Aaron's 90 rebuild round 4

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Made a start on re-assembly today and generally cleaning parts as I go.
Cleaned a few bits and got them bolted on to get them out of the way, apart from the little drain tube that you see missing, now I bought both top and bottom gasket sets, plus head gasket, and would expect to have every gasket I would want, erm.. nope, that one isn't their :rolleyes:
But I was impressed with the quality of the ones I did have, much better than some of the other shit'e I have bought in the past.



Head was cleaned up, and refitted, started fitting rocker shaft, all going swimmingly until one of the valve caps 'fell off' :rolleyes: (annoyingly as I put a drop of oil underneath to try and stop this) and proceeded to lodge it's self in the gap between the valve and valve spring, no idea how, but then spent god knows how long trying to remove it :mad:

Also new engine lifting eyes seen as some previous owning decided they wasn't needed :rolleyes:
And also bought a proper defender 300tdi air filter bracket, had to buy it now as it bolts through the head bolts and would rather not remove them at a later date, priced the bits up to get the full factory air box setup and comes out at about £200, not cheap but I want it to look proper and not something that has been thrown together.





Cleaned intake manifold up, cleaned and painted exhaust manifold and fitted.







Not exactly the order I'd have liked to build the engine, but I can't get the front cover on without removing the sump and didn't fancy setting the engine crane up today, should have just stuck the engine on the stand from the start to be honest, and far from perfect, but an improvement on what it was, I had planned to buy one of those electro plating kits for the bolts and such like, but it is time doing it I don't really have at the mo..
 
Aaron, I've often wondered , do you treat the blocks with anything before you prime them?

Nope, just a good clean mate, etch/epoxy prime and then top coat, or last time I used some proper block paint that you just brushed straight on, just couldn't get the colour I wanted.

i still dont know how you manage to do what you do in a day.:)

Steady away Mick, if I had more room to work things would probably go a little smoother to be honest.

A good choice of a traditional colour.

Yep, that was my thoughts too :)

Hey Aaron.... you just get better and better mate!

Cheers mate :) I hope you are good by the way? you haven't been on for a while so haven't spoken.
 
Nope, just a good clean mate, etch/epoxy prime and then top coat, or last time I used some proper block paint that you just brushed straight on, just couldn't get the colour I wanted.



Steady away Mick, if I had more room to work things would probably go a little smoother to be honest.



Yep, that was my thoughts too :)



Cheers mate :) I hope you are good by the way? you haven't been on for a while so haven't spoken.

No matey... I've really struggled to face working on my defender since losing my dad... just too many memories. I'v no choice now tho lol.
 
Another day, a bit more done.

First job was new rear crank oil seal and gasket.
Flywheel housing given a quick clean up and fitted temporary, just so I can set the crank timing, I could do it with the keyway in the timing casing, but I would rather use the slot in the flywheel and be cock on.





Timing case fitted, new belt and tensioner, water pump housing, new water pump, alternator and pas pump fitted and new aux belt.









Few other bits and pieces done, egr blank, connected turbo oil feed and drain, dip stick tube and got the sump cleaned up and painted.
Still some to do, probably another day, injectors to put in (need new washers) injector lines and the sump once dry, plus odds and ends of brackets and a couple of hoses that can be fitted.
 
Nope, just a good clean mate, etch/epoxy prime and then top coat, or last time I used some proper block paint that you just brushed straight on, just couldn't get the colour I wanted.
Cheers, Aaron. Guessing the blocks don't rust so bad, with them being cast. Is that right?
 
Hi Aaron great thread.
Couple of questions do you brace your bulkheads before you get them galvanised and if so where do you put your brace any how many? I am doing a complete rebuild of a series 3 and after seeing your thread started thinking perhaps galvanising my bulkhead as well as the chassis might be a good idea!
 
Great stuff as usual Aaron. An inspiration to us all!

Just a thought, would the flywheel housing/oil seal be different if you are going to fit an auto gearbox? Never done it before but i thought you would need to swap some bits over. I am not sure if any of the 300s are fitted with lifting eyes. In both the swaps i did, i had to scrounge them from another engine!

Ref lack of power on the auto. Maybe the lift pump is dying a slow death?

I see that you are breaking the manual disco. I am after a hose, air box to turbo input. Any chance of having that? I assume you would be looking to use the defender one.
I sure that i would need some other bits but mainly after this.

Keep up the good work.
 
No matey... I've really struggled to face working on my defender since losing my dad... just too many memories. I'v no choice now tho lol.

Sorry to hear that mate,

Cheers, Aaron. Guessing the blocks don't rust so bad, with them being cast. Is that right?

Yeah they aren't too bad, but still, it is good to protect them.

How do you decide which bits of the engine to paint?
I'm enjoying this thread loads, I hope your project isn't put on hold too long.

Think it is just a standard thing for me now and try and do the same everytime.
Paint the block, (body colour in this case)
Clean up the ali bits (sometimes I will paint silver, but I am pushed for time this time) (wire brush in the drill for cleaning up)
Repaint sump, engine mounts etc black.
And paint the rocker cover if I want to be a tart :oops:

And thanks chap, I hope it isn't on hold too long either, but realistically, it will be the back end of summer by the time I get around to doing anything of much note on it.

Hi Aaron,
Do you use ordinary or stainless nuts and bolts when you are putting things back together?

Thanks

Stephen

I try and use all BZP, less reactions with the ali/steal mix than you get with stainless, and stainless also isn't as strong in structural applications (depending which grade you buy)

Looking good, just gets betteri

Thanks Mick :)

Hi Aaron great thread.
Couple of questions do you brace your bulkheads before you get them galvanised and if so where do you put your brace any how many? I am doing a complete rebuild of a series 3 and after seeing your thread started thinking perhaps galvanising my bulkhead as well as the chassis might be a good idea!

Thanks Tom, no bracing on my bulkheads when sent and the last one fitted good, wont be bracing this one either when I get around to actually having it done.
But yes galvanising is always good if the parts are in good condition :)

Great stuff as usual Aaron. An inspiration to us all!

Just a thought, would the flywheel housing/oil seal be different if you are going to fit an auto gearbox? Never done it before but i thought you would need to swap some bits over. I am not sure if any of the 300s are fitted with lifting eyes. In both the swaps i did, i had to scrounge them from another engine!

Ref lack of power on the auto. Maybe the lift pump is dying a slow death?

I see that you are breaking the manual disco. I am after a hose, air box to turbo input. Any chance of having that? I assume you would be looking to use the defender one.
I sure that i would need some other bits but mainly after this.

Keep up the good work.

Thanks bud :)
Flywheel housing is different, but was fitted so I could put the pin in to lock the crank while I fitted the belt.
The seal, as far as I can work out is the same.

As for the lack of power, it didn't really seem to give lift pump type failure type symptoms, more all revs and no go, like a manual car would be with a slipping clutch, but it is on and off being ok or not.
Could be as simple as something as blocking the pickup pipe in the tank, or as serious as the auto box or torque convertor is knackered, and to be honest I know very little about autos, and now don't know if it is worth the hassle of sorting it and just stick a manual in it instead.

Airbox hose is yours is you want it mate, as I will be fitting full defender setup, send me a pm and we'll sort something out.
 
So this morning I finished building the engine up.
Just got to do the injector leak off pipes to do as I forgot to order some more during the week.







Ordered and received some bits to sort the transfer box during the week, so that is next on the list to sort.
But really do not know what to do ref making it an auto now.
Could be a massive can of worms to sort what I have bought and also probably not going to be cheap, and I should probably cut down on the spending a little after this weeks news.
I have been done on this one unfortunately and bought something that is fucked, whole point of buying a running and driving donor was to prove it is good, and I still stick by the thought of doing it, but I am not buying another, I don't have the space for a start, don't know what to do, don't know whether to just make it a manual and come back to the auto idea at a later date. Sigh... heads up me arse and don't know what to do.
 
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Cheers Aaron. My 90 has just broken a rear shock mounting so I'm in the process of swapping the axle cases for some galvanised disco ones.
 
So this morning I finished building the engine up.
Just got to do the injector leak off pipes to do as I forgot to order some more during the week.







Ordered and received some bits to sort the transfer box during the week, so that is next on the list to sort.
But really do not know what to do ref making it an auto now.
Could be a massive can of worms to sort what I have bought and also probably not going to be cheap, and I should probably cut down on the spending a little after this weeks news.
I have been done on this one unfortunately and bought something that is fucked, whole point of buying a running and driving donor was to prove it is good, and I still stick by the thought of doing it, but I am not buying another, I don't have the space for a start, don't know what to do, don't know whether to just make it a manual and come back to the auto idea at a later date. Sigh... heads up me arse and don't know what to do.
Have you considered something like this? http://www.ashcroft-transmissions.c...nverters/td5-heavy-duty-torque-converter.html
Or a 2nd hand one from a scrappy shouldn't be too expensive.
 
So todays job, a quick clean up of the gearbox and transfer box.
Nothing too much and far from perfect, just a quick change of seals, gaskets and flanges and much better than the oily mess they was..
Plan now is to get the lot fitted in the chassis next weekend.















So I guess that's it then and it is going to be a manual, a hard decision, but right now I have neither the time, nor money to get involved in sorting out the issues the donor has, or may have, it is just a massive can of worms, maybe next time ay..
Just got to order the adapter from Ashcroft's so I can fit the defender selector top. Didn't realise they was the best part of £100 mind :eek:
Also painted the transmission drum and back plate, transfer box mounts and centre crossmember.
 
Cheers Aaron. My 90 has just broken a rear shock mounting so I'm in the process of swapping the axle cases for some galvanised disco ones.[/QUOTE]

Galv is the way mate :)

Have you considered something like this? http://www.ashcroft-transmissions.c...nverters/td5-heavy-duty-torque-converter.html
Or a 2nd hand one from a scrappy shouldn't be too expensive.

I was looking at them the other week mate, far too expensive new, if it was something I was going to use for years to come then definitely the way to go, but as I'll likely not keep it long I'd have rather just have had a functioning standard one.

Sad news on the auto, maybe next time eh?

Yep, something I will definitely be revisiting in the future Mick, just a struggle with time and money available at the mo, donor being fucked just topped it off and a step too much.

Buy the adapter off e-bay £30

Yep, I did look before I posted as I knew I had seen them on their before, but couldn't find them.
Your comment made me search again and found them now :) Had to order the quadrant as well, but saved me about £20 compared to Ashcroft's.
 
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