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Post by valhalla on Jul 15, 2017 0:32:04 GMT 1
I would have got a photo posted this evening, but I dare not take the camera near the workshop. The body is now being prepared, before it is due to be dropped back down onto the chassis tomorrow evening (probably). I've had a few visitors of late, 3 in a row this morning have come to see the Defender. I think I might need to sell tickets.... The chassis and running gear is almost, but not quite, back together. It has been a drag, because of poor parts deliveries this last week or so. The fuel tank is held-up by bungee cords at the moment, due to the tank cradle still being "in the post". It was ordered 17days ago. However, the tank had to go back in, to keep the fuel system intact as far as the engine; the whole lot came out in one piece, which is my way of ensuring as little debris as possible gets into the fuel system through any open connections. The TD5 is not as bad as some modern diesel systems, but it's delicate enough just the same. The filter is at the back, so there's a lot of possibility to get crud into the supply line if the system isn't kept intact. The body needs a wee bit of patching around the mounts, but before I rivet any material in, I have treated all the crucial areas to an underbody Schutz spray (after scraping and blowing-down the whole of the underside), letting it dry a bit, then coating the whole underneath & footwells with Waxoyl. I measured how fast my gun was applying the wax, and allowing for the time to refill the gun, it was going onto the body at about 1gallon in 8minutes. Just over 1.5 gallons went onto the floor, body-sides, bulkhead, anywhere......in one continuous wet sheet of wax. Almost nothing has dripped off, yet... I worked-out that I can hold my breath just long enough to remove the respirator at the back of the workshop, hang it up, re-hang it after falling on the floor, walk to the front of the workshop, remove head-torch and plug it in to charge, walk to main doors, turn all the lights off, open the first door, get out, then collapse on the floor and try and catch my breath again!! Nothing in the workshop is going to rust for a few weeks, now.
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Post by valhalla on Jul 16, 2017 0:10:25 GMT 1
Finished prepping the body this afternoon, but didn't start to get the body down. I had a few things to sort-out on the body, but the main problem was terrible corrosion around the aluminium that carries the seatbox on the centre body-mounts. What I have done (having made a good job at smothering everything with wax under there... ) was to insert some repair plates between the seatbelt mounting brackets (in good condition) and the missing aluminium. However, I have gone a bit esoteric on these two repairs (one either side) and have riveted-in composite plastic heavy-gauge plates. This isn't as stupid as it sounds, as the glass-filler in this thermoplastic has not been re-distributed by heating of the plastic yet (these are made from a raw material stock for vacuum-forming) so the stranding is quite random on these plates. It makes them incredibly tough and difficult to cut, but more importantly, they will not corrode or encourage further erosion of the main body near the mountings. As I intend to spread the loads with heavy steel penny-washers, instead of the old shims, then the force loadings will not be too localised either, so this system ought to be good for the remainder of the life of the body; Attachment DeletedI'll keep an eye on these repairs for the next year or two, but I reckon this could be the ideal way to deal with the rot in the seatbox flange on these Defenders. The other main job was to re-fabricate new copper/nickel brake lines for the front of the bulkhead, as the originals got twisted on removing the old unions. These pipe had already been done in copper/nickel, but had been joined together as well, and I wanted to get a proper job done that looks neat whilst I still had access; Attachment DeletedOnce I have got the body mated to the chassis, I'll reset the pipe precise positions, and add a few extra clips. I don't want to do this right now, because there is always some error involved in the relative position of body and chassis, and these two pipes need to bridge the gap reliably without risk of fatigue. Having looked back at the photos of the fuel system before being stripped-out of the old chassis, I have spotted that the fuel tank breather is not routed correctly, so that needs to be sorted first thing on Monday morning. I reckon that this is the value in taking lots of "before" pictures, as several times I have had to question the precise routing I have used on fuel, brake, and electrical lines. In each case it appears that the original routing is a lot more untidy than my new solution, so that's a relief! The reliability of one of these Defenders is totally dependent on getting the fine details correct, otherwise they just shake or chafe themselves to oblivion.
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Post by valhalla on Jul 16, 2017 0:33:35 GMT 1
Here's a couple of the pictures of the finished chassis, ready for the body-drop on Monday; Attachment DeletedThe last few jobs on this were fairly trivial, but necessary all the same. I needed to prepare some neoprene rubber shims to go between the footwells and the new galvanized support brackets. As the new brackets are made bespoke, they sensibly include slotting on the holes to the chassis fixings that actually give you a proper adjustment, so conventional shims are not required any more. Why LR couldn't do that, anyone's guess!! However, you need a rubber packer to isolate the footwell, but it has to be tough, so I use a 4mm thick neoprene rubber gasket material that has to be sheared-down by whatever comes to hand (the Gilbows are the main weapon of choice....) I needed to make a new exhaust hanger bracket for the rearmost fixing - I just couldn't find a retail outlet for a new one in time. In the end, it took me about 15mins with the welder and some rod/heavy plate, but because I made it, it includes a design flaw straightaway; no way to stop the exhaust hanger strap from slipping sideways off the end. Rather than weld a ferrule onto the end, I opted to use the crofter's best resource, the plastic cable-tie, to provide a belt-and-braces security against the strap coming loose. Compared to how the system was barely held into the car before, the new set-up is miles better. Attachment DeletedI reckon that once it has been smothered in grease or wax, the gauge of the materials will give this a few years life, After which a proper one can just be bought.... The very final job was to wrap a nylon anti-chafe tape onto the fuel lines (rubber molded hoses) where they run over the corner of the chassis and near the body mounting brackets. These would not have been protected like this on the original car, but the design does ask for trouble, and these hoses (which come as a complete assembly) are very expensive. Also, the new chassis is constructed slightly differently to the original, so the fillet on the edge between the inboard side of the chassis and the top is much sharper and likely to chafe the hoses. I don't see any point asking for trouble on the fuel system, which is not the most reliable part of the car to start-with (in-tank pump, fuel filter head leaks, etc. etc.)
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Post by valhalla on Jul 18, 2017 0:14:29 GMT 1
Miserable day, today, getting the body back down to a reasonable fit on the new chassis. It was all looking good, until the last stage.... I realised that there was no way I could fit the body from tip to stern between the front and rear hard fixing points. I have had to compromise, hang the rear of the body over the back of the crossmember by a couple of millimetres, but it doesn't make the front fit properly. All it does is make a day's work out of a (normally) trivial exercise, pry-bars and jacks to get the best fit at all the points in the middle of the vehicle. So far, I have 18 out of the 30 fixings in. I'm not too happy with the result, but it will just about suffice. At least it will all be bolted-down solidly, but my work is cut-out when I have to fit the front panel and radiator, and still make it look good. Hmmm. A bit of grinding required! Vehicle pushed onto rear ramps whilst I look at one or two other jobs that have cropped-up in the meantime....
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Post by valhalla on Jul 25, 2017 1:25:15 GMT 1
It's up and running. I couldn't write about it on Friday last week, which is when I had to get the fuel tank cradle into place with the tank, after the body had gone down. I did not chose it that way, and would not recommend anyone go out of their way to remove/refit a TD5 fuel tank in-situ. One of those "bitch-jobs" that I could have done without, courtesy of a very late dispatch and delivery from that particular supplier this time. Cost me 2.5hours, and loads of sweat. They were 15days late on delivery..... It turns-out, with the body on the Defender 90 pushed back a few millimtres, the fit of the fuel tank (which is shaped around the rear floor pressings) is nigh-on impossible, as it cannot go backwards enough to initailly start to fit it, to allow the cradle to go upwards enough to engage on the chassis fittings. In the end, I had to do it the old-fashioned way. Lots of greasy Waxoyl on every surface, lots of pry-bars, and a helping lift from the jacking-beam (actually lifted the Defender off the ramp-plates) under the plastic tank & cradle.
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Post by studabear on Jul 25, 2017 21:09:04 GMT 1
Sounds like you have had your work cut out with this job matey.
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Post by valhalla on Jul 27, 2017 1:17:38 GMT 1
It's been alright, Stu. I never anticipated it was going to be a "one job in, one job out" sort of work. The sourcing of the parts is relatively easy, but what has thrown it out has been the delays in getting those parts back onto the vehicle in a timely fashion. Not least that until the body was back down off the 2-poster, the work I could do was limited to "floor-work" only. Nevertheless, I have done a fair bit in parallel to this "restoration", loads of remote diagnostic jobs, etc. etc. I have used this as a way of throttling the jobs down a little for the last few weeks, as it was becoming a bit silly. Having a good excuse to defer or deflect the s*** work that normally lands without notice.....is actually quite good. It's back to normal now, and already I'm getting all the LR rubbish that nobody else wants to touch. The rear ramps are now filled with a heap of a Disco2 TD5 that didn't even figure on my workplan until yesterday. ABS electrical problems, yes, that's me! Welding the chassis longitudinal/s and repairing the swivel lower bearing on the nearside, both miserable jobs that generate loads of grinding-dust that destroy my kit, not wanted at all..... I got the exterior panels all fitted and adjusted this morning. For some odd reason, the bonnet didn't want to latch (or open.....) any more. These Defenders can be a little frustrating like that - they're fine until you unbolt and disturb things! The main thing is that it is waterproof now, so can toddle in and out of the workshop as much as it likes. It has no brakes, and that job is still the main outstanding action. Most of what has held this work up is not the action of changing the chassis, but rectifying all the fine details that were wrong when it came in. Like non-working electricals from tip to stern! The end result will be worth all the effort, as it ought to drive as-new, and should give a few good years of service.
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Post by valhalla on Aug 4, 2017 0:48:04 GMT 1
As predicted, the brakes were the sting in the tail.
I've spent a couple of days carefully cutting the drive-flanges away from around the remains of the driveshaft splines, then cleaning it all up by needle-file, then stripping the hubs and washing them out of grinding dust, before renewing all the bearings and seals. Just to fit a couple of brake discs, which are secured to the rear of the hub on these earlier Defenders.
I knew that the offside would need this remedial action, but was disappointed to find the nearside was even worse. This happens a lot when early-life users of these vehicles do not prepare them to go off-road, that is, grease the oblivion out of them. Everything fitted at Solihull is dry, so immersion in salt-water is not going to do close-fitting components any favours. TD5 Defenders seem particularly prone to this issue of front spline rusting, especially the SWB 90's. Maybe they see a bit more "action" in their short lives!
Most of the jobs are now finished. A few little items remain to be done, like sorting a couple of separate electrical maladies that existed when the vehicle came in, plus a bit of cosmetic attention to the body-sides to remove them of decal residue. TBF, the vehicle does not look like it has had thousands of pounds worth of work done to it, but that was always going to be the case with this particular job. The frilly cosmetics can be done anytime, whereas this vehicle was never going to see another MoT without this work.
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Post by valhalla on Aug 26, 2017 0:49:10 GMT 1
The final bits and pieces were fairly trivial. One minor electrical problem remains (it came into the workshop with it) which is that the brake warning lamp is not illuminating correctly on the dash. The LR wiring diagrams for this area of the circuits have to be seen to be believed (you're on your own with these, really!) so I have left this one "not-fixed" as it wasn't worth the extra time. If I had a bit more time to waste, I would have traced the harness back to the basics, or just overlayed with a new design of my own. The brakes are improving stage by stage, and I have told the owner to bed them in carefully. He received his car back last week on Wednesday, and it went through its MoT Thursday morning, so that's a relief. Before handing it over, I gave it a quick wash & polish with the air-mop to make it look like something has been done to it... I don't think it scrubbed-up too badly (considering how it used to look) and at first glance, it is quite a smart little Defender now! The owners are absolutely over the moon with it, although there is a slight reservation between us all about the rear brakes, which will need reassessing once the new pads have bedded to the old discs. The MoT sheet indicated an imbalance, and the overall effort was not great, but I need to look into this from a vehicle mass / axle weight distribution point of view, maybe talk to the tester about what the tyres were doing on the rollers during the rear axle test. Attachment Deleted
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oli
Apprentice
Posts: 1,065
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Post by oli on Sept 10, 2017 22:08:25 GMT 1
Can't believe I didn't see this earlier!
Top job! Richards chassis have a very good reputation. I didn't realise they were made by the four strips stuck together method. Do they still have the RC cut out bit?
Regarding the slight body overhang at the back - I was looking at a Puma (defender) the other day and thought the body to chassis fit was much worse than my 1985 90 - it really was poor but certainly looked undamaged and original.
Oli
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Post by valhalla on Sept 11, 2017 23:18:54 GMT 1
Can't believe I didn't see this earlier! Top job! Richards chassis have a very good reputation. I didn't realise they were made by the four strips stuck together method. Do they still have the RC cut out bit? Regarding the slight body overhang at the back - I was looking at a Puma (defender) the other day and thought the body to chassis fit was much worse than my 1985 90 - it really was poor but certainly looked undamaged and original. Oli The RC is still cut out of the webs around the centre crossmember, visible through the front of the rear wheelarches. There are pros and cons of using the 4x strip method, however I think the pros outweigh the cons! The rear crossmember has a slight bow, and I believe, looking at both of my other RC chassis still on the deck, that this is the consequence of going the "TD5 upgrade" route, with all the bells and whistles built into the new crossmember. I reckon that this item is bought-in as an assembly, and that is why it stands-out as uncharacteristically poor in fit and finish. It might appear that the assembly shares a few common features with the later Puma crossmembers, so possibly a match? The fix for the future is to modify the right-angle rear body mount strip, so that it is able to take-up some of the fixing conformity across the rear crossmember (bowed) width. I had one of the very first RC chassis (before they became RC) in 1990; it was a Steve Walker prototype, and is still going strong on an early 109 restoration of mine. Hence I went straight to these people for my supply of replacement chassis for Skye.
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