On draining the last of the oil after removing the turbo oil lines I noticed the presence of water in the sump. This wasn’t through running, thankfully, simply after standing for a while. On further investigation I found that water had got in through holes in the dish of the ‘deluxe’ bonnet and had run down the engine block into the turbo oil return aperture that I had long-since plugged. What an idiot. I could easily see the trail left by the rain water.

I removed the sump, not an easy job as the joint is made with some kind of sealant. I could only break the seal by tapping a specially fashioned wooden wedge around the joint with a small hammer. Judging by the damage left by previous sump entrants others seem equally as unimpressed with this sealant.

I found an Ebay seller who has ‘traditional’ sump gaskets manufactured. They turned to be a garage regularly servicing Discos.

Once the sump was off I was able to clean up the ladder frame and oil pickup filter with petrol. The sump has acquired a hefty knock at some stage which has rusted. Although this area is rather thin I think it will be OK. So a quick coat of paint to the exterior and refitted with new bolts. I followed the useful advice on the leaflet enclosed with the gasket and used a few drops of super glue to hold it in place while fitting.