The Birth of Pheonix (Technical Thread)

[J.D.]

After destroying my off - road Recovery Land Rover Discovery (ASBO) I am building another one from scratch. I am starting with a 1996 3.9 EFi V8 Discovery ES automatic, converting it to 200TDi diesel engine and a diesel 4 speed automatic gearbox. It will have front and rear mounted winches, plus all sorts of other off road goodies (as and when I make them). I will update pics as and when I can. Its new name is Phoenix (as it rose from the ashes of ASBO!)

I just thought that a technical thread showing how I did it might be useful.

Ok here is some pics then.

This is ASBO after removing the front winch bumper, radiator grille, lightr surrounds and indicators in order to remove the engine. The corrosion can be seen in the front 'smash panel' fairly well.



This is ASBO once the 200TDi engine had been removed with the chain hoist and prior to the gearbox coming out as well.



I then decided (wish I hadn't now) to do the timing belt, head gasket, crankshaft seals and generally give the well used (for used read abused) 200TDi engine a bit of TLC. There shouldn't be too much to do as I did new pistons, rings and bearings not long ago.

This is the engine with the water pump, turbo, inlet manifold, and exhasut manifolds removed, which was a relatively easy one and didn't snap any studs - for once.



Time for the bottom pulley to come off. Hitting it with a hammer did nothing, so out with the puller.


Then the puller broke!



So now for some big boys toys - out came the gas axe.



Then the bottom pulley broke where I had burned out the rubber damper. The flamin' thing has only been on for less than 6,000 miles when I did the timing belt when it snapped.


More to come,.

[mikiep1986]

 sounds like a nice little project you have there lol . . and also a few problems at the same time lol well hope all goes well dude . .

[J.D.]

Cheers, its going slowly, but im getting there. Still haven't got the pulley off, methinks its a 9" grinder jobby!

[Disco-andy]

I made a puller in the end when i did my belt, a few years back. From memory it looked some thing like this.....  i tried describing it but a picture tells a 1000 words and all that. hope it helps. Good luck with the build, i bet its nice to have a blank to work on again.

[J.D.]

I made a puller in the end when i did my belt, a few years back. From memory it looked some thing like this.....  i tried describing it but a picture tells a 1000 words and all that. hope it helps. Good luck with the build, i bet its nice to have a blank to work on again.

Ok, spent this morning stripping the front end of the new one in preparation for getting the V8 engine out (which is going into a Cobra apparently!).

Also had to strip most of Speen out of the front as well ( :twisted: Malc). Also found a 13mm spanner under the bonnet if that is yours as well DT? Does anyone want the air con gubbins out of it, as it won't be going in mine?


Regarding the pulley, I think I am just going to chop it off, as it needs replacing anyway. Thanks for the drawing though, will come in useful at some point.

[J.D.]

Ok...meet Pheonix (3.9 EFi V8 Discovery ES Spec). Its mint with not a hint of rust on it or in it. The body will be coming off the chassis soon with the aid of the Scammel and will be waxoyled inside and outside (not on the paint though), and the chassis, axles and suspension components will be painted bright red. (And why not!)

There will be a 4" suspension lift kit, flared arches and 35x12.5R15 BFG Mud Terrains on it (but not anytime soon!). I haven't decided for definite on the tyre size, but I want bigger than I currently have, but not so large that they look stupid!

As it arrived at mine...


I started stripping off the front end (radiator, lights, rad grille, air con rad and fans, front bumper, A bar, and PAS pump). Then i found someone had obviously duffed both the headlights at some point, as all that held them in was cable ties!



I even managed to coax my li'l sis into helping me, so set her to work undoing and removing all the interior trim in order to remove the autobox.



Then set upon the rear trim and found someone had done this to the rear offside inner wing:

Any ideas, as I haven't?

I have undone all the body mounts, speedo cable, handbrake cable, auto selector cable, steering column, brake lines and ABS wires in preparation for removing the body with the Scammel next weekend.

After separating the engine from the wiring loom. it looked a bit of a mess!

[mikiep1986]

 going good . . thats what i like to see a girl gettin stuck in and helping out with car dismantaling/repair lol . . does she wana come round and fix mine . . . . . he he

[J.D.]

going good . . thats what i like to see a girl gettin stuck in and helping out with car dismantaling/repair lol . . does she wana come round and fix mine . . . . . he he

It took me long enough to convince her to give me a hand, let alone anyone else lol!

[mikiep1986]

 lol well worth a try ha ha  :lol:

[J.D.]

Ok, managed to get the engine out just before I went on holiday (now in its new home in a rather modified AC Cobra!) an when i got back I dropped the gearbox out, undid all the body mounts and blocked the body up off the chassis (allows better access to certain bits).



I then decided to have an easy day and spent the rest of the day rubbing down the suspension components ready for painting and putting new bushes in them.





The rear floor also got rubbed down and painted with anti rust paint before being undersealed on the inside. (And repairing the rear light wiring where I caught it with the wire brush disc on the grinder.



Just need to get the welder working again to do the two little holes in the front wings and the cut out in the rear wing before I can underseal the whole body and get it off the chassis to paint the chassis red.

The next job for the body is to take the auto pedal box out and replace it with a manual pedal box and put the clutch assembly in. I'm not looking forward to that job. Also need to sort out the wiring loom and make it changed from a V8 to a TDi. Will wires like the temperature gauge, alternator, oil pressure sensor and the like be the same, or do they all need rewiring rather than using the existing wiring for the V8?

[J.D.]

Suspension components primed for painting along with the steering guard and diff guards as I finished the other day. I thought red guards over a black axle would look quite good. Just need a complete can to do the Southdown Tank Guard and towing bracket now.



After 4 coats of red Hammerite. Also painted the intake manifold, header tank, rocker cover and metal intercooler pipe bright red (mainly because I'm a tart, not because it looks good). Sorry for the dark image, but it was about 2300 when I finished that night.




Automatic pedal box taken out, ready to install the manual one. However, because this truck has an adjustable height steering wheel, I had to cut the bottom off the auto box, make a cutout in the manual box and weld the bottom of the auto box to the manual box so the steering column seal will fit and the steering wheel can still be adjusted.




Adapted pedal box fitted in nicely and the master cylinders for the brake and clutch fitted fine. I've also put a softer clutch spring in so her indoors finds it nicer to drive. I had to go and visit my 'Land Rover Grave Yard' for some of the bits (thats a Disco', whats left of a 4 door RRC and a Series III in the distance):





Next job was remove the front seats to rub down and seal the inside of the car, however I hadn't quite bargained on going from this:


to this:


and then all the way to this:


Once rubbed down, the rust cut out and with a couple of patches welded in and primered over the top, it didn't look too bad. I just hope the passenger side is in better nick. I presume the hole in the corner of the footwell was why the carpet was wet, as it was dead inline with the front offside wheel.
#

I then set about removing the fuel tank and filler pipe (needed to underseal the rear floor, put a diesel sender unit in the tank and put a diesel filler pipe on it). Tank came out nice and easily (apart from the 2 x 17mm bolts at the front which needed a breaker bar as even the impact gun wouldn't undo them!)

Now for the dirty smelly job, as the ground was dry, rubbing down the rest of the underneath of the body and chassis and undersealing with proper underseal. For anyone who has never used it, its like trying to paint with tar!. This is the main reason I inserted some breeze blocks between the chassis and the body, as I just needed a little more room for the hand and the brush.


Rear wheel arches got three coats as the wheels are going to throw all sort of abuse at the coating. For once, even after attacking the inside of the wheel arch with a wire brush, there was no rust or holes. Thats one thing at least.

Next jobs is to do the same as above on the passenger side, cut the V8 engine mounts out and weld the diesel ones in, cut the bottom pulley off the 200TDi and replce timing belt and head gasket and rear crankshaft oil seal.

Anyone got any ideas what I should do for a rear winch mount. On ASBO (though I rarely used it for off roading as it was a PITA to store in the truck), I had a Southdown towing bracket which had been cut down and a winch tray bolted to it with a 9,500lb winch in it. Shall I cut out the rear crossmember and weld in a winch tray, meaning the rear winch is there permenantly, which means remodelling the tank guard so I still maintain the towing capabilities or shall I keep my current system. A rear winch is useful to me for pulling vehicles onto trailers and dollies, but with the current system I can't have a trailer hitched up and use the rear winch, and it would mean building some brackets in the back of the truck to hold it securely (not too much of a problem, just loss of storage space and more welding lol.

A quick question as well, does anyone know if a diesel sender unit will screw into a petrol fuel tank and is there anything I should be aaware of using a petrol fuel tank for diesel? :-$

[J.D.]

Ok, well the ABS pump and the majority of the brake lines have been replaced, the ABS pump was leaking so that had a replacement plumbed in.



Also removed the rear axle a while ago. Time to replace the A - frame balljoint and bushes. One bolt came out, the other needed a little pursuasion from the old four and 'arf! I have got a wide angle A frame balljoint to put back in, which will hopefully improve the articulation.


As did one of the old brake flexi hoses.


And I found the largest rust hole yet - in the passenger footwell at the front. Suspect this is why the front carpets were permenantly wet! Oh joy, yet more welding. :)


Rear axle had new brake lines, new brake discs and pads, new 6" extended braided brake lines (Goodridge), air line for the rear locking diff (ARB) and a nice shiny red QT diff guard (from Hammerite lol). Axle has also been rubbed down and undersealed.
#

Considering I did all that in two hours on Sunday morning while the 'high command' was shopping, I thought I did rather well. :D

[J.D.]

Ok, well I still had to get the A frame balljoint out of the carrier. I managed to move it slightly with a socket and hammer...


....but after that it went solid, and even with heat it wouldn't shift.... (but the workbench did start glowing nicely!)


So I used one of the hydraulics on the Scammel. I haven't taken any pics of this bit because I don't want someone trying to do the same and causing an injury.


Then an abrasive spinner on a drill was used to clean the inside of the carrier once it had been separated from the ball joint.


And a wire brush disc on the 4.5" was used to tidy up the carrier (because I like shiny bits).

I then had to swap the rear prop flange from a 3 bolt one to a 4 bolt one in order to fit a 200TDi prop, and remove the rubber donut. I have used this method of doing it as I didn't need to keep the 3 bolt flange, so damage is not a problem. Obviously if you want to keep the 3 bolt flange for future use, a little less violence is needed!

First, use a 4.5" grinder to put a shallow (10mm) cut behind each of the 'leaves' with the bolt holes in.


Then, put a shallow cut with the grinder between each of the 'leaves', avoiding cutting too deep and damaging the flange bolt.


Then use a club hammer to beat each of the 'leaves' back towards the diff, this releases the friction on the spigot and should allow it to be twisted free and pulled out.


The bolt underneath is 30mm and will need a breaker bar to undo. There is a spacer and a fabric washer underneath. If you want to (I did), the pinion seal can be replaced as well, and the four bolt flange can be inserted. Apply grease to the flange and seal to make them easier to fit.

[J.D.]

Haven't been too busy with Pheonix at the moment, as my better half has just bought 'Poppy' so I have had to bow to pressure and do some work on that to get it ready for Hogmoor Enclosure this coming weekend. However, I have managed to do a few things in between other jobs. I was hoping to have it on the road (by which I mean engine in, gearbox in, X - springs on, tyres on, underbody protection on, with just the auxillary wiring to do) by the end of this week, but I don't think I am going to make it.

Got the new lightbar made up, and it took quite a bit of bending to get the arc to match the front of the bodywork on the truck, but once the bend was there, the welding was fairly easy.




Also got the lightbar painted up in return for a full service on 'Poppy' - and she has still got the steering guard and tank guard to primer and red Hammerite! :D



Also made up some recovery eyes for the front of both mine and 'Poppy', which are rated to 3.5T and sit very close into the bumper, reducing the bashed knees!



Fitted the tank which will hold the vegetable oil between the chassis rails as well, next job is to fit the small diesel tank which will fit under the rear floor on the drivers side, near the fuel fille. Must weld some mounts in first though.


Finally the new injectors arrived, which meant I could refind the head and fit them!


If anyone is interested in either the lightbar or recovery eyes (I do ones for Defenders as well), then the details are on the website in my signature.

[bravo669]

loks smart so far!keep it up

[boss]

good build mate. getting anything bent to match the radius of the front of a disco is a bitch! :clap:


now then, a little more info on your sister.... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[J.D.]

good build mate. getting anything bent to match the radius of the front of a disco is a bitch! :clap:


now then, a little more info on your sister.... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Tell me about it, bend every 1/2 inch I think it was.

Shes a bit like a Land Rover - high maintenance! :D :D And when things go wrong, they go wrong big time and lots of loud noises occur!

The girl in the recent photos is my missus AKA Angel from Thames Valley 4x4 Club.

[boss]

nonsence! itll be fine, forward my contact details :lol:


yah, the reason my cage diddnt have any kant rails in the photo shoot i was in is because i messed up on the first screen rail, diddnt have enought steel for both another screen rail and the roof rails. might have even looked good if i had enough to do it all lol

[J.D.]

Anytime you are in the Reading area I would be delighted to introduce you! :D :D

Haven't seen the photos of your cage yet. I was thinking of making a cage for mine, but I don't think my welding skills are quite on a par with yours yet, and also, I don't like the look of a Disco with an exterior cage and i don't really want an internal one.

[boss]

errrm bad photo but dad ponced the disk with the prints on



next cage will be a million times better!


exo cages are funny things, its soooo hard to get a nice looking one. they only look good if there made PROPERLEY ie. they follow everey curve and countour on the body. should be getting a propper tube bender soon so if youm want could come down one weekend and bend some tube and ill leave you to weld it.



me being me i would put a cage  on my disco(if i was offroad prepping it) weather i would need it or not becasue not many people have one.......its nice to be a little different!

[mikiep1986]

 looking good dude bin busy i can see . . . .

 i like a exterior cage but it has to be flush with the bodywork looks so much better . . i wana do a cage on mine soon as i had a lil mishap on our week in wales wer i was hanging over a lil drop . . .

 boss wat suspension setup are you using on yours . . . thats the sort of articulation i want on mine

[J.D.]

Ok, before I managed to mash my fingers up (now much better thankfully), I spent 3 days solid working on Pheonix in the hope of getting it ready for the Thames Valley 4x4 event at CORE in July, but I don't think it is going to be done by then. Certainly it will be up and running, but I don't think I will have all the auxillaru gubbins done. (strobes, beacons, on board air, 240v power, DVD and TV, CB, work lights, light bar, spotlights, winch controls, power points and the rear storage) all done by then and I don't really want to take it out half done.

Finally the undersealing has been done (inside chassis, outside chassis, all under the body and in the sills, inner wings, rear floor, rear arches, rear wings). I also managed to underseal all the inside, and put it back together again in a day. The carpets will be coming out again though, as courtesy of a local flooring company, I have been donated a large quantity of koya matting to go inside, making it more durable, quieter and easy to clean out.

You can see from the photos below how much I had to cout out of the front wheel arches to get back to clean metal. Fortunately the A - pillars will still solid, otjherwise it would have taken me even longer.

The fuel tank is now fully connected up, and the interior heater for the veg oil is wired in and just needs connecting to the switch. I have decided not to have two tanks (diesel and V/O) as I was going to lose storage in the back for all the recovery gear and tools.

Rear axle is fully built up with a new A frame balljoint and HD trailing arms, just awaiting the X - springs before I fit it.Extended brake lines are fitted and every single brake line on the thing has been replaced and in some cases re-routed to minimise possible damage, and both wheel bearings have also been replaced. The front axle is in good condition (I know the diff is sound because I replaced it for the previous owner), so that just needs removing, rubbing down, undersealing, fit the diff guards and radius arms, and refitting which will only take a morning. The springs are Old Man Emu +2" and the shocks are Old Man Emu +5". I may have to drop to +4" shocks or fit bigger extended bump stops but only time will tell.

Southdown tank guard has been modified and painted, ready for fitting, and the orignal mounting holes welded up and ground down to try and get a flush fit with the chassis this time.

The original winch bumper on ASBO wasn't reused, and I sourced a winch tray from 4x4RUs in Warick, which I then set about adjusting the chassis mounts, stregthening it, welding new wings and supports on it, and enlarging the winch tray to make room for the 16,0000lb winch which will go on the front. I also reused the Defender A bar I had kicking around and welded that to the top of it. I didn't want a full bull bar (as is fitted to Poppy below), because the bumper is too big for what I want to do and I didn't see the point in ruining a perfectly good ARB winch bumper.

All that is left to do is throw the gearbox in, weld the new engine mounts in (old ones have already been removed with the help of a gas axe), and ty and make some sense of the engine wiring, fit the bumpers, tree sliders, steering guard and tank guard, and constuct the storage in the back either out of plywood or steel (haven't decided yet).

Photos will be up shortly, and there is more to come.

[boss]

mate, photo above is using x-springs with +5" dampers. your disco will flex like mad!

[J.D.]

mate, photo above is using x-springs with +5" dampers. your disco will flex like mad!

Thats what I had been hoping for. In the end, I couldn't get +5", so went for +3" with a -2" shock dropper bracket.

[boss]

i still got the -1" front damper mounts from my old kit. £55 if you want them. bargain for the tubular sexyness! :D

[J.D.]

i still got the -1" front damper mounts from my old kit. £55 if you want them. bargain for the tubular sexyness! :D

Already got some mate, I bought them with the lift kit, but thanks for the offer. Hows the Astra now?

[boss]

astra fine, whats going on with pheonix?

[J.D.]

astra fine, whats going on with pheonix?

Did a last minute dash to Winchester yesterday to pick the engine and box up, so may get around to fitting them today. Lots gone on with it, but I have lost the cable for my camera to connect to the laptop, so can't upload piccies!

[J.D.]

Kinda forgotten about this, so here's an update.

Newly powder coated tank guard went on:


The suspension went on like a piece of cake - +2.5" springs, and +5.5" shock absorbers with -2" shock brackets.

Engine mounts were lined up and welded in - you need a very very big G clamp for this!

Then covered with Tetrosyl.

The engine went in and all the shiny red bits got bolted on along with a 100amp alternator and a quick steer PAS box.



Winch bumper was primered and then sprayed to match the bodywork


Rear windows got blacked out courtesy of matt black spray paint. There is now 240v electrics in the back, a 4 gang socket and a jump start point, all with a cut off switch and an interior work light.

Off to A TV4x4 event to try Phoenix out with the other half in Poppy to make sure I could get dragged out!

The new suspension set up works really well - I drove off the end of the makeshift RTI ramp!




Then it died - fuel starvation and no amount of little tricks would get it going again, so it got trailered home in disgrace! (Thanks Carrie - and Daisy :D).


I also killed the winch. Not going to go into how, but suffice to say it won't be happening again!


Fuel problem is hopefully fixed now, pending putting the new sender unit in.


Storage for the back of the truck, all home made and solid enough to mount the hi lift, ground anchor, shovel and a few other heavy bits on.





I've just got to get the fuel problem sorted out for god and it should be in for the MOT by the end of the month with any luck.

[boss]

A1 job mate :D  :thumbup: