HAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! It’s a throwback to all the riding and camping I’ve done over the years with motorcycles. I used to go on very long rides in the desert and mountains and brought all the gear to be self sufficient, and that thing packs down quite small and believe it or not is comfy even for a goon like me. It’s called a Kermit chair and the wood is teak and they are quite stout. They used to sell extensions to make it taller, but I never bothered. We have a couple of them for when I used to take the boss on some long bike rides too, like down through Baja and the like. In this specific case, I just grabbed the next one in the pile of camp chairs in the shed.

In Disco news, with the injury keeping me from getting to ride the MTB (I’m at least healing, but it will be a couple weeks at least until I can lift heavy or ride), the Disco has just been used for daily school runs. I’m on a mandatory vacation thanks to our “elected” officials in Washington, so I should be making use of the time, but thanks to my arm not being fully functional, I’ve not been able to dive into some stuff. It is nice to get to spend the extra time with the kids and not at the office, but it also keeps me very conservative fiscally until things clear up.

In contradiction to that last statement but in line with my recent diatribes on the ills of operating a motor vehicle in Colorado, I think once things clear up and come next spring when we’ve recovered some more, I’m going to get serious about a New Defender. This goes against many of the things I’ve said throughout this thread and my affinity for the Disco for so many reasons, but the reality is life is pretty busy for me right now with the kids getting older and activities and such, not to mention the multitude of projects on the property. This takes the work required for the Disco(s) from being cathartic to a chore. Despite getting the Alveston to more or less a steady state with the list of things to do smaller, I have finally admitted I’m addicted to the real luxury and tech of the S4 and her RRS for daily commuting activity. Driving in this area is truly dangerous (certainly validates the early training I’m doing with the boy) and I’m sick and tired of being fearful every time I drive the S4 of redneck bob in his ridiculous lifted Chevy truck trashing my nice little car. It’s also why I don’t ride motorcycles here.

So I’ve started shopping for Defenders and debated on ordering a new one to spec or used, and decided I didn’t want a new one for fear of it getting trashed here, and will just get a used one (probably a ‘21) and go from there. Don’t worry, my Disco journey is not ending in the slightest as the current debate is whether to keep the Giverny and get it to where I’d like it, or just keep it for parts (it’s original purpose anyway) as the boy approaches driving age. I do look longingly at the Giverny and absolutely enjoy driving the Alveston, but it starts to get ridiculous the number of cars we have. As time goes on, it will be fun to see the boy start to take initiative- if not take over- the Alveston and that might drive what I do next.

 

As the new norm in the world today is for it to be completely topsy tervy, I’ve not had much Disco content. I’ve not really driven it hardly at all in the last few months, but decided on a whim to take it to the office last week. It sat for over a month and winter comes and goes here with a week or so in single digits or below zero F. The suspension dumped and the battery was as dead as could be.



I simply put a jump pack on and it fired immediately with zero drama. The suspension came up and all was well- even if I did have to re-pair my phone and such (the battery was so dead even the interior lights wouldn’t come on or anything). I drove to work with no drama and enjoyed it remembering why I like Discos so much.

In my typical waffling back and forth, I’m even back to thinking I’ll do the Giverny as opposed to getting a new Defender. I’m back to liking the fact that I can actually fix the Disco and there is very little if anything I need to be concerned about being able to address, all for very little outlay- certainly when compared to a Defender.

All of this is based on playing with the Jeep a bit over the last couple months and getting it back to where I’d like to use it a bit more. I’m embarrassed that I only took it out on a trail once last year, so my lapse in doing much lately really hasn’t been just isolated to the Disco. In trying to keep a positive attitude, I’ve even started the process of tearing down one of the motorcycles in the hopes I might take the little bike out a bit more as well. The point is, I’m remembering I like to work on cars and bikes and play with them, and despite my disdain for people here, there is a lot I have access to, so it’s a bit silly not to take advantage.

Getting back to the Disco, next steps on the Alveston will be to pull the front bumper and FINALLY address the windshield washer tank leaking. And more positive news, assuming we don’t have another mandatory vacation, we have a builder all set to build a barn. Should we get the barn done, I’m going to start the process of tearing down the Giverny and decide next steps in terms of vehicles.

Thinking happy thoughts…

 

Miracles happen! Long time readers will know this has been years in the making. We adjusted some plans and were able to make it happen this time.



We just got hammered with only our 3rd snow storm the next day from this pic, but with all the bracing I think we’re good this time (again, long time followers will remember a microburst came through and tore down the steel building structure after we waited a year and half for the materials).

I’ve been focusing on the Jeep a good bit lately and getting it ready for a week in Moab with the boy for his spring break.



So I decided to play who can be the bigger redneck after the storm when the boy and I were heading out to shake down the Jeep a bit, and of course I got it stuck in the snow. This is for all the Land Rover faithful that hate it when I talk about how great the Jeep is off road. Yes, this time the Disco had to pull the Jeep out.







This was his first time doing anything of consequence and in 4 low. He did great. Then I thought heck with it, we’re in a controlled enough environment that I’ll let him play for a bit. I sent him off a pretty steep ledge and then let him bulldog it through some snow that was a couple feet deep in places.

I don’t know how to imbed videos but here is a link with my redneck enabling.

https://longtallsallygs.smugmug.com/...me/i-4ZvvLLH/A

The only issue was the T case popped out of gear a couple times and I’m hoping it’s not grenaded (not his fault as I’m the one who put it in 4 low and turned on the diff lock). You can see it right at the end of the video.

He had a blast and I think I’m getting him more hooked. We didn’t drive the Disco any more other than for him to take it up to the house and park it, but I suspect I need to do another fluid change just to make sure there aren’t any chunks or anything in there.

Then we took the Jeep out and played a bit just to make sure all the silly “overlanding” crap I have on there still allowed it to function off road.

 

Oh yeah, I’ve decided to forego the Defender and stick to the original plan and save the Giverny. Discos are just too cool. So once the barn is completed I’m going to just start taking it apart. I have a good list of stuff needing to be done and I’m going to do a good bit of it while it’s in captivity as opposed to the original plan of doing a rolling “restoration”. This will be another opportunity to pollute the boy and help him understand what he’s in for when he takes over the Alveston.

This one should be a lot of fun and I’ll have some fun content for any of the masochists who like to laugh at my D2 silliness. Because it will be inside, I can start and stop as I see fit and do EVERYTHING at my leisure and I’ll take lots of pics. When I get rolling it will be obvious the plan, but I think I’m going to start on the interior and work my way out, and probably do a bunch of service under the hood after I get cats and some other stuff.

 

The boy and I had a great time in Moab and aside from being overloaded and top heavy, the Jeep was flawless. We only saw a few Land Rovers the whole time there (one d2) and none on the trail, which was a bummer but motivation to keep rolling in my D2 journey. I am fully vested in getting both the D2s to reaching their potential- and dare I say even more off road worthy (not that they aren’t out of the box).

We boondocked the entire time while in Moab and had some great spots. It’s so wonderful to have this freedom in the Western US. I was reminded of Utah in their desire to be self reliant, and it was a nice reprieve from the politics and stupidity of other places.



Good news is we got a nice welcome home in progress on the barn.



As I get things unpacked and cleaned up, I saw a bit about the Land Rover National Rally. It’s in Ouray this year and I think I’m going to try to get the Alveston prepped to head over there and attend. This will mean sliders and possibly bumpers for the most part. I’ll probably add front sway bar disconnects as well and that will probably be the extent of enhancing off road prowess and otherwise just make sure it is up to snuff for a long drive and such.

Along those lines, I got a small win yesterday and FINALLY addressed the leaking washer fluid reservoir. I stupidly ordered a new (used) tank, and came to realize it was just the connection from one of the pumps leaking.

As I CONSTANTLY say, a good part of Disco ownership is resolving others’ laziness or ineptness in working on them. Enter my latest exhibit:





The clamp wasn’t on there and you can see the end is a bit cracked and it certainly wasn’t seated properly. I just cut a small amount off were the crack was and used the heat gun to make the hose a bit more pliable. It fit back on seated perfectly and I added another hose clamp and NO LEAKS. This just further and further solidifies my belief there is not much wrong with a Disco other than prior owners. So for the first time since I bought the Alveston, I have washers. It seems like a small win, but it’s huge to me as washers are a necessity here where we live.

This was also fun because believe it or not, I’ve never taken a front bumper off a D2. It’s always fun to learn something new and just makes owning a D2 all the more fun. I’m really to where they are back to being a stress reducer to play with. Once the barn is done this will be amplified as I’ll have a nice covered space to work at my own pace.

In the coming weeks the barn will be done and I’ll get everything in there and order a new VSS sensor to address the P0501 (how deranged is it I have that code memorized now) to do that fix. After that will be the injector seal and I’ll do plugs then since the intake will be off and a few other things while I’m in there.

 

Oh yeah, one other funny thing: when I was testing the washers, I hooked up the Nanocom to test the front washers. The passenger side isn’t working (I’m sure a simple connection) but the driver’s side got not only the headlight, but there was some stream that went about 30 feet straight in the air. It was utterly hilarious. I read in the Rave about pulling the end caps to address, so that will be in the hear future.

I should have taken a picture because it just cracked me up.

 

More little wins! I finally fixed the interior A Pilar trim that of course the tabs broke off after I replaced the dash. I read some time back about folks using screws to replace the plastic tabs that invariably break due to the brittle and aged plastic for both the exterior and interior parts.



I used 10 x 2.5” cabinet screws and was really trying to prove out the concept, but I think it turned out great and I’d call it done.



What I did was take the metal clip the tab is supposed to go in and drilled a hole in it for the screw to secure to, and then a hole in the trim panel to feed it all through.

Lessons learned:
- Drilling that metal clip is harder than you think unless someone as better drill bits than me. I secured the clip in a vice and was careful not to mangle it and had to use a file to get a hole started and then finish with the drill.
- I probably broke the “bridge” on the inside of the trim panel when I was securing it all, but this doesn’t matter as long as you don’t overtighten the screw and crack the exterior of the part. The metal clip is where the bite takes place
- Be cognizant when you drill so everything lines up
- I could probably use the screws and caps from the rear of one as a way to cover up the screws for a true OEM look, but I kinda like the way it is

In my perpetual thought of prior owners making things worse, of course someone used super glue at some point to try and fix this, which made everything more brittle and annoying. Don’t be that guy. What I’ve done here has secured the part better than OEM I think.

This is going to make removal and reinstallation super easy now with no fear of damage. I’ll do the other side when I do the headliner. I may even end up doing the exterior ones too as the nice heated windshield I had put in already has a crack (I bet I didn’t even have a couple hundred miles before it got one- I hate this place) so rather than having to replace the trim again, I’ll probably end up doing the same thing there.