I bought a 97 disco with 96k on it about a month ago for $500.00. The previous owner had done extensive maintenance on the vehicle (by that i mean he had the dealer do it with the documented bill coming out to roughly 6k) Now the problem he had with it was the hesititaion on the highway which i found to be the vss sensor. Now this was the problem that he said was the reason he was selling it for such a low price because he was unmotivated to put any more money into it to figure out what was wrong with it and was just going to buy a new disco (judging by the maintenace paper work the dealer he had working on the car tried everything but the vss to fix this hesitation problem). Now the reason i am letting you guys know about the low price and the reason for the low price is because the vss being the only mechanical problem when i bought it is now fixed so in theory i got a great deal.

However the truck has rust in both back door wheel arches, small spot under the front driverside door hinge and the front right inner fender wing under the battery is toast. I have checked for other rust on the floors and elsewhere on the truck but havent been able to find any, the bottom of the truck has this rubbery coating all over it like the rhino liner you see in the bed of pickup trucks. So my question pertains to is a mechanically sound D1 with rust issues worth saving? I only ask this because coming from restoring mustangs and accepting rust as part of the game doesnt seem to be the consensus with land rover discoverys. From what i have read it seems like the majority say if its got rust pass on it, its not worth fixing.

Im just trying to get some opinions on if i got a good enough deal on the intial purchase price and the truck haveing a majority of the D1 problems already fixed to justify doing the extensive body work on it and bringing it back to 100%. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated, im sorry this is so long i just wanted to get some opinions before i take my next step with the truck.

 

In your neck of the woods rust eventually wins. But certainly you can abate it, even get ahead of it in areas, and continue to enjoy the Rover. The RAVE has a body repair section, and there have been plenty of posts on here about guys that have replaced arch, floors, etc. Let's say you drive at year. That's like having a $40 a month car payment. For a Rover.

If having some rust is a problem, then dents. dings, and war wounds from off roading might be a problem as well. BTW, you can bet there will be some rust below that undercoating, it most likely was put on because of some rust.

Unlike your Mustang, this is no "SHOWPONY" (my favorite tag on a Mustang).

 

I've got a similar issue. I got a '97 disco for $800. Documented service work for the previous 3 years included new front end, new radiator, head gaskets, battery, remote, and fuel pump work (botched) among other things like leak repairs & stuff.

Minor rust in the front drivers & passengers footwells with a small hole in each. Rust hole in back of left side rear door opening. Minor rust hole in the left rear side of the cargo area. Left side inner front fender rusted through.

None of this stuff is visible, so it's not of immediate concern. When the weather gets better, I'll just weld in patches and paint with rust preventive paint. I already did the cargo area floor with POR15, so it's good forever.

Since none of this rust is visible, I just need to close it up. Making it look pretty is irrelevant. You just want to stop it from getting any further.

I expect to keep this thing for many years.

 

I guess I should try my hand at welding and research the rust repair process.

 

depends on how big the holes are and what you plan on using the truck for. You can simply cut the rust out and rivet a new sheet of metal in it's place and seal it and be done with it. or if it's small enough you can grind the rust and use a fiberglass sheet replacement. or if you want to be fancy you can weld a sheet in place.

 

My plan for the vehicle is a functional structurally sound daily driver that i can play with in the woods. Im not looking for presitine i just dont want the rust to spread and i would like to repair it the best possible way i can. After the rust and body work is done, then i will throw a cheap paint job on it, since it doesnt make sense to get a show car paint job on a truck im going to scratch up in the sticks.

 

I bought my Discovery 1 with extensive rust and bad fire damage for 1200 euro and when I say bad look here...



















And if you for one moment think it got scrapped or passed on then guess again!!!!

I have put blood sweat and tears in to my Discovery it runs, the boot floor was replaced, the drivers side footwells were repaired the chassis rot was repaired and I am still yet to do the inner wings but there are other things in my mind to get done first, see what happens when you get busy with the welder....







and do a little rewiring.....










So when I read about a guy whining about a little rust patch and moaning because it cost hhim $500 to buy it and he thinks he should pass it on, let me tell you this much, my disco cost me the equivalent of $1600 to buy with all of it's problems and guess what, it will be far better than any others out there because it will have been completely restored to off roading truck status not just scrapped for a bit of rust and a few burned wires!!!

 

Not whining at all and i was saying how i got a great deal on it for 500.00. Your work is very inspiring, but i think you got the wrong message from my post.

 

Sorry not meaning to offend, but I have a couple of guys local to me here and all they do is annoy me with the trivial problems they take to the main dealer on cars that are less than 4yrs old, it's this, it's that and why don't they do something about blah blah blah, gets me down a bit when I could just about afford to buy this to fix up and make good and they have trucks that cost 20,000 euro and they are still not happy!!!

I have a long way to go with mine but if you are interested to see what goes on at my little bit of paradise see here...Land Rover Owner • View topic - Dieseldogs bush workshop #1

I love to work on trucks, my girlfriend says it's therapy!!

 

i will def check out your link, I dont have the money to take it to the dealer for every little problem that happens i have to fix it myself out of shere neccessity lol. I love wrenching on cars and putting something into them , and i feel like this disco has a lot of potential and i can bring it back to its former glory lol. I dont know what it is i have always been a car guy ford and mustangs but theres something about land rover and all the fun i can see myself having in it that just motivates me to keep it for a long time.