Include

[DenverCurmudgeon]

I'd first like to say that during the last three days of reading posts, I've found everyone to be fine, knowledgeable people, and I look forward to reading and contributing when I can.

My name is Mark, and I'm a 42 year old writer and college student. I live in Denver, CO, and own a '95 Discovery with 104k miles on it. I bought it new, and have put all the miles on it. It's seen no real hardcore off-roading, only the usual fly-fishing dirt roads, Aspen-viewing mountain trips, and the occasional camping trip. The truck is bone stock: all the parts have been factory replacements. The repair history is fairly straightforward, and though my Disco has a few problems, they're nothing that can't be solved. I've done all the factory recommended maintenance procedures, all the way up to and including the 90k service. The truck has a new rear differential (at 85k) a new transmission (at 14k), three alternators, and a host of smaller items. I've used injector cleaner - various brands - in the gas tank a few times a year, and though I only get 12mpg in the city, the truck runs well. It has only seen two accidents over the years, both in the last two years, and they seemed to have damaged every body panel on the truck. I was t-boned on the driver's side, and both doors are dented. The driver's door still needs a replacement door latch to get the lock working. I was also hit lightly on the passenger front corner, denting the hood and wing, the headlight, bumper-corner, and that little metal trim piece under the headlight.

This week I did, or had done, an aggressive tune-up, detailing, and minor repair session. I replaced the cap/rotor, wires, plugs, switched to synthetic oil, installed a K&N air and oil filter, sucked Seafoam through a vacuum line, tried to fix driver's door problem, and re-glued some weather-stripping. I was happy to find, upon inspecting the plugs, that they were all worn uniformly, with a black carbon, indicating a over-rich mix that was probably caused by using a old air filter too long. The car is in great mechanical shape.

I came to Land Rovers Only because it's time for me to do my own maintenance and repairs on my Disco, and so far have found a great deal of helpful information.

I have a few medium and short term projects planned, and will be reading and asking you all questions about them. These projects are:

- Finding and replacing a driver's door latch, and perhaps finding 2 red doors.
- dealing with my front bumper. Only the plastic pieces are damaged, and I'll either replace the plastic or fit a new aftermarket bumper. There doesn't seem to be a thread with pictures of bumper solutions, both aftermarket and homemade, that includes costs, installation stories, and clear part names. If I knew what options were available for under a couple hundred bucks and a long weekend of work, I'd probably smile for a week.
- I'd love to find pencil beam lights, but unless I can fit them to my bumper solution, and not have to upgrade my electrical system, it won't happen for a long time.
- I'd love to find new red body parts. Replacing them with other colors means I'd be driving a high-school looking vehicle until I scare up the cost of a Maaco paint job. This is a long term project.

Thanks for reading...

Mark