Over the years that I have owned the car I have to admit that I have never really gone out of my way to protect the chassis and underbody.  Following exposure to the shot blasting effects of desert sands and salt flats it was now in need of a serious dose of TLC.

Apparently this is a common problem with early discos.  For me the unit had lasted almost 10 years, so i don't think I have room to complain.

This is a straightforward, 30 minute job if, and this is the problem, you can access the boot floor.  Unfortunately, in my case, the storage system covers this.

The bushes on the car were not in desperate need of replacement but I wanted eveything to be as good as it could be for Tunisia and so I decided to change them

The MoT picked up a slight leak on these pipes as an 'advisory' so I was very keen to get these done especially before the trip to Tunisia.

Make no mistake; this job can be an absolute pig.....

The Haynes manual states that this job should be carried out by a specialist every 24000 miles.  I was quoted £170 by the local independent garage.  However I found a good guide on the internet which gave step by step instructions.

Returning from London on the A11 I noticed a distict lack of power as I came past Atleborough.  Switching to diesel solved the problem.  So it was obviously linked to the veg oil fuel delivery.

To many of you this is a simple task but to some, the thought of doing their own maintenance is frightening.  So i felt that a basic guide would be beneficial.

The paintwork on the car car had suffered after 5 years of greenlaning and offroading with plenty of brushmarks and several deep scratches.  It looked like it had been cleaned with a brillo pad and an angle grinder.  In addition there were several places where the aluminium was oxidising and bubbling.