A 3 Door Discovery Overland Truck

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Tom Burnet

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Expedition Master I

3,286
Rhyl, Denbighshire, Wales, United Kingdom
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Tom
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Burnet
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Following the sale of my other Discovery for some personal gains, I was desperate to get myself back in another rig. After exploring the UK market, which isn't great for real 4x4's, I decided that the Discovery would be my choice once again, both cost and set up options are brilliant compared to the Japanese options I'd like to own where parts are way way harder to get hold of here.

I looked around for a few months, but couldn't find anything, until one of my friends messaged me about his Dads rig. It was a Land Rover Discovery 1, 300TDi & with a few modifications. The price they offered it me was too much to just let slip, so I instantly went to his place, paid & signed the forms, I had my new rig!
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The deal is that I would give him the HD front and rear bumpers back to him once my new ones arrive. They should be here first week in August :D but everything else on here is included in the sale, fantastic! The truck is lifted +2" with Weller Steel Wheels wrapped in 31" Cooper AT3 tyres, side exit straight through exhaust, roof rack, light bars, snorkel and has been re painted in Army Olive Green.

Since getting it home, been racking my brain for ideas on what to do with this one. Another Ausi style build, a pure off road style build, tray back, camper back?

I've decided on another Ausi Style build, but this time it'll be done to a higher spec & it won't be used to smash around off rocks etc like my previous Land Rovers have been from time to time. This rig will simply be for Overlanding, trips out camping & visiting Europe, the vast open Scotland and parts of Wales, no more tight green lanes or pay and play sites (within reason of course).

I've started the build already! With some bits I had spare in the garage, I've made myself a storage unit for the cookers, tools, recovery bits and bobs, food, water etc etc, all the expedition items I'll need. Also a great item to have my fridge drop slide to be mounted too. I've added a window guard from TrekOverland, a dog guard behind the rear seats and some other bits all that will help me build the boot to house a good amount of items. The metal door card is a favourite of mine too, endless amount of bits can be bolted to that, my idea is to use QuickFist to hold items on there.
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I'm going to carpet the storage, with some rubber matting on top to grip anything should I need to hold some loose goods for a short journey. It's hard to see in the picture above, but I've added some long bolts there, to hold my MaxTrax boards so they will no longer be in the truck with me.

Here's some more pictures, I'll try keep this thread as live as I can, but with buying a new house time for the rig is not something I've got a lot of right now!

Bumpers are on their way, so once I have those I'll post another couple of pictures if I don't post before then !!

Thanks for reading :D
 

Roger352

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Pathfinder I

1,798
, Cornwall PL17 , United Kingdom
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Roger
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Smith
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Love the 300's got one myself, its feeling a bit down the nasty MoT man said she needs some work. The usual inner wing and sills funny the original boot is as good as new. But she will be back on the road in the next couple of weeks.

Looks like you got a bargain there, a lot of work has been already done. Did you find out when the belts were changed?. See the compulsory bottle opener in the bottom corner. Hope to see her around sometime.
 

Tom Burnet

Rank VI
Launch Member

Expedition Master I

3,286
Rhyl, Denbighshire, Wales, United Kingdom
First Name
Tom
Last Name
Burnet
Member #

2773

Love the 300's got one myself, its feeling a bit down the nasty MoT man said she needs some work. The usual inner wing and sills funny the original boot is as good as new. But she will be back on the road in the next couple of weeks.

Looks like you got a bargain there, a lot of work has been already done. Did you find out when the belts were changed?. See the compulsory bottle opener in the bottom corner. Hope to see her around sometime.
Haha, all normal unfortunately [emoji53] I've just bought myself some replacement outta sills, I'm gonna weld them up before he next mot in march & then get the whole car coated in Buzzweld. There's a few places that can do that now which is good. If you've not heard of buzzweld I'd certainly recommend it!

I haven't found out about the belts yet, but I'm just going to order them once my holiday in September is out the way and get them fitted. Peace of mind and all that ..

Hopefully, are you heading to LRO in September?


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Roger352

Rank V
Launch Member

Pathfinder I

1,798
, Cornwall PL17 , United Kingdom
First Name
Roger
Last Name
Smith
Member #

4835

Haha, all normal unfortunately [emoji53] I've just bought myself some replacement outta sills, I'm gonna weld them up before he next mot in march & then get the whole car coated in Buzzweld. There's a few places that can do that now which is good. If you've not heard of buzzweld I'd certainly recommend it!

I haven't found out about the belts yet, but I'm just going to order them once my holiday in September is out the way and get them fitted. Peace of mind and all that ..

Hopefully, are you heading to LRO in September?


Sent from my iPhone using OB Talk
Not sure about Peterborough but going to the overland show a week later
 

Mike W

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Iowa, USA
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Great looking disco! Love the color.
 
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Tom Burnet

Rank VI
Launch Member

Expedition Master I

3,286
Rhyl, Denbighshire, Wales, United Kingdom
First Name
Tom
Last Name
Burnet
Member #

2773

So my bumpers are yet to arrive. But plenty of other bits have turned up! Spent a full day fitting the majority of them!
Started by doing a run to the local tip haha. Couldn't resist a photo with the army Sankey attached!



Then got to changing the prop for a HD extreme wide angle prop from Gwyn Lewis & a 200TDi rear prop conversion.




Next was new wheels & 3" extended arches!! I went for 16x8 et -35...WOW! They sit amazing with the arches fitted, I'm so chuffed, couldn't have done it without help from some really good friends. But here's the pics...











Next plans are to get my Kenlowe Electric Fan fitted, and getting rid of the current viscous fan. Bumpers on (when they turn up!), a nice set of caster corrected radius and trailing arms too?

Either way, so so excited to be building this.



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Tom Burnet

Rank VI
Launch Member

Expedition Master I

3,286
Rhyl, Denbighshire, Wales, United Kingdom
First Name
Tom
Last Name
Burnet
Member #

2773

im running 16 x 8 -30mm 265/75/16 they do look not only good but sort of right. I mean over or under tired
Nice, Im heading to the Pyrenees in the new year so I'm planning on changing tyre to Coopers STT PRO's and when I do I'll be getting the 265/75/16 I think [emoji3]


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Tom Burnet

Rank VI
Launch Member

Expedition Master I

3,286
Rhyl, Denbighshire, Wales, United Kingdom
First Name
Tom
Last Name
Burnet
Member #

2773

The bumpers have turned up, and I've now removed the viscous fan and replaced with a Kenlow electric fan wired direct to a switch inside the cab :smirk:

First of all I replaced all the older rubber piping with silicone versions, nice new jubilee clips throughout, and a double core ally rad, whilst it was all off I coated the body in Hammerite rust prevention is key :)

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I then found out that my tyre had gone flat over the few days of it being sat around whilst I was doing the work, even though it was a new tyre! So off I go to company who fitted it for me to find out whats gone on, I hadn't bought the tyre from these guys but they had fitted it for me, so I guessed they'd be the best place to start...
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Turns out the tyre is failing, small prick in the seal, so I call the company I bought it off and they issue me a full refund, and the tyre fitters offer to repair it at a reduced rate....so I left pretty happy.

The truck attracts a lot of attention now, the bumpers are a huge statement over here and I've not seen another swing out carrier like this on a Discovery before. Id recommend anyone removing their viscous fan for an electric, the engine sounds and drives so much smoother and it pulls harder too, I had read that the viscous fan drains power and fuel, and I can see why, the change is amazing.