On the subject of reliability......
My 1996 Disco 300Tdi has done 280.000 km's.
Never has let me down, even with parts not functioning fully
it got me home safely.
Yes, the odd part has broken, mostly due abuse, driving over very (and I mean VERY) rocky roads.
But it's still on it's first clutch........

Greetz,
Joey

I can honestly say that I have never had to replace the clutch in mine either despite the other issues.




Of course being an automatic helps a bit:thumbup1:

Just to make sure ... the car's an automatic, or are you ? :cool4:

Preparing a Discovery for Morocco
 

There have been a few updates on the website (not as many as I'd hoped) but the main one is that we are now in the final stages of a countdown to return to Morocco.

I have made modifications to the boot storage and upper shelf, had 110 front brakes fitted, moved the water tap and done a few more tweaks here and there.
We should be getting a new rooftent mattress in the next few days.

With only 9 weeks, 1 day, 20 hours and 59 minutes to go (not that we're counting of course:innocent:) the car is having some last minute mechanical work done (new rear discs, new door solenoid, refurbished injectors) and then we will be starting to get her packed.

As before I shall try and do a online blog and full trip report as well as running the spot tracker for anyone who wants to follow us.

Hi Ralph,

Hope every thing works out ok,
I shall be dropping in to read your blog after you get a move on.

Good luck, and best wishes to lady Ralph also.

Gra.

Ralph I was looking at and admiring your mods , re Mk1 and M2 storage systems . just one point re gas bottles, did you put a drain hose/hole in the bottom of that compartment in case of a gas leakage ? If not please make sure you do , for both of yours safety , I have attended a couple of incidents where gas has ignited in a vehicle , luckily neither with fatal results , but damage and slight injury was caused. :thumbup1:

tacr2man
Thanks for the concern. The hose which connects the gas bottles to the cooker passes through the side of the box. I deliberately made this hole too large to allow for ventilation.

I appreciate the fact that you think that my woodworking skills are so good that additoinal ventilation holes are required:thumbup1:.
However, I would guess that, even without the ventilation gap, the tolerences that my skills allow me to work to provide enough 'flexibility' in my construction to prevent a gas build up:redface:

Gra
Thanks for the good wishes. If it goes wrong this time then I know that our desire to watch the sunrise over Erg Chebbi is just not meant to be:frown:

Oh how prophetic those words were.

We didn't make it to Erg Chebbi or even Morocco. Belinda became very ill on day one in Spain and spent 6 days in a Spanish hospital. Eventually she was repatriated to the UK and the good old NHS. I had to bring the car back on my own 2 days later.
She is now recovering well and we are starting a new countdown for the next attempt.

You dont get much luck do you Ralph :(

Hope your better half has recovered.

G

Sorry about your bad news, I hope your wife gets better soon.

Thanks for the comments guys.

Belinda is doing fine and enjoying a few extra weeks off work. All indications are that she will make a full recovery.

Luck is a relative concept:

We passed a brand new hospital (literally by the side of the road) just as she took a turn for the worse. Within 6 hours she had a CT scan, X-Ray, Lumber Puncture, blood test and results for them all. Was correctly diagnosed and had commenced IV treatment.

Much as I hate to admit it; we would have been hard pushed to have got that in the UK. Especially on a Sunday.

A few days later and we could have been in southern Morocco, halfway between Zagora and Merzouga. Need I say more.

The rest of the group, that we were travelling with suffered torrential rain and plummeting temperatures (even at Erg Chebbi). The return trip, planned for a whole week) through Spain was beset by appalling weather.

During the time back in the UK I have managed to fit a new solar panel and tweak a couple of other annoying things on the car.

Atlas Overland are running the same tour in October which fits exactly with Belindas work schedule and over 50% of our food will still be in date.

Our travel insurance worked brilliantly (AXA insurance through LloydsTSB Bank account).

And finally......I even got a £130 refund and a cabin upgrade from Brittany Ferries for coming back early!


Morocco will always be there. Out health may not.


See, silver lining for every cloud:clap:


Now then just 176 days to go.......

Hi Ralph,

sorry to hear about your wife, and failing to get to Morocco. Like you say very lucky timing for Belinda. Just to rub salt into the wound I leave the day after tomorrow and am planning to meet up with Matt K in 6 days time.

I've been speaking to Matt and he said that many of the routes a very tricky due to all of the rains, so much so that I won't be taking the Landy down Dades gorge this year. To quote him he said he wouldn't do Dades again if you paid him!!! Having been behind him out there he is no fanny when it comes to off road driving so I guess it must be bad. I guess luckily you didn't miss too much.

I can't think of much worse than sitting in the driving rain with the crappy landy blowers failing to de-mist the wagon (or is that just defenders)

Did you manage to get your money back off Pete? I've bumped into him out there every year for the last 5 years, he is a top bloke. Out of interest why do you go with an outfit and not with others (such as me and Matt or others from the forums?). Genuinely not having a dig, just interested to know, as its so very expensive.

I really like the set up in the back of your wagon, great videos on the Morocoo 4x4 forum. Can't say that I have modified mine to the same extent, primarily as I have to run mine as the family car too...

all the best to Belinda and I hope she makes a speedy recovery,

Guy

Guy

Thanks for your comments on the car and videos and I'll pass on your best wishes to Belinda.

Our reasons for going with Pete are a bit of a long story.

On our first trip, in 2009, our (so called) guide left us high and dry with no support or assistance. If you've read the trip report, on my site, you will know that we were beset by problems from the outset and it didn't end very well.

As a result of this Belinda swore she would never do anything like that again.

However, at the LR Max show at Newark, we got talking to Pete and told him our tale of woe. It was purely down to his 'smooth charms' that he persuaded Belinda to go to Tunisia. As a result we had a brilliant time and Belinda was converted (partially).

On that trip we made some very good friends and we enjoyed Pete's company so much that, on the ferry back, we all, en mass, signed up to go to Morocco this March. It was meant to be a re-run/reunion of the Tunisia crew.

Unfortunately due to different commitments certain individuals had to drop out but it still left our good friends Nick & Karen and my brother and wife Alan & Morag.

With the memory of 2009 still sharp in her mind, the desire for backup and support is still a key consideration for Belinda. Even though our 'holiday' with Atlas Overland didn't start until Tarifa the guys drove with us down through Spain and gave great support when Belinda first started to fall ill. Alex, who works for Pete, stayed with us at the hospital, for several hours, offering support until it was obvious he could do no more.

As for the money, Pete is not back from Morocco yet to discuss it. But I hope to 'transfer' any balance to his October tour, or if that's not possible, I'll claim it back from the travel insurance. Either way we hope to travel with him again in October.

Would we travel in a small group of friends? Yes I'm sure we will, as time progresses. Certainly I do want to go to the Sahara with my brother (the original plan) and that won't be possible with Atlas because of the timing of school holidays.

I've built the disco for travel and there are wider plans than the trips offered by Pete. I desperately want to go to Iceland and we shall do some more touring of the UK and Europe. One day, who knows, even Mongolia could be on the cards.

Saying that we love the look of the Carpathian Trails tour and the Arctic Circle trip offered by Atlas.

In the short term if Belinda is only happy to travel with an organised tour, then that's what we'll do. Any travel is better than no travel:thumbup1:

Hi Ralph,

I'm the same as you in that I had to take it softly softly with my wife (plus we had a 9th month old in tow). I then blew it last year by nealry rolling then landy down a mountainside (4 hours of digging and high lift jacking to recover it, plus one night on a mountainside at minus 3). Wife very unimpressed.

Pete is a quality guy, and I can certainly see why he gets repeat custom.

Probably bump into him out there, I leave on the ferry tomorrow!!!

All the best

Woody

Woody
Have a good one. Pete should be crossing the straights on Sunday if I have my dates right.
Cheers
Ralph