Dom's 88" rechassis

This site contains affiliate links for which LandyZone may be compensated if you make a purchase.

dominicbeesley

Well-Known Member
Posts
1,701
Location
Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire
The daily drive failed its MOT a week or so back and since then I've been patching and cutting the chassis trying to make good. After a whole day of misery on Saturday I decided to give in and call it a day...I've just put in an order for a new galv chassis and me and my mate are going to try and do a re-chassis over a weekend (some hope).

Anyway, here's some pictures of where we're starting from...looks like the seat-box could do with a bit of TLC too!

I've welded a few bodge plates on that will hopefully stop it dropping in half while we take it to bits!
 

Attachments

  • DSC_0241-s.JPG
    DSC_0241-s.JPG
    103.2 KB · Views: 229
  • DSC_0250-s.JPG
    DSC_0250-s.JPG
    88.7 KB · Views: 184
  • DSC_0249-s.JPG
    DSC_0249-s.JPG
    86.6 KB · Views: 205
  • DSC_0248-s.JPG
    DSC_0248-s.JPG
    72.1 KB · Views: 220
  • DSC_0247-s.JPG
    DSC_0247-s.JPG
    55.4 KB · Views: 190
  • DSC_0246-s.JPG
    DSC_0246-s.JPG
    61.4 KB · Views: 215
  • DSC_0244-s.JPG
    DSC_0244-s.JPG
    85.4 KB · Views: 228
good luck with the rechassis, when I see the insides of various chassis it seems the best thing to do when you buy an old landy - unless you get one that's got a new galv'ed chassis - is just to get a new chassis at the same time and swap it over

pity lr didn't go for the steel girder type chassis with no boxed sections
 
Got a plan for this or just going to dive in with the spanners?

I'd suggest at least sitting down with a pen and paper over a cuppa and running through the process in your head at least at a high level. This will help you think about things you likely want to have on hand to make the job easier, like spare nuts & bolts, small items like shock rubbers and split pins and so on.

When I gave a mate of mine a hand with his he had brought it down to a chassis/bulkhead combo. I rolled in with the engine crane and we disconnected and pulled the bulkhead, then the engine/trans as a unit, then unbolted the springs/shackles (cutting the lines - they were getting binned anyway), lifted off the old chassis then dropped the new in place (supported on jack stands).

Before anyone asks, relay was getting binned so stayed with the old chassis, and all of the steering gubbins had been disconnected and removed.

Reassembly was the reverse of disassembly, till my mate got a bad case of refurbishers' disease and started wirebrushing and painting everything in sight. :)

i do suggest you do yourself a favor and expect to shoot all the hydraulic lines unless they're good cupronickel and recent. Flexies are hardly worth the effort to salvage unless recent.

Alan
 
Last edited:
Thanks Alan,

I'm keeping nearly everything - most stuff apart from the chassis has been replaced/fixed up over the past couple of years.

My plan is roughly:

Pull through new wiring loom with extras for fog/reverse added if necessary

Paint chassis next week (delivered Monday): spray etch, then high build spray then roller black

Remove canvas, hoops, windscreen fixings
Remove tub, seatbox already out, wings - all should come off easily as they have all been off in the last 12 months
Rad out : again repaired recently so hopefully should come away nicely - I plan on replacing the front end wiring while I'm at it with some multi way plugs as the mess of spade connectors, scotchblocks and bullets is starting to get unreliable

engine out with gearbox and overdrive, handbrake bits off - if the handbrake stuff needs fettling / cutting I've got most of the bits painted up for the 109 ready to go back

Steering is all newish so should just come apart but I have some spare ends and a full new set set up on the 109 that I can pinch from if/when I get stuck. Relay is new and I greased it up like a Christmas turkey before I put it back so it should just slide out

Then axles off at the spring to chassis points - bin the brake flexis but hope to keep the brake lines as they're newish but I've got a roll of spare, flaring tool, bender and ends for when I twist it off

Fuel tank is already off - new replacement ready to go in

Lift old chassis out

Reverse previous steps....

Bleed brakes, check steering alignment, check lights still work, drive to MOT...

Yeah right like its going to be that easy!

I have started a check list so I don't forget stuff but I'm sure I will end up getting stuck at some point with some nut or bolt being missing so I've ordered a nut and bolt set off the internet - a bit of an extra expense but likely worthwhile....

Just remembered bulkhead to chassis bolts!

D
 
is that all the lead time is for a new chassis, a week?

I would definitely redo the bit of wiring as you go, if they are anything like mine those original connectors you push the wires into just fell to bits when I pulled wires out.
 
Last edited:
I was quite surprised - Britpart have a load in stock as do Ribble Valley. I was going to go with Craddocks but they wanted a lot of money to deliver and no help unloading and no certainty as to when they'd turn up. Ribble valley come out more expensive for the item (only a little) but are better on delivery as they're only about 20 miles away.

All the chassis come from Richards - I called them direct but their lead time is about 10 weeks!

D
 
10 weeks is about what the lead is on an s1 chassis via the s1 club - chassis is made by Richards to order but they only do them via the s1 club - I guess main parts suppliers must have batches of the popular ones made and then sell them off as and when.
 
Re: Wiring: A coouple of handfuls of Lucars of various sizes and a tube of contact grease would go no end of handy. I'd grab a batch of bullets as well, as they will pulll off on an older harness.

Handy home hint - grab a ttin of plumber's flux as well - if you can get the one with solder in the mix it's handy. Yes, it's acidic, but a good cleaning will deal wiht that when tinning.

The wiring in a harness (not sure how old yours is) is often ugly with oxidation, so a thorough scrape of the wire and pre-tinning for soldering on new bullets is a good thing if you want them to work 5 years from now.

Alan
 
Good point about the flux - I'll remember a roll of proper leaded solder as the stuff I have in the workshop is the modern lead-free stuff which never seems to last as well.

I've got a load of Lucas bullets and some multi-way make up your own connectors which I'm going to put either side of the rad as I seem to take it out quite regularly...I bet once I've made it easy I won't ever take it out again!

I've ordered a new chassis harness so hopefully that will plug and play but I will probably end up frigging with it to get the tow hitch wired up again. Probably worth doing as I will be able to tow stuff after I've got a rear crossmember that's not made of paper thin rust!
 
Some progress dismantling this weekend

I got the seatbox a while back and the toolbox below the passenger seat was buggered, most of it fell on the floor as we lifted it out. Lucky it was lined with carpet to stop the tools rattling or they would have fallen out months ago! Luckily I already had a repair kit from YRM for the 109 project so we started putting that together yesterday. The bits I don't have repair sections for will have to be black nasty and ally sheet for now.

This morning it took three bloody hours to get the two wings off with two of us at it. Lots of (fairly new but crap quality) rusted bolts...and a few originals that came out lovely.

I got the new Chassis delivered from Ribble Valley - he very kindly brought it round at the weekend as I wanted it in a hurry.

After Dan went home I started de-plumbing and wiring the engine bay and trying to get all the components ready to separate in big chunks. I also got the steering relay out and the arms off the steering box. The ball joints on the steering box to relay are shot...so I'll cheat and nick the ones I've just made up for the 109"

then I sheared off all the brake pipes...then I went home for a well needed roast beef (which I had to cook my self).

Still on track for putting it all back together next weekend....
 

Attachments

  • DSC_0263-s.JPG
    DSC_0263-s.JPG
    111.2 KB · Views: 198
  • DSC_0262-s.JPG
    DSC_0262-s.JPG
    113.8 KB · Views: 204
  • DSC_0261-s.JPG
    DSC_0261-s.JPG
    109.6 KB · Views: 193
  • DSC_0260-s.JPG
    DSC_0260-s.JPG
    94.7 KB · Views: 153
  • DSC_0259-s.JPG
    DSC_0259-s.JPG
    90.8 KB · Views: 197
  • DSC_0258-s.JPG
    DSC_0258-s.JPG
    91 KB · Views: 167
  • DSC_0265-s.JPG
    DSC_0265-s.JPG
    90.4 KB · Views: 179
They are!

I got a bit more done the past couple of days - no pictures because I keep forgetting the camera though its mainly fiddly bits.

Got most of the rear tub undone last night and finished t-washing the chassis, off up to give it a couple of coats of etch-primer this afternoon.

The windscreen is stuck fast so the bulkhead is going to have to come out with that on: one of the hinge bolts is solid and I don't want to force it as the hinge pieces are £££'s and I don't have any spares.

I ordered some bearmach engine mounts which look the part - nice and squidgy but LRDirect didn't have any gearbox mounts, so I ordered some from ebay. These were advertised as Bearmach but the things that have come look to be made out of solid pitch and cannot be bent at all! I will be sending those back! Does anyone know where to get genuine Bearmach gearbox NRC2053 mounts? I'd like to have a rattle free idle!

I'm now toying with the idea of "borrowing" the brakes from the LWB onto the SWB while I'm at it but that will probably mean that the thing never gets finished...

D
 
Looks very nice. Is there a temptation to replace every fastener etc so as not to sully the chassis?

Question time, how heavy is that new chassis? Is it possible for one person to move it? (planning my Christmas, you see)
 
They are!

I got a bit more done the past couple of days - no pictures because I keep forgetting the camera though its mainly fiddly bits.

Got most of the rear tub undone last night and finished t-washing the chassis, off up to give it a couple of coats of etch-primer this afternoon.

The windscreen is stuck fast so the bulkhead is going to have to come out with that on: one of the hinge bolts is solid and I don't want to force it as the hinge pieces are £££'s and I don't have any spares.

I ordered some bearmach engine mounts which look the part - nice and squidgy but LRDirect didn't have any gearbox mounts, so I ordered some from ebay. These were advertised as Bearmach but the things that have come look to be made out of solid pitch and cannot be bent at all! I will be sending those back! Does anyone know where to get genuine Bearmach gearbox NRC2053 mounts? I'd like to have a rattle free idle!

I'm now toying with the idea of "borrowing" the brakes from the LWB onto the SWB while I'm at it but that will probably mean that the thing never gets finished...

D

got some stc434 bearmachs you can have for postage. look the same thing

these can't be bent either by hand mind
 
Back
Top