Lofty's 1989 90 rebuild thread

[lofty69]

I now how much you all like a good rebuild thread so I thought I'd start my own.

I've had my defender for about 8 months and used it until the MOT ran out and then decided to take it off the road and do a rebuild.

It a 1989 2.5TD and here it is when I bought it:



Had to change the down pipe and the rear prop for the first job as it was making some very nice noises to start with, but after changing those it made a big difference.

The steering was a bit vague and when looking into that a bit more I found this!:

If it had got any worse I would have had no steering at all!

There are a few holes in the footwells of the bulkhead that needed sorting as well:

As this is something I want to keep for a while I decided to strip it down and rebuild. Looking at finishing next year as I want to take my time with it.

 

[lofty69]

Next up was removing the dash and floor:

Dash out (I hope I can remember how to put it back):

Then off came the roof:

and then the seatbox, sides and tub:

and that's where is stands as of today.

 

[gse1986]

The steering was a bit vague and when looking into that a bit more I found this!:

What is that?

 

[lofty69]

What is that?

That's what is left of the back of the steering wheel.

 

[gse1986]

Wow! not seen that before

 

[lofty69]

Wow! not seen that before

I think it was off some old rover, and to think I drove 200 miles down the motorway with it like that!

 

[lofty69]

Jet washed the chassis and rear cross member over the weekend. Found one small hole in the rear x member and the exhaust hanger needs to be welded replaced. Does the hanger just bolt on by default? It seems to be attached with two nuts and a bit of welding on mine.

 

[lofty69]

Had a day or so to work on it so started cleaning up the chassis:

Not sure what to do about the sliders... do I keep them on and clean them up or remove them??

If I can get them off cleanly I'd prefer to take them off I think.

 

[lofty69]

Made some good progress today. Removed the rear shocks (had to cut them off with a grinder), the rear springs, the rear prop shaft, the exhaust and the rear axle (except one of the bolts would not come out the radius bars).

I also made a start on cutting off the sliders that have been welded on.

Once the axle is off completely and the sliders have been cut off, I'll be making a start on getting the bulkhead off so I can get it repaired.

 

[lofty69]

Axle is now off and I've managed to cut off the sliders.

Carried on with grinding down the chassis on Friday but then ended up in A&E as I got a bit of metal in my eye!!

The nurse got it out but said I now had a ring of rust in my eye and have to go to the eye clinic in Preston.

I managed to get the drivers wing off yesterday but had to cut the wires to the lights off (getting new ones so not fussed about cutting). Want to get some waterproof connectors for when I re-connect the lights... any suggestions?

 

[TrinbagoMan]

Wow. Sorry to hear that.

Were you not wearing any eye protection?

 

[lofty69]

Cheers.

Yes I was wearing eye glasses so I was a bit surprised to get something in my eye..

I think I might start a "What has your landy done to you today?" thread

 

[aaronmorris]

Cheers.

Yes I was wearing eye glasses so I was a bit surprised to get something in my eye..

I think I might start a "What has your landy done to you today?" thread

Yep the old needle in the eye isn't very pleasant isit.
Had it done 3 times now. Albeit the first two times I wasn't wearing glasses. Learnt me lesson and still got something in my eye

Had a few where I thought I would have to go to the hospital. Kept putting it off and after about 3weeks I was fine. Probably easier to have just gone to hospital instead of putting up with the irritation.
But I f*cking hate hospitals/doctors and wont go unless I really have to.

 

[lofty69]

Yep the old needle in the eye isn't very pleasant isit.
Had it done 3 times now. Albeit the first two times I wasn't wearing glasses. Learnt me lesson and still got something in my eye

Had a few where I thought I would have to go to the hospital. Kept putting it off and after about 3weeks I was fine. Probably easier to have just gone to hospital instead of putting up with the irritation.
But I f*cking hate hospitals/doctors and wont go unless I really have to.

Yeah, I try to avoid them places myself, but it was obvious it wasn't going to go on its own.

 

[AlbertDefender90]

Axle is now off and I've managed to cut off the sliders.



Carried on with grinding down the chassis on Friday but then ended up in A&E as I got a bit of metal in my eye!!



The nurse got it out but said I now had a ring of rust in my eye and have to go to the eye clinic in Preston.



I managed to get the drivers wing off yesterday but had to cut the wires to the lights off (getting new ones so not fussed about cutting). Want to get some waterproof connectors for when I re-connect the lights... any suggestions?

Super seal connectors would probably be your best bet although they are quite expensive. I'm going to rewire mine using them when I get that far with my project

 

[lofty69]

Super seal connectors would probably be your best bet although they are quite expensive. I'm going to rewire mine using them when I get that far with my project

Cheers, they'll do nicely

 

[lofty69]

Did a little bit more today. The chassis is almost ready to be painted (up to the tank):

and started to clean up the radius arms:

Just hoping the rain stays away for a while so I can do some more work over the weekend.

 

[lofty69]

I planned on doing a full day on the 90 yesterday but somehow ended up cleaning the guttering on the house instead!

Anyway I managed to finish the radius arms and do a little bit of clean up work on the seat box (no pics yet on that):

They seem happier now

Going to make a start on painting the rear axle and trailing arms over the next few days.

 

[lofty69]

I managed to start the chassis painting at the weekend. First I degreased and metal prepped it:

Then some POR-15... makes a big difference:

 

[lofty69]

And last job of the weekend was to start prepping the axle:

Next up will be removing the fuel tank and the bulkhead.

PS... How do I get a full image in the thread??