Its About Time I Got This Started

[seqfisho]

Hi All,

Well Im known for not doing things to fast at times, Ive eve been know to put off jobs around the yard till the grass is tall enough to hide them, well thats what the missus reckons anyway. :roll:

As some of you may or may not be aware I recently (March 05) purchased a Disco, for the purpose of building into a offroad tourer. Some of you may also be aware or see from my signature that I have owned Defenders, a Rangie and some Japanese 4wds before, and maybe wonder why did I decide on a Disco to build my offroad tourer from and fair enough, but hopefully I'll explain to you the argument I used to convince myself that it had to be a Disco, and a series one at that. :wink:

I had a couple of main criteria that were very important to meeet in my vehicle decission, and these are basically grouped into three categories,

1) Safety - for occupants and vehicle

2) Comfort - some people will say Im getting old and soft :roll:

3) Capability - this thing has to be able to get where I want when I want, and more importantly get me back from there. 8)

Some people will still wonder why a disco, and when I add some of the other requirements it will start to make my decission seem more justified.

It had to have a good range for extended outback travel, it had to perform day to day shopping trolley and school run duties, it had to feel a bit like a car inside as the cheese and kisses will drive every day, it had to be safe in the bush and exhibit stability and capability in a variety of terrain and offroad situations. It had to be basic within reason mechanically so I have at least some chance of repairing out the back of never never and also for DIY maintenance. Start to understand my choice a bit better now? :wink:

Yeah I know a Defender would have been perfect and give me a heap more room, but two main factors that ruled it out were, it had to be an auto (the missus wont drive a manual) and it had to fit in the garage (god I miss my shed ) it also had to be $20K or less at purchase.

So basically it had to be diesel, auto, shortish in the wheel base, not too technologicaly adavnced, room for the family and $20K or less, oh and the most important thing it had the be a Land Rover. :wink:

With this in mind my search was put in place for a 97-98 300TDi auto series one Discovery. And although buying a truck with plenty of accessories on it already seems tempting I knew what I wanted this project to end up like so the decission was made to try and find one as stock as possible with the lowest kms and best service history for as cheap as we could find, simple hey! 8O

After an initial search through all the car sites on the net and papers, the long list was shortened till we had a handfull to physiaclly inspect. I got to tell you that I hate shopping for cars, as exciting it is looking for a new toy the enthusiasm soon wears out and it becomes a chore, to me anyway, luckily in this case or on this day anyway we had only veiwed two previous vehicles and my enthusiasm was still up as was the rest of the family, (you reckon I hate car shopping) anyway we arrived at Pacific Rover on QLD's sunshine coast and found almost exactly what we were searching for, a MY98 (4/99 compliance plated) SE7 TDi Auto with 134K on the clock, very clean inside, very dry underneath, very stock(except for towbar) with full service history (mostly LR dealer) and with some talking down a price of $19K drive out the door, DONE! 8) The dealer also has a policy that when ever they sell a 300tdi they replace the timing belt and all fluids regardless of if its been recently done (god bless them, mustve been caught out before [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif[/img] )

Now at the begining of this I said I was slow and we haven't done a thing to the car since then ops: , but there has been a good reason for this, I wanted to be sure that everything was running as should before I start on it. The other reason is I had to wait till the money that I intend to spend on it was available :wink: , it also gave me time to think about the priority in which I fit things and exactly what I want or need to add.

And guess what, I've got the full support of the boss too 8O , actually the missus has been nagging me to start on it as she is sick of driving around in a plain jane, lucky I am. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif[/img] [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif[/img]

So this week will see me shopping for the first lot of accesories that will be added to the truck, this I will be recording in print and picture as a reference for me and anyone else who wishes to follow the project over the next 6-12 months, when it will be finished, as this time next year I intend to be either in the Simpson, Kimberly or Cape York.That aside, there will be plenty of day and weekend trips before then.

The first items will be as follows, they are in my opinion the best items for purpose in both quality and function for my needs.

1) ARB Bull Bar Winch compatible, undecided on which winch yet

2) Safari Snorkel

3) Milford Cargo Barrier

I will try and get deal out of someone for these, I'll let you know how I go

4) CD Player - Indash MP3 unit

5) Window Tint - any suggestions?

I will be trying to fit most things myself, for a couple of reasons, I will know the quality of the work and if it falls off out the back of beyond I'll only be able to yell at the missus, I'll know how it all works, and the main reason, I'm a tight ass. :roll:


So if you have any suggestions or comments or even a word of encouragement let me know.


Oh yeah, my maxi drive price list arrived yesterday, the next lot of stuff is going to be interesting :wink:


Pics to follow, and I will try to document as much as possible.





Thanks Glen

[Lindsay]

Glen
Good luck with your project I will look for your posts. I have also very recently purchased a 98 tdi auto and have similar plans. I have just taken delivery of a second hand winch bar with Magnum 9k winch intact off a damaged vehilce for less than half price. It has a little scratching on one part of the bar but o'wise perfect and looks quite new. Car already has a snorkel and tint-I have a solenoid for the dual batteries and have ordered new springs. Currently looking for a rear storage unit. Plenty to do next few weekends. I love it!
Lindsay

[D110V8D]

Thats a right perty Disco you got there Seq. Good luck with your plans.

[septimus]

Not a major issue in the scheme of things but important for entertainment! I bought a cheap MP3 from JB Hi Fi (about $150) and it is not worth it. Problems are:
1. Display blindingly bright at night
2. Despite 1, actual tuning/CD data is impossible to read in daylight
3. MP3 music takes ages to start (presumably data processing)
4. MP3 music much lower audio level than radio
So when you get to buy one I suggest you check these things out.

Howard

[sclarke]

it will go fast as its RED.

[CraigE]

I have put in a Pioneer MP3 player and it is a great unit, ok mp3's do take slightly longer to load to start with but it is only minimal and you get a couple of hundred songs on a disc, plus you can play normal cd's anyway. Audiocom have agreat deal on a Pioneer mp3 head unit at the moment for $229 and you get a free remote control pioneer car chucked in for the kids or the big kids. Good luck the Discos are great vehicles despite what some say.

[Pedro_The_Swift]

Nice red D1 there Seq,,, [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img]

remember to buy the springs last,,(after adding all the new gear)
I spent a bomb on window tinting first up, BUT its still perfect and in place on all the windows including the difficult alpines,,
so dont be stingy on the tint.

[seqfisho]

Originally posted by Pedro_The_Swift
Nice red D1 there Seq,,, [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img]

remember to buy the springs last,,(after adding all the new gear)
I spent a bomb on window tinting first up, BUT its still perfect and in place on all the windows including the difficult alpines,,
so dont be stingy on the tint.

Thanks Pedro TS,

Will only do the final suspension setup when everything else is added, but will do an intermediate setup with cheaper shocks(than Koni's or Bils) and some taller rear springs and swap ex rears to front for short term to give some height and xtra travel. :wink:

What brand tint did you get and who from and roughly how much, Im doin the ring around tomorrow after I order the bar and stuff, managed to get a couple of hundred$ off list for getting everything together at BOAB at Lawnton [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif[/img] :wink:


Glen.

[Ace]

Hi Glen, when shopping for bullbars, look seriously at the TJM Bar, i have one on my disco and i think it looks better than the ARB bar and they are considerably cheaper. Mine is also winch compatible, and airbag compatible. Matt

[wardy1]

Hi Glen,
I'm still waiting for my TJM winch bar for my series 2 disco (ordered 3 weeks ago :? ). I selected the TJM because the winch is attached to the chassis rails rather than just swinging on the bar itself. There have been quite a few probs with the ARB tilting forward when under pressure and thus causing front quarter panel damage as the corners lift up.
I'm heading down the same track as you with my series 2 disco Td5. Good luck with your project.
Alan