S3 109 Safari project......

Ok, so I used the parts drawing for the fuel tank to see what it should look like as mine were cobbled together with threaded rod and non original bushes. It thought it would be a simple assembly job...... no chance!!!
The drawing was completely wrong. It showed spring washers when they should be flaunt and plain nuts when they should be nyloc ... Anyway, I managed to get the front ones to fit but the rear holes in the crossmember were completely in the wrong place! So, I drilled the holes again, reprotected them and assembled using plenty of copper grease.

I bought a new sender unit too to go with the new tank too....

After aligning the sender, I fitted a new seal and locking collar. Unfortunately, the outlet seems to be really close to the other pipe. It might need a bit of tweaking to fit the fuel pipes

Next time, I hope to be getting on with the front axle once my bits arrive

That's some pricey penny washers lol.
I'm just dreaming of being at the stage of having a decent chassis to be atatching things to.
Once you have rebuilt your axles, will you strip and restore your springs, or replace them with funcy ones ?
Not so far away from having a rolling chassis are you

Also your chassis is looking awesome btw

Wagon Loon said:

That's some pricey penny washers lol.
I'm just dreaming of being at the stage of having a decent chassis to be atatching things to.
Once you have rebuilt your axles, will you strip and restore your springs, or replace them with funcy ones ?
Not so far away from having a rolling chassis are you

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Yes, I know - it’s a ridiculous amount of money for nuts, bolts and washers. To be honest, there are some bushes and distance pieces too, which were the most expensive. Just seems a lot to me but at least it’s done as close as I can to original. My front springs are nearly new original spec, bought second hand. So they just need a spruce up with some paint, grease etc. The rears, I’ll inspect first, however I want to reuse them as they are not in too bad condition. They may need stripped, greased, painted and new bushes installed. Willing to do that rather than have to buy new...

Wagon Loon said:

Also your chassis is looking awesome btw

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Cheers, it really feels like I’m getting somewhere now

GSF 109 said:

Yes, I know - it’s a ridiculous amount of money for nuts, bolts and washers. To be honest, there are some bushes and distance pieces too, which were the most expensive. Just seems a lot to me but at least it’s done as close as I can to original. My front springs are nearly new original spec, bought second hand. So they just need a spruce up with some paint, grease etc. The rears, I’ll inspect first, however I want to reuse them as they are not in too bad condition. They may need stripped, greased, painted and new bushes installed. Willing to do that rather than have to buy new...

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I intend stripping and refurbishing all my springs, and I will only paint them assembled as a whole unit, just like the manufacturers do.
I will cut some bar to remake the clamps.
Please do watch this video for why it's a bad idea to paint them ore assembly..

Pre

Managed to strip down the rest of the front axle and got the oil out. The diff looks really good but both universal joints are completely knackered along with all bearings, seals etc. It wall all get replaced anyway

Wagon Loon said:

Pre

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Cheers for the video. It was my intention to strip them, clean them off, grease and paint when built. Need to find my big g clamps now!

Managed to find a pair of original, sound front spring plates at last!. Once cleaned up I think they will be just fine. This will allow me to paint the front axle case and springs and fit it all onto the chassis. This should be much easier than trying to assemble it on the workshop floor .

I'm shure they will clean up great with a bit of elbow grease

Looking a bit better now!

Cleaned the front springs too

Got some new old stock universal joints for the half shafts. Looks like they were made in the 1970’s They are a good make and they were perfect when I took them out of the bags. So, fingers crossed they work well as both originals are completely knackered!

And they come in cool vintage QH boxes.
Will you refresh the grease around what I assume are pin rollers, as this may have got a bit dry over the decades lol.
Springs cleaned up well.
Are you rebuilding the Engine and G-Box too. ?

Yeah, I’m tempted to keep the old boxes... I will be refreshing the grease, as I agree, the grease will have dried out. The springs were nearly new second hand, so were a good starting point anyway. They did clean up easily with a wire brush, a clean down with thinners , some primer and gloss black spray.
I am planning to freshen up the engine and hopefully it is all saveable without a rebore or grinding etc. Once I have the rolling chassis and body done, I will move onto the engine and box. I have so many parts lying around my shed and it would be good to get them bolted on to clear my feet a bit! .....

I have so many parts lying around my sheds garden and even in my attic, so I know what you mean lol.
My gearbox has a big table and a shed to itself, and many of the body parts are carefully scattered about my property.
My engine has the origonal numbers and the head was converted for lead free and taken to a stage one.
I was able to track down the company that re-worked the engine, and they said it may now be 2.6L as they did this to the 2.25L's quite often. That was news to me lol, but origonal shells and rings are readily available and I will go over the entire engine and replace all the pesky oil seals anyway. Also I will do the small conversion to electronic ignition as its simple and more reliable, lastly I believe they can be made injection; but this would stray from the origonal factory which I'm striving for.
I can get kits to rebuild the alternator and starter.
So my project will roll on for a year or two. But that's ok, as I can register her as MOT and TAX exempt by then.
I am replacing the steering relay section of the front, but keeping the chassis rails origonal by restoring them to keep the origonal join/seam down the middle. This will enable me to retain the origonal dumb irons and thus the stamped chassis number too.
Much more work but I'm looking forward to re-fabricate the rails two the front.
So lots of support welded struts and stuff needed to keep the integrity of positions lol.
Having your chassis finished allows you to really get into gear on your project and move forward now