Defender TD5 Rebuild

Started by grizzlychicken, April 18, 2020, 06:14 PM

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binch

WOW!!!!!   Is that ever shiney!   Looks very nice indeed.   

I would have suggested Endura epoxy coating rather the power coat though as it would have been more durable, especially under the vehicle.

BUT.....it looks VERY nice right now ;-)
Cheers, Bill

grizzlychicken

#31
Ok thanks Bill!

So I'm going to skip to what I'm currently working on which is my ad west four bolts light weight steering box. So I have pulled it apart slowly and I think this is the original box and has had no servicing in the past. It was quite the rusty mess to pull apart!
I first had to pull off the main steering arm which one reading about it is a bugger to get off for everybody. I ended up modifying the stand I welded together for my transmission overhaul (One of my first weld jobs!) so it would fit underneath the press that I have. I finally got the arm off after 10 tons of force!



The next real bugger of a job was to peel off the oversized retaining clip. It looks so easy in some of the videos I looked at but took hours of man handling as it was rusted in place.




After that I thought I was on the home stretch but the next adjuster which has a super shallow slot was also stuck. I made a tool to remove it: out of an old socket and flat bar but ended up having to tack weld  the tool to the adjuster but to get it to budge.





Ok now that I've pulled it all apart I am starting to inspect the shafts. The main shaft has what I have found out is pretty typical wear on the output shaft:


Unfortunately the worm gear has a pretty good groove in it. It almost looks cracked but I think it is just a ridge of metal. I have tried to buff it up with emery paper but I don't think it will come out :(





So just pricing the shafts out is ridiculous for price. My options:
-Buy a new or recon box looks like £250-500 depending on the source.
-Source a used box and pull the guts out (although my box needs quite a bit of TLC to get rid of some of the rust)
Thoughts? Anyone have a spare shaft or two? I might post an ask on the wanted page too...

Red90

Your best bet is to throw that out and get a used box from a Disco 1 at a wreckers or off of someone around here that has a yard full of Discos.

grizzlychicken

Quote from: Red90 on April 28, 2020, 06:50 PM
Your best bet is to throw that out and get a used box from a Disco 1 at a wreckers or off of someone around here that has a yard full of Discos.
Thanks John,
So a disco 1 has the same steering box as a defender 110? Any ideas on where to source it?


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grizzlychicken

Maybe the box from this could fit??
https://www.picknpull.com/vehicle_details.aspx?VIN=SALJY1240TA195981


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Red90

There is one at pick n pull. But call around to make sure a box is available. I'm pretty sure that they should be the same.

https://row52.com/Vehicle/Index/SALJY1240TA195981

binch

RRC's use the same box as well.   that's what I had in my 110 for the past 10 years....until I replaced it with a rebuilt unit I got from BP.     I was going to have it rebuilt but the oilfield prices here made it more expensive then a brand new one!

You might want to keep an eye on the pitman arm as some drop more then others (between the discos/RRCs and the defenders).

Great write up so far shane!!! ;)
Cheers, Bill

Red90

You need to use the Defender pitman arm. The Discos use a different track arm setup. You can switch to the Disco style by using its track rod but would need a mount for the steering damper.

grizzlychicken

#38
Awesome info thanks guys! Looks like a trip into Calgary to pick and pull! Will have to be next week and hope the steering box is there! Can use my steering arm. I put my box back together to keep it all organized and not lose bits.

Ok so where was I....... oh yes I had just powder coated my undercarriage!

So with the frame sorted and the running gear renewed I moved onto examining the bodywork. The base color under the remains was the typical defender green. Unfortunately whoever painted it was covering up some shoddy bodywork and was using some kind of cheap beadliner to do it. So the bulkhead seems nice and straight but both  B Pilar's and C Pilar's weren't lining up.

Here you can see why one side wasn't!


So I ordered both B Pilar's and C Pilar's from yrm metal solutions which are awesome and had them welded to the sill rail by high wood customs. John O was kind enough to do a drive by to help measure up the spacing from his defender and cross reference to the current rover spacing.

So brand new and aligned cab frame! Yay!
Next was the right rear quarter panel. I knew it would be in rough shape as that is were it must have been hit. Once I peeled the checker plate off it showed some missing metal and some twisted bits!

I ordered some reasonably priced rear pieces for the quarters and corner guards. The guys at highwood again helped me with replacing a chunk of the rear right quarter panel.

Progress pics:



Final product:


So I ordered galvanized rails for the rear quater again from yrm metal solutions but was pretty disappointed with them. They were bent in the group shipping we did as they were not packed well but they straightened out fine. The biggest issue was the massive unfinished weld that was galvanized and for me has to still be addressed. I thought it would come back much cleaner.



Ok so the rear quarters, bulkhead and cab frame were good. I am reusing the front quarters and have opted to paint strip them. The left one is a little rough and I will have to see if it will straighten out. I have replacement headlight panels so could do that but haven't got that far yet .




Oh and I have 5 new doors and a new hood waiting for some love when I get there!


That's all for now. Roof update to come!


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binch

Cheers, Bill

grizzlychicken

Here are a few more pics of the old quarters





And repaired


This is why I had the b and c Pilar's replaced:






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binch

I was just thinking.....Wurth makes a good body cavity waxoil that would suit the insides of those pillars nicely.  Not cheap but it's a good product.   I used it in the 'A' pillars of my 110 and applied it to my foot wells (inside the cab) before I installed my Accoustic matting system. ;)
Cheers, Bill

grizzlychicken

Quote from: binch on May 01, 2020, 05:36 AM
I was just thinking.....Wurth makes a good body cavity waxoil that would suit the insides of those pillars nicely.  Not cheap but it's a good product.   I used it in the 'A' pillars of my 110 and applied it to my foot wells (inside the cab) before I installed my Accoustic matting system. ;)
Ok thanks bill. I have some wax oil that I was going to use on my chassis. I do want to do an internal coating on the Pilar's to protect these bits and might do a primer then the wax oil!


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grizzlychicken

#43
Before I move on to chat about my roof I wanted to chat about the chassis a little. The chassis I got was the heavy duty galvanized bearmach version.
The chassis is generally well made but I was a little surprised with some of the differences from the original defender chassis.
-difference #1 is the mounting point for the rear floor is not directly welded to the rear cross member . There is a separate piece that you bolt to the chassis. I imagine this is for adjustability of the body to chassis.
-the hole configuration in the rear crossmember is different.
Old chassis note the welded tabs for the floor support and hole location that the hitch locator pins are made for:



New frame note difference in hole location in rear crossmember and no welded tabs( I'll try to find a pic of the support piece):



Note the locating pins on the hitch setup


The aesthetics of this is not a big deal but the main issue is that the hitch mount i pulled from my old frame isn't compatible with the new frame as the mounting guide holes didn't line up.

So adam Welded a new support and cut into his frame. Thinking about either that route or modifying the hitch receiver pins somehow.
Shame it is already powdercoated and galvanized as will have to be grounded for welding a new bit in..
What would you do?


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DBrands

The floor support tabs on your old frame don't appear to be centered? Or is that just your bent frame throwing me for a loop?

Those are some awfully large 'jack points' on the new frame...
David B

1990 D90 - 200TDI