New member hello with 96 LR Disco 5speed!

[rripatti]

Hi All,

I stumbled upon this sight about a week ago and cannot believe my good fortune! The sight is wonderfully informative with interests aligned to my own.

I've always loved Landrover's and have been dreaming of purchasing one since I watching movies of Land Rover's in roaming around in Africa.

Around February of this year, I had had it with my 1990 Jeep Cherokee. It was feeling very cramped (i'm 6'5, 240lbs), becoming very squeaky (daily driven in the very rough Brooklyn roads and I drive to Maine and beyond at least 12 times a year), and simply was not able to carry much weight in stock form so I sold it.

Last April I purchased a pristine 1996 Land Rover Discovery 5-speed with cloth manual seats and no sunroofs in the interest of simplicity/reliability :wings: Since then, I have removed the front brush bar, sidesteps, added a OME HD 2" lift, waxoyled the entire chassis including parts of the drivetrain, replaced slightly rusted exhaust with a borla catback. (I've attached a picture from when i first bought it, sorry its so crappy and small, I'll update this with new pictures as soon as I get a new digital camera!)

Talk about a difference from the Cherokkee!! Where the Cherokee was cramped, squeaky and did not like carrying more then 500lbs, the Discovery is a tank! :safari-rig: The Disco doesn't squeak at all, has so much more space (especially headroom!) and with the OME HD suspension shrugged off a 1,000+lb load I had in the truck last weekend (5 up of 200lb'ers plus loaded truck)!!

As I want to keep this truck forever and given my lifestyle (active in gym, hiking, beach etc) I wanted to preserve my seats for as long as possible. So after a lot of research, I ordered a complete set of seat covers from www.wetokole.com in tan with black piping and two LR logos for the front seats. From the specs they look to be exactly what i'm looking for! They should be arriving in two weeks time! :wings:

Now here is where I'm hoping you guys can help a brand new member! On the manual discovery seats on the inboard side, reside two manual adjustors. The lower larger one adjust seat rake and the smaller one above is for the lumbar support adjustment. Does anybody know how to remove these so that I can install the seat covers wtihout slicing a huge cut into each cover to accommadate the knobs? Its just not readily apparent to me

Thanks guys for looking at my very first threat and providing any help or assistance you may have!

Raul

ps. My next 3 mods will be Scorpion Racing 30mm spacers to help compensate the 2" lift in COG, 245/75/16 BF AT tires and 4.6L with tourquer cam added. I'll be sure to comment and provide feedback on each of these mods as I add them over the course of the next 8 months.

 

[Scott Brady]

Hey, that truck looks familiar (I have a '95, white, manual, cloth)

For the covers, since they are neoprene, I would suggest fitting them to the seats and then cutting a small hole, then stretching the neoprene over the adjustment handles.

Great to have you on the forum.

 

[Desertoutpost]

Welcome to Expo,

Nice Disco. Look forward to watching your mods.

 

[Andrew Walcker]

Welcome Aboard! :beer:

Nice Dicso w/ 5 speed! I agree w/ Scott that a slice in the neopreme would be the way to do. Neopreme stretches wonderfully and is very hard to tear. If you are really concerned have the slice seam stitched and it will look factory.

 

[rripatti]

Hi Scot,

Thanks for the welcome! I just read up on your truck and i thought for a second that I was seeing double LOL. I am looking forward to seeing how you will build up your truck. I read with great interest on your choice to do steel wheels as I was on the fence at the point between steel wheels and spacers. As an FYI, I decided to go with the Scorpion Racer wheel spacers instead of steelies for the following reasons:
1. Depending on quality, steelies may possibly be more involved to balance
2. higher maintenance in terms of ensuring no rust
3. additional sprung weight when compared to running spacers.

With that said, the spacer I purchased, while hubcentric, will require additional labor to ensure they are tight (thinking low strength loctite when i install them) and when i need to do rotor swaps etc. Plus they are slighly less backspacing at about 1" per side.

Another thing that I find interesting about your 95 versus my 96 is that you have the CUX14 ecu and distributor while I have the GEMS ECU (i think i got that right) and distributor less system. I'm curious how both are from a reliability standpoint. From a modification perspective, your system is much more friendly with several chips available to accommodate engine mods versus what i have.

Okay back to the neoprene seat covers from wet okole (edit: to clarify i bought cover's for the rear seats too). So it looks like common concensus is to cut a slit just large enough to slide the cover over the knobs and then possibly stich a seam on the ends of the cut. Is this something i can stitch myself (i can barely sew my own buttons on my clothes! LOL)?

Thanks again guys!

Hey, that truck looks familiar (I have a '95, white, manual, cloth)

For the covers, since they are neoprene, I would suggest fitting them to the seats and then cutting a small hole, then stretching the neoprene over the adjustment handles.

Great to have you on the forum.

 

[rripatti]

Thanks! I love the D2's as well, just wish they came with a stickshift! How noisy is your roof rack at say highway speeds? i am thinking of eventually purchasing one?

Welcome to Expo,

Nice Disco. Look forward to watching your mods.

 

[rripatti]

Thanks for the welcome Andrwe!

As i wrote in my prior post, its great to know that neoprene is very hard to tear, even after i slice it (going to buy a new box cutter for that) as these wet okole's were pretty pricey :jumping:

i have to see about that stitching thing. perhaps i can put a stitch myself at both ends of the slit with heavy duty black nylon thread??

Welcome Aboard! :beer:

Nice Dicso w/ 5 speed! I agree w/ Scott that a slice in the neopreme would be the way to do. Neopreme stretches wonderfully and is very hard to tear. If you are really concerned have the slice seam stitched and it will look factory.

 

[Andrew Walcker]

Thanks for the welcome Andrwe!

As i wrote in my prior post, its great to know that neoprene is very hard to tear, even after i slice it (going to buy a new box cutter for that) as these wet okole's were pretty pricey :jumping:

i have to see about that stitching thing. perhaps i can put a stitch myself at both ends of the slit with heavy duty black nylon thread??

Start with a very small hole as it is always easier to keep going bigger than smaller. Maybe even a "X" instead of an "l" would allow the knobs to pass through easier. Not sure on the stitching? There is an upholster near me that I've always used so never had to think about it myself. If you did end up stitching it, I'd just copy whatever thread they use from the factory.

 

[Desertoutpost]

Thanks! I love the D2's as well, just wish they came with a stickshift! How noisy is your roof rack at say highway speeds? i am thinking of eventually purchasing one?

Don't even know its up there to be perfectly honest with you. It makes zero noise, no whistling or anything. Although one time the flooring vibrated and made a little noise but that was in 50-70 mph wind and I was driving about 45-55, other than this have heard nothing. After making it though that I feel very confident in the rack, I just check the attachment bolts for being tight about once a month. Good luck.

 

[rripatti]

Hi Andrew,

Thanks for the advice on an "X" slit. I may do just that and keep it as small as possible. as i am keeping the slit small, I may attempt it myself as the actual slit will be hidden from the knob given the stretch qualities. i will contact wet okole and see if they can provide me with extra threading.

Thanks!

Start with a very small hole as it is always easier to keep going bigger than smaller. Maybe even a "X" instead of an "l" would allow the knobs to pass through easier. Not sure on the stitching? There is an upholster near me that I've always used so never had to think about it myself. If you did end up stitching it, I'd just copy whatever thread they use from the factory.

 

[rripatti]

Thanks for the input desertoutpost...its amazing that you don't hear additional windnoise. i had a rack on my previous jeep and that thing howled.

so far the discovery has swallowed everything i have asked of it. however this coming summer, i will be towing a trailer with two jetski's and will have 5 people onboard from Brooklyn to Maine (fiancee's family has a cabin on one of the lakes up there situated on dirt roads). I may have to procure a rack for that trip depending on how much cargo will be brought up.

thanks again for your reply

Don't even know its up there to be perfectly honest with you. It makes zero noise, no whistling or anything. Although one time the flooring vibrated and made a little noise but that was in 50-70 mph wind and I was driving about 45-55, other than this have heard nothing. After making it though that I feel very confident in the rack, I just check the attachment bolts for being tight about once a month. Good luck.

 

[Desertoutpost]

Thanks for the input desertoutpost...its amazing that you don't hear additional windnoise. i had a rack on my previous jeep and that thing howled.

so far the discovery has swallowed everything i have asked of it. however this coming summer, i will be towing a trailer with two jetski's and will have 5 people onboard from Brooklyn to Maine (fiancee's family has a cabin on one of the lakes up there situated on dirt roads). I may have to procure a rack for that trip depending on how much cargo will be brought up.

thanks again for your reply

Check on craigs list, there are some racks going for good prices, ie...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Genu...010QQitemZ200170437793QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

Just make sure you stay to the SD or SD style rack, they are quiet and you can load a ton of gear up there. These racks are the ones the G4 used.

 

[rripatti]

Thanks for the link! there looks to be good deals out there.

Quick question, given their sheer size, these racks can certainly carry a lot of goods which equates to weight. have you noticed any deterioration to your rain gutters (bending/cracking etc?)

By the way, love the look of the rack in the pic!

Just wondering. Thanks.

Check on craigs list, there are some racks going for good prices, ie...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Genu...010QQitemZ200170437793QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

Just make sure you stay to the SD or SD style rack, they are quiet and you can load a ton of gear up there. These racks are the ones the G4 used.

 

[Desertoutpost]

Thanks for the link! there looks to be good deals out there.

Quick question, given their sheer size, these racks can certainly carry a lot of goods which equates to weight. have you noticed any deterioration to your rain gutters (bending/cracking etc?)

By the way, love the look of the rack in the pic!

Just wondering. Thanks.

Simple answer, no. I have heard of nothing either, which I think I would have. With the four attachment points and their sheer width, and the fact that the rain gutters on a Rover are the size of most house gutters, you will be fine. The racks are very large but very, very light. I could hold the hole rack over my head when we installed it, and I assure you I'm not built like a fire plug, more like the hose! As for the link, when these racks come up they do not last long, maybe a day or two tops. You have to jump on them quick and they usually fetch a price well over $1000.00, so move quick! Good luck.

 

[Scott Brady]

I went for the steel wheels to understate the looks of the Discovery, and make it a little more field repairable. These are the NATO wheels, with a smaller safety bead, hence easier to field fix a tire. And I like how they look

An aluminum wheel is almost always a better performance choice.