1998 LHD 300TDI rebuild

Hi All,

Been following the forum for a while, but finally started my rebuild project.

I have a beaten up, high mileage, LHD 1998 300TDI and will be doing a ground up rebuild.

New HD chassis
Complete new brake system
Complete new HD suspension system
Refurbished transfer box
engine overhaul..... to be decided
most likely a ton of welding
respray
replace / upgrade / tidy up the interior

There are other things on the wish list, but these can wait.

I will post pictures as the work goes on and raise questions on the other threads. Any advice, guidance would be very welcome.

Thankfully, I am not undertaking this project by myself. While the current situation with Covid-19 is terrible and I hope it will be over soon, it does mean that my local mechanic has very little work, so it is an ideal time to make full use of his workshop. This is not a job I could undertake on my own or on my drive!

The base vehicle...... 400,000km, ex utility vehicle, poorly maintained

The underside

The important part......new chassis. Heavy Duty, galvanized and then powder coated

Into the workshop...........

Refurbished transfer box was installed earlier this year.

Looks a decent chassis under all that muck !

steve2286w said:

Looks a decent chassis under all that muck !

Click to expand...

Its been patched up in quite a few places and the rear cross member is cracked. I know it could be repaired and I will get a better idea of the overall condition once it is stripped and cleaned.

I am planning on keeping this Defender for a very long time (wife says I am building my own coffin), so decided it would be better to replace the chassis. Solid foundations moving forward

While the chassis swap is underway, thought I would take a look at the doors and see what state they are in............

Looks like some welding, general clean up to remove rust and new seals, wind runners etc.

The doors look pretty reasonable.

Few more photos

1 x knackered steering arm



The underneath is not to shabby just needs a damn good wash to start with




Some bits to be sandblasted and painted



They came up alright and now have the SuperPro bushes in place



New Chassis in place, just needs building. Old one now needs cleaning and welding, hopefully sell it soon



Off to the body shop, clean it up, strip out the interior, get some welding done and then decide on a paint job.....any thoughts?

Latest photos. Build going well (generally), few small challenge to overcome, more on that later.

Anyone spot anything wrong with the rear of this 300TDI chassis?

Also a question for the more enlightened out there.

Bulk head vents - keep them or seal them? I have aircon on this vehicle and windows that work, so I am tempted to seal the vents and remove the potential danger of water ingress. Any downside to doing this?

Here you go... sealed vents.
Flat plate straight across the inside tack weld in place. Sealed vents screws on,as if you notice I have removed the out side brackets
I may fully seal the vents in place but not had any probs or regrets doing this.
Keeps the landrover looks

Dingbat Defender said:

Anyone spot anything wrong with the rear of this 300TDI chassis?View attachment 210307

Click to expand...

Is this TD5?

The long tub supports look a bit odd compared to my 300tdi chassis. Being a 300, it wouldn't have the sliding td5 tub rail at the rear.

Yours appears to have extra supports for the tub compared to mine, forward of the rails.

Just a question as it crops up a lot...if you sell chassis the vin number will go with it as its stamped on chassis which means yours wont have it...you could end up with a lot of bother I reckon...

Not updated for a while - work, covid etc all hampered progress, but finally taken some steps forward.