Tray back Disco build

- Decided to move this over to it's own thread to document everything on this forum as well.

Mean while - I decided it's time to chop it.. Here's the progress from today



Here's the plan



Gonna rivet in aluminum I think after I fix the floors and what not

Did a little cutting today

My motivation to do work on the truck today



Chopped the rear QP at the front of the wheel well and then cut the rear body mounts and off she came. The rear was surprisingly light.. I removed it all myself








I am now looking to trade the tires and wheels off of this truck for a set of mud tires. Let me know if you guys see any out there or want the tires and wheels on this truck and we can make a deal. They are practically new.

todays inspiration is probably my favorite one i've seen so far. Wheel base gonna stay the same?

Turf wrote:

todays inspiration is probably my favorite one i've seen so far. Wheel base gonna stay the same?

Todays inspiration appears to be a P38 if you look closely at the front.

At this point yes wheel base will stay the same. If a stretch does happen it will be in the front since the rear is going to be bobbed a couple inches behind the rear tires.

Gonna go fuel cell with the tray up high or out a tray right on the floor?

Also. I'm curious what a scrapped disco gets at the metal yard. Lemme know

Looking good so far.

Turf wrote:

Gonna go fuel cell with the tray up high or out a tray right on the floor?

The tray is going to be up high May put the cell underneath it mounted to the frame so I have somewhere to keep a spare and other goodies.

Turf wrote:

Also. I'm curious what a scrapped disco gets at the metal yard. Lemme know

A whole disco? around $400. What I have? Probably not much which is why I will probably save the fenders and rear hatch door to be resold. Also keeping all the rear windows for spare for my truck. The rest is a lot of interior plastic, vinyl and carpet.

Thebloody323 wrote:

Looking good so far.

Thanks it's getting there. Not too much more tearing down before I start building it up again. Just got to cut the doors to matchthe roof and floor lines and then shorten the frame and then it's onto the floors and then the cab.

Turf wrote:

Also. I'm curious what a scrapped disco gets at the metal yard. Lemme know

guess you have given up on yours? lol

The way it is now it looks better than Kase's truck.

Got some rims and tires cheap, just have to pick them up down in DC area. The tires are going to need to be replaced soon but it's a good rolling set until I sell the tires and wheels on it now.



Posted this in a couple places to get some ideas for the build -

All in all the project is going well. The only challenges I see that I havent completely solved yet are as follows.

1. How and what to use for a fuel cell. I see some trucks have used a defender tank mounted on the tray itself, I like this idea or something similar I can mount under the bed that way I will have space for a spare, and other goodies.

2. How to brace, cut and seal the cab especially around the roof where it's curved.. I have decided running 1x1 square tubing across tops of rear door panels and then across the back of the truck is probably going to be the best way to make some supports. And then maybe add an additional vertical pillar.

3. Front seats - I would like to maintain two front seats. The easiest option is manual D1 seats but that's kind of boring and wouldnt include a harness.

Then of course issues/ideas that will need to be addressed later on like the design of the cage and bed. Diff and rocker sill protection. Street legality. Etc.

Did some preliminary measurements today decided 24" is going to come off of the rear and that will low for a bumper to still be mounted even with 35-36" tires if it ever comes to that.

Decided that cutting the roof and bending it down to rivet a piece of sheet in from the inside out may be the best bet to prevent leaks. This plan may change though once I get the doors cut and can get a better look at everything.

Going rivets all the way cause it's cheap and easy. Maybe do 4 seperate panels and then cut for a rear window later on..

Might want to check out the build threads on LR4x4. Might also be something on Devon 4x4 forum that they run.

airbornrover wrote:

Might want to check out the build threads on LR4x4. Might also be something on Devon 4x4 forum that they run.

Yea I have pulled a TON of pics from LR4x4 and the difflock forums. The problem is I havent found any in depth build threads just pics which makes some stuff tough.

After looking at seats and harnesses I have decided to keep manual rover seats. Also decided to keep the fuel tank and reroute the hoses. Kinda making things up as I go at this point but that is part of the fun

devildog01 wrote:

The way it is now it looks better than Kase's truck.

really? every f'ing thread?

Took the gas tank out for now and chopped the rear of the frame. Cleaned it up and sprayed some paint on it to keep it from rusting. The frame is in decent overall condition just a lot of surface rust to take off.



This pic is to show the rear approach angle and also where I will probably strap the gas tank.



I some how managed to roast my trusty harbor freight grinder while cleaning up the frame. Will try to fix it tomorrow or go buy another dozen for a dime.

Fixed the stating issue, it was the battery as I assumed. Gonna pick up a new one for the white truck and pass down the old one to this truck. Going to pick that up and the new set of steel wheels and tires this weekend.

Still need to take the rear doors apart and pull the glass and parts that are worth something before I start cutting there. I am going to come up with a cab length by test fitting the old seat and seeing how much room i really need.

I got one of those break pipe bender tools. need to go get brake piping at some point. I really want to drive this thing around

Kicking more ideas around

Thinking I am going to go with a tray similar to this.



Make it out of square tube and then tie the cage straight into the frame. Except I am thinking about making the cut out for the spare all the way in the rear where it can fit between the frame because I dont have plans for a rear winch at this time.

Here's the thought - you have to use imagination but cage will be in front of the spare. and the tray will come probably 1/2-3/4 up the spare so you will only see the top of the tire mostly. Then I will find a way to secure it from the top to keep it from bouncing.

When do the wood blocks and tractor tires go on?

Hilltoppersx wrote:

When do the wood blocks and tractor tires go on?

haha I want to get some stupid beefy tires for this thin eventually. I am going to pick up rims and tires this weekend and they will be on shortly after that.

Chopped into doors today and cut more off the floor. I am going to take even more off if you see the cut on the lower part of the door. Maybe more- we will see.. Gonna pick up thoe 4.7 series diffs for it - oh man it's gonna be stupid fun....

Jake wrote:

Kicking more ideas around

Here's the thought - you have to use imagination but cage will be in front of the spare. and the tray will come probably 1/2-3/4 up the spare so you will only see the top of the tire mostly. Then I will find a way to secure it from the top to keep it from bouncing.

Only issue is with the tire sittnig the way you have it it'll be right in the middle of your tray so you wont have that much useable tray space. Dude in the other photo had his tire butted up to the back of his tray to maximize tray surface area. I'd recommend trying to fit it under the tray or at the back like the other dood has it

Turf wrote:

Jake wrote:

Kicking more ideas around

Here's the thought - you have to use imagination but cage will be in front of the spare. and the tray will come probably 1/2-3/4 up the spare so you will only see the top of the tire mostly. Then I will find a way to secure it from the top to keep it from bouncing.

Only issue is with the tire sittnig the way you have it it'll be right in the middle of your tray so you wont have that much useable tray space. Dude in the other photo had his tire butted up to the back of his tray to maximize tray surface area. I'd recommend trying to fit it under the tray or at the back like the other dood has it

I would BUT I am putting my gas tank under there.. So that kinda makes it hard. Depending on how much I take off I may be able to to make it work. Useable tray space isnt that big of a deal as long as I can fit some sort of box in the back for random shit and tools. - Think trailer queen