A very sad day indeed...

My 300tdi Defender 90 (daily driver) just became a project.
She failed her MOT with a few minor things and one major thing.
The dreaded chassis rot.
I don't have any garage space or facilities.
I don't have the money to pay for someone to rebuild her on a Galv chassis.
I can't believe how emotional I feel at the prospect of having to sell her off cheaply for someone else to rebuild her.
I do have parents with a decent amount of hard standing at the side of their house (although I live about 10 miles from them).
So I have spent all day pacing and deliberating and I have decided that I cannot let her go.
I'm going to park her at my parents, strip her down to a running chassis and decide whether to buy a welder or a chassis.
Photos to follow - It won't be a quick rebuild (I have absolutely no experience) and it won't have a lot of money lavished on it either. It will mean that I get to keep her.......

Get a quote from a mobile welder, mate had the bottom chassis faces replaced both side 110 cost 200 quid from memory, I had a look cracking job.

The thing to think of is if you cant afford it now will you be able to in the future? if not then maybe its time to get rid before it degrades before your very eyes, then 10 miles becomes to much like hard work and you just give up.

Amy welding courses up you way?

I've just had the same conversation with my garage, although mine just about sneaked through with £300 of welding! he said I will be probably doing this forever until I decide to get rid or re-chassis.

It's a tough decision!

Welldone, that man. If you're folks are ok with that then it's a good plan. I did mine on my drive. The house has a garage, but a modem one that fits a washing machine and tumble drier in.
On the drive, weather is a limiting factor unfortunately.
How bad is the chassis rot? Which places? You probably won't know for sure until it's stripped down. What's the bulkhead like? Lots of projects on here to learn from.

A nice HD gazebo on top once you get the major bits in will help with the rain!

lynall said:

Get a quote from a mobile welder, mate had the bottom chassis faces replaced both side 110 cost 200 quid from memory, I had a look cracking job.

The thing to think of is if you cant afford it now will you be able to in the future? if not then maybe its time to get rid before it degrades before your very eyes, then 10 miles becomes to much like hard work and you just give up.

Amy welding courses up you way?

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The rust is quite extensive and will need some strip down to weld up. The garage declined to give a quote for welding. I've just looked for a mobile welder and can't find one locally. Anyone know one up here? My parents house is in Burnley Lancs. I'd always planned to have her rebuild on a galv chassis but not for another 2-3 years. Thanks for the advice.

mojo247 said:

I've just had the same conversation with my garage, although mine just about sneaked through with £300 of welding! he said I will be probably doing this forever until I decide to get rid or re-chassis.

It's a tough decision!

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Well done getting her through. Once I'd got my head around the situation the decision was actually quite easy. I'm going to miss driving her whilst she's in bits. I can't imagine not ever driving her again.

Al2O3 said:

Welldone, that man. If you're folks are ok with that then it's a good plan. I did mine on my drive. The house has a garage, but a modem one that fits a washing machine and tumble drier in.
On the drive, weather is a limiting factor unfortunately.
How bad is the chassis rot? Which places? You probably won't know for sure until it's stripped down. What's the bulkhead like? Lots of projects on here to learn from.

Click to expand...

I've just got off the phone to my mum and she's fine with it. That's a relief as I didn't have a plan b.
Front outrigger NS and OS both near to the body mounting points and at the steering mounting points. Rear suspension mounting area NS and OS and then the coverall the chassis is corroded in multiple places * dangerous *.
Bulkhead is sound and corrosion free, my mechanic even commented on that to soften the blow.
I'll be scouring the forums for past projects and hoping for fine weather.

Doey68 said:

I've just got off the phone to my mum and she's fine with it.

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A nice box of choccies and some flowers for Mother and a nice single malt for the Old Man..........would be my recommendation, before they realise what a mistake they have made by agreeing to this......

Cheers

mojo247 said:

A nice HD gazebo on top once you get the major bits in will help with the rain!

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Not a bad call

neilly said:

A nice box of choccies and some flowers for Mother and a nice single malt for the Old Man..........would be my recommendation, before they realise what a mistake they have made by agreeing to this......

Cheers

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Ha, I'll stick with the flowers. My old man is daft enough without filling him full of malt..... I was pretty up front with what it is going to mean. I negotiated the side of the house for working (it's plenty big enough) and the back patio for storage. She said that she supposes that it is going to cost her a fortune in brews and bacon butties.

If you are reasonably handy with a spanner, then a chassis swap is not too tricky a thing to do. Especially with the support of a forum like this. Swapping the bulkhead adds a lot more faff on, cos you've got all of the electrical stuff to take off. Again, not the end of the world though! Just make sure you label everything!! It's a lot of extra cost too, but worth doing if you can while its all apart.

Doey68 said:

She said that she supposes that it is going to cost her a fortune in brews and bacon butties.

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If you had mentioned cake as well, you would have been overrun in volunteers.....................

Now I suppose you get the fun of sorting out a "tools required" wishlist.

Cheers

Everything is doable... welding the chassis isn't as formidable as it sounds. Approach it by identifying what exactly needs doing and then tackling it in order of priority. To be quite honest and not dramatise things. Most chassis repairs can be achieved with minimum dismantling. Buy a Mig welder, mine is a Clark 135Turbo and has been more than adequate for repairs. Spend a full day practice on scrap metal and you will go into it a lot more positive.

Any questions or concernes, pistvthem on here, no question is stupid if you don't know the answer... we're all a community and will chip in where we can. Chin up, onwards and upwards... let's get the old girl back on the road

I can imagine the stress that you have encountered since the MOT. You have definitely made the correct decision. What other classic vehicle, appreciating in value can you buy for the money that you might have got had you sold it for parts? Even as parts you would need to take it apart to sell the individual components.

It might take your mum a good few bacon or chip butties, but in the short term you are still the owner of a true classic and, eventually you will be swanning your way on the beautiful roads of Lancashire in East Lancashire like the King of the road. Good luck Mr Quality Engineer.

LandyFox makes an excellent point. The Chinese have a saying, when referring to questions " better to sound stupid for five minutes that stay stupid for the rest of your life".

With the bulkhead being in good condition a chassis change will be much quicker and easier.
Sounds like chassis has gone and you should start the strip down for a chassis change.
Loads of money spent on welding will be a waste if you change it in a couple of years.
Chassis cost is usually equal to increase in value.

Before going down the chassis swap... if money is tight, there's a good chance your chassis is salvageable. Don't automatically assume you need a swap immediately. Post pics on here of what exactly needs doing.

A very clever chap on here called old sea dog once taught me this very sensible lesson.

Out of curiosity, where did you get it MOT'd last year? Surely if it is this bad they should have started finding things last year?
Good luck with the journey

Landyfox said:

Everything is doable... welding the chassis isn't as formidable as it sounds. Approach it by identifying what exactly needs doing and then tackling it in order of priority. To be quite honest and not dramatise things. Most chassis repairs can be achieved with minimum dismantling. Buy a Mig welder, mine is a Clark 135Turbo and has been more than adequate for repairs. Spend a full day practice on scrap metal and you will go into it a lot more positive.

Any questions or concernes, pistvthem on here, no question is stupid if you don't know the answer... we're all a community and will chip in where we can. Chin up, onwards and upwards... let's get the old girl back on the road

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Thanks Landyfox. I've looked at that welder, thanks for the recommendation it looks just the job. how long do the gas canisters last?