Flat Bed Disco 2 Project - Anderson Connector Finally Fitted.

Steve, hope this helps. Shout if you need more info.

DefenderPilot said:

Steve, hope this helps. Shout if you need more info.

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Top man, thanks
Will cut a bit of stainless at work and make one. Is it about 35-40mm wide?
Thanks again

So a major milestone was reached today: the weldathon is finished! The final bits of welding and fabrication to the DS inner wing were done and the front panel body mounts welded in. I also completed the modified radiator grille and started rubbing down the bodywork in preparation for paint. Things are really moving along now.

Steve, the tank strap is 40mm wide.

Thanks mate

Had to do a little more body prep today before I finish painting the engine bay and front panel. I used phosphoric acid to treat a load of light surface rust on the inside of the front panel after wire brushing it as best I could. So I decided to dig out the headlights and start tackling all the problems I found with them when I originally removed them. This involved removing the plastic brackets on the lower inside of each headlight as they were both broken and making new attachment brackets from steel which I riveted and bonded to the headlight units. I also had a couple of snapped bolts to remove which required drilling and retapping. One was quite easy and I managed to tap it the original M6 size but the other one gave me loads of trouble and I ended up getting quite brutal with it and it ended up needing to be tapped out to M10. The headlights fit properly again though so it's a win for me.

Just a small update today. Underside now complete with brush-on underseal. The engine bay is now all black but I ran out of paint so I just have a couple of small areas under the DS wheel arch and on the front panel to finish off.

Another major milestone reached: body on and bolted down.
Before that though I finished the last small bits of painting on the underside and front panel, repopulated the inner wings, refitted the brake servo and brake and clutch cylinders and ran in the brake lines for the back brakes. Also made some brackets for the brake flexi pipes and ABS wires.

Those fuel blocks do look nice, I bottled it and replaced mine with a standard cast one a couple years back and it's corroded to buggery already = love to see how these anodised billet ones cope with the old road salt.

Great work btw.

Looking good, I see you removed the bulkhead insulation, do you know if it makes alot of difference to the noise inside the cab? Tempted to remove mine as its a bit scabby

Bennehboy said:

Those fuel blocks do look nice, I bottled it and replaced mine with a standard cast one a couple years back and it's corroded to buggery already = love to see how these anodised billet ones cope with the old road salt.

Great work btw.

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I did the same, was tempted to get one but settled with a standard one which came with everything, might make a cover for it now if they corrode that quick.

Once I've got the engine running again and made sure there are no fuel leaks I'm going to slap a load of underseal over the filter/head/connections. Should last a lot longer than standard.

The bulkhead insulation was a pig to remove and came off in lumps so it wasn't going back in anyway. I didn't see any point in trying to source a good replacement. I've removed a lot of what LR put on the Disco for NVH reasons so it'll probably be less refined and noisier than a standard one but it can't be any worse than a Defender and I didn't mind that. Probably lightened it a fair bit as well, those lumps of metal bolted to the axles weighed a ton. Also a fair bit of the interior sound deadening stuff on the floor was chipped out for the repairs.

It's been a while since my last proper update and I've got a lot done so I'll just make alist rather than waffle on.

Made new brackets to fit to the inner wings for the front brake lines and ABS wires.
Painted all the brake brackets and fitted them.
Finished the brake lines and bled the brakes.
Bled the clutch.
Made a couple of brackets to mount the ECU.
Finished wiring up under the bonnet including fitting new horns.
Removed lower headlight trims - painted black - refitted.
Fitted radiator and intercooler and plumbed them in.
Changed engine oil.
Changed front and rear diff oil.
Changed transfer box oil.
Made a temporary platform on the back to fit the batteries.
Put battery and earth wiring in.
Started engine to check for fluid leaks.
Had a small weep on one of the water hoses - fixed.
Found the fuel pressure regulator was leaking. Changed it for a spare - still leaking. Ordered a repair kit.
Drove up and down the drive to check brakes/steering/handbrake/clutch. Mostly good. (Clonk in steering which seems to be the column - more investigation needed).
Fitted new exhaust system.
Painted the body.
Painted the wings.

Things are progressing well and being a complete pain in equal measure with Project Disco. I was ready to put the flat bed on yesterday and that's when the problems started. So it seems the new chassis is not a perfect copy of the original because the bed didn't fit on any of the points where it fitted on the old chassis. The worst part (but also easiest to fix) was the front legs. They were 10mm short of touching the chassis. I just cut some 10mm steel to make shims to sort that. The centre mounts didn't line up at all and the rear mounts only just lined up enough. The whole bed is 10-15mm further back on this chassis (or the chassis is that much shorter). This meant that the side panels fouled the rear bumper (which also didn't fit properly) so I had to cut them and drill new fixing holes. Probably added a days extra work just to make it fit. It's on now though and I've also fitted the tow bar, wired everything up and plumbed in the fuel tank. Oh, and I had to cut a small section out of the passenger side wheel tub for the exhaust, which I'd failed to account for when building the bed.

So I thought I'd do some easy stuff today to give myself a break. I've installed the rear interior panels I made and fitted the amp and speakers and also the rear section of carpet. After that I decided to fit the front bumper. It's been on and off half a dozen times this afternoon. Guess what? Yeah, it doesn't fit properly. It's about 10mm too high so it fouls the wings and the headlights won't fit. What was I saying about doing easy stuff? I'm part way through making it fit but I've had enough for now.

Well it was a bit of a pig of a job but I made the bumper fit properly. The lights, grille and wings are all loosely fitted to check that everything lines up as it should. While I was finally fitting the bumper I also fitted the brackets for the steering guard.

Once the bumper was sorted I carried on with the interior trimming and fitted the back window. And last job of the day was to refit the front wheel arch extensions with stainless cap head bolts.

DefenderPilot said:

Well it was a bit of a pig of a job but I made the bumper fit properly. The lights, grille and wings are all loosely fitted to check that everything lines up as it should. While I was finally fitting the bumper I also fitted the brackets for the steering guard.

Once the bumper was sorted I carried on with the interior trimming and fitted the back window. And last job of the day was to refit the front wheel arch extensions with stainless cap head bolts.


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Looks fabulous

Thanks very much.

It was all going so well. Still working on the interior today and to that end I retrimmed the headlining with the same grey cloth I used for the rear speaker and trim panels. Got that fitted then refitted the big plastic bit just above the windscreen. "Time to fix the rear view mirror back on now" I thought. It took quite a bit of force and when it popped it wasn't the mirror popping into place it was the ****ing windscreen cracking. Words cannot descibe the feelings of mixed anger and frustration I'm having right now. I have no chance of getting it ready for the Shetland Classic Car Show now. **** it to hell. I need a break from it.

"oh ****".
It was going so well
J

Oh well. I've calmed down now. Removed the windscreen and ordered a new one.

This is where I was before disaster struck:


And here's the windscreen now:

DefenderPilot said:

Oh well. I've calmed down now. Removed the windscreen and ordered a new one.

This is where I was before disaster struck:
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And here's the windscreen now:

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Are the windscreens bonded in?