Defender TD5 Rebuild

[grizzlychicken]

Got my sheet metal order today. The rear tub floor and wheel wells use 14 gauge aluminum. Since I am planning on replacing these bits I decided to use 12 gauge for some added strength.

Decided on 6061. Marked it all up, cut it then got the shop to bend the 90’s






Also got some bits from YRM


Rebuilding the seat box ends and battery box. Here is the old battery box next to the YRM kit. Note the better shape of the floor so duel batteries fit better. The old box is heavy too as is made of steel. Only part of the seat box that is steel I believe.





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[Matt H]

This is going to be a regular Ship of Theseus!

Nice to see the rebuilding is continuing.

[grizzlychicken]

This is going to be a regular Ship of Theseus!

Nice to see the rebuilding is continuing.

Ha true. The heart of the ship is still original. Drivetrain/diffs etc but certainly has had some nip and tucking done  and some open heart surgery

It seems that it is a never ending process.... every day it is “ well while I’m here and it’s apart it I may as well....”


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[Matt H]

Lol. I have a 1966 Buick skylark convertible in the back of the shed that suffered the exact same “well seeing as it’s apart now would be a good time to just...” fate. The only difference being you are actually doing an amazing job putting yours back together while my poor old Buick has been sitting in bits for over 16 years.

[grizzlychicken]

Thanks Matt,
Worked on the engine bay today and it looks nice and shiny! Started to reconnect the hoses and run the wiring loom. Just have to figure out how everything was routed. I took pictures of the engine bay but with the wings on so figuring out how it goes together on the fly.

The allisport intercooler looks sharp. Too bad it is going to get buried


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[binch]

Oh it's so nice and shiny now

[grizzlychicken]

Thanks bill,

Made some shims for the bulkhead today. Trying to square it up. Without shims it had a bit of a lean:


So used some ratchet straps to help place the shims and came upto pretty close to 0 degrees

Put some plastic shims between the steel and aluminum to prevent galvanic reaction. Made out of an old yogurt container



The bulkhead is all square now so placed the Pilar assembly in and hand tightened to see what the door gap measurements were from the b Pilar to the bulkhead and was within 1/4 “ without any adjusting of positioning so should be able to get it right on. I was worried after the bulkhead galv that it may be out of square but seems pretty good.


Dry fit the floor and rear quarters and realize I need to do some tweaking there.


Need to get all my clips and cables set then onto putting the bodywork together. Think I will paint the Pilar assemblies, window frame, rear floor, rear 1/4 panels and seat box off the vehicle and assemble after paint........ and the work continues into another day


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[grizzlychicken]

Anyone else think they catalog and organize their fasteners and go to put that part back on your truck and that well organized fastener is nowhere to be found? You put it in that spot you think you will remember but remembering never happens! Trying to organize well with labeling bags etc but wow it’s tricky to find some of the bits you put away for safe keeping!


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[ugly_90]

I use a bolt bin with new hardware for most of the reassembly whenever possible. When the plating is gone for a smaller standard metric bolt or nut, it's not worth the value of keeping it. Bags of 100 nuts are cheap at Edmonton Nut and Bolt and Fastenal. Various bolts, washers in smaller QTY can be bought from Gregg's as well, stainless too where appropriate.

The LR specific hardware should be bagged and labelled during disassembly for reuse where appropriate.

[grizzlychicken]

I use a bolt bin with new hardware for most of the reassembly whenever possible. When the plating is gone for a smaller standard metric bolt or nut, it's not worth the value of keeping it. Bags of 100 nuts are cheap at Edmonton Nut and Bolt and Fastenal. Various bolts, washers in smaller QTY can be bought from Gregg's as well, stainless too where appropriate.

The LR specific hardware should be bagged and labelled during disassembly for reuse where appropriate.

Well I did bag the bolts but still have a big mess and yes bought a bunch of fasteners from fastenal and from YRM too. Mostly A4-80 or zinc for the higher tensile bolts


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[grizzlychicken]

Ok I have a question for the collective brain. Just installing the new battery box on the seat box. How well should it be sealed? I have read that you don’t want it super air right due to some battery gassing but also read that since the batteries are sealed it doesn’t realy matter as they don’t produce enough gasses to make a difference. I was going to seal it up pretty good to stop any external exhaust gasses etc from entering the cab.


Also would you install a diesel parking heater in the battery box........ not sure how much heat the actual parking heater produces. I have an Airtronic D2 that I’m going to install somewhere


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[grizzlychicken]

Ok so have been sanding..... and sanding...... and well you get the drift


Before:




After


And I’m surprised the new panels are not plug and play. The mating surfaces needed significant bending and there is a significant panel gap that needs hammer and dolly work




Here is my grill surround before sanding:

And after:


Think the surround will get painted the car color and I have a new black grill that should look ok the above grill will remain raw aluminum.

And after all this is done your friends won’t even realize the work that goes into the underbelly of the rover. Suspension, trans, engine powder coating etc. it will be judged by bodywork, color and accessories.  I better not screw up the paint job too badly


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[binch]

WOW....nearly a brand new truck in the end.    Great Job!!

[88Hillman]

In August you shimmed the firewall to make it sit plumb.  How did you level the frame before adjusting the firewall?

[camo388]

Anyone else think they catalog and organize their fasteners and go to put that part back on your truck and that well organized fastener is nowhere to be found? You put it in that spot you think you will remember but remembering never happens! Trying to organize well with labeling bags etc but wow it’s tricky to find some of the bits you put away for safe keeping!
I'm glad I'm not the only one that put parts away for safe keeping and not remember where safe keeping is.


Very nice job so far. 
When you get finished with your project do you want to come over and do mine?  I might have found all the parts I put away for safe keeping by then.  LOL