110 defender rebuild project and v8 conversion

Glad your seat box is fixed, I was worried for you....

(IMHO) You can anneal cupronickel when it work hardens, and go again, so to speak....

just get it red hot, and quench in water. repeat as necessary....

In fact, it may be better to anneal once you have formed it, to reduce any stress in the bends......

Disco1BFG said:

Glad your seat box is fixed, I was worried for you....

(IMHO) You can anneal cupronickel when it work hardens, and go again, so to speak....

just get it red hot, and quench in water. repeat as necessary....

In fact, it may be better to anneal once you have formed it, to reduce any stress in the bends......

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anneal! that's a word I haven't heard since school!!! cool!

a chap up the road was supposed to be getting me a map-gas bottle and torch from his wholesaler... no sign yet, so this is all without heat so far.

farmershort said:

anneal! that's a word I haven't heard since school!!! cool!

a chap up the road was supposed to be getting me a map-gas bottle and torch from his wholesaler... no sign yet, so this is all without heat so far.

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HTH !

Would a plumbers gas torch be hot enough. They're pretty cheap and available in any hardware shop.

Alibro said:

Would a plumbers gas torch be hot enough. They're pretty cheap and available in any hardware shop.

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probably.... but Mapp has acetalyne in it.... what's not to like!? I've ordered the stuff from amazon now (torch and gas bottle), so will tackle the brake pipes again when they arrive. It'll take me a while to figure out the method without A) burning my fingers, and B) burning the nice new paint off the calipers.

MAPP gas burners are also significantly smaller and more directional than most other torches..

leather welding gauntlets are pretty heat resistant - or hold the pipe with mole type grips.

i wouldn't try annealing the pipes in situ - you'll need to quench them to complete the anneal, so better off the vehicle..

You could make a template out of copper cable, which will be far more flexible than the pipe - and it won't matter if you break that !!

Disco1BFG said:

MAPP gas burners are also significantly smaller and more directional than most other torches..

leather welding gauntlets are pretty heat resistant - or hold the pipe with mole type grips.

i wouldn't try annealing the pipes in situ - you'll need to quench them to complete the anneal, so better off the vehicle..

You could make a template out of copper cable, which will be far more flexible than the pipe - and it won't matter if you break that !!

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ooo I like that copper wire template idea - thanks

farmershort said:

ooo I like that copper wire template idea - thanks

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HTH - try and get some thick stuff - cooker cable or some such - or if you have a local electrical place - a piece of earth cable in the right sort of size - something like 6mm2 - I am sure you get it by the metre ....

A days work..

Looking nice. Do they fit?

Brown said:

Looking nice. Do they fit?

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Yup... Quite nicely I think, but as its such a safety concern, I'm very happy for people to slag 'em off.



Wheels on tomorrow I think... But please shout if I've missed something!

Panhard rod is on the chassis mounted arm, but it doesn't yet line up correctly with the the axle... Need the weight of the engine.

So unless anyone shouts, it'll be wheels on tomorrow, and then engine in.

While you've got it all apart, slot the hole in the brake pipe brackets on the upper swivel pin. This means that you can then remove the caliper bolts, loosen the locknut, and swing the caliper et al. out of the way when removing the hub without having to bleed the brakes each time.

Retroanaconda said:

While you've got it all apart, slot the hole in the brake pipe brackets on the upper swivel pin. This means that you can then remove the caliper bolts, loosen the locknut, and swing the caliper et al. out of the way when removing the hub without having to bleed the brakes each time.

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That makes sense, and I'll take it under advisement... I'll probably do that once I've done the shake down etc, as a flush of brake fluid won't be a bad thing at that stage.

Bit of a mixed day today... You may have seen my plea for help with a stripped bolt thread...

I started off doing those jobs I left earlier in the process. I filled the swivel balls with one shot, and then went to torque up the rear shocks. I checked Haynes, and it states 75nm for the bottom bolt.

Long story short, I stripped the thread on the nut (and maybe the shock bar), and now it won't come off, or do up... Just spins.

I've ordered another matching rear shock, and i shall grind the old one off. Bit of a shame, but not the end of the world... A good reminder for me to never believe haynes when it comes to torques. I have both the workshop manual and haynes open on my bench, but this time I didn't cross reference.

Anyway... 3 wheels on my wagon... And an engine!



Note the classy blue rope on the front to stop the engine tipping backwards.

I then tried to fit the front shocks, but I just couldn't get any thread to appear through the lower mount once the rubbers were on. I'll have another play tomorrow.

I also tried to fit the gbox xmember... What a horrible job! The creacking noises from the chassis were not nice...



I managed to get one bolt in on one side, but it really didn't want to play. I then decided to reposition the jack, and realised the jack had bottled it (he he)... Doesn't work any more!!! Ffs.

New shocks ordered, and I'll have to see if I have a screw scissor jack somewhere to aid the xmember fitting.

That's the trouble with bottle jacks. They tend to need the fluid to be able to run down to the bottom, so they won't work on their sides. Leave it the right way up and it'll probably be all right after a while, especially if you give the handle a few pumps with the release valve open.

That engine looks very clean. A thing of beauty.

Brown said:

That's the trouble with bottle jacks. They tend to need the fluid to be able to run down to the bottom, so they won't work on their sides. Leave it the right way up and it'll probably be all right after a while, especially if you give the handle a few pumps with the release valve open.

That engine looks very clean. A thing of beauty.

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The whole thing looks brilliant - you need some minions to come and stand there ..

I can just see it.... "ooohh" ..... "aahhh"

amazing work - keep it up - its gonna be brilliant!

Thanks, as ever, for the kind words folks... I came away from yesterday fairly annoyed about the whole shock debarcle, but now I'm viewing it as a security feature

as soon as all 4 wheels are on, it's nickable!

The next thing I'm pondering is the gearbox fitment. I have the mounts, and the clutch etc is already bolted to the flywheel. I know I am missing a release fork, and a slave cylinder.

I see foundry 4x4 on ebay sell a HD release fork which has been modified to remove some issue whereby"the pivot ball punches a hole through it"... no idea what that means yet, but it sounds good. Apart from the release fork, and the slave, what other bits will I be missing? I'm still unlcear whether I need to buy disco v8 manual kit, or whether the tdi defender stuff will work... it is an r380 box, but with the disco bell housing and input shaft.

A trawl round the ashcroft transmissions site might resolve that for you - or ring them - i have only rung them a couple of times - but they always been helpful - and seem to like something a bit unusual... ( IME )

Disco1BFG said:

A trawl round the ashcroft transmissions site might resolve that for you - or ring them - i have only rung them a couple of times - but they always been helpful - and seem to like something a bit unusual... ( IME )

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The trouble with browsing the ashcroft website is the pain I will later feel explaining to my mrs why I bought XXX new wizzy gizmo! In the 30 seconds I just gave it, I found an r380 oil cooler... sounds like a must-have to me!! ha!