I am man! Defender! Provider! Mechanic!

http://www.llewellyn-ryland.co.uk/downloads/duralac.pdf

If (as I just have) you look at page 1 of this thread then jump to the last page, you think ‘what the hell happened’.

I’ve not got the time at the moment to read the rest.

What the hell happened ? At the end of page 1 all you’re going to do is change the tyres !

What the hell happened

I couldnt undo a hinge bolt.
The rest, as they say, is history. 😀
Or as trail rat says, I appear to have caught a terminal case of the Landrover Bug.

Great day in the workshop: Frontier stove a’burnin’, some R6Music choons, and I got the rear looms all done and started on the battery box and building a relay and fuse bank. Will put some pics up when it’s done.

Just ordered another load of relays etc for the heated windscreen.

Weekend updates?

🙂

Have refurbished the front seats – new vinyl and foam from Exmoortrim. bit of a tidy up to the metak work, some kurust and a bit of paint.
By happy coincidence, they were on special offer last week. White stitching detail will go well with my chosen colourway 😉

Ashtree have finally confirmed my sills are done and the bulkhead is off to the hot dip today, and I should be able to pick it up at the end of this week or early next.

You might notice a new sticker on the slam panel tiger 😀

8)

Seats look good, you know that classic 110 badge is the right choice, just looks proper 🙂

Persian carpeting too, I likes your style.

And now the second row seats done.

My most excellent mother reupholstered the backs which need some seamstress work, while I did the bases since that just required brute force and staple gun.

A mate from the pub has just dropped off my tub cappings – he’s shot blasted them for me and theyve come out a treat! All for the price of half a dozen pints. Theyve taken on a bit of texture from the shot blasting but there’s absolutely no rust or crap on them now so I think I shall hammerite them with a few coats.

That persian carpet will look well buff in the footwells…

You’ve had all Saturday

Wot ya dun?

Don’t use Hammershite on your tub cappings – its crap. Either galv them or google Rustoleum Combicolour paint.

good work this.

im staying out of here as much as possible as im currently banned from mine until such time as the halls finished decorating – unfortunantly that meant I had to replumb , rewire and subsequently replaster most of the house……. its been 18 months so far…

Weekend updates???

I replaced door posts/frame and doors + repaired the damage in my roof where the neighbours chimney caps decided they would come in for some heat.

One step closer to getting to work on it again 🙂

right, sorry guys. Id hoped to wait till Id got some better photos done, but to keep Tiger happy here’s some from the middle of last week. It’s been nice clean work, with the wood stove going, bottle of beer and 6music on the shelf.

I went to pick up the bulkhead finally on Saturday. 6hr round trip….and in the end one of the cill/b pillar members had to be left behind for reworking as it had come a cropper somewhere along the line and got itself crushed at one end. Fortunately there’s plenty I can get on with without it for now, and Ive been promised the last part by christmas and they will meet me half way at Swindon to hand it over.

I’ll say it now though, it was not a cheap thing to have done, but Im glad I did. The cills and b pillar were actually more expensive than the bulkhead. A new bulkhead is pretty hard to get hold of if at all, so given the extent of the refurb that was needed and the dipping as well, I guess Im happy with the expense.

It’s come out well. All new foot wells, a-pillar tops and bottoms. Shot blasted, jigged, dipped and then tapped or new rivnuts installed. The cills have whole new cill sections welded on the existing b pillars. Again jigged and dipped and the O/S one went on pretty easily so they’re fairly straight then.

Ive refitted the tub uppers over the cappings, the tub lowers to the cills, and have finished fitting the second row seating floor, the new rear seat box that Ive fabricated, the driver’s side floor and the transmission tunnel. The windscreen went on fine too.

It’s all going to need the roof to hold everything together though as it will take some persuading to get everything lined up properly. I shall finish off doing coachwork this week – refitting rear seats, passenger side floor, etc and then get going in the engine bay on the hydraulic systems before the fiddly stuff with the electrics.

Im thinking end of January hopefully, but maybe feb.

Stoner, that is looking really good. Though it is expensive to refurbish and galvanize the bulkhead, it is the way to go. After the chassis, it’s the most vulnerable steel part a Land Rover is built around. It should outlast you now. I’d still inject some Waxoyl in there for all the additional cost.

Ive got a can of waxoyl here. I brought it into the house because when I tried shaking it in the garage this week I could hear the solid lump of chilled wax banging around in there 🙂

Im really hoping the galv work will pay dividends. I dont mind a car with temperamental engineering, that leaks or floods or has 1″ gaps in the panels. I do though hate rust. And bad electrics. I can deal with the electrics myself, and hopefully the galving will deal with the rest. Although the axles are looking a bit shabby and letting the team down now…..

Looks great Stoner. I’m v jealous and keep thinking that I need a LR in my life for towing boats, biking, shooting or whatever – I’ve even got room in the barn to keep it warm and dry. I’m just missing the money to do it 😳
Oh well.

Great update, I am now happy 😀

Good work, looking really nice.

If axles are letting it down, the front is easy to strip to casing to get blasted and coated / plated. Rear, assuming it’s a salisbury, is more of a pain to get the diff out. Could always pop a TD5 rear axle on though, save some weight to offset all that zinc 🙂

Probably would’ve been cheaper to buy a car that maybe wasn’t such a rust bucket in the first place….

always sunshine and light you are, nick!

Axles will be another project another time. I can get a replacement off ebay and work on it off the vehicle before a swap over.

Just discovered this thread and now missing my landy!
http://www.4x4offroads.com/team-mud-in-mac4x4.html
Scarpers off to autotrader ebay etc!

http://www.macmillan4x4.co.uk/Photos/gallery.html

Pre- xmas update.
Not been on top form the last few weeks – beaten down by man flu so have fallen behind a bit.
But I have managed to finish the floors, rear foot well step, transmission cover and start work on the dash.

The plastic binnacle mount and instrument panel are a wreck so Ive got hold of a new metal binnacle mount (ace work by the guys at Raptor – even comes in cheaper than an OEM plastic one). Cant finish the dash until Ive fitted some new wiper boxes. Theyre in the post on their way.

Im waiting for £100 of bits to come in the post to keep me busy over the xmas hols.

Will be ready to finish fitting the pedal boxes and bleed the hydraulics just as soon as the last part I need to refit the steering column arrives.

Really pleased with how the rear step and floor has come out – Ive had a local metal basher bend some ally and have salvaged a crashed tub for the floor. Now ready to fit the second row seats.

That’s coming together really well.

Stoner, this is a thing of beauty. If a jobs worth doing, it’s worth overdoing. absolutely stunning

It’s coming together nicely and it will be better built than originally. I really hope you have put some serious anti theft measures in place. We have had 2 work horse defenders stolen, at different times, neither as eye catching as yours will be. The neighbouring farmer has also had nicked recently. Now have trackers fitted we are now called if the vehicle is out of a predetermined area or at odd times.

cheers guys.
Yes, itstig, security is on the agenda.
Not going to bother with any door security, but I have a budget for a clutch claw and gearbox lock.

http://www.centinel.org.uk/clutch_claw.asp

http://foundry4x4.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=59

May also stick a hidden fuel shut-off solenoid switch in there somewhere, although I gather pros will quickly diagnose the problem and bypass it at the solenoid.

Fortunately Im not really in much of a high crime area either.

I have to say I’m very envious of your landrover meccano, the skill and ability to put it back together and the space you have in the garage/workshop.

sorry, was joking… 😀 … see?

Are you painting the bulkhead after you’ve put the engine back in? Or leaving it bare metal?

MMMMM Want one of these but not practical in Central London

Actually might be a good car for London as I believe the 110 station wagon with 9 seats is exempt from the congestion charge

I missed your “joke” nick 😉 was in the pub.
feel free to run it again though?

Not painting the galv. Little point IMO. after 5 yrs or so, paint will flake off anyway and there’s little of it visible – just B pillars, A pillars and a small area above the bonnet around the vents. A mate in the village does vinyl wrapping so I might get him to throw a few pieces on when it’s all done. When the vinyl starts to lift (something to do with carbonation/dusting of the zinc layer, happens to paint too apparently) I can just tear it off and get him to throw some more on.

Got a clutch cake sat in the garage if you want it cheap?

Damn you autocorrect

Cake = Claw!!

Leaving all that galv bare – be aware of theft it makes it a high profile theft target

A nice clean restored landy on that plate with all the numbers matching will command a silly high premium in the usa as they can only import 25yo +

tiger – that would be ace. Will PM you later. Got to nip out…

t_r I think mine is just too young for the US on an E plate.

Just in from the workshop, been having fun with the loom lately. Have “retired” a load of extraneous stuff – much simpler loom in the engine bay now. Have worked out where I shall be citing all the lamp & windscreen relays.

More to do in the cabin though. Nearly there, just a few more hours. Now which one is connected to the bomb?

At least it’s all fairly straightforwad. Only thing stumping me so far is Yellow w/black wires. Got a few of them at the instrument panel I think they are orphans in mine as I think they are supposed to go to the glow pin preheat timer but mine doesnt have one – I think it’s manual on the key. WIll find out one day…

E is 88 isnt it .

Thats exportable – just.

Yull never stop the guys with the lifting gear but id at least stick a pedal box on if i was leaving it in public anywhere