It's time again for another years report on D2 ownership. Link to last and earlier years threads follows:

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/discovery-...ownership.html

 Charlie has managed to notch up a more respectable 7700km this year, thanks to a bit more touring, along with some stability in the motley collection of not so classic cars. Still he has only just clicked over 170K so there's a lot of life left in him.

Aside of routine servicing we had another couple of age related issues and known problems appear during the year.

  • As noted last year I was chasing an intermittent problem where I was losing the dash lights when I switched on the headlights. Changing the indicator stalk fixed this along with solving an intermittent problem with the caravan indicators. Stripping the old stalk down is still on the to do list though http://www.aulro.com/afvb/discovery-...em-solved.html


  • A small amount of restorative work was also done to the body with the roof being repainted, as the clear coat was going and at the same time I got the rear steel bumper that I bent last year straightened.


  • At Christmas I finally stopped procrastinating and finally did the stereo upgrade, going for a Kenwood unit with Bluetooth, DAB radio and steering wheel control interface. It all went together very nicely and the how-to write-up link follows: http://www.aulro.com/afvb/communicat...-controls.html.


  • As befitting a car that has spent a lot of time outdoors, the exterior plastics are starting to go, with the drivers A pillar and windscreen wiper panel both cracking. I recently replaced the windscreen wiper panel and have a set of door pillar panels in the spares box in readiness, as the current A pillar crack is not terminal yet.


  • At the same time I also had fitted a second hand centrifugal oil filter housing with good threads. As appears to be the norm, the back bolt had in times past been replaced with a longer bolt to fix striped threads and the threads stripped again. I've kept the old housing and in the fullness of time will helicoil it.


  • Earlier in the month the LHF passenger window regulator started jumping erratically. Pulling the door trim off revealed a broken plastic roller. I replaced it with a new regulator and will renovate the old one (which only lasted 5 years) with a couple of shower door rollers. I also had to fashion a new plastic moisture barrier as the mechanic who replaced the regulator last time just ripped it out and discarded it Thanks to the Roverlords, Mario and Heather for a great price and speedy delivery.

As to future plans, bullbar, tie rod guard, ATB diffs, snorkel and fitting those bump strips are all still there, but not pressing.

Cheers

Steve