Winston Churchill (our ‘98 Disco I) has cancer. As so many rigs of this age do, to be sure, but this rot stands between me and getting the old man through state inspection here in NH, so into the mire we go…
I would likely have remained blissfully unaware of this whole situation, for a little while yet, at least, had the exhaust pipe not rusted through and fallen off one day shortly before my wife and I packed up our lives to move from Pittsburgh, PA, back east to central NH. Alas, there wasn’t time to get a replacement pipe mounted before the journey, and come on, it’s a Land Rover! So Winston made the 800mi trek to his new home behind a Uhaul truck:
In the process of investigating the fallen tailpipe, I removed (erm… ripped off) the old drop-down step from the frame rail, and lo, and behold… the gaping maw of a rust hole - long hidden. Where there’s one, there are often others, so now able to stick my head into the space usually occupied by the rear muffler, I started to inspect with a flashlight, and found that the rear body mount was held on by iron oxide and nothing more. This too, was certainly not going to be handled in our apartment complex parking lot, mere weeks before we were due to depart, so the can got kicked down the road, until we could get settled and I could get my welder out of storage.
To be continued…
I would likely have remained blissfully unaware of this whole situation, for a little while yet, at least, had the exhaust pipe not rusted through and fallen off one day shortly before my wife and I packed up our lives to move from Pittsburgh, PA, back east to central NH. Alas, there wasn’t time to get a replacement pipe mounted before the journey, and come on, it’s a Land Rover! So Winston made the 800mi trek to his new home behind a Uhaul truck:
In the process of investigating the fallen tailpipe, I removed (erm… ripped off) the old drop-down step from the frame rail, and lo, and behold… the gaping maw of a rust hole - long hidden. Where there’s one, there are often others, so now able to stick my head into the space usually occupied by the rear muffler, I started to inspect with a flashlight, and found that the rear body mount was held on by iron oxide and nothing more. This too, was certainly not going to be handled in our apartment complex parking lot, mere weeks before we were due to depart, so the can got kicked down the road, until we could get settled and I could get my welder out of storage.
To be continued…