MrCat

Yeap, 70`s, 80`s jap classics are well respected all over the globe: http://gripshiftslide.com/2011/11/21/classic-japan-show/ Research about distinct styling/performance additions in that era related to the JDM tuning scene. For example front air diffusers, watanabe wheels, fender mounted mirrors, etc… On the Datto 1600, there`s plenty of material on SR20DET motor conversions. Same with 4AGE motor conversions for corolla ke20/30. I am not saying these are easy/cheap things to do, just food for thought for you for the moment. One more thing, from a local context, the most prominent issue with cars of this era would be rust/body condition. Mechanical things are relatively easy to fix/replace, but getting body work done properly could be a painful task. I would look for original body/panel/interior condition over mechanical niggles if I’m hunting for a machine like this.

I don’t know about the availability of specific models or their prices, but let me tell you this in general. Think about your priorities: are you going to be a 100% dependent on the car for daily use? If you can afford to live without a car (for periods at a time perhaps until things are getting done on it) then it’s a perfect opportunity for a project. You`ve got to be prepared to spend time, effort and money on some lump of metal, this is not an easy task if you are not ready for it. I know plenty of people who would start cursing the car, the brand, the designer, and all the rest of it when things go wrong..!! You are thinking about getting an old car. Can be something minor or a major failure, but things go wrong in EVERY old car. But it`s pretty easy to do preventative maintenance and to reduce the risk of failure if you do your research and put some effort in to it (whatever the brand/model it is). Think about what kind of car you need: Mini/VW Beetle/Cortina have completely different characteristics from each other. You would not want to be cramped inside a mini or vw bug if you value space inside a car. Obviously, bigger cars involve higher fuel costs to run; again, the suitability depends on your intended usage pattern. Know whether you are going to keep this car: I reckon it`s absolutely essential to decide whether you are going to continue with a car as a project or whether this is just going to be an intermediate solution till you upgrade. If it`s a keeper, no worries, you can first work with the 800k and dump more as and when you go. Don’t hurry in to things, do your research and then make up your mind. You could also consider old Japanese classics such as: Datsun: 1600/Bluebird, B210, B310 ; Toyota: Ke20, ke30 or larger sedans ; old crowns, coronas , etc…Heck, even the Mitsubishi Galant (fourth generation 1980-1987) is a pretty awesome full sized Jap sedan for the money. The Datto 1600 or ke20 would be my pick, plenty of material online to read on these, you could also do a complete engine conversion (later on perhaps, when/if funds are available) and make a monster of a little ripper out of these. I’m sure parts are not too difficult to come by in SL as well. Anybody here at AL would NOT recommend you to add body kits etc… and make a Frankenstein out of a car, but the items you are thinking of below are perfectly ok to invest any amount of money on, because these are bolt on`s which are (mostly) not specific to a certain car (can remove and reuse if required). Decent sound system Bucket Seats Large Alloy-wheels with thin tires Sport Speed meters Jut my two rupees. Good luck…

Thanks a lot machan..!! Guess I was getting bored with life and needed a challenge, sure bought one..!! Best of all this is my daily runner and the only car I`ve got. Also imagine the process of convincing the wife to move away from nice leather comforts and fancy electronics of a Honda in to a noisy, stinking Diesel. She`s a sweet soul though, she understands. Furthermore, look at this list; the most reliable used car brands according to What Car? and Warranty Direct (cant remember which year`s survey i got this from though): 1 Honda 2 Toyota -------- 35 Alfa Romeo 36 Land Rover LoL..!! I As a brand, I went all the way from 1 to 36..! Drive`s me insane at times, but at the end of the day, it`s all worth it I reckon. I admit that Toyota 4WD`s are top of the game when it comes to reliability and function, but don’t think I`ll be able to convince myself to own or be passionate about running one (let me put it this way, I won’t be wearing a Toyota cap when I hit the beach. LoL..!). I`ll be just driving it around, like the rest of the millions all over the globe. And also, look where the bog standard Disco is (with crap Chinese road tires) when a D4D Prado (with 70 horses more power on paper, running All Terrain Tires) is bogged on the Disco`s tracks. These things does go hard off-the-road : This is the usual crowd I have to deal with, talk about Jap Dominance when it comes to Fourby`s:

Yeah true. And the thing is, there`s always a list of components that go bust in a certain model, so those specific parts are in high demand. Wreckers charge a premium for those. For example, my rear windows started playing up, apparently another common issue with the window controller unit. I didn’t want to get a replacement unit really, was thinking of taking the unit apart when I get some time, but just bid for a unit on Aus ebay to see for how much it would go for. At the end nobody else had a bid on the unit, I had to buy at the reserve price, 75 Dollars!!! Quite ridiculous really, I guess this is a 20pound item at a UK wrecker. Oh well, will plug it in and see when it arrives. Kudos to the many British parts manufactures who helps to keep these beasts on the road though. Original Landy spares are on a league on their own when it comes to pricing..!

Hello All, Its been a while since I updated this thread, so here goes.. Steering response is the last thing you would expect from a truck of this caliber, and this Disco initially had a steering play of around 1/6th of a turn. Tie rod ends at the steering arms were bust (especially the front right hand side one due to oil leak from steering box). Additionally, the two universal joints at the steering lower arm were worn out as well. So the entire steering lower arm (this came as one unit with two uni joints each end) got replaced: And heavy duty steering arms where also installed. These are considerably heavier and sturdier than the factory arms. My mechanic recons they are strong enough to jack the car up, hopefully I won’t get in to too much trouble to try that one day. I’ve also installed a diff guard, painted it yellow just for the heck of it. I’ve got the rear diff guard as well, but is yet to be installed since I couldn’t get around painting it. Oh, and also, I had to replace the ignition barrel (with the lock) since the original was worn out and turning the key has become a bit of an “art”. It is a bummer since I have to carry two keys now , but just can’t be bothered getting the three door locks re-keyed at this point of time.

Search for "DVD 187" here mate : http://www.4wdaction.com.au/video And download the DVD (issue 187) if you could find the torrent, did a quick search but I couldn't find it yet. This is one epic trip they did mainly on the beach, some crazy crossings while battling with the tide. This Jeremy guy`s Defender apparently weighs 4.3 tonnes fully loaded and still drove through the freaking ocean. With that weight and the suction of the sand, they clearly mentioned that there was no vehicle around, capable enough to recover the Defender if it ever got bogged during the ocean crossing..!

Don, as you would expect, Landy parts are nowhere near as cheap (as in the UK) over here. Generally, locally sourced parts are twice the cost I would say. Main issue over here is economies of scale I believe, very small population compared to the size of the country, plus significant transportation costs added to every auto part sold. Other thing is, there`s very little competition amongst mechanics, parts suppliers, agents, etc… so everyone`s quite used to doing their own thing and ripping people off (how many Land Rover mechanics would be working around a major city over there you think? There`s around 3 in Perth.). Certainly won’t mind travelling to the UK one day, so I can grab a whole heap of bits and pieces for the truck. The replacement R380 gear box itself was 1800 dollars, whereas Aschoft themselves would fit the box for around 1000 pounds over there (includes labor). Which is fair enough, considering the fact that freight charges would add up both ways (for the exchange unit to be sent back). All up, the above list came up to around 5200 dollars, inclusive of around 1500 as labor cost.

Despite it’s notorious reputation for electrical niggles, everything electrical/electronic was working fine on this Disco when I bought it, apart from the front dome light and ABS. The dome light, it was just the contact points at the switch so just took it apart and cleaned with contact cleaner. The error code related to ABS indicated front right hand side sensor so I’ll get it replaced later on. It’s good to have ABS but the brake feel of these trucks are much better without the early generation ABS module. With 300,000 long ones on the clock, the LandRover was marking it’s territory quite madly. Despite a good clean with degreaser, I personally just could not figure out where all the oil was coming out from, engine block, gear box, transfer case, front chassis rail, they were all nicely coated with oil. The 300Tdi was still running as sweet as a nut though, no cold start issues or excessive smoking at all. So I had to embark on a mission to stop (at least try.. ) the oil leaks. Additionally, the 2nd gear was crunching as well and the clutch doesn’t seem to disengage correctly at times, it would make a crunching noise when coming to a halt with the clutch pressed on gear (the car won’t move, but still made a noise as if the gear was partially engaged). The disco was off to a Land Rover mechanic eventually, after a few examinations and discussions, here’s a list of what got replaced or fixed (at 302,514 km`s on the clock): Replaced gear box with a fully rebuilt unit from Aschroft Transmissions – UK. – Apparently the R380 box could suffer from premature wear/failure of synchros` and the main shaft. At 300k, I don’t know whether mine was actually failing prematurely, but it had to be fixed properly so I had the option of getting it rebuilt or buying an already rebuilt one with warranty. I went for the second option due to the warranty provided. Replaced clutch (a new kit) + clutch fork Transfer box intermediate shaft bearings Replaced every possible gasket at the engine + rear main oil seal Replaced all belts (including timing belt) + tensioners + idlers. Also replaced injector spill lines New water pump + ‘P’ gasket New brakes at the front (rotors + pads) New hub seals (front) + repack grease all bearings Replace exhaust downpipe – the pipe was leaking from flexi joint. Had to replace with a used part for the moment since I could not find one brand new Replaced rear prop shaft rubber coupling – Rear prop shaft on the Disco does not have a universal joint at the back (diff end), so the rubber coupling is prone to fail over time All fluids drained and replaced Here`s the old donk, finally (somewhat) clean and oil free. The previous owner had installed a dual battery system, so I need not worry about it : Here`s the rebuilt gearbox in place. The oil patch at the front is leaks from the engine sump. I am yet to get the sump gasket replaced (the 300Tdi does not actually have a gasket at the sump, have to use liquid gasket to seal). I am not going to attempt replacing this at home because the diff sits right below the sump, so might have to jack the car up and even loosen engine mounts to get the sump off. This is for the mechanic to do at the next service.

You meant the 4WD Action magazine? I`ve actually subscribed for this and got a small collection of DVD`s as well.

Yes, there are many manufactures out there and a good product range. 4WDAccessories for Landy`s are not as common as for Toyota`s or Nissans (this country Is a Toyota and Nissan shop when it comes to 4WDs..!), but not hard to find. My other option is to go for a heavy duty rear bumper bar with a short overhang, but they don’t usually come with the spare wheel carrier + reverse lights etc... Good thought on the Landrover Owner Magazine, I subscribe for some other 4WD magazine but not for this one, should give it a go.

Thank you..!! This is exactly why I thought of not going for a Defender. Even though the thing looks the part, thought it might be a bit of a challenge to live with one on a daily basis. Range Rover Classic was out of the question as well coz there was none available here with the 300Tdi. Discovery 1 is essentially a different body on the Range Rover Chassis, I love the articulation provided by the two solid axels. You are correct on the rear overhang; I have a tow bar as well, so it does get stuck to the ground. I am hoping to get a rear bar like this one day, it might not have a short overhang (need to check exact specs) but is much stronger, have jack/recovery points and will take the weight of the spare wheel off the door. Would be perfect with a Jerry can holder on the left. Yes, need to research more on the exact Camel Trophy spec. I absolutely love the camel trophy Yellow (sandglow), the G4 edition`s orange isn’t bad either (Tangiers Orange), if I decide to do the paint I’ll learn my self how to and do it myself.

Hello Fellow Auto Lankans, So I was able to acquire a 1997 Land Rover Discovery 1 a couple of months ago. This is from the last batch of Disco 1`s that came out before the Disco 2 was released with the TD5 motor, so is having a couple of air bags and ABS as standard (plus some basic creature comforts such as: aircon, power windows, heated mirrors, etc…). The truck is powered by the ever popular 300Tdi turbo diesel motor, coupled to a R380 manual box (plus a transfer case with low range and a center diff lock). I know that there are a bunch of LR enthusiasts in SL and a whole heap of Defenders which are set-up quite brilliantly, but don’t know whether there`s much enthusiasm on Disco`s. It’ll be awesome to get to know a fellow Disco owner on the forum (plus LR owners in general), so we’ll see how it goes. My intention is to slowly set up the truck as a capable tourer to take me to remote places and back. Thought of writing this up to record the progress of the truck as it evolves, this is going to be a slow process guys, so please be patient. Hopefully I`ll be able to share information with fellow Landy Owners and this thread might help someone someday in some way. On a different note, I quite enjoy the fact that the general Sri Lankan community over here cannot comprehend the concept of buying a 15 year old noisy truck which is not even a Toyota or a Nissan..! I just reply: “oh I just have to do some work in the garden so need to haul material and stuff so that’s why I got this..”, just to put them out of their misery. LoL..!! Heck even some British guys roll their eyes seeing the Disco, they believe old Disco`s have a whole heap of issues in general. Here`s a pic of the truck in it’s natural habitat: TO be continued…

You my friend, are completely missing the point. Don`t think a company like Tesla would ever intend to build a proper 4X4. Saw the slogan "Utility meets performance.."? This is a utility vehicle for American daddy's to buy to keep the mommy's happy. Let`s just keep it at that and let Tesla + Cali do their thing..

And your point is??

Whoa, people would quote well above 20k AUD for something like that over here in Aus. 8k GBP is quite a good price innit.??

+++1. This is pretty much one of the most educated posts/sum-ups I’ve seen in AL after a long time. I used to condemn Toyota`s (especially corolla`s) and thought I’ll never ever drive one of those. Then I did buy one. I couldn’t live with it for more than 4 months, but it`s clear why the thing is selling in bucket loads. It`s ridiculous to call them generally ‘crap’.!, there`s nothing “crap” about Toyota`s, but well planned conservative engineering to capture market share, nothing more..! I believe this is not common to developing countries only; the Corolla and the Camry are two of the best-selling models in Australia (in a country where thumping V8`s are adored generally, but still a small minority of car buyers would actually live with one on daily basis). Heck even the V6 Camry handles like a cargo ship when compared to say an Accord Euro. But they still sell, the average Joe just want`s a car that`s cheap to service and runs forever. And the average Joe gets very frustrated even when there`s a minor electrical niggle to attend to...

LoL, this boring ol` thread just got a bit interesting.

Just curious, so there shouldn't be any issues mixing regular diesel with the Bio stuff right? say like 50:50? Have you tied mixing at the lab to check whether one would settle on top of the other (different viscosity)?

Yay..!! I had (still have, i think) that Pajero Catalog as well. Thanks for sharing, great memories. My mother probably thought that I was turning out to be a child prodigy when I was explaining about the diffs and suspension of the Pajero at 4 years old (pointing at that catalog). Oh well, the prodigy thing didn't last and I just happen to be just an average joe.

Carnet Scheme/permit in action?

How the heck did you trace the profile pic back to that site anyway? :-D

Exactly what I was thinking. In reality, Jag`s gear box gets busted and there goes half of the 1mill you`ve invested somewhere. Then again, different perceptions on taking risks. As somebody said before, the thread is pretty dumb though.

This is the basis of Darwinism dude, 'Natural Selection'. It`s kinda good for the future of Homo Sapiens.

Just check this week`s group deal on ebay Aus as well: http:// groupbuy. ebay. com. Au /

Generally computers are not cheap as in Singapore over here. But Changi is not so cheap either since you only get access to a very limited number of shops. If your cousin has got enough time, best bet would be to get him/her to hunt for some deals at reputed electronics sellers. Some electronics giants do good deals when they want to move stock. I would send the specs/requirements/budget and then get the person to keep an eye out for a deal. Ebay.com.au is quite good as well, for example this week’s group deal : http:// groupbuy. ebay. com. Au / P.S. Aussy dollar`s exchange rate could be a disadvantage for you though.