Steve's unexpected Series 3 rebuild.

lay a straight piece of wood or steel across the chassis rails and measure to see if bulkhead fixing holes are similar

Henry_b said:

Could the body of warped a tad?

It doesn't look to have much structural strength once off the chassis?

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it can ive had re-chassis jobs were the body had gradually sunk in the middle,not noticeable till you fitted it on a new straight chassis

jamesmartin said:

it can ive had re-chassis jobs were the body had gradually sunk in the middle,not noticeable till you fitted it on a new straight chassis

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I think Steve's body has been sat off the chassis for a while, so it might of sagged

Henry_b said:

Could the body of warped a tad?

It doesn't look to have much structural strength once off the chassis?

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It's possible. It's led a hard life and there was evidence of a prang in the tub on the drivers side rear. The bulk head is quite rigid until you start taking out spot welds and removing bits. I think what i've got to do is bite the bullet and go for it. It needs both chassis feet removing so I can shuffle it about, align it down the length of the body, get the door gaps about right then find a way to hold it all tightly in place while I at least tack weld it together.

There are more complications yet though. Haven't got time to post tonight, will try to do it tomorrow. Stay tuned!

LincolnSteve said:

It's possible. It's led a hard life and there was evidence of a prang in the tub on the drivers side rear. The bulk head is quite rigid until you start taking out spot welds and removing bits. I think what i've got to do is bite the bullet and go for it. It needs both chassis feet removing so I can shuffle it about, align it down the length of the body, get the door gaps about right then find a way to hold it all tightly in place while I at least tack weld it together.

There are more complications yet though. Haven't got time to post tonight, will try to do it tomorrow. Stay tuned!

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if its all bolted up loosely it can be pulled right by careful tightening in most cases

I've had my hardtop on and off a couple of times and mine doesn't lay flat by itself with no gaps, it needs bolting down and a bit of levering with a screwdriver or something to get the fixings in and started. Don't do anything up completely in one place until you've got a few fixings in loose all round..

That said I don't know if having the roof on just now is going to help or hinder you with what you're doing on the bulkhead..

scottonthefen said:

I've had my hardtop on and off a couple of times and mine doesn't lay flat by itself with no gaps, it needs bolting down and a bit of levering with a screwdriver or something to get the fixings in and started. Don't do anything up completely in one place until you've got a few fixings in loose all round..

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Mine was exactly the same, the off side was about 1/4" higher from the windscreen than the near side but it's bolted down fine

I'm hoping that fixing the top of the windscreen to the roof will help to support it all. I had hoped to tackle one side completely before moving on to the next leaving one of the feet plus the supports from the chassis to the footwells attached but it looks more and more like i've got to have things a lot looser than I thought to be able to jiggle things into place. I'm pretty sure i'm going to have to modify the new chassis feet. That will be clearer when I put a few more pictures on after work today.

Right so here goes with the next problems. I've run a string down the sides to see how things are looking. I'll tell you how they're looking.....wonky.


So the string goes from the back corner to the door pillar and there's 10mm ish gap. So is the tub twisted, is the rear cross member fitted wrong (I didn't do it), is the bulkhead and it's outriggers fitted wrong (I didn't fit those either) or is some other previous repair on the chassis putting things out. There are so many possibilities it's hard to know where to start.

you can get a bit by bending the tabs at the rear and adjusting the brackets at the front of the tub, best to bolt it up loosely and get the best by eye,they arent perfect when new,and both doors never have exact equal gaps

So time to just get stuck in and make a start.

Clearly the old one is absolutely knackered. I ordered the replacement parts years ago thinking this would be one of the first jobs I tackled. Things change and they were put aside until now. With the old foot off I offered up the new foot and pillar.

So there we have it. Everything is wonky, nothing matches up and even the new stuff doesn't make any sense. Time to just stop worrying and make it all fit whether it likes it or not.

jamesmartin said:

you can get a bit by bending the tabs at the rear and adjusting the brackets at the front of the tub, best to bolt it up loosely and get the best by eye,they arent perfect when new,and both doors never have exact equal gaps

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I'm very glad you have said that. When I took it to pieces the tabs on the rear crossmember were bent all over the place. I thought I was being really clever when I straightened them out. I thought I was improving things so much. Turns out to even get it to where it is now i've had to bend them all back in again! I'm relieved that what i've done is a legitimate technique.

I’ve had similar problems as you know Steve. My original pillar was actually deeper between its face and the footwell lip than the new one which also didn’t help.! I’m having the foot and outrigger work it out between themselves so the pillar can be where I want it - and flush with the footwell so I can weld the two together matters more to me than flush with the rear tub especially since my tub and door are so well ‘used’ anyway. And it has to sit on the crease/shoulder without a gap or the seals won’t fit.. the pillar is in charge however you look at it.

Ive not reached the passenger side yet but I did just notice your new pillars seal lip doesn’t go up and over the crease like my new drivers side one does. Also the top hinge is joggled in to allow for new bulkhead corner parts to be welded around and over to double skin the hinge and have a flusher profile. That works well For me as I’ll be doing that but What are your plans for that?

To be honest i'm thinking of ditching those door pillars and getting better ones from either YRM or Bearmach. These ones came from Craddocks years ago. I've checked the part number and they are still current but I don't know if they are still made the same. Also the other side that goes up to the footwell is different and looks like it will be hard work to fit. The more I think about it the more likely it is I will get better ones. Anyone want to buy a couple of unused, almost ok door pillars?

The pillar I bought from Bearmach is sold for both Defender and Series use. It had a hole for the Defender door light wiring, and the wing mount points were pressed in differently to the series style. I have switched to pillars from Paddocks that don't have those Defender differences.

LincolnSteve said:

To be honest i'm thinking of ditching those door pillars and getting better ones from either YRM or Bearmach. These ones came from Craddocks years ago. I've checked the part number and they are still current but I don't know if they are still made the same. Also the other side that goes up to the footwell is different and looks like it will be hard work to fit. The more I think about it the more likely it is I will get better ones. Anyone want to buy a couple of unused, almost ok door pillars?

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Just wait til you come to refit the doors

Marmaduke said:

Just wait til you come to refit the doors

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I'm trying not to think about that. I will probably be waking up in the night screaming, 'DOOR GAPS!'
PTDGD - Post Traumatic Door Gap Disorder

LincolnSteve said:

The more I think about it the more likely it is I will get better ones.

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In which case you'd be better off buying over the counter, rather than mail order, and take your rogue ones along with you to 'compare and contrast'.

Spong said:

In which case you'd be better off buying over the counter, rather than mail order, and take your rogue ones along with you to 'compare and contrast'.

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It's a good idea. They do all seem quite different.