Defender TD5 Rebuild

[grizzlychicken]

Setting up to install the auxiliary fuel tank from britpart that gets mounted in the right hand rear wheel well. Comes with great instructions for britpart.
With the bear march galv chassis there are some differences in the mounting bracket location on the antirollbar mount. There is an extra strengthening grab so the britpart bracket has to be modified a little to fit.
My biggest issue is that my rear seatbelt support tube doesn’t allow the tank to fit flush on the rear support. It pushes the tank away. So just doesn’t fit.






I wonder if it is because the tube is bent from previous corner trauma.


But even being bent the clearance would be really tight.
I think in the end I will need this bracket for it to work and just waiting for an answer from the britpart team here.

https://www.britpart.com/all-parts/da4546kit


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[grizzlychicken]

Went on to fit the equalizing hose into the tank. Kind of nerve racking drilling a hole in your tank!
Drilled a hole then pushed some wire into the hole and hooked it out with a fish tape



Then threaded the barbed fitting into the wire and tied a knot in it. That allows me to pull it back into the tank and seat it in the newly drilled hole.




Ready to connect to the auxiliary tank. I am going to grab the feed for the d2 airtronic heater from here too by splicing in a t connector to the hose.


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[grizzlychicken]

So back to the back of Rover. I have both rear quarters rebuilt and now to put it all together. I think I’ll build it off the chassis then install it. I hope the panels I fabricated all line up!
First placed the rear floor support/ door threshold cross piece in and squared up the corners. Checked the door opening gap. The doormeasures exactly 36” and the wheel well to wheel well measurement would be around 920mm on my 110. The floor is cut at 915mm width.
Clamped that in place and the front crossmember to check that it’s all square



Got the under floor supports back from the powder later today and they look sexy. Too bad they get burried but at least they should be good for corrosion resistance!



Anyone rebuilt a rear tub before? Am I on the right track? I’m planning on riveting it all together. Likely rivet the front and rear supports and maybe use countersunk rivets to secure the cross pieces......
then rivet the floor and top hats. Prob do the top hats to the floor then the floor to wheel wells.
Any suggestions welcome here as just making it up as I go with what looks like it makes sense!


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[grizzlychicken]

I moved back to the auxiliary fuel tank install.  They recommend using rivnuts on the frame for the install. So drilled 3 holes in the frame then etch primed and por15 coated each of the holes to prevent corrosion.


I installed the rivnuts but due to the material thickness of the frame the center rib it didn’t feel right so removed it and put in a regular nut.


I connected the tank leveling pipe and spliced in a tube that feeds the auxiliary eberspacher d2 heater.
I had to find a t connector that worked for the different gas line sizes and found one on eBay.






Very happy with how it turned out. Ready for a fuller tank and some auxiliary heat!


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[binch]

I always enjoy these updates

[grizzlychicken]

I forgot to put an overall pic of the auxiliary tank:



Makes great use of that wheel well space!


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[grizzlychicken]

So I came back to the bulkhead this weekend. You may remember in a previous post that I squared the bulkhead off to the chassis. But with my tape measure out I realized that the bulkhead has to really be parallel with the b pillar.
The width between the b Pilar and the bulkhead I get as 34 3/4” . So this weekend I made sure the b Pilar was square with the sill rail then I made a spacer stick that was exactly 34 3/4 to check the spacing on the door gap.


My bulkhead even though it was square with the chassis rail was to far filter toward the back of the truck. So I readjusted the shims so the b Pilar and bulkhead were parallel and it’s pretty close and will do until I have the doors installed:

https://youtu.be/prxTuj06uRg

I can’t say that I though of this myself. Thanks to britanica restorations for the tip! Here is a link to his video tutorial:
https://youtu.be/UwHOYGmtGN4

I realize the sill rail and b/c Pilar assembly is not in its final resting place as will change when I install the rear tub but at least I can get it close then retweak the bulkhead once the tub is in its final resting place.

I feel like a musician with all the fiddling I’m doing


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[Alex C]

Don't forget if the doors line up with the body, its a sure sign of problems, misalignment and the wind howling in at anything over 30kph is normal

[grizzlychicken]

Don't forget if the doors line up with the body, its a sure sign of problems, misalignment and the wind howling in at anything over 30kph is normal

Good to know! With that do you mean they sit proud of the bulkhead and b/c Pilar? Kind of out laterally? What kind of lateral spacing are we talking? 1/4”?


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[grizzlychicken]

I put together the rear tub structure and plan to wiggle it into place and check all my measurements. I’m sure I will have to drill a few rivets out to tweak its alignment but it’s a good start.

When I dry fitted the floor I think my right front wheel well will need readjusting.
Working solo in the garage today so managed to shimi it into place using a pair of bumper/panel stands.


I got it into place but will need to readjust the auxiliary fuel tank as it sits to medially so pushes the tub to the left.

I clamped the tub to the c Pilar and front of the rear wheel arch


That way I can start to look at the rear door gaps and the rear tub alignment in relation to the bulkhead. I did some cross measurements of the bulkhead from seal lip to seal lip.



I am assuming it is pretty much square so should get the same measurement at the b Pilar and c Pilar’s:





I just want to be sure all my body lines will flow!


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[binch]

Looking very good Shane!   Keep it up.....

[grizzlychicken]

Ok so feel like I am spending a bunch of time around the rear tub to c Pilar area but need to get it all right!
Just figuring out now why the tub seems to be high at the rear mount points:



Well I went back and looked at the floor structure and realized after a bit of research that the top hats are not supposed to be under that rear cross beam.


It goes under the rear floor support that rivets to the rear crossbeam. Here is a photo from yrm. Notice the top hats under the riveted on floor support and above the rear crossbeam.


Took lots of photos on the tear down but never enough!

I know that most of you guys are shaking your head thinking “this guy is such a rookie!” Well at least I’m learning lots as I go but turning a 100 hour rebuild into a 200 hour rebuild!

How many hours do you think it takes to do a strip down and rebuild??! For me........ 4x your number


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[binch]

Well, that was a good catch.   But I don't think many people are laughing at all......I for one am very impressed at the effort you are putting into you landy.   Good Job!!!!!   

[grizzlychicken]

Thanks Bill

So fixed the floor supports and the top hats are now sitting right!



Then sealed it all up. Not sure what you guys are using for sealants but here is my range of sealing products
I started by referring to the sealing document in the manual but I’m also referring to the “common sense” guide too and sealing where......well..... I think the water would get in. It is already way better than when I pulled it appart. I do realize that you also need drainage so water doesn’t sit so striking the balance.  I realy like the strip caulking or “dumb dumb” in some spots where there is a void to fill and the liquid caulking works well between joined surfaces.

Also got to the rear body mounts done. These are stainless brackets that sit behind the aluminum. There is a plastic film that came with these but think that may not be enough to protect from galvanic corrosion.  Might make up some plastic shims.




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[grizzlychicken]

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