SLROC Forum

So this is where I am







Just waiting on tree sliders turning up along with a host of small clips and things, lots to stop me getting bored!

Lookin great Dave!

The pictures do flatter a little .......... errrr, a lot. The paintwork is quite tired but theres just no point making it really good at this time.

My landrover tag team started again yesterday, now this is roadworthy the Disco 3 suspension failed and because I sit on a sloping drive it "farts" to try and level so I am down at the front end and pretty much undrivable at present.

This resulted in a rush yesterday afternoon trying to get all the home comforts back in, things like door cards, roof lining, radio now that all the new clips are here.

So I think that is pretty much back to where I started, of course there are on going jobs that need doing, a bit of filler and paint on the drivers door, ands all the normal mechanical things to keep these going when playing in deep water and mud., and I'm still awaiting the tree sliders, hopefully next week for them. It now needs to earn its keep as my daily drive.

So it has been very satisfying, I only had one day of "what on earth am I doing?" I now know a whole lot more about Defenders and in particular my Defender.

For anyone thinking of doing this, remember it always costs a bit more than you may initially think, although at least I now know what little bits aren't quite right. You cannot take too many photos and notes, there were many times we refered back to pictures and sometimes we just didn't have the right one. Is it a difficult job, not really, just very big, you need a lot of room and plenty of time (although quite a few of my days were only friday afternoons and I didn't burn the midnight oil) and somewhere to get things like the engine hoist and for me a 3/4 inch drive for the crank pulley, most of the rest I bought as they would be helpful again in the future, all of this will add to your costs as will the millions of nuts, bolts and washers, heat shrink sleeving, etc etc etc.

I hope this helps someone who may be in the same boat I was, the old chassis was just rotten everywhere, it really isn't that difficult, time consuming yes, but to go and buy the same standard as I have now, and the little I would have got for this with the chassis it was on, I am certainly no worse off, and probably a bit  ahead, I mean when have you ever bought a defender that needed nothing doing, even if it was only a few bits like brakes or toys?

Am I glad its over, of course, I can now go and play again. 

Would I do it again ........ hell yes!

Well it had a good run today, out past Inverary and back loaded with dive gear, only two wee problems found, heater fan won't run slow and horn isn't working. 

Well Done Dave - excellent job and you should be proud of what you've achieved. Will we see it out at GRR tomorrow?
Alan

yup 

Saw it this morning before the GRR,looks great Dave.

BrianT.

Well after the GRR last weekend and the Tyro today my list of bits to finish and repair has grown .................... But only slightly. The cause of my wooly steering was found today at scruteneering (I don't think Dougie really believed me when I said thanks), a very worn drop arm ball joint, this sounds like another lesson I will be learning. It's a bit of a co-incidence really, whilst at Strathearn yesterday Dave showed me a neat wee tool, an upper bearing removal tool. Strange but I said I didn't need one ......... Well I didn't then.  ;)Also need to replace both track rod ends as well, then hopefully it will be a lot sharper, it may even improve my performance at the Tyros 

At least its nothing too major, I was speaking to a neighbour earlier in the week who just got two full pages of "FAIL" on his MOT :-(   

A good few jobs ticked off today, new ball joints on the track rod, still need drop arm ball joint then I can get tracking redone.

Freed up the NATO hitch, could not get the pin out but just tapping it each way and plenty of lub has freed it off.

Had a good check of horn wiring, there is a break somewhere hidden away so ran another cable in parallel to the original from behind the clocks to near the horn. It has now gone from a quiet "excuse me if it's not too much trouble" horn to a "get out of the way now" horn, 

Also refitted cabling guards in the. Rear wheel arches and back corners internally. Another problem has cropped up, brake light switch stopped working sometime yesterday, so a new one needed.

The last job was to wire up the internal dash switch for the winch, I'd already done the internal end but had been putting off the outside to a nicer day. That turned out to be surprisingly easy, once the solenoid cover was off the connections were there staring me in the face, ready just to put a couple of connectors on. What was surprising was the cable entry into the solenoid pack was open, no packing or anything so the new cable just slipped straight through. It was a little dirty inside but not too bad considering what it has been through. A well worth while and easy mod I think, it means the winch is always available, I don't normally leave the wired remote in the car.

Dave it was my brake light switch that stopped working yesterday omn the defender, so I have just ordered one from the bay

Attempted the drop arm ball joint today, bought the new Britpart extraction tool, so how hard could it be?

What an absolute pain in the a##e of a job to do. I had started to do some photos to use as a guide but gave up as I got more and more frustrated.

Started off quite simply and broke the ball joit union and tied the damper out of the way and the circlip and ball came out quite simply. I then attempted to use the tool to extract the upper cup, seemed to be going ok but the bolt thread had stripped. I then found a new bolt and tried again, seemed to be going ok but it turned out that the cooler had been pulled right through the cup, the cup was stuck solidly in the drop arm.   

Next I thought, right let's simple undone the drop arm nut and pull the drop arm off. Tried a 32 and a 36 mm socket, of course it turns out to be a 34mm which I don't have.

Ok what now, I then started grinding through one side of the cup with a dremmel, took flamin ages and then tried a hammer and punch to get it moving, my thumb is now black and twice the size it should be    So back to the dremmel and eventually managed to get through it and cup finally gave up and out it came.

From there it was very simple, new upper cup pressed in and new ball fitted and the rest just flew together. Just need to get tracked tomorrow and hopefully that's all there is to it.

Strange isn't it, do a complete rebuild and the worst job of all, a ball joint which really shouldn't be that difficult should it

Hi great rebuild
Plan on re-chssieing mine soon and know that most of the bolt are kaput so my question is where did you get all your new nuts and bolts from as I don't want to but a cheap set and end up buying twice.

Oh and do you know the paint code to your vehicle as I have a lighter blue on mine and want o go the same blue as yours

Thanks

Gary

For most nuts and bolts I used screwfix, bought a couple of packs of M6 and M8, at about 40mm I think, then cut down to the required length as I went with angle grinder, I was too tight to buy packs of different lengths as you will have loads left at the end, I certainly did only buying two sizes.

For the more specialised ones I used Allfix, on line but very good delivery, there are loads of these companies about, if you have time then you can compare prices, but they were reasonable and a simple website

http://www.allfix.co.uk/Products/Hexagon-Headed-Bolts-and-Fully-Threaded-Set-Bolts

For the paint code, if you are the same as me it isn't on the id plate so I phoned LR customer services with my chassis number and they have it on record.

I then used this place, again mail order, but a one stop shop for all you need.

http://auto-paint.co.uk/carpaint/

I've finally got my head around M6 and M8 etc but for the DIY end user I'd be easier if they called 'em by the socket size required rather than the hole size ! To me they'll allways be 10mm and 13mm !

and thanks, LR for putting 11mm headed bolts into the mix at spots where you can't see what the hell you are doing, like the wing/bulkhead join, just to add a bit of confusion.