Series 3 Chassis Swap - a slow start

Evening all,

Further to my thread about the chassis swap and asking for info on specialists, a decision has been made....
Thanks to eBay, a Richards galvanised chassis has been bought and is ready to go with refurbed axles and parabolic springs already fitted (though need to check the quality of the refurb!)
A good friend of mine has agreed to help me do it, and since he has space, lifting gear and knowledge of Landies, we will do the job at his place. (Not sure when yet)

I'm getting together a stash of bits and bobs that we will likely need, and was wondering what I've missed from the following list;

Defender style door seals
Windscreen to bulkhead seal
Windscreen to hardtop seal
Hardtop to body seals x2
Clutch friction plate
Clutch cover
Clutch release bearing
Rubber brake pipes front and rear
Rubber clutch pipe
Roll of 3/16" kunifer pipe and ends (UNF and metric - damn you BMC!)
New ball joints for all steering arms
New steering relay
Bolts for the steering clamps
Various stainless fitting kits for sings, floors etc

I'll also need but nearer the time;

Oils and filters
Antifreeze

What else should I have in stock and ready to go?
What have I missed?


So far I've stripped off, cleaned up and painted the steering arms ready for the new joints. Ditto with the steering column brackets (needed to come off to get to the footwell to weld it in nicely)

The bonnet frame has been removed, new metal let in and primed (though I'm annoyed - there are two small holes that I missed, but will be left as they are clean and covered in paint, didn't see them until the primer was already on and sods law, that was the last bit I primed!)

All the wings, front panel, fuel tank, seat box were done sorted and done in the first flush of enthusiasm a few years ago.

I very much don't want to turn it into a restoration by going OTT and painting everything, but stuff like this can be done now before the landy is at my mates and we get mega stuck in. Anything I can do to save time and make it easier when we get going will be well worth it - especially as I still haven't found work after a Covid redundancy.

Anyways, that's all for now. I'll hopefully keep the thread updated with pics as we go - and I WON'T be using Photophucket!

Here's a few to start with;

Steering arms cleaned off and painted, all new ball joints fitted, new nuts bolts and washers on the clamps, all with loadsa copper-slip. Now stowed in the back of the Blue Beastie.
A little panel bashing done on the bonnet, and more paint slapped on the frame.

Watching a 2.5 petrol engine on ebay and wondering if it's overpriced even at the start price....

Well, I didn't get the 2.5 engine looks like the 2¼ diesel will be going back in after all, unless a running petrol comes my way in the meantime.

Loads bonnet scraping done, nearly got the underside cleaned up. The previous owner had used something like tar to stick some soundproofing under there - it took some shifting!! But it's coming good at last.

Looking forward to seeing this , does the diesel need a refurb/ check while it’s out was it running ok , leaking oil
New Timing chain and engine gearbox mounts could be Worthwhile ,

steve2286w said:

Looking forward to seeing this , does the diesel need a refurb/ check while it’s out was it running ok , leaking oil
New Timing chain and engine gearbox mounts could be Worthwhile ,

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Cheers Steve,

It looks pretty oil tight (at least, it hasn't widdled on the drive in the last 4 years it's been stood) and from memory it was quite sweet to drive. To be honest, I'll probably just bung it straight in as is. The mounts are in v.good nick so I'll be my best not to disturb them.

I'm very glad that progress has been made, just hope to really get cracking on the big stuff soon

When I was working on chassis , axles And body bits I spayed them with release oil over a week before I needed to take them off in anger , I would loosen off all the awkward nuts and bolts so it goes well when you tackle the swap
Can a lot of stuff be left on the bulkhead , worth labelling up all the wiring too?

steve2286w said:

When I was working on chassis , axles And body bits I spayed them with release oil over a week before I needed to take them off in anger , I would loosen off all the awkward nuts and bolts so it goes well when you tackle the swap
Can a lot of stuff be left on the bulkhead , worth labelling up all the wiring too?

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Good shout, I'll definitely get under there with the Duck oil and see if I can get thigs moving. Even if they are seized up, at least I'll know which ones and can just grind through if needed.

The wiring could be fun, and another good shout to get it labelled up, cheers. My biggest weakness is wiring, so it will be worth enlarging a diagram and getting my head round it.

These days, whenever I dismantle anything, I take lots of pic before I disturb anything.

Col

Colthebrummie said:

These days, whenever I dismantle anything, I take lots of pic before I disturb anything.

Col

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Same here to be honest, my phone is full of pics of various motors from work and from home. Where bits of trim fit, brake pope routings, spacers and orientation of bolts etc. I probably rely on pics too much, but it's so useful to have!

Pete236 said:

...Where bits of trim fit, brake pope routings...

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Best typo of the week!
Yeah, take lots. I took what I thought was a lot when I took my S3 apart, but I'm finding I'm still missing some that actually show what I need to see. There's a definite knack of getting good photos to show enough relevant detail, and I didn't have it when I needed it most!
Regarding wiring, I took lots of notes before undoing most of mine, but to be honest, it's almost easier to start again. I bought a new loom (which definitely wasn't cheap), and it's been a lot easier just working from the wiring diagram in the book and interpreting the colour codes. If you're going to reuse your old loom, you'll need to be aware that a PO might not always have used the correct colour wires.

More bonneting today, and damn near done. Just the hinges to bilt on when the paint dries - the galvanising has pretty much had it, so a lick of silver paint just to stop them going manky.

Before;

After;

Nice Looking job what did you use to get down to the aluminium

steve2286w said:

Nice Looking job what did you use to get down to the aluminium

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Cheers

I'll be honest, my Dad got most of the paint off the top a few years ago, so I'm not sure. But probably paint stripper, a scraper then scotchbrite.
On the underside I used thinners, a scraper and scotchbrite, with a fine sanding block with t-cut to finish off. It will stay bare, just because, with a lot of clear wax on top to try and stop it getting too manky.

Slow slow slow progress, but at least it is a bit of progress..

More cleaning and painting of various bits and bobs, but the battery box has been a bit of a bugger. It didn't fit the new chassis so has needed welding and re-drilling. Started cleaning it up, but its been plastic coated at some point and is a pig to clean off. I was going to slap paont over the top and to hell with it....but it's just too manky, so need to knuckle down and just get on with it.

With the battery box set aside as I was cheesed off with it, I cracked on with the brake pipes. Except that the Moprod brake flaring tool had a burr in the single flare former, so the flare was scored and twisted. Back down to our local workshop supplier yet again (my poor bank account!) for a new flaring tool and a handful of metric unions.
Anyhow, got the first of the brake lines done at least.





However I realised that the slave cylinders on the rear axle are arse about face, with the brake line entering from the front and not the rear. So I made the pipes up to enter from the rear and will have to swap the cylinder around. I'm sure lots more things like this will crop up as time goes on.

Most people are doing away with the brake PDWA valve as it only tells you that one side has a leak and only does that if the switch has not failed.
Lot of reports of switch failing after operation and they are expensive to replace.
Contary to popular belief it does not isolate the leaking side , the resevoir has an internal baffle to seperate fluid supply to the both halves of the system.
This was dumped on later vehicles and a float switch fitted in fluid resevoir.

Blackburn said:

Most people are doing away with the brake PDWA valve as it only tells you that one side has a leak and only does that if the switch has not failed.
Lot of reports of switch failing after operation and they are expensive to replace.
Contary to popular belief it does not isolate the leaking side , the resevoir has an internal baffle to seperate fluid supply to the both halves of the system.
This was dumped on later vehicles and a float switch fitted in fluid resevoir.

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I've reath this about the valve in a few places now - typically only after I had plumbed it in!
What is involved in getting rid of the valve? What plumbing needs to be done?

To delete the PWDA, am I right in thinking that I just connected the pipes from the master to the corresponding front/rear pipes? If so, I just need 2 t-piece joiners and thats that.

A bit more fiding so far today, but rain has stopped play.

I've swapped the rear slave cylinders around to their correct sides. Turns out that the new chassis has new drums and linings in there (result!) bur the snail cams are quite worn - although they aren't seized and the bushes are good. So I just tickled the grooves on the cams so that they do now have grooves, and will plan to replace them at a later date.

Looking at the front wheel pipes, I'm hoping to be able to plumb them in such a way that I can have a bleed nipple at the top. But I'm not sure if I can do this without moving the back plate round, need to do some more thinking and looking first.

This damned weather is doing my head in. Humid and stixky
sticky, not quite raining but very threatening it saps the life out of me! And with a job starting next Monday, time to tinker and prepare for the swap is gettjng shorter - need to get my arse out of bed tomorrow!

Re piping think the rear can be piped from master to hose connection, front to a 3 way connector.

Blackburn said:

Re piping think the rear can be piped from master to hose connection, front to a 3 way connector.

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I've had a good butchers and a think, and I'm going to join the pipes with a decent joiner where the pedal should be. Meaning that if in the future I want/have to fit one, the pipes are already flared there and ready to go. It turns out we had a reservoir cap with a float in it from a Mk2 Escort, so thats gone on and will be wired in.


Well, the chassis brake lines are finally done. The pipes on the front hubs were a bit tricky and I'm not totally happy with the routing - it's perfectly serviceable and safe, just doesn't look very pretty! Something to revisit in the future perhaps, though if I never have to touch a lower wheel cylinder again I will be happy!
I took both front drums off and refitted everything with copper slip where appropriate.
Attacked the original Landy and had a good rummage in the wiring department. Pulled the rear loom out from the chassis and sorted out the engine loom. I've managed to identify most of it, but a previous owner or two have added all sorts of bits, despite the main looms being quite new. It looks a right rats nest behind the dash, but I don't want to disturb all that just yet.

While I was sliding under the beast earlier I grabbed the exhaust to pull myself along and quite a lot came off in my hand - thankfully not on my head (not it would make much difference!) but it's gone a wee bit crusty. Ebay has provided me with a 2nd hand but serviceable exhaust from a petrol. It will need modifying on the downtake to fit the diesel, but for £10 its worth getting the welder out.

Tomorrow's task will be making up p-clips out of ally offcuts for the brake pipes and getting the wiring routed to the rear - I won't be mucking about sticking it in the chassis, I would much rather be able to get to it for inspection and repair so I'll clip it up externally. I won't be doing the kind of off-roading which will be likely to endanger the wiring.

It's looking more likely that I will end up doing most of the work myself, so I'll also go around and try to undo the body fastenings, or at least work out which ones will need to be cut off.



A good addition by a po - no idea what its for!

And a very slow, quite impressive visit from one of these - never seen one before. It's quite a piece of kit!