28-31st August - Disco arrives!

Well a bit of a busy one this weekend, though Friday was an LR loss due to having to get the rear brakes rebuilt on the Cherokee. As the daily driver that had to take priority.

Saturday and also Monday saw the rear springs going on and the rear axle minus the diff and half shafts. Looks tidy. It would have looked even tidier if the RM supplied U-bolts actually fitted. The axle could then have been clamped up and I could have moved onto the front. But oh no!

The RM supplied U-bolts for both the front and rear axles are 13mm diameter (larger than std) which would not have been a problem if that was the only hitch. In addition the spacing between the legs of the U-bolt are 1/2" too wide so they will not fit the spring plate without a lot of filing and also it also leaves a lot of slack around the axle tube. I dropped a mail to RM on Saturday so I will give them a few days to respond. See pic below showing the difference in spacing against the rear spring plate.

Also sorted out a plate to mount the civi towing electrics over the military towing socket on the rear x-mem. A bit of 3mm plate some fun with a chop saw then the welder = job done!

The biggest task of the weekend on Sunday was to collect the Disco :) By lunchtime it was home and driven 35 miles without any clutch, which was an experience and luckily the 200tdi has enough torque to pootle along in 3rd all the way. Though the traffic behind both me and a following SWMBO wasn't too pleased at being restricted to 45mph all the way down the A36 from Bath.

Anyway the Disco seems to be a good one and drove very well with loads of power. With change out of £400 I have a '93 200tdi with 99k on the clock, 11 months MOT and it has even had a new cambelt 8 months ago (though no docs to prove that so I will change it anyway) plus half a tank of diesel and five SAG lookalike tyres on good 109 military rims (NRC7578/Dunlop/5.5Fx16x33 - spare is new to!).

The diesel went into SWMBO's truck and the wheels will be blasted and used on Trigger.

Sunday afternoon was spent stripping down the Disco to get access to the engine and also to give it a good clean around the engine bay. Also lopped off the viscous fan and changed the oil and filter. Will change the oil etc again once it is in Trigger, but fresh oil gives it a good clean out.

The plan now is to get the 109 chassis into a 'rolling' state and moved out of the courtyard. Then get the Disco in and the engine out. That is the only way we will be able to use the engine hoist again due to the gravel.

So now to get a few orders in for conversion parts for the 200tdi but I am still undecided whether it will be a 'tdi' or 'di'. At the moment the decision rests with me sourcing a Defender exh/inlet manifold and turbo assy - which seem to be as rare as teeth on hens. At least this way the parts are std, or as much as they can be. If I cannot find the manifold soon it will have to be Di (sans turbo). So for now the alternator front pulley; temp sender adaptor and 9.5" clutch assy are all ordered.

Let's get this chassis rolling?

21-23rd August - 200Tdi on it's way!

I mentioned right at the beginning of this 109 saga that I planned to replace the existing engine with a diesel. Two reasons really one to give it a bit more power and torque and also so I can run it on a small percentage of waste veg which we already process here anyway. The engine of choice would be a 200Tdi from a rusty early Disco. For now I will leave off the turbo just to make the installation as simple as possible. Whether I fit it in the future - who knows?

Anyway, in the background I have been putting the feelers out and regularly checking Ebay for cheap MOT failures with what appears to be a good engine and transmission (after all I can sell the LT77 on if it is good). So far two have come up over the past week and both have got away.

1. G plate with 180k in Avebury - couldn't view due to other social committments and that went for £315
2. H plate with 196k Andover - Was on the way over to see it Friday when he called and said he had sold it for £600 outside of the Ebay auction for cash :(

So back to the Bay and keep on looking?

Saturday was spent stripping the rear axle followed by the front on Sunday then giving both the remains of the POR15 that had formed a lump in a jar followed by two coats of Johnsons grey primer (as used on the chassis)then International black satin gloss. I was worried how much material remained on the rear diff bowl then noticed that a PO had done a weld repair after a previous 'puncture'. But it looked much better once cleaned up. Hopefully that will hold for years?



Front is surprisingly good internally and once the scale was chipped off and the surface beaten about with the wacky wheel it wasn't bad externally either. After pulling off the leather gaiters both balls were in perfect condition - so that worry is out of the way.



Also found what looks like a chassis No. (?) stamped on the outside of the front casing.



When stripping the rear axle I found the old military ratio markings for the diff (4.7) under layers of grime.



+++++ Stop press ++++++ Disco now found!!
Well all change again! After losing the last 2 Disco's keeping my eye on The Bay has now come up trumps. A 'K' plate 200tdi with 100k on the clock. Good engine with current (new MOT) plus 3/4 tank of diesel for £350. Reason - the clutch lever in the bell housing has pulled through. Common problem but one that gave me a bit of leverage on the price. We collect next Sunday :)