Discourse 2

the newsletter of the

Discovery Owners Club

Disclaimer Notice Pre-amble For the purposes of this disclaimer notice “Discovery Owners Club” and “Club” are interchangeable and assumed to mean the same thing.

Advice Given Any and all advice given in this publication or elsewhere is done so in good faith.

Whilst every effort is taken to ensure that any and all advice is accurate and correct the Discovery Owners Club and those acting on it’s behalf cannot be held responsible for the accuracy of advice given and anyone acting on such advice does so at their own risk.

Club Events Any activities, in particular (but not exclusively) off-roading and green laning, are undertaken purely at the participants own risk. All vehicles are to be suitably insured and prepared for the activity undertaken. Participation in any club organised event is on the understanding that safety is the responsibility of the individual concerned.

Public Liability Insurance The Club carries no insurance and therefore cannot protect its members or their families and friends from any claim as a result of an accident. Members are strongly recommended to take out suitable public liability insurance.

“Discourse” contact details: Please forward any articles, advertisements, comments and suggestions for the newsletter to Steve Goodfellow using the contact details on Page 3.

Inside This Issue Topic

Page

Editors Comments

2

• The usual rants and raves Committee Members

3

• Articles • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Names, Postal Addresses, Contact Numbers, Email Addresses Turbocharged Mpi My LR ~ The Story So Far ~ Damian Bunn Langley Farm Guest House Recommendation Rear Bumper Rust Requests For Help My Discovery ~ The Story SoFar ~ Simon Kay Billing 2000 Discovery Owners Club: The Next Few Months Warning Letter Mpi – Or The 1% Model ‘Met’ Discovery’s – Off-Road Technical Q & A Dear All – A Letter From Lynne Painter Sussex Pub Meet Scottish Meet South West Meet Td5 Alternator Fusing Land Rover Enthusiast Magazine Eastnor Castle Village Fete Club Events Headlamp Wiring Fault?

Talking Of Headlamps Club e-Groups List Club Internet Web Site Membership List Back Issues Next Issue Members Vehicle Pictures Reports Of Our Demise Are Somewhat Exaggerated Some Land Rover Humour

4 4 5 6 6 7 8 10 11 12 12 13 14 16 16 16 17 17 18 18 19 19 19 20 20 20 20 21 21 21 21

Private Advertising • •

For sale Wants

17 17

Commercial Advertising •

Paid for advertising

Club Diary •

The back 20

What’s on, Where, When

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Editors Comments Phew! We never expected this sort of response – not that anyone’s complaining, mind you, it’s just that the enthusiasm for the club has taken us (and by that I mean the founder members) completely by surprise. Launched at the end of April 2000 with just four members we are now more than two hundred and seventy strong and growing at a rate of about two members per day.

During our short existence we’ve shown a club presence at Billing, Stoneleigh, Langley Farm and Eastnor Castle and held our first members only event in the beautiful setting of the Derbyshire Dales – a truly memorable event, well organised and faultlessly executed. On behalf of the committee I would like to extend a very big thank you to all those members who have organised and attended these events. A really huge thank you to Craig Cheatham and the LROI team that came along to the treasure hunt – look out for a good sized spread in that magazine from the event – and to Mark Quincey and the team from Gordon Lamb Land Rover in Chesterfield for their absolutely fantastic support. If you live in the area and are looking for a new vehicle then please go talk to them – they deserve our wholehearted support.

As if we needed any evidence of the fact that Land Rover is the marque which elicits the most enthusiasm from it’s owners there is soon to be a fourth monthly magazine dedicated to Solihull’s finest. LAND ROVER enthusiast magazine will be hitting the news-stands on (or abouts) the 20th October and judging by the sampler they’ve sent out we can look forward to a real treat. The names of the management, editorial and journalistic staff reads like a who’s-who of Land Rover aficionados.

Copies of the sampler can be obtained from the club – see further in the newsletter for details.

One of the good things about having an enthusiastic membership is that my job gets easier. Members have been sending in photographs and write-ups on their Discovery’s for inclusion in Discourse – and we’re starting with some of those in this issue. Please keep them coming, we all own our vehicles for very personal reasons and it’s interesting to read what makes the Discovery such a well loved car.

We’ve also got some hot tips in this issue and the answers to a couple of technical queries received from members and I’d implore you to keep those coming too.

Mike Duncalf has written a piece on how the club got started, the story so far and where we’re headed in the immediate future; at least up until the AGM in the new year.

Okay then, that’s enough of my rambling for now ... get on and have a good read.

Steve Goodfellow Editor steve@imjin.demon.co.uk

STOP PRESS The first AGM of the Discovery Owners Club is set for Saturday 17th March 2001 at the Gaydon Heritage Centre starting at 10.30 sharp. We need to tell the Centre roughly how many people will be attending so can you please let Andy Smith know if you’re planning to attend, or not, as soon as possible. An official notice and other documentation will be sent to you with the Christmas edition of Discourse.

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Committee Members The following people are proud to serve you: Club President/Chairman John Capewell Seasons, Porth-y-Green Close, Llanblethian, Vale of Glamorgan, CF71 7JR Contact details: Work Tel.: 01446 752400 Mobile Tel.: 07850 405389 Email: John.Capewell@tesco.net Club Treasurer Mike Duncalf Beetham Cottage, Over Kellet, Carnforth, LA6 1BS Contact Details: Home Tel.: 01524 732128 (and fax) Mobile Tel.: Email: Mduncalf@Ukonline.co.uk Member Andy Smith 31 Stanley Street, Brighouse, West Yorkshire, HD6 1SX Contact details: Home Tel.: 01484 384883 Mobile Tel.: 07970 506215 Email: andy@cameltrophy.org.uk Newsletter Editor Steve Goodfellow 87 Gloucester Road, Patchway, Bristol, BS34 5JQ Contact Details: Home Tel.: 0117 904 2526 (and fax) Mobile Tel.: 07788 148024 Email: steve@imjin.demon.co.uk

[Next time we’ll see if we can’t get some photographs of the four of us on this page – Ed]

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James Taylor (Editor; LAND ROVER Enthusiast) A Turbocharged Mpi The Discovery Mpi was announced in 1993, with the 134bhp 2-litre T16 petrol engine. Most people believed the story that the vehicle had been developed to meet demand in markets such as Greece, where buyers wanted a petrol engine which was smaller and cheaper to run than the V8. However, the facts were a little more complicated.

The original plan, put forward by Product Planner John Bilton, was to build a Discovery with the turbocharged version of the T16 engine. This engine was under development for the Vitesse version of the Rover 800 saloon and for the Rover 200 Turbo Coupe. A single Discovery prototype was built around 1991, and this was probably a gold-coloured five-door. Its engine probably developed somewhere between the 180bhp of the Vitesse tune and the 197bhp of the Coupe tune. Logically, the Coupe engine would have been a better bet, as it developed its maximum torque much lower down the rev range. John Bilton remembers that the Turbo Mpi Discovery was seen within Land Rover as a competitor for the V8 in terms of performance.

"I actually thought it would appeal considerably to the market," he told me a few years ago. "I thought it would have a sort of yuppie image; it might just have pulled over the sort of Golf GTi brigade!" In the event, however, the turbo version was canned. The basic engineering installation - which had involved turning the engine round from its transverse car form to suit the north-south orientation of the Discovery - was retained when the non-turbo version of the engine was needed to fill a gap in the market.

John believed that a turbocharger conversion of the Mpi was actually offered in Italy. "They were able to do the turbo kits easily," he told me, "because they existed for the car! So it was not difficult. I think there's some very fast 2-litre Discoverys running around in Italy!"

I have never come across a turbocharged Mpi, although several people have asked me how to create one! If anyone has any more knowledge about either the prototype or aftermarket conversions, I'd be very pleased to hear it. I expect the Turbo Mpi prototype was dismantled, but it might just be worth keeping an eye open for a 1991 factory-registered gold five-door with a rather strange engine ....

My LR ~ The Story So Far

Damian Bunn I hope that I am sending this to the correct address, but I understand stories are wanted on Disco's, well here's mine with some pictures.

Purchased it last year for a garage. One owner, 66K A1 condition. It is a v8i 3.9 and the colour is Caprice. I had an RAC report done which gave reported what one would expect leaks, leaks and leaks.

Problem with the Diff lock being very stiff due to lack of use, but other than that OK. Parted with loads of cash and drove home in my first 4x4 having previously only driven BMW's.

Loved the car, but on my first fill up I thought gulp I didn't realise it would be this much of a gas guzzler so decided to get rid of it after two months. Advertised in Auto Trader and did not get one call so thought what the hell had a bit of spare cash and investigated a gas conversion.

Finally had a conversion done last August by a local Lovato garage and drove off into the sunset with my eco car. I suddenly discovered I was as bad as a reformed smoker with my conversion, even though I didn't really care much for the environment before hand.

I was not overly happy with the MPG on gas, getting about 11 as opposed to 15 on petrol. However I was assured that this was normal so I carried on still happy to be saving 20 per week on fuel.

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Since purchasing the car I always suffered from water loss which was getting progressively worse and in the end I was filling the reservoir every three days. I had various compression checks run on the car and could not locate a leak anywhere. At the same time the starter motor was clunking on occasion when starting. As to the water leak I deduced that it was a head gasket so I booked the car in, but alas the car would no longer start due to the starter motor and had to get the RAC out.

Well the car then ended up in the garage. The engine was stripped for the gasket and at the time it was discovered that there was a major water leak behind the sleeve on one of the cylinders which basically caused the started motor to chew up the teeth on the ring gear and in the process it's own. Options were for a 2nd hand, re-con or new block. Prices were varying between 800 to 1400 and in the end I got a complete brand new block for a bargain price of 950. I felt this was a better option than a 2nd hand or repair as it would be a known quantity.

So New block, new ring gear, new starter motor, severe dent in bank balance and I got the car back.

Next problem gas economy went down to 10 mpg and I was getting pretty bad blow backs into the air filer which broke all the clips of my air filter box.

Back into the garage to check the gas economy, a slight improvement but still bad. (This is going on at present).

Whilst on hols last week I took the car to another gas station to fill up and asked them to have a look. It now turns out that the gas conversion has been done incorrectly so back down to the garage next week for the rectifications and then take it up with the original conversion people.

So all in all I have had fun with my Disco and after the amount of money I have spent in it am planning to keep it for a long time. I find it fun to drive and love the roar of the V8 especially next to the sound of the Tdi's.

As previously mentioned I have attached some photos showing the car and the gas conversion.

Basically I have taken loads of the conversion just in case I may need evidence some time in the future.

Langley Farm

Toni Armitage Just to let you all know Langley Farm was roaring fun. The weather wasn't too unkind, we had rain on the Saturday night, but only when normal folk had retired to bed (Roz stayed up ‘till the crack of dawn). Being a Langley virgin I didn't know what to expect ... I can say I will be attending next year.

It is very friendly event with every one enjoying themselves immensely. After pitching camp as near to the trade stands as possible to catch potential new members, as we didn't have the banner, we settled in for the evenings entertainment provided by Andy and Roz. The adventures of a Camel in Latvia. The photo night lasted a good hour and a half along with lots of mugs full of tea and coffee, with plenty of laughs along the way. Andy told of how he had become acquainted with the President and bragged of how many TV stations had interviewed him over there [never backwards in coming forwards is our Andy – Ed].

Saturday started early with a shared breakfast with Andy and Roz. We then debated how to take the doors off Andy's Camel Trophy Disco - to allow for his big head. With the bragging from Friday, then looking at the event catalogue - which either had a picture of the Camel or a mention of Andy on

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every page - it was more like come to Langley Farm and meet Andy Smith and the Camel. We met Kim and Janette along with Neil Brownlee; again lots of chat over coffee and tea. We also recruited four new members, so welcome to them. The off-road course was a bit too rutted for my vehicle but I was able to watch most of the course as it is well set out for spectators. There was a short pause in the event on Saturday lunchtime while members of the Ramblers Association walked one of their routes to keep it open which happened to cross part of the off road section. Who says we can't all get on.

I even managed to get a ride around the course, which was very tight. There were quite a few Disco's going around the course, which for a small fee you could go around as many times as you wanted (good value for money). On Saturday evening the beer tent had a band on, the lead singer looked like Elvis in the 80's and they sang a good mixture from the Wombles to heavy metal and others inbetween. A good night was had by all.

Sunday woke to a bright day, with brilliant sunshine, which became overcast but dry. The off-road event still went on, with Kim and his friend showing the Series Land Rovers how to do it in a Disco.

Along with a lot of mud. Andy decided to let someone else have their photo in next years magazine, so even the Camel stayed clean (unlike Andy's jokes).

People started to drift home from about three in the afternoon; the word was starting to spread about the petrol situation, but it didn't mar the event. Unfortunately one of the farm barns burnt down which we hope won't affect next years attendance for us. Hope to see more of you next year so we can have a bar-b-cue

Guest House Recommendation

Andy Biggs Just a quick note to let you know of a trip I took this weekend. A short break in the Scottish borders, taking my mum to see her brother. I will get to the point. Now the guest house where we stayed is a great place to stay for the weekend as the owner has a Discovery himself. I started to enlist him as a member, when the subject of green laning was mentioned. He is very willing to take any members on a pre arranged trip. To all members wishing to give it a go here is the address:Binniemyre Guest House Abbotsford Road, Galashiels.

TD1 3HP Tel/Fax 01896 757137 Prices are around ÂŁ20 per person depending on numbers, etc. Some rooms are en-suite and are quite large and there are also a couple of family rooms. Please note that they are not on email as yet but he has a laptop at present, which he intends to swap for a desktop and get more into using emails & internet, in the near future. I will keep you posted.

Rear Bumper Rust

Simon Brookes The following tip earned Simon Brookes (member #191) ÂŁ50 from an off-road magazine. Sounds like it might just work too; now where did I put that tape ......

Dear Off Road Mag, My top tip for this month is for all you Discovery drivers out there, and I know there's plenty.

OK down to business, on the 200 and 300 series Disco's the rear bumper always goes rusty on the top part where the knobbled foot plate is, right the way along from one end of the bumper to the other.

This always makes the car look tatty, and it is this part of the car that always goes rusty first no matter how new or well maintained they are.

The rust develops not from rain sitting on the top as a water trap or dripping from the spare wheel but from the plastic trim that over laps the bumper by about an inch, this over the years rubs and vibrates the black paint off exposing bare metal and causing rust.

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The answer to all this is to respray the bumper with 1 can of hammerite (just enough) and then place double sided cushioned tape about 4mm thick and average tape width to the underside of the trim which over hangs the bumper, put the bumper back on and peel other side off and the two will bond together (trim and bumper).

The rear bumper will not rust again because the cushioned tape will take all the pounding of everyday road vibration and general use.

I hope my top tip will help all you disco drivers because these tips certainly will not come from the dealers !!!.

Requests For Help We start here with some quickie questions from members. If you can shine some light on the subject the please email or telephone the member concerned directly.

Firstly a couple from club member Damien Bunn - damian.bunn@syndweb.co.uk 1. Blow Backs on a Gas Converted V8 (3.9) Just a quick note to see if anyone else has experienced this problem, resolved it and if so how.

I am sure I am going to get a High Court Writ by some poor passer by who has suffered a heart attack as they were too near the car when it – as they say in the trade - "Popped".

2. Electric Fans Just a quickie for the membership. I am looking to install an electric fan (DIY) in my Disco and have narrowed it down to Kenlowe and Pacet. I am also looking at the twin fan configuration.

Would it be possible to ask members which they prefer (if they have installed one of course) and if the single or double is the best configuration.

I am a little concerned however that as I run on Gas the engine is a little hotter than normal petrol operation. Would this have a detrimental effect at all with an electric fan.

Potential club member, Paul Grant - pauljygrant@hotmail.com - asks.

I currently have a Discovery 2.5 TdiS (1995) but due to a problem with my knee am finding the clutch heavy, despite fitting a new clutch recently.

I understand that it may be possible to fit an inline servo to the clutch system but I have been unable to find out any information on this modification.

If you are able to provide any assistance or advise me on who I should contact, I would be most grateful.

From: Kath Reid - kath.reid@talk21.com Subject: my discovery wont go into fourth gear I have a L reg TDI. The vehicle has been fine,. I have had no problems with it and am impressed with its performance. I have recently experienced a problem in the second gear selection is difficult, and fourth gear seems to have gone completely. Its almost as if someone has blocked off the 'gate ' to allow the selector to engage fourth.

Any ideas what the problem is. Is it a gearbox out job ?.

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From: Allan Dawson - allan_dawson@compuserve.com I have a Series 300 TDI and it is used to tow an Avondale caravan. What do I need and how do I connect up the second, white, socket so that the reversing lights, refrigerator and most important the battery are run or charged from the Disco? I did ask for it to be done when I bought the motor new but for some reason it was not done and at that time I could not be bothered to chase the dealer.

From: Chris Blanch – 07881 915182 We are the proud owners of a 1996 TdiS which we purchased second-hand last November. Ever since we took delivery we have noticed a smell of diesel fumes in the cab when switching the vehicle on and, on hot days, whilst the vehicle is standing on the drive. I would have to accept that the smell is intermittent & sometimes much stronger than other times. As soon as the vehicle is in motion & whilst being driven there is no sign of the smell but stop, turn the engine off for a few minutes, and restart the engine there is a strong smell of diesel fumes for about 10-15 seconds.

The garage we bought the Disco from agreed there was a smell & had it in 3 times to sort. Each time they said it was sorted but needless to say it was not. In the end we took it to our local LRO Garage, Westover 4x4 in Christchurch, Dorset. They have also agreed there is a problem & they suspect a fuel leak somewhere although, as yet, the problem is not resolved.

I wonder if anybody else can throw any light on this problem and point us & Westovers in the right direction to seek a remedy. I am very fed up with smelling like a fuel station for a short time every day. Any help would be really appreciated.

From: Bob Cook - bob.cookie@virgin.net Clutch or gearbox problem ??????

Guys/gals Can you help me ???

My 1991 V8i has an intermittent fault with either the clutch or the gearbox, on odd occasions it becomes very difficult to get the stick into or out of gear. any gear it is not limited to just one.

It seems to have almost a dry feel to its operation when you try to force the gear lever !!! then it frees itself and everything is back the way it was. I have done the depressing of the pedal both while engine off and engine running listening for thrust bearing noise or any vibration, but there seems to be nothing noticeable.

The disco has only done 59650 miles from new, I have only done just 5000 miles of these with no offroad in its life as far as I am aware. I have also checked the fluid reservoir this is full.

CAN ANYONE SHINE A LIGHT HERE PLEASE, This sounds expensive !!!!!!

My Discovery ~ The Story So Far

Simon Kay I thought other members may be interested in my pride and joy. I am the second owner of the car, the first being a trailer manufacturer in Yorkshire and it was used by one of their salesmen. The vehicle was located by a friend in the trade and consequently was purchased by him on my behalf at lower than the 'book price' and cost ÂŁ5,000. It is a 1994/5, 300 Tdi, and had 89,000 on the clock when I got it it now has around 120,000 miles.

It was first registered as L604 ARH but the registration has since been changed and now sports my own 'private plate' – A 3 DOP (the plate has a history of it's own as it was originally purchased by my

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employer who bought it to go on a show truck/trailer advertising a games console called '3DO'. It was later pointed out to me that this would be good for someone in the medical profession as it spelt out 'a 3d op'). Seeing as it only cost me a pound to purchase, I am not really bothered what it spells☺ I bought the car two years ago and it was in a sorry state, not having been very well looked after. The interior and bodywork were in poor condition, but nothing torn, dented or rusted. It was a base model with steel wheels and no other extras fitted. The car was originally purchased as a second car to tow our caravan and for my wife to use for the school runs [now there’s a novel idea – Ed]. This is the first Land Rover I have owned and I am still listening to the 'in jokes' that go with owning one of these vehicles and, as you can see below, I am starting to believe some of them!

Within a month of purchasing the vehicle, the spending started . I was not amused to see that the car decided to introduce itself to it's new environment by slowly emptying the contents of the sump on my driveway! A trip to the local garage diagnosed that the engine had to come out to refit a leaking oil seal. Whilst the engine was out, it was discovered that there was a leak from the head gasket; closer inspection found that the head was warped and needed skimming. I decided that whilst the 'lump' was out of the car, (No! not the wife!!) I may as well overhaul the rest of it - this little venture set me back just over £1400.

Three weeks later the car was out of action again [is this starting to sound familiar to anyone else? – Ed].

This time the cause was due to handbrake problems and resulted in a very embarrassing breakdown in my local B&Q car park. When the engine was refitted from the first problem the mechanic 'forgot' to replace the earth strap; consequently every time the car was turned over to start the engine the handbrake cable acted as the earth, which was fine until it finally welded itself solid, totally disabling the car. This involved a recovery by the AA to the local Land Rover dealer. This again was not without it's problems as the car broke down on a Saturday afternoon and when it was recovered the AA were due to deliver it to the dealer on the Sunday morning. Somehow though, the AA managed to lose the car and the transporter until Sunday afternoon - panic stations! They had a plausible excuse though something about the driver being abducted by aliens or something!

Whilst the repair was being done, it was also found that the drive shaft in the gearbox was severely worn and could go at any time. Also found by the LR dealer were front steering problems and a worn shock absorber; all of this was another £1200 to rectify! Fortunately, after receiving a report from the LR dealer as evidence, the cost of the handbrake work was claimed back from the garage for faulty workmanship. The car has been back to the local dealer for a third time, fortunately this was a FOC item - to replace the peeling dashboard under LR warranty.

I decided that since I had invested so much in the car it would have to stay in the family for a long time to pay back it's debt. The first thing I thought was that, if it is staying, it would need to smarten up it's appearance. A friend had recently bought a second hand Discovery from a dealer in Oxford and it came with a genuine stainless steel bullbar and spotlights. He mentioned that he hated it and would take it off at the first opportunity - an offer of £100 secured it from him on the spot!.

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Next, I purchased a set of ES wheels & tyres from Nene Valley Wheels And Tyres in Northampton (check them out, I got a great deal from them and they are really honest, genuine nice people!). Just the addition of these two extras improved the appearance of the car straight away. The car was only a five seater when purchased and I wanted to upgrade it to seven. Trying to find the rear seats second hand proved a real challenge as these appear to be like gold dust [more like rocking horse manure – Ed] unless of course you want to take out a second mortgage and buy them new from Land Rover. I eventually tracked down a set through an advert in Exchange and Mart from LRR Land Rover in London for £200, which came complete with all the necessary fittings (new) and as a bonus when they turned up matched my trim. These were easily fitted in a couple of hours.

In the first copy of Land Rover Owner magazine I purchased there was an advert from Land Rover Supermarket in Liverpool, advertising genuine ES style front fog lamps complete with 'pods' which mounted on the front spoiler.

These were purchased for £49.00 instead of the retail price of £149.00 and are really nice, greatly enhancing the appearance of the front of the car.

Side steps and integral front mud flaps followed, along with a stainless steel wheel cover, retractable rear step, wood dash trim kit, a new CD player and a set of replacement speakers. The car was also given a thorough valet inside and out. I thought that the car needed 'something else' to personalise it, so I contacted a friend of mine who is in the sign business and got him to design some graphics to go on the lower door panels and the rear wheel cover, these were based on the Discovery logo and as such required permission from Land Rover to produce them as they are obviously copyrighted. Land Rover had no objection and they were duly designed, made and applied, these are in Silver and really go well with the shiny black paintwork.

I have really grown to love this car although Lord knows why, since it has almost bankrupted me, but there you go, that’s the lure of the Land Rover. If any of the members in Northants want to meet up, I would be happy to help set up a local 'chapter' of the club. Contact me via e-mail at simonkay@spurs29.freeserve.co.uk [See the note about area reps elsewhere in this issue – Ed]

Billing 2000 We nearly didn’t make it! Only the generosity of Richard Green, who has been involved with Billing since it started, squeezed us a little unofficial slot in between the Dormobiles and GLASS. (we never did get into the programme and many of the LRO staff kept telling people that we weren’t there right up until the last afternoon).

Mike was the mainstay for the club stand with his caravan and awning (R**** R**** discretely hidden up the side behind James Law’s smart red 3 door). He was joined at different times over the weekend by some attention grabbing machinery from Rae Hirst, Toni Armitage, Andy Smith and the shiniest black Discovery (ever!) courtesy of Monique Bass. The display vehicles were all a credit to their owners and did a fine job of drawing lots of attention for us from passers by. No one was left in any doubt – The Discovery Owners Club had arrived and we were serious.

By the time I arrived on the Saturday the club had already won an award from the show organisers for Innovation. The prize is a very neat, but obscenely expensive tool-kit by Gerber comprising of a

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multi-tool (like a Swiss Army Knife with knobs on, if you’ve never seen one), folding spade and folding saw, large mag-lite torch, basic first aid kit and all packaged in a very sturdy canvas carry pouch.

The second highlight came with the bar-b-q on the club stand on Saturday night. Thanks to Tim, Roz and James, our chefs for the evening, a fine selection of sausages burgers and other unidentified pieces of meat (and even some trout!) disappeared as night fell and we chatted by the light of the roof rack mounted lamps on Andy’s Camel Discovery.

As well as signing up a goodly number of members Iain Rice & Co were there promoting the now famous Peak District Treasure Hunt and we had a small club shop selling pin badges, I love my Discovery stickers, and baseball caps – stock bought from the Range Rover Register club shop to get us started. We also kicked off a members only raffle for a brand new cool-box (very kindly acquired from his boss by Tim Painter) along with he tool-kit prize – see elsewhere in Discourse for details.

However the major talking point of the weekend was the future of the show. The was much politics and intrigue throughout the weekend as representatives of LRO (who have been associated with it since the start) and a new magazine called Land Rover Enthusiast (which is soon to be launched by the team who run the event and will be running it in 2001), jockeyed for position with visits to stands and A5 flyers. DOC will remain completely neutral as this turf war develops over the winter, but if anyone wants to check out the new kid on the block (run by some of the oldest kids in town) they are at http://www.landroverenthusiast.com and it will be on the news-stands in October.

So, a cracking start for the club at our first outing; good company, good food and the rest of the clubs were really friendly. There were some complaints about the show content and format (mainly - too much lifestyle not enough Land Rover) and the camping fields were organised chaos – but we were there and we’ll be back.

[Space for next years show has already been provisionally booked – Ed]

Discovery Owners Club: The Next Few Months

Mike Duncalf Last Autumn John had decided that such a club was viable and should be set up on its own. By Christmas he had got the three of us to agree to help him start it off and in January and February we had a long series of email exchanges sorting out our ideas on how it should be organised.

We expected to achieve and maintain membership of at least 1000 once we had been running for a while. This would support a full committee including officers such as event organiser, history, technical, as well as the usual ones needed to run the club such as chairman, vice chairman, secretary, treasurer, membership officer, etc. It would also support local sections organising their own events.

The question was how long would this take?

To sort out and agree the basic decisions a committee meeting was necessary and this was held at the end of April. Decisions were made on the basis of a simple plan, that we would recruit this summer and provide members with a low cost newsletter only, charging a membership fee to cover this and put a bit in the bank. In the autumn we would review progress and produce a plan for next year

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assuming at least one national event and possibly some local ones, start a club shop, improve the newsletter, implement a full committee structure, etc. Decisions were also made to hold the AGM in February or March, one annual renewal date for membership fees, (1st April), the financial year to end 31st November - with a view to eventually (possibly) becoming a limited company. Draft club rules and minutes of the meeting were to be produced to enable a bank account to be started, possibly ARC membership attained, and insurance for the club. Promotional literature, membership records, newsletter and website responsibilities were all decided on and work started. The initial committee structure was simply to allocate the work load amongst the four of us, based on previous experience with other clubs, and to run with that until the first AGM. So much for the progress to date. The response from the members has been far in excess of our expectations and so has their enthusiasm. We now need to use the feedback from the members to produce a draft plan for next year, a set of rules and a committee structure. These I intend to produce over the next four weeks and then circulate to the other three committee members. We will then discuss and refine these by early December and then issue them to all members along with the notice for the first AGM. We will need your comments, nominations for the committee posts and names for area reps so that the AGM can formalise all these arrangements.

And what of the longer term? Who knows how the club will develop? I don’t. But sitting at Billing talking to the members one thing struck me, and on the way home I confirmed it; previous enthusiasts car clubs that I have belonged to have been roughly 95% male/5% female. But the Discovery is owned by, driven by and enthused over by men and women in equal numbers. This club is going to be like no other car club that has gone before it!

On the subject of area reps; the committee believes that these should be elected by the members in each area and that this should happen at the AGM. Looking at the timeframe for this, if we leave the planning of events until after the AGM (and the election of area reps) then next years events calendar is going to look a little empty. We are, therefore, asking people who might be interested in the area reps positions to begin making plans now and let me know what you are thinking of doing so that it can be put in the calendar for later publication to the membership at large.

Warning Letter Dear John, Many thanks for the info and please find enclosed my cheque for subscription. As you will see from the application form my Discovery has several special features of which more later but I would like to draw attention to a potentially hazardous point applicable to all ‘200’ series Discovery’s. This is the positive battery lead which is very close to the battery retaining bar and can chafe and wear through the insulation resulting in a massive short or possibly a fire.

Having suffered myself from the above can I suggest that members check their vehicles and if necessary replace the retaining bar with the ‘300’ type (Land Rover Part No. AMR.3679). This might just stop somebody’s pride and joy becoming an insurance statistic. Please note that this applies to both V8 and Tdi engined vehicles.

Mpi - or the 1% model

Jon Richardson, Member #50 Finally, my wife had enough of the Lightweight. She had suffered the non-existent seat springing and the howling draughts far too long. It was definitely a summertime, fair weather vehicle only, as far as she was concerned. The spine juddering, death defying top speed of 45mph was disconcerting coupled with the somewhat vague steering. She had bravely held on whilst we green laned but now the time had come for a change. A change to comfortable seats, soft springing and a restful environment were called for.

She had obviously planned this for a long time without my knowledge. Excitedly saying that she had seen ‘just the vehicle’ at a local car dealer we went to view it. There it was in prime position, a K reg Discovery at a reasonable price. I approached with anticipation. Checking the speedo it showed just over 40,000 miles, the chassis seemed sound and the paint finish was good. But - it was an Mpi! Still, I wasn’t looking for a tow vehicle or a serious off roader so I risked it. The salesman assured me that it

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had been used by a local mum as her runabout, and the odd sweet stuck behind the seats tended to confirm this. The service history left a little to be desired, only being to a main LR dealer twice.

Closing the deal I drove away happy with my purchase.

I decided that a full service was needed, and the only way to make sure it was properly done was to do it myself. It was obvious that engine oil and plugs had been changed regularly but what of the rest? The front swivels each had about a quarter of a cupful of black oil. The front and rear diff oil was definitely past its best and it was obvious from the manual gearbox that the fluid had not been changed. The oil screen was cleaned and, surprisingly, there were no large chunks of teeth in the trap. Fortunately the transmission had not been subject to heavy loads so it survived.

The addition of two luggage compartment seats made it a seven seater, though I must admit they are only suitable for PORGs (Persons of Restricted Growth) in an emergency. A straight forward job to carry out, it only required a sharp craft knife and a logical approach as all the mounting points are behind the trim ready for use. (Don’t forget to let you insurers know, though).

So what do I think of the Mpi engine? It may well have been introduced for the European market but it is basically the Rover 800 saloon DOHC 16 valve car engine. Sure, it lacks a bit of power, after all it is under 2 litres, but it does 25 mpg. No, I wouldn’t want to tow with it. And, whenever I go to the main LR dealers everything is on special order. Still, I can always go across the road to the Rover dealers - and usually it’s cheaper.

The Lightweight, much to my wife’s relief, has gone to a new owner. I still have the joy of driving ‘real’ LRs as I work at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, with a 90, a Series II ex-Fire Brigade LWB and the 1948 Series I pre-production R04 on the museum fleet.

The Mpi is a bit of a rarity, and at the moment I may be the only DOC member with this model. But don’t knock it - after all, can you say that your Discovery is ‘one in a hundred’?

'Met' Discovery's – Off-Road

Dave Cart Land Rovers have been used by the Metropolitan Police Service for many years in various forms. My own experiences run from the mid 1980's, when Range Rovers were used on the Motorways and Series 3's were used across the rest of London.

These gave way to V8 90's and then Range Rovers. Discovery's were not far behind.

Central Traffic had a couple of J plate manual Tdi Disco's, but the ones at Alperton were all V8 automatics. These Tdi models have now passed on to become off road training vehicles. The recent fleet saw four V8 3.9 litre Discovery's covering North-west London, although within the last few weeks we have had two Series 2 Discovery's issued to our fleet. These are 4.0 litre V8 still as automatics. The new vehicles have the active suspension system, rear air springs, Hill-descent-control and all the other electronics available, but not including a sunroof!

Stability has always been an issue with the 4WD fleet (due to the kit that we carry) and this new vehicle has solved that overnight - the handling on-road is a revelation. There is no roll in slow corners and this is greatly reduced at higher speeds. The Disco's are all fully marked and are used as emergency response vehicles, with at least one (generally two) posted out for a minimum 16 hours of each day.

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The extra's comprise of bar light with rotating and strobe blue lights, flood lights at the front and red at the rear. There is also a messaging system built into the centre of the rear side of the bar, which has 99 pre-set messages. Repeater lamps are fitted to the front bumper, whilst the 'Metsound. Siren / PA backs this up.

One of my occasional (and very pleasurable) jobs is to teach off-road driving (hence the location of the photo's) and recovery to our own people and so we took the Series 2 off-road to compare it against the older model and found it to be equal if not better. For those wondering where we go off-road in London, don't forget that there are many parks and fields within the area, which increase as you get towards the outer boroughs.

We generally assist to retrieve our Divisional colleagues who have chased people into such areas, help with Travellers and are available for any spontaneous major incident where cross country vehicles are required to reach the scene.

The active suspension on the Series 2 is not utilised when off road, which allows full axle articulation.

The rear air springs can be raised by about 4cm, which means that the two hitch is lifted that little bit more and grounds out less than the older vehicle.

The traction control can be heard working to pass engine power around to the wheels that have the most grip, whilst the HDC system initially causes the car to speed up on a descent until the 'target' speed is reached and it then slows you using the ABS system.

I must confess that having played with the vehicle using different techniques, I prefer to use the 1st gear hold position, which gives more than adequate engine braking, rather than rely on the HDC. The new vehicle is a terrific improvement on the older model and quality seems much better. As a 300Tdi owner I have to say that I'd love one !

Technical Q&A This is our first attempt at this and thanks go to members Richard & Monique Bass and Rob for their help. Please note: neither Richard, Monique, Rob or the club can be held responsible for the accuracy or completeness of these answers. If you decide to follow the advice given then it must be on this basis ~ in other words, don’t come crying to us if it goes wrong☺. We’ve picked two subjects, which we hope will have a reasonably broad appeal.

Firstly, James Law has corrosion problems in the rear floor of his Discovery (in what he call the ‘dogs department’). He has obtained a replacement panel but wants to know about fitting it, welding or riveting?

Corrosion in this area seems to be developing into a characteristic weakness for older Discoveries because this is not the first time that I’ve heard about it. There could be two root causes. Firstly most of the rust proofing of the underside is apparently done with the fuel tank in place, so this leaves a huge ‘wax-free’ shadow on the underside of this area, where mud and road salt can gather and hide away doing their worst. Secondly, the rear door seals and those around the rear windows and alpine lights in this area, don’t retain their efficiency well as the years go by. This can lead to water leaking in and seeping, largely unnoticed, behind the trim panels down into this area and soaking the carpets

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from underneath. So, it may pay all of us to have an extra special check to see what’s going on in these areas during the warm dry summer months, because prevention has to be better than cure.

Now getting to the cure stage. James bought his replacement panel from Old Sodbury, so isn’t sure of the original source, but suggests that Bearmach is worth a call (see the back cover of LRO). Discussing this, and drawing the parallel with the Range Rover on which the Discovery is based (the Range Rover has a riveted in aluminium panel which also corrodes like mad where it contacts with steel!), our advice is that this area is unlikely to provide critical structural strength to the shell. So, if you want to avoid welding then it should be possible. Also, if you are going to do it properly and safely I reckon that you should seriously consider dropping the fuel tank down to give better access.

1.

2.

3.

4.

Cut out the damage, clean all around the area as thoroughly as possible with wire brushes, scrapers or whatever else you can get in there with and coat any residual rust with Jenolite or a similar rust converter.

Prime and paint with compatible heavy-duty paint (including the repair section).

Using steel rivets or screws fasten the repair section in place with a good overlap, at least an inch, having applied a strip of suitable mastic sealant to the joint to keep the water out for the future.

Finally, plenty of Waxoyl all around the area from underneath the vehicle, and if its damp under your carpet – get them window/door seals sorted now!

Note the use of aluminium pop-rivets is likely to create an excellent opportunity for future electrolytic corrosion that will turn your rivets to dust and undo all you good work.

[Perhaps when you do it James you’ll take some photos and share your experiences with the rest of us? – Ed] The next question is from Allan Dawson who doesn’t have a supplementary ‘S’ socket for connecting his caravan to his 300Tdi. For those that aren’t aware all the legally required connections should be in the 7N socket, including rear fog lights, the ‘S’ socket covers things like reversing lights, caravan battery charging, and feeds for interior lights, water pumps and fridge.

The standard is: Pin Wire Colour 1 Yellow 2 Blue 3 White 4 Green 5 Brown 6 Red 7 Black

Use reversing lights caravan battery charging (switched with ignition) earth return interior lights & water pump (permanently live) redundant fridge (switched with ignition) earth return for 6.

There are two broad options for installing this and it is a case of - you pay your money and you take your choice. Perhaps the lowest hassle, and potentially neatest solution is to buy the proper kit from Land Rover, with split charge relay, wiring and multi-pin connectors at a cost of £76.60 (part no. STC 8875). I haven’t seen this but it should include everything you need and be as close to plug and play as you are going to get.

If you feel a bit more adventurous then a good pre-wired split charge relay for simple under bonnet installation is made by Ring and can be bought for around £18-20. This should be installed under the bonnet at the front near the radiator and fed through some good heavy-duty wire with a 35 amp inline fuse. Running the outputs from this to the rear of the vehicle, clipping tidily away from sources of heat and chafing as you go, will provide the power supplies you need as above. For the other bits go in behind the rear light cluster and find a screw fixing which goes into the steel structure and run your earths to that, picking up a feed for your reversing lights by using a Scotch-lok or similar on the feed wire to the existing lights. For the tidiest DIY job it is worth considering running the cables from the split charge into the same area behind the rear light cluster and then taking them from there down to the ‘S’ socket as a bundle bound neatly into a harness with PVC tape. Or for a real pro-looking job

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use a short length of the proper seven core cable which is available from accessory shops and caravanning outlets.

Two little supplementary items, which came up during this discussion, concern the current (amps) drawn down the wiring of a large vehicle like the Discovery. That fridge will take 8 amps, that’s like a pair of headlights so make sure your cable is up to it and your connections clean and tight otherwise you will get voltage loss and heat generated. Secondly, Richard has just had to replace some burnt out wiring on the indicator circuits of a Discovery which had been left with its hazard warning lights running for a very long time. The wiring was beyond the ability forensic auto electrics but perhaps we should think twice before leaving these running for ‘hours’ if waiting for recovery on a motorway or similar – next time it might be more that the wiring that gets burnt!

[If you have a knotty problem then send me the details and we’ll see if we can’t sort it out for you – Ed]

Dear All

Lynne Painter What is it about the Land Rover product that makes you either love them or hate them? This is our story and how we came to be Disco lovers (that’s Land Rover not John Travolta style).

Due to my husband’s hobby, moto-cross racing, we decided to get a Suzuki SJ so that we could always get a decent parking space in the pits. By the time he had got fed up with abusing his body, broken bones and pulled muscles, we had caught the off-roading bug. Whilst the SJ was a great off-roader two additions to the family (one baby and German Shepherd) made it way too small so we traded up to an Isuzu Trooper for the extra space and luxury. After three blissful years some low life decided that their need was greater than ours and TWOC'd it (Taken Without Owners Consent).

After 6 weeks vehicleless, anything would do and we bought a 200Tdi, which was classed as a writeoff since it had been stolen and recovered. Five years, 1 cam-belt and 1 lay-shaft later I figured that it was time we parted company and had my eye on a people carrier. Tim put his foot down; if we can’t get a newer Disco than the one we’d got then we were keeping it, funny he’s never been like that about anything before.

So, here we are with a two year-old which we love every bit as much as its predecessor – this Discovery is for life as well as the school-run!

[Lynne & Tim very generously donated the cool box to raise club funds and this will be raffled at the AGM – Ed]

Sussex Pub Meet Grant Jobson (member #122) has organised a pub meet for club members in the South East. The details are – Location: The Sportsman PH, Rackham Road, Amberley, W. Sussex When: 3rd Wednesday of each month Time: from 8 p.m. onwards For more details call Grant on 01903 531425

Scottish Meet A rather sad 6 members from Scotland, whereas pro rata the population it should be 18 or 20. Is it possible to know who they are, as we can maybe arrange to meet as a group, or if they are also members of the Scottish Landrover Owners Club, as I am (yep, I've got it bad) we could at least introduce ourselves. Equally if anyone's up here on holiday and wants some quality off-roading, get them to give me a ring. I'll put the same suggestion out on the e-Group.

Contact Richard Johnson at richard@space-finder.co.uk

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South West Meet Roy Barber of Pilning, near Bristol, has volunteered to arrange regular meetings if there is enough support. If you’d like to see a regional meet here in the West Country then give Roy a call on 01454 633838.

Members Want Ads From: John Capewell – john.capewell@tesco.net Dashboard clock and genuine LR radio-cassette as fitted to 1989 Discovery. Working and cheap please.

Office 01446 752400 Mobile 07850 405389 From: Keith Holman - keith.holman@btinternet.com Discovery tow bar for 300Tdi. I am based in North London, England From: John Swift - dozer9g@aol.com Can anyone out there help with a reasonably-priced pair of '91-2 Disco front doors? The "white" stuff is crawling all over mine......mine have good interior so bare shells will do......

From: Dave Steer - steer@cwcom.net Does anyone have a contact or source for Discovery Alloy Wheels? New or good condition used but keen in price. I have unmarked steels on my '97 Tdi and I am willing to talk possible part exchange.

Td5 Alternator Fusing

Anon An oppo of mine with a TD5 had the old dead-motor syndrome today. 5 minutes of diagnostics revealed flat battery, no life whatsoever. The only fault he could find was a blown fuse on the stoplight, so out of idle curiosity he changed it whilst he was waiting for the AA, who arrived in the fullness of time.

After 2 minutes rooting around, the patrolman asked if he'd tried to fix it himself. Yes, but the only thing wrong was the stoplight fuse blown. Well then, says the 4th emergency service, you've fixed it yourself, all you need now is a jump start.

It turns out the alternator is fused through the brake lights, so if the stoplight fuse goes, the battery doesn't get charged.

The fuse ALSO services the warning light - so there is no indication of summat amiss until the battery voltage drops below 10.5 volts; at which point it all goes a bit quiet.

Nice one, Land Rover........

[Apologies to whoever sent this in ... I’ve lost your name – Ed]

For Sale Discovery 200 TDI 1990 H Reg Test till April 2001; Tax till September (but will be renewing tax.)

Remote central locking, Alarm, Immobiliser, Electric windows & mirrors.

CD player, A frame Bull Bar, Spot lights, Side steps, etc.

Full service history, 86500 genuine miles £ 4,995 ono Genuine reason for selling this vehicle ~ house purchase. (doesn't really want to part with it) Contact Neil on 07949 056010

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Land Rover Enthusiast Magazine No doubt many of you will be aware that a new magazine for us poor unfortunate Land Rover sufferers is about to hit the news-stands, called Land Rover Enthusiast. The club has been sent a (large) number of sampler magazines by the publishers and it gives details of who’s on the editorial team and which journalists will be involved. On the face of it the magazine should be as good, if not better, than the current crop and they’ve promised to do a club profile on us in the second issue – so they can’t be all bad, can they?

If you’d like to get your hands on one of these samplers (and there’s enough for everyone) then please send an A4 stamped self-addressed envelope with 33p worth of stamps to Mike Duncalf at Beetham Cottage, Over Kellet, Carnforth, Lancashire, LA6 1BS and he’ll send you one by return.

Eastnor Castle Fete

James Barnes Every year in the Herefordshire village of Eastnor there is a fete held to help raise money for the local church fund. So where does the Discovery Owners Club come in then I hear you ask? Well, to those of you who don't know, Eastnor is where Land Rover has done its most arduous off road proving for many years now; ever since the late Major Ben Hervey-Bathurst saw the potential of the new Rover and invited them to try out some of the tracks on the estate. The rest they say is history!

Anyway. this year I thought it would be a good idea to invite the club along to the event to provide another attraction and to hopefully get the club a bit of publicity.

The previous day was the All Rover Weekend and those of you who went along on the Saturday, like us, got a good soaking. The weather didn't look too promising and so after a three and a half hour journey home (it should have been only about one and a half) we got back to a phone call from Neil Brownlee to say that he was having problems finding a campsite, half a hour later he was at our door and staying with us.

After a late night of showing Neil the ins [inns? – Ed] and outs of some of Ledbury's pubs Sunday morning broke fine and sunny. After the almost obligatory stop in Tesco's car park we made our way in convoy to Eastnor Castle where we were to meet up with Steve Goodfellow.

With everyone present and correct we started to set up our display in the shadow of the castle.

Neil's Discovery (Piglet) was driven up the bank and parked half way up, Steve's Discovery was put on ramps to show the axle articulation and our Discovery was filled with balloons so people could guess how many there were, or at least they should have! Quite what we did wrong I don't know, but our lovely little competition somehow didn't catch on Oh well, we had quite a few people looking around our display and even had a member join on the day which was a bonus!

Hopefully next year there will be more people there and maybe we can persuade the club to come again [Count me in – Ed]. In all it was a great weekend, we really enjoyed having Neil staying, to only have met someone a couple of minutes and to get on so well only serves to show what a good club atmosphere the DOC has, and to finally be able to meet Steve after all his emails. ☺

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The Committee Club Events Club events are something dear to all our hearts and is what makes belonging to a car club worthwhile, in many cases. The committee wishes to take this opportunity to make members aware that any form of competitive event (and that includes things like treasure hunts) must, by law, to be registered with the Motor Sports Association (MSA). It is imperative, therefore, that the committee be made aware of anything being planned in the club’s name.

This leads us to a bit of a knotty issue. Recently those members on the email list were circulated with details of a weekend in Dublin being offered by Tony Luckwill of Appletree Productions. The committee feel the need to point out that this is not a Discovery Owners Club organised or sponsored event and that any members taking Mr Luckwill up on his offer must do so as private individuals and not in the name of the club. We apologise for any misunderstanding over the advertising of this event.

Headlamp Wiring Fault?

Jeff Thomas I have only just become the proud owner of my Discovery, but I have been a complete Landy nut for many years. I am not really sure what I have 'not' done to a Landy, mechanically and electrically, that is. I still, at the moment, have in my possession three Landy's. That, I think, is enough to give you an insight into me.

The main reason why I am e-mailing you is tell you of a fault that has come to light regarding the Discovery. A friend of mine, who also has a Discovery and, by the way is joining "THE CLUB", pointed this one out to me. The fault, it would appear is due to using jump leads to another vehicle.

My friend (Roy Dix) noticed that he had developed a headlamp fault, on checking his vehicle, it appeared that the earth wires from the headlights were scorched. He gave this some thought and realised that he had not had any trouble prior to using the jump leads, so putting two and two together he assumed that it was this that had caused the problem.

He later mentioned this to a friend of his and that person confirmed that using jump leads on the Discovery caused an electrical spike to the headlights, subsequently causing the fault. Some weeks later I happened to tell Roy about a problem I had found regarding my headlights, and guess what, it all fell into place. The problem I had found was that my one headlight was occasionally dimming. On inspecting it, I found that the earth wires from both headlights were badly burned; so much so that I had to replace them both. This is not knocking the Discovery, having now owned one for three months I wouldn't sell it for a golden cow. The reason why I am telling you is that it would appear that you have volunteered to do a club magazine (the very best of luck to you in this venture) so I thought you might like to have this as an article for inclusion it. This in turn may very well be of useful information for other members. [Has anyone else come across this? – Ed]

Talking Of Headlamps

Steve Goodfellow An annoying bit of Land Rover mystique caught up with me the other day. Some time ago I noticed that when I locked the Discovery (1995; 300Tdi) using the remote control button the indicators didn’t give their usual three flashes. Neither did they give the single longer flash normally associated with the need to replace the remote control battery – but I changed it anyway and needless to say the problem remained.

More recently I realised that the headlamp washers weren’t working so I decided to set about fixing that. After a few minutes of fault diagnosis I found the 20A fuse was blown – no problem I’ve got a spare. That immediately blew too so I figured there was more of a problem. It turned out to be the pump motor connected to the washer bottle so off I toddled to my tame dealer for a new one. Several hours later the new pump is in situ and everything is back as it should be – headlamps are now being washed when switched on. Satisfied with my afternoons work I locked the car and low and behold the indicators flash at me (like long lost friends).

Guess what? The fuse for the headlamp washer also powers the indicators when the central locking is actuated. Now that’s what I call clever design – NOT!

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Diary Of Events Not much doing before now and the New Year. James Barnes is working on a Treasure Hunt in the Hereford area, but hasn’t finalised the details yet.

Green Laning Day 19th November on Salisbury Plain Starting at 10.00 from the layby on the A360 about 1 mile south of Tilshead (Landranger map 184; GR 042465) for a gentle meander over the plain sticking to Byways and RUPPs. Completely nondamaging (maybe a little scratch or two) and ideal as a family day out. If you bring the dog then please also bring it’s leash too. Lunch at The Bustard pub so bring some money – they do a wicked Bustard burger☺ Contact: Steve Goodfellow at discoveryoc@imjin.demon.co.uk or call him on 0117 904 2526.

Suggestions for other events would be appreciated

Club e-Groups List Andy Smith has set up an e-Groups list for club members. This is an Internet chat room area where members can ask questions, raise topics and generally communicate with each other. As this club has been established almost entirely over the Internet and so many members have email addresses the setting up of the chat room should prove to be one of our better ideas.

If you want to be registered as a member of the chat room then please email Andy on andy@cameltrophy.org.uk and he’ll sort it out for you.

Club Internet Web Site Andy Smith and Robin Davies are working on our web site, which is operational and being added to/improved daily. The URL is http://www.discoveryownersclub.com and those of you with Internet access are asked to keep an eye on it and pass on suggestions, comments and details of any technical problems or suggestions to them.

Membership List In the first issue of Discourse I mentioned the creation and publication of a members list. Due to other commitments it has not been possible to actually get this sorted yet but the list will appear in the next issue of Discourse. In addition to maybe providing a service to other members it would give everyone an idea of which other members live locally and might encourage local meetings or get-togethers. An example of the information that would be included is: Steve Goodfellow

Bristol

0117 904 2526

breakdown assistance, tea & sympathy

If you object to this information being given about yourself then please contact me before the end of September so that I can take your name off the list. If I don’t hear from you I’ll assume it’s okay to include you in the list. You can telephone, fax, write or email (see page 3 for contact details).

Back Issues Of Discourse I think I’ve got this right and all club members have now received a colour copy of Issue 1 of Discourse. With the membership escalating the way it has been it’s pretty difficult to keep tabs on it all so if you still haven’t had a colour copy (and want one) please either download it from the e-Group site or give me a call on 0117 904 2526 and I’ll put one in the post.

From this point in time, back issues of Discourse will be posted to the e-Group site (in the “Files” area) from where they can be downloaded to your PC for nowt. Hard copies will be available from the editor upon receipt of a self addressed A4 envelope with 33p worth of stamps attached plus £2.00 worth of loose stamps to cover production costs.

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The Next Issue of Discourse Okay, that’s all for number two and I can now find the time to make a coffee. The next issue will be hitting your door mats at the end of December so the closing date for items to be included has to be Sunday 10th December. If you have something then please (pretty please) let me have it before then. If you’ve already sent something in and it’s not in this issue then worry ye not ~ I had to reduce the font size to keep this issue down to a manageable number of pages ~ your time cometh in December. See you all then.

Included in the next issue will be write-ups from the All Rover Weekend at Stoneleigh and the Derbyshire Dales Treasure Hunt plus more stories about your vehicles and exploits.

Your Vehicles I leave you with some pictures of members vehicles to look at. This is Rae Hirst’s Discovery ~ the shiny in the picture on the left looks okay ... but the muddy one is better☺.

Reports Of Our Demise Are Somewhat Exaggerated Some of you may have seen a recent message on the alt.fan.landrover newsgroup which stated that our club is defunct and collapsing due to the lack of proper committee structure. This message was posted by Tony Luckwill a few days after he had received a letter from the club committee rejecting his application for membership (and the return of his membership fee). If ever we needed evidence of our continuing success you only have to read the article on the Dales Treasure Hunt in the November issue of LROI to see that we are, indeed, alive and kicking.

Some Land Rover Humour With full credits to the originator, whoever you are (and apologies to Holger for what I’ve done to your language)☺ A Land Rover engineer visits the BMW factory in Germany on a fact-finding mission. In the assembly plant he sees a group of cats in a cage. He asks his German opposite number what the cats are for.

"Aha - ve use zees to check ze accuracy ov all ze panel gaps. Ve put ze cat in ze kar before ve go home at night. If ze cat is dead in ze mornink, ve know ve haff ze panels gaps correkt."

The Land Rover engineer is really impressed with this approach to quality control, and when he gets back to Lode Lane he fetches the family cat and picks a Defender from the production line. He shuts the cat inside and goes home. In the morning the cat is gone.

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For more details on Game Drivers and their discount for club members please contact Steve Goodfellow at discoveryoc@imjin.demon.co.uk or on 0117 904 2526.

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