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It sure will... I'm having to hold myself back from launching into it - but there are other things I need to sort first...

Yeah, I think the half-109 (54.5?) is a completely lost cause as far as restoration goes, there's just too little of it left. I keep looking at the main one though - it needs a door and a bonnet and some rust cleaned up (well, in fairness I think I need to pull the firewall and rebuild it - the pillars that the door bolt to are pretty rusted, among other bits) - then re-fit the engine and off we go for a WOF (safety cert required every 6 months in New Zealand for vehicles from pre-2000)... I almost wonder if I should just fix it up as-is and drive it. But yeah, dropping the body on the Disco chassis crossed my mind, but it would probably need stretched first. I could do that, and I am pretty sure I could get that certified here - but I am not sure I will go that far with it. I'll walk past it down the driveway each day on my way too and from the Disco to go to work, and keep thinking on it... hopefully I'll settle on something - or maybe I will need another one so I can do both!

Hi Brian, you haven't missed anything - I haven't really done anything to the sleepout in about a year... still wrapped and battened. I am HOPING to get it finished before xmas, so I'll need to get back on to it very soon. If nothing else, it's a testament to how well the wrap can hold up beyond the recommended 6 weeks! lol...

Thanks - but save the praise for if I ever actually finish it! lol 🤣

Thanks mate, I appreciate the comments... and yeah, there is more coming... the project got put on hold for a bit, but I will be back soon... it's just sitting there in the paddock, waiting for me to get my A into G. Cheers, Steve

Hi, yep I have all the receipts in a folder, and I will go through and analyse it all at the end... cos it is probably going to take me a while. Cheers, Steve

@@solihullsyndrome AND you will get a shock, as well, lol.

@@michaelcudby787 I'm going to put it off until the very end... I had this grand idea that I could do it all for about $10k, but I think I have long since blown through that figure, even with all the auction buys and second-hand / cheap stuff I've used... building is bloody expensive. But I'm really enjoying it, and I've learned a lot.

Hi, so do I have it right that you can open the upper tailgate with the dash, but not the handle on the rear door? And that manually shorting the wires to the handle switch does nothing? I had a quick look at the wiring diagram for a D3, and the switch should have a red wire (possibly with a black trace), which looks like it runs back to a central junction box P101 (I think behind the lower glove box) - it doesn't go directly to the release motor... so it could well be a broken wire somewhere - potentially in the loom where it goes from the taildoor into the vehicle body... I'd start there... The other wire should be black, and run to an earth point... so no, there shouldn't be voltage on either wire I don't think (unless the red wire is held high (5v or 12v, I'm not sure), and is pulled low to ground when the switch is closed)... I've never had to dig that deep into the wiring on my D3 - but I'd definitely suspect the red wire. Check its continuity from the rear door to P101... and keep us posted. Cheers, Steve

I have the issue. Where key fob unlocks/opens (have to time it right) but the button doesn’t

The solution on mine was replacing the whole upper tailgate harness back to the 12v supply in the headling. It wasnt the switch that was at fault It was the harness that deteriorated with water ingress. Hope this helps somebody

@@seanmccarron625 Thats awesome information, and is likely the same issue I faced with the window that wouldn't go up on my blue Disco 2... probably the wiring in the door harness. Thank you for sharing your solution, I'm sure it will help someone. Cheers, Steve

I've got a folder full of all the receipts and I will add it all up when I get to the end... but it's been waaay more expensive than I expected. Lumber is not cheap. I suspect in excess of $10k NZD just to get to this point... and I couldn't add up the cost of my labour, because it's priceless (and I work slowly and spend too long staring at things trying to figure out how to do the next bit, so nobody would pay me anyway!)😊

From memory, the posts went about 500-600 into the ground - we have a VERY hard clay layer here, that is very difficult to dig into. Even with the big two-person post-hole borer I couldn't get into it (recently put a post in for a clothesline and it took me an hour with a big heavy 2m long steel breaker bar to go down about 300mm through the clay)... it's almost like hitting bedrock. I then set the highest point to be as low as possible while still having the framework above grade, and went from there. I think it's about 700 above grade at the highest point but it's been a while since I did that... I've had other projects get in the way, but I am hoping to get back onto it before winter sets in too hard... hopefully.

I'll do this when I finally get finished - I'll lay out all the costs as well. Suffice to say for now, it has been bloody expensive! lol...

Hi, according to what I read it just has to comply with the NZ Building Code. The government site (canibuildit) suggests that you may want to employ a LBP or similar, but it is not, as far as I can tell, required. #notalawyer #alsonotabuilder #nocluewhatiamdoing #makingshitupasigo 😊

@@solihullsyndrome Yea, can be unclear but quite often, the building code can differ between councils.

@@michaelcudby787 And there is the problem... councils, lol. The building code is national, but individual councils seem to interpret the rules whatever way they want. I've got to say, we're in the Waimakariri, and the council has (mostly) been pretty darned good to deal with. Much better than Christchurch or Selwyn. I have had one problem with getting a driveway approved for our granny flat (on the other side of the property) - because of their requirements it's going to cost around $26k plus engineers fees to do a small bit of chip seal between the road and the gate. And they won't relax the requirements - meaning rock-solid ground has to be dug up and re-engineered, a pointless culvert needs to be installed, STMS crews need to be employed (need an STMS plan for 50,000 vehicle movements a day from memory - on a country road that might see 20 cars, 10 tractors and the odd quadbike in any given 24 hour period)... it all got too much, so we forgot about it, accepted the loss of the $1000 fee for the resource consent, and just drive over the grass.

@@solihullsyndrome Faarrrk me man. And they wonder why people just go ahead & do things. Afraid I get really testy when BS comes to play, & end up just doing it myself & keep quiet & hope the neibours dont pot ya. Thats where friendly neibours are good.

Now you tell me! lol 🤣

Thanks 👍 Life is getting in the way of me having time at the moment, but it is still sitting there making me feel guilty every time I walk past it! lol... I'll hopefully get back into it very shortly. Cheers, Steve

Cheers Mick, yeah, if you don't think about it too hard, then it seems easy... and before you know it you're in too deep to stop, and so the only way out is forwards! lol... But I'll get there eventually... I need to get stuck back into mine... it's sitting idle awaiting cladding. Your place sounds great... and it sounds like you've bought yourself *years* worth of content for your channel! 😂

You're very welcome!

Yep - the wife made me test it while she watched - she was the one who got caught out by it when it broke (with all her work gear in the back!), so she wanted to be sure to know how to use it... It needs a firm tug, but it works fine.

The ones I got are solid, but cheap... so I'll just keep going the way I am. Got to get some more yet... It doesn't seem to matter how I calculate it, I always end up with about half what I need! 😂

Cheers, I've been enjoying the heck out of your builds for the last year or so as well.

Cheers 😁 I'll be back into it soon... gotta get it finished before winter...

@@solihullsyndrome Looking forward to seeing more. I will be attempting something similar soon so seeing you do it has been a lot of help!

Stay tuned, more coming ☺

Agreed, I've battened it all now. Got the cladding to go on as well - just gotta paint it and put it up. In the coming few weeks hopefully...

Only for the insides... galv nails for that particular gun are VERY expensive here in NZ. Live and learn... but I was mostly done with outside nails anyway...

Some nail guns use cheaper nails? Paslode? ​@@solihullsyndrome

I couldn't agree more! 😁

when I was making the brackets for the piles? Yep, slightly sketchy. In hindsight a clamp or two would have been a little safer...

Cheers John - I got the WOF today. Flew through, but have a couple of notes to work on before the next one...

Thanks - I'm going to have to partially lift it again as birds got under it over the summer and there is a lot of nest material in there... but that video should be coming up soon...

Cheers :)

I wonder if they weren't all packing sheets... they were cheap, and they did the job... so I'm not complaining. Although next time I will definitely spring for the proper stuff with the tongues just for the time savings...

@@solihullsyndrome and more floor rigidity as a result as well

No worries... thanks for watching!

Cheers, I did look at a few kits but wanted to do something cheap and simple

I know EXACTLY what you mean about your hands - its a sod of a job getting in there - but I'm glad the video was helpful, and glad you finally got to it :)

Lol, cheers 👍

Ah, yeah now you mention that - I think I've seen those ones... looks like a big tile glue trowel? Cheers, Steve

What's the old saying?... If it's stupid but it works, it's not stupid 😂

I'm in Sefton, just north of Christchurch... And I was avionics. I was based all over. Spent a couple of years looking after the CT4B's, many hours of fueling them up, polishing the canopies with pledge, and rolling them in and out of the hangar... and even a few hours flying them because the pilots got bored doing continuation training and would take us groundies up to do it for them while they relaxed. That was a win-win.

The goat doesn't take no for an answer, lol

Perfect! Thank you for that clarification... that makes me feel better. Cheers

when cavity battens are run horizontally for vertical weather board they usually use a castellated batten. the cross section of this is sometimes rhombus shape and it has grooves to allow water drainage.

Cheers mate, yep I'll be fitting full sheets of shadowclad vertically. Hopefully these battens will be spaced properly for that... although I am wishing I'd run two rows of dwangs instead of just one on the front wall now, just for added stiffness.

Thanks... if not, I'll cover it up with cladding and pretend it never happened! 😂

Cheers, I didn't know that was a thing - but I appreciate it.

Cheers, and if you video the process, then let me know - I'd love to see it! Cheers, Steve

Cheers man, feel free to sing out when I do a stupid then, lol... and 9 Landies?! Man, I feel inadequate now - but only 4 more for me to go to get there though...

Nah, galv. Couldn't justify the cost of SS for the fixings. I may be using SS screws for the cladding though...

Pretty sure they were 145 x 45 H3.2 (6 x 2's in old money). Cheers.

what you done was way overkill 100x100 beares would be cheaper and perfectly acceptable for that span and your rafters could have been 6x2 in the old money@@solihullsyndrome

@@brianseager6388 According to how I understand the building code, 6x2 rafters are not allowed over the 3m span I have? I could definitely have gone lighter weight materials if I'd ignored code - and I've seen others do that... but I am trying to stick to the rules on this build. If I've got that wrong could you point me to the right page in 3604 so I can make a correction for anyone following along. Cheers, Steve