Discovery series 1.. the story so far.

[Nelspeth]

Hiya folks, since I’m new here I thought it would only be right to give a little insight into how iv come to be part of the 4x4/Overland world.

My weapon of choice is a 1994 series 1, 3 door Land Rover Discovery. It was bought on a whim really when my previous car was written off by a lovely young lady who was putting her makeup on while driving to work!!..:(

Always wanted one so it was the ideal chance to have a go. After searching the various 4x4 pages of Facebook I found a good solid red (well more pink as the paint had faded that much) Discovery 1, needed a lot of work but that’s exactly what I wanted.. a project!.





The 2.5 litres of the 300tdi engine had carried this jalopy a grand total of 164,000 mikes when I picked it up, everything still worked as it should and the engine purred like a 2 week old kitten..
So money was paid and off I drove in my new smoker full of ideas and plans of what to do first to bring it a bit more up to date.

More to come later when I get another 5 minutes spare

 

[Nelspeth]

So, after a pleasant drive home in my new toy I’d decided that the first thing I had to do was sort the interior out..
It was comparable to the chimp enclosure at the zoo, bits hanging down, bits hanging off, it smelt of wet dog and I even found a small family of fungus behind the headlining :(. Not a nice place to be and because this would now be my daily drive I had to transform it into a quiet, comfortable, cabin.
First line of attack was the headlining, as anyone that has been inside an old Disco will know they done fare well with age, mine was no exception!

As you can see from the picture most of the remaining headliner had been screwed up as the glue holding the fabric to the trim had failed long ago..
I set about removing all the side panel trims to allow me to remove the roof liner, not a hard job just dirty and smelly as it’s probably the first time in 24 years that anyone has shown any kind of respect to this poor thing :(

Once removed I had to then remove the old rotten fabric and clean up the roof liner trim ready to accept the new fabric. This was not a nice job, scraping and scrubbing the old glue off the trim, I found the best way was to use a wire brush, anything else just clogged and was useless

So once I’d cleaned up the trim it was then time to glue new fabric on. I’d chose a fleece fabric as it would stretch to the contours of the roof, the design may not be to everyone’s taste but it fits in with the finished plans for the truck.. and it’s cool as polar bears toe nails

So once I’d stretched and glued the fabric to the trim I decided something a little extra was needed... It’s a Disco so it needs disco lights!.
I fitted led rgb strip lights behind the front map shelf and in the rear roof cargo nets, again not to everyone’s taste but it gives a nice ambient glow to the interior and not a harsh bright white light at night... I can switch between the two lighting methods of original interior lights and led mood lights when needed.

It works well and my little lad loves it!.. I’ll get some pics of the finished fitted roof in the morning as it’s blizzard conditions outside at the moment and I’m cozy in front of the fire with a cold beer

 

[Tinker]

Ooooo... I've never even seen a red one here in the states!

Those headliners are always so saggy, mine was starting to feel more like a hat before I dealt with it haha

 

[Nelspeth]

Ooooo... I've never even seen a red one here in the states!

Those headliners are always so saggy, mine was starting to feel more like a hat before I dealt with it haha

Yeah it was horrendous pal, couldn’t believe the previous owner was still driving it the way it was... oh and it’s not red anymore, but that’s a story for another day ;)

 

[nickburt]

Been there, done that with the headlining in my '86 Defender - yuk. I just re-glued the original material as a quick temp fix. Be interested to see how the fleece fairs with time??
Good luck with the project.

 

[Nelspeth]

Been there, done that with the headlining in my '86 Defender - yuk. I just re-glued the original material as a quick temp fix. Be interested to see how the fleece fairs with time??
Good luck with the project.

It’s been on nearly a year now and still perfectly fine, it actually deadens the external noise quite a bit too compared to what was there..
there’s lots more iv already done so just writing it up here to get to a point I’m at now.. still lots to do but it’s all good fun :)

 

[nickburt]

Good to know.
I was thinking that the fleece would help sound proof and would probably also help with heat insulation (remember - I drive a Defender - anything I can do to preserve heat is a must )
Still got quite a bit of catching up to do on my build threads. Just about to head off for a long weekend, so should be back to them later next week.

 

[Nelspeth]

So here’s some pics of the roof lining fitted, looks much better now than the old saggy, smelly mess

 

[Nelspeth]

Since I bought the Disco I’d been speaking to a few guys on Facebook about green laning (off roading to the rest of the world) and was planning my first trip out into the hills of derbyshire.
I was quite apprehensive about this as I’d littlerally done nothing to the chassis and running gear since I’d picked it up.. I knew from stories how harsh it could be! But none the less we went out and had an awesome day, I was instantly hooked :) and was amazed at just how capable my little red Discovery was.
It managed the terrain effortlessly and that was pretty much standard apart from some worn mud tyres.
One thing I did notice though was that it needed a lift as the rear suspension kept bottoming out and the arches would rub on any kind of articulation.




So once we were back home I ordered a terrafirma +2” lift kit which consisted of a set of uprated, stronger dampers and medium duty +2” springs for all four corners.
Off to the workshop to fit them and WOW what a difference, it was a total transformation, the old suspension must have been very worn because now the ride, handling and noise where so much better.. it was almost like getting out of an old clapped out London black cab and getting into a new BMW! The difference was that great.
Together with a snorkel and a new fancy tow rope it was finally coming together!...