S3 109 Safari project......

I tried the bolts in which needed some tweaking and cut the lower plate out ready to install the crush tubes. I put the crush tubes in place and tacked in.
Once welded, I tried the box back in.......success!!

Next week, I will paint the inside of the chassis, then weld in the lower plate, then look to fabricate a front crossmember to replace the rotten one...

I postponed doing the underside until I tackled the crossmember. I started by cutting the remains of the old crossmember off, then got underway by fabricating a front crossmember to replace the original rotten one. . Obviously the replacement can’t be in exactly the same position as the original, so I have to push it forward a bit to support the front panel. I have some 5mm flat plate, so that should be strong enough....

Next, I cut and positioned the first side...

Checked the position again, both horizontally and vertically. Welded more tacks and positioned the second one 35mm in front of the first...

The next thing I need to do is fit a 3rd vertical to make the box section more substantial, the I can start boxing in. Hopefully I will have gotten the dimensions and positioning right! It should be plenty strong though.

Thought I would flip over the chassis today and put it on my 2 poster ramp to make it easier to work on.

To be honest, it looks a lot better than I was expecting! I can get better access to the underside where the steering box was fitted. That will allow me to treat the welded area inside and finally box it in. Once boxed in I can remove the bolt on bracket and weld a bracket to the chassis to provide some lateral support.

Time to tackle the underneath of the chassis - starting with 2mm plate...

Then a tidy up then go over with some 4mm to match the other 3 sides....

Then tried the steering box back on, just to make sure it still fits!

Need some lateral support to replace the bracket originally fitted to the discovery....
Had some handy angle iron kicking around

Drilled a couple of holes for bolts.....

Welded this edge of the bracket ready to fully weld later

Also trimmed the sharp edges to prevent snagging on undergrowth etc!

Next time I will try the box back on and move onto the other repairs needed on the underside of the chassis. Hopefully I will get it finished this year ready for painting the primer just like the other bits of the chassis. Won’t look like a bad patchwork quilt.....

Managed to finish the welding on the lateral support bracket and trial fitted the box again to make sure it still fits........
Success!

I noticed that the bump stop plate looked a bit sketchy so that needs some new metal.

After..... cut all the rot out and let in some 2mm plate...

The next bit that needs some new metal is the inner support for the bump stop..........
More welding required!