tomorrow and pick the Disco up from my mate with the full list of stuff.

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LRA will do the work no problems they do general work as well as mods, but it's Christmas time and no doubt will be busy. Maybe try British car in North melbourne? Never had work done there but they are English "specialists" or American and British in Brooklyn again never been there though.
Cheers Jim

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Originally Posted by LRJim

.... Maybe try British car in North melbourne? ....

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They don't do mech work, but could refer you to someone of quality.
They supply parts, and to many indie shops, so they'd have some info as to who is OK or not.

How long would fulcrum joint take to change? If you replaced the whole thing i thought a couple of hours?

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Originally Posted by AK83

Are U handy with tools yourself?

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With a bicycle; yes. Not so much with cars. I'll get this work done by someone. I won't really enjoy it, I don't really have the time, and they'll do a better job.

Les Richmond is booked out until the end of January. I'll be in Tassie by then. I think I'll give up for now and get it all done when I get there. It's a bit disappointing, but only because I'm in love and want to drive the car around. I don't need to though. I'll call the place in Launnie that sound like they know what they're doing and go from there. I've ordered a Madman 2 from Les though. I'll take it over with me.

I might do something about the tyres now though, but I'm not sure what. I almost wish they were all worn out so the decision would be easy. It's got BFG ATs on it front and rear, but the rears are KO2 and newer. They're at about 8.5mm where new ones are 12mm. The fronts are a fair bit less than that and need replacing. I like the idea of having evenly worn tyres, so I'm not sure whether I should just get 2 new KO2s or replace them all. Something to think about anyway

Balljoint I found, was easier to do with the whole A frame off.
Haven't yet done the D1, but RRC had the same setup, but it took me most of the day to renew both the balljoint and bushes on the RRC.
And the RRC had the old self leveller thing to further complicate the job.
If you have a large press(or access too one), I'd say give it 2-3hrs. if no press, don't do the balljoint itself, get the kit with the balljoint in the housing. Damned near impossible to do with a press! I took mine to a shop to press out the old one.
Bushes can be hacked out of the A frame arms, and I used polys, so install was easy.

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Originally Posted by Poida4x4

... I like the idea of having evenly worn tyres, so I'm not sure whether I should just get 2 new KO2s or replace them all. Something to think about anyway

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I'd do the two fronts.
otherwise, fit the KO2s on the rear at the front, as a minimum change.

Depending on that type of offroading you want to get into, I'd stick with KO2s for now.

I have Yokohamas AT's, they're OK, but brother has KO2's on his D2 ... far better tyre.
Was taken for a drive in a D1 with set of fairly new Duratracs(Goodyear) maybe just a little smoother/quieter on the road than the BFG tyres, but the BFGs are a very good AT from what I've experienced.

UPDATE

Well I took the car to a guy in Braeside who did a good job fixing everything up. He fitted a low coolant alarm and did the other RWC stuff so all good. Then I took to Tassie on the unregistered vehicle permit and got the inspection done the day after we got here, then registered it the next day. Easy as. It's been fun cruising around in it more. It's actually pretty good on the highway. I'm really pleased with it.

It needed new front tyres for the RWC, so I got two new BFG AT KO2s. The question now is how/if to rotate them, as they wear. There's about 3mm difference in the wear, so probably nothing to worry about. I still have 235/85/16s a bit in mind.

So now I'm turning my mind to the suspension. The shocks are pretty worn/leaky and the springs are original. It handles pretty well, but with a load it bounces around a fair bit. I'm curious about spring rates and stuff. The plan for this car is not for super serious offroad. More touring and only a little bit serious offroad. I'm thinking I'd like airbags in the back for loading up and/or towing a camper trailer. I'll often drive it around unloaded though. I'm not after a massive lift. I've read a few threads on here and other forums about this, but they've mostly come down to brand etc, not the technicalities of springs rates and stuff for the Disco 1. Got any advice/links on this? Maybe something not too hard and use the airbags? Dunno.

I'm still thinking about a bullbar. Maybe it's not that necessary. Driving lights would be good. Something to jack/recover from would be handy I imagine. Otherwise I don't think I'll do too much else to it. I'm really stoked on the car.

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Originally Posted by Poida4x4

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I'm still thinking about a bullbar. Maybe it's not that necessary. Driving lights would be good. Something to jack/recover from would be handy I imagine. Otherwise I don't think I'll do too much else to it. I'm really stoked on the car.

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Don't get a bullbar to recover from!
For front recovery, best to fit recovery eyes. They fit down on the chassis rails. Common design type for LR's is a D type shackle on each side of the chassis. Recovery would always be from there.
Bullbars are handy .. but in all the years I've had one, never really needed it. I used to do a lot of late night middle of nowhere driving, roos usually the problem, and on the Sturt Hwy, cows.
I've never hit a roo full on, but did once clip a tail, coming out of a fast sweeper late night, VHC(near Mansfield) on a downhill run. Heard a crackle on the radio, tried to tune into any station, eyes of the road for a split sec, roo out of nowhere kind of situation.

Do you have airbags? A non airbag compliant bullbar could affect their operation(to the front occupants detriment).

As for the 235/85's .. on a Tdi, without powering it up .. towing!! While I don't have that setup to reply with any actual experience ... I can't imagine it'd be a pleasant one.
On a remapped TD5 .. I'd say no worries. You still have some power to get about. But on a Tdi .. I can't imagine it being nice to tow.

For jacking .. I've now converted myself to exhaust bag jacking.
Don't even think of a highlift if you don't also have hi-lift jacking points fitted to the car too. I don't mind hi lift jacks in themselves .. can be the best way to recover in some situations .. but only if a proper jacking point it used to hook them up too.

Not long after I got my D1, I also thought about easier jacking than reliance on the piddly little LR jack .. so I got an exhaust bag off ebay.
Always wanted to try one, but back when they were a new idea , they were far too expensive to test for yourself .. kind a thing!
Anyhow, I think mine cost about $100 .. so no biggie if it was crapola. But! it's brilliant. Hopeless used with the exhaust fitting. Tdi uses a flexi joint in the exhaust up front, and all the exhaust gases just "pfooof!" out that, instead of filling the bag.
But, use the compressor, make sure bag is placed properly under the car. Protection mats used .. and let the compressor do it's job.
Only problem is I can't see any easy way to just lift one corner, so every time I've used it I lift the entire side of the D1. Why this is a problem is not that the entire side of the car is lifted .. don't really care about that. The issue is the handbrake! [biggrin]
When you lift both wheels with the entire side of the car .. your handbrake don't work! Caught me out first time I used it (at home) and nearly had the car roll into the house.
Because the air jack is basically just a huge heavy duty balloon, it allows the car to roll(if you need it too), and it rolls along with the car.
So now I have it in mind to chock a wheel first! .. now no problems.

On a recent trip away, I had nothing but dramas with my tyres. Had to jack car up 4 times to sort tyres out.
With the air jack.. easy as. Just set it up, let it do it's thing, keep an eye on it to be sure it's doing it's thing the way you wanted it too, and still gives you time to do other stuff too.
With my cheapo Chinese 17 year old compressor .. it takes about 5-10 mins to jack the side up enough to get the LR jack under an axle.
That's how I use it, air jack up; LR jack(raised) under axle, air jack down a little to rest axle, fix whatever .. lower and remove LR jack.
Packaging is large, but weight is low. Unexpected bonus is that you could use it as a really uncomfortable 'bean bag' that rolls you off it!(not that i'd ever try to use it as such!!).