I’ve not posted in a while as life is psycho busy as always (and the world seems to like to act like idiots even more now that we are past the social engineering exercise), but rest assured, my D2 addiction is very much still alive and well, and I pop in from time to time and offer some input and live vicariously through all you guys.

I thought I might post some pics from a show a little while back that we went to at the Mercedes museum that had some cool G Wagens and such. Oddly, I’ve not seen too many Defenders, but they are around from time to time. The boss saw a couple parked next to each other on one of the installations this week and I’ve shopped a bit for them and we might actually do that before a 911 (again, if we can swing it). I’ve shopped on Td5 D2s a bit and they are all pretty horribly clapped out, poorly optioned or absolutely absurd prices. The boss wants a Defender more, so we might do that instead as the prices are way lower, and significantly more to choose from.

Anyway, some G Wagen content…





I think this is one- or a replica of- the Dakar racers.















The long winter is starting to set in, but at least the Christmas markets are starting up soon. I ordered winter wheels for the S4 and will have winter tires mounted soon, which is odd as I’ve never really driven it in the winter what with having the Jeep or Disco for winter duty.

Life here is as annoying as ever, but there are positives and we’re having fun. We’ve not done too many trips thus far other than to Milan for fashion week for Princess Fussy Pants (she’s getting into runway modeling) and down to the Disney castle and of course the myriad of German festivals, but hopefully as we get more settled we’ll be able to get out more.

 

No Disco content specifically, but I’m just getting excited to get back to the States for a couple weeks to get the house ready for some new renters. I’m excited, but nervous about the state of the Alveston. We all know DIscos don’t like to sit for long periods of time, so fingers crossed it will remember the attention it got prior to my departure and run. Assuming it works OK, I’ll drive it most of the time back home, otherwise I’ll have to rely on the Jeep. It will of course have to be a workhorse as I’ll be putting a bunch of stuff in storage.

We’ve been enjoying Europe as much as we can, but we all miss home a good bit. There are challenges as there are anywhere, so we’ve adopted the saying, “it’s not better or worse, just different”.

I’ll at least put a scoshe of English content from a trip to London a while back.

 

OK, I made it back to the States! My goodness it is good to be home. It’s been raining for 3 months straight in Germany and I needed some sun and pretty sights. This morning did not disappoint as I enjoyed some ‘Merican coffee on the deck. I didn’t realize how much I missed this place.



OK, on to the first Disco content in a year! Tucked away and not too bad all things considered.







It’s utterly filthy on the outside, but I think not too bad. Under the hood is clean as a whistle, so that’s good. I’ll try to get it fired probably on Wednesday.

The only bad part was that I left a bottle of Stabil in there and it leaked really bad. It smells like a bottle of Def in the interior and I was terrified at first that an animal got in there but poked around with a flashlight and saw the culprit. My only concern is it made it through the floor mat and into the carpet. How caustic is that stuff? I kinda don’t know what to do in order to mitigate.

Otherwise, the tires are flat and you can see the bags dumped (both to be expected based on the winters)

I’ll definitely report back if I get it rolling. I’ll take some time and do a good wash and we’ll go from there.

 

Like the "anti-roof-blow-away-straps". Pretty good thinking though.

 

She lives!!!!!







Fired up immediately! Bags came right up and I aired up the tires and all is well. And would you believe no leaks?!?!?!?!?!

That’s the good news. In looking for an air gauge…. Yep, found a nest in the glove box. The smell wasn’t the Stabil, it is the worst. I’ve pulled the glove box out and will probably trash it.

I did a quick scrub to the carpet with some spot shot type stuff, did an HVAC cleaner deal through the intake, and then one of those bombs inside. So I think I got the smell. ALL of the vent foam came flying out as I cycled everything in the system. Meh, the dash is getting replaced anyway, so not too worried about it.

So the good news is I’m not going to have to start over on it, which I was quite concerned with. There is some dirt rolling around in the headliner too, but that is coming out as well since the sunroof was leaking prior to leaving.

All in all, it is a good Rover day. All the work I did to get it right apparently paid off. The friggin radio even remembered my phone. So I’ll give it some exercise for the next few days and THIS time I’ll do a good job with the moth ***** (I stupidly left them in the box with just the box open- the Jeep reeks of them, but zero issues with critters in it). I’m still amazed the battery is holding a charge as he never disconnected it like I asked…. Oh well. Again, not a bad thing.

 

Disco cannot be even remotely considered dead. I’ve been driving the Disco as much as the Jeep as I run errands and do trips to the storage unit.

On tow pig duty:



I did a couple more cleanings of the HVAC and left the glove box out and all is well. The temp hit 201 once when I was pulling the trailer uphill to the house (7400 feet) and was bull ******* it, but otherwise, it won’t even get to 190 driving around and I’ve been running both AC units full tilt and they are both as cold as ever. The bags are holding and even the battery is holding a charge. I am just amazed.

So I rewarded her with a good bath.



And now in the garage to air out. I’ve only got a few more days home, but it should be all set to put back in the barn.



THIS time I’ll make sure to get the moth ***** correct. And I DO mean it THIS TIME. (name that movie). It will be a bummer to have the moth ***** smell for a bit for the next outing, but it will beat having critters. As I don’t have the stress of the kids and such, I should be able to do it a bit more correctly this time.

 

Love seeing the updates. Lemme guess, ****** was the movie quote? Perhaps Bricktop?

 

Well I guess since I miss updating this whole story, and some changes are coming, I thought I’d put an update in (no decent pics this time).

Sadly, my time in Euroville is coming to a close once again. My parents are getting really close and I need to come home and help my brother on the transition for them. No surprises as they have lived full lives, but tough nonetheless.

I won’t be back to our place in CO for a few months, and based on how quick all this came up and a lack of tools, I’ll be driving the Jeep exclusively, but I’m really looking forward to playing with my Disco(s) again and using it as my bike transport. Long time sufferers of my rambling will remember my initial addiction and use of D2s was for little bike transport. When we moved to CO, that became MTB transport, but the same concept.



Priorities when I get back for the Alveston will be:
- Dash replacement
- Fix a water leak (that based on a great thread here I think is actually the HVAC intake under the cowl and not the sunroof)
- Replace the front passenger window regulator
- FINALLY fix that stupid VSS code I’ve struggled with (probably have to pull the valve body of the trans to address)

THEN I’ll start on the Giverny. I had planned just to start to gut it in anticipation of finding all the stuff needed to include just pulling the engine and doing a full rebuild. But my wife said I should get it to driver status and then do my typical “drive and find out what surprises are there” deal with all the D2s I’ve had.

So I suspect I’ll just make sure it holds oil and such and get a cat (or 2, I can’t remember) and go from there. Depending on the depth I’ll have to go to on it, the boy will be helping with both as he is only a few years away from driving (and actually started driving lessons close to the house with the Alveston) and I think one of them will be his first car.

 

Two cats. You can get the ones I got from Autozone for less than $1k.

 

It's like $400 for two CARB compliant magnaflows or was when I bought 3 sets a few years ago..