paime

Storage space or lack thereof is the primary reason for not splitting up the body. Right now in the garage there is the full Defender on a new chassis with the old chassis next to it. The bonnet has been stored on top of the roof for the past 9 months so definitely no room for wings etc lying around. In fact that's been the biggest challenge of the project really - finding space to do everything. Mrs Paime said absolutely no way to sticking anything in the drive for long periods of time so I've had to manoeuvre my way through clutter. Money also comes into it. I knew I would go over budget by finding things to do that I didn't know needed doing but if I were to split the body then I'd need new cappings, new seat box bits, new rear supports for the tub etc etc. You'd easily be looking at the thick end of £2k which smarts after the cost of a new chassis!

Snuck out at lunchtime (the benefits of working from home i guess) and slackened the bulkhead side of the bracket but no joy. Will give the inner wing bracket a loosen during my afternoon break to see if i can things to move. I haven't tightened anything up yet so hopefully there will be some wiggle room.

Finally managed to get body to meet chassis last night. It was a bit of a fiddle but i hung the rear end on the engine crane and then the front end with the crane giving me enough play to move things around a bit if the holes didn't match up. The rear end went together fine but i'm having some alignment issues at the front. The N/S bulkhead bracket and outrigger bolt are all in but on the O/S i can't get the outrigger to line up. It's not that far off - is there more adjustment that can be done elsewhere? I'm not sure how i've managed to get the bulkhead bracket to align on the O/S but not the outrigger.

I'd love to find out how much these apparently overpriced Defenders actually sell for on ebay. There are plenty of high mileage 300tdis and td5s on for £15k+, some with galv bits and others without. Advertising at that price and selling at that price are two very different things though!

I wish I had the technical know-how to make one of these!

I did think of doing it that way but figured I'd have more lateral adjustment if the body was hanging on the crane as I wouldn't be able to shift the chassis around when it was up on the jack. I'm maybe about 15mm off to one side as things currently sit so will need to wiggle about a bit. Is there a trick to lining up the body? I've read somewhere to start at the back with fixings and work forward but the rear rail where the 10 bolts go is adjustable on the td5 chassis so not sure what to do.

Creeping towards body meeting chassis now. Its been a real faff getting the supports in the right place - couldn't support the A posts because the outriggers hit the breeze blocks and I couldn't roll the chassis back far enough so had to mess around with the crane and taking wheels off to get the legs in the right place to lift up the bulkhead again and shift the blocks. Its all in a good place now so will try lowering the body tomorrow and over the weekend. The end is in site!

I will admit to taking a guard off to get better access but after a near miss with a shattered cutting disc I wouldn't do it again.

A great example of what you can do with a 3D printer and some know-how. What programme did you use to design the part? Is it glued on or screwed from the inside?

Thanks for all the suggestions, folks. Checked the swivel preload and all was fine so still don't know what was causing it. My lockbock does have some of that anti-weeds coating on it so maybe that caused too much friction. I disconnected the steering arm and damper which seemed to help a little and eventually managed to manoeuvre the chassis under the body. It's been a real head scratcher as I couldn't roll the gear levers past my timber support (it was too low) but then I couldn't hang the front on the engine crane either because I couldn't roll the wheels over the crane legs. Eventually rolled it halfway under then supported the bulkhead feet on breeze blocks and removed the timber. A real nightmare but im there now. Just need to lower the body onto the chassis now and then I'm almost done.

My wheels are pretty much impossible so move around. The steering box is fairly empty of fluid so maybe that's causing it? Either that or my lockblock in the driveway is too sticky.

A good day today, finally managed to get the old chassis out from underneath the body. Heres's how i did it: Rope looped through the rear tub capping holes in the middle of the rear tub. Engine crane in through the back door, lifting up the tub with the rope then sliding in 3 bits of wood under the tub which rested on a stack of breeze blocks. Next I used a home made spreader bar attached to the bulkhead chassis brackets. Lifted the front up and slid some wood under the two rails then rested on breeze blocks again. It was a bit of a faff getting the chassis out as I had to use a few jacks to get it off the axle stands then lower it down. All sorted now though. I need to roll in the new chassis tomorrow but its really tough to steer. Would it help if I disconnected the steering box? Any other suggestions?

I have one of the Chinese knock offs and have to say its pretty good. To connect the fuel line I used the 'spare' grey plastic connection on top of the fuel tank as mine is a td5. Just nipped the top off it then stuck a length of steel brake line into it with a 90 degree bend at the top. A bit of fuel line acts as a seal and then the nylon line attaches to the end. A bit rough but works fine. I've also never had to prime the pump as it has enough sook to not need it.

Thanks guys, much appreciated. @Retroanaconda it's difficult to see from the images in your thread but am i right in saying you lifted from the footwell - chassis brackets with a spreader bar? This is the other method i'm thinking of and i think the bulkhead is lifted from the A-posts but again, difficult to see:

Tough day today. Managed to get all the chassis/body bolts off (thanks @landroversforeverand @westernfor the handy diagrams and explanations) and then had the task of lifting the body. Thought I'd use an engine crane in the back door with strops under the cappings and hooked to the rear bulkhead. Started the lift and it quickly became apparent that the front bulkhead is very weighty so it was all off balance. Went to plan B and put the brake through the drivers window but couldn't find a place to attach the strops to that wouldn't cause damage. Had a tantrum then gave up. Will try again at the weekend if I've stopped huffing!

I don't know if they're meant to? I think mine just shows the glow plug illumination and thats it although its a 2000 Td5 rather than 2005.

Copper slip on most things, particularly if they're going through the chassis. I'm hoping to never have to take anything off ever again but somehow I doubt I'll be that lucky!

I'll be undoing all the bolts on Sunday ready for a Monday lift so should find out how it all comes apart then. I've also noticed my new chassis doesn't have bolt holes for the middle exhaust hanger either so may need to think of something clever for that.

Are there also fixings on the two mounts in red below? These are the ones that are confusing me slightly. I'm going to use the original brackets but all new zinc bolts if Terrain Tech ever bother to ship them, that is! I did think about new brackets but I've spent way more than I expected to on the chassis swap so have to draw the line somewhere.

Some good progress this week - gearbox transferred across, prop shafts in, brake and fuel lines done, new clutch and rear crank seal done. I'm pretty much set to get the body off the old chassis now, just need to undo/cut the bolts off and drag out the old chassis. Would anyone have a diagram of all the body to chassis connections for a 90 TD5 they could share?

Quick question - are the flywheel bolts on a td5 stretch bolts that can't be used again or can I apply some threadlock and torque the old ones up?

Some of that oil does have a bit of a red tinge to it i think. Urgh more jobs I hadn't planned to do. Need to find somewhere local that sells rear oil seals as well as I think royal mail is currently having a nightmare with deliveries.

Exciting times, we have an engine on the new chassis! Wasn't too bad in the end, just quite a few bits and pieces to disconnect. One problem I've found is that there was quite a lot of oil in the bell housing, so much so that it left a puddle on the garage floor. Does that mean my rear crank seal needs replacing? There's oil everywhere to be fair so it may have blown in from the rocker cover gasket seal thats duff as well.

+1 for the looped tool. I tried doing mine without one and it was impossible. Use the tool to push the big seal apart then tuck the strip inside it then move along and repeat. Takes a while but it is possible.

Might lay the body down on some supports now just to be on the safe side... My 3 month project has been on the go for 9 months so far so I should probably plan for some programme slippage!