Terryh Posted September 5, 2017 Share Posted September 5, 2017 Hello all, Been an avid reader on here for a few years and always found it to be a great source of guidance and inspiration so thank you all very much. I own a '97 90 300tdi that I am in the process of a complete rebuild onto a galvanised Richards Chassis. Attempted to fit the bulkhead to it yesterday.... only to find the bulkhead doesn't fit :-( The holes in the chassis are 12mm further apart than the holes at the bottom of the bulkhead A pillars. The bulkhead is the original item although I have welded in new footwells and had it galvanised. Whilst never expecting a perfect fit, 12mm does seem to be a bit much to force the A pillars apart to make it fit. Wondering if anyone has come across a similiar problem and can offer any guidance as to whats best to do? Chassis measures 1505 mm hole center hole to center. Bulkhead measures 1493 hole to hole center. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickeyw Posted September 5, 2017 Share Posted September 5, 2017 Welcome Terry. First off - did you weld the new footwells in while the bulkhead was still attached to the old chassis? If not, this could easily be a source of error. Secondly, galvanising can distort a bulkhead if it isn't suitably braced at the outrigger mounting points. As for what to do about it, that is a hard one. You have a shiny new chassis, and a freshly galv'd bulkhead - but something is going to need some adjustment, and unless the door pillars can be jacked apart sufficient to fit, I would imagine the bulkhead being the likely candidate for modification/correction. I know this probably isn't what you want to hear, so hopefully someone more experienced with this operation will be along shortly to give an alternative take on the situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peaklander Posted September 5, 2017 Share Posted September 5, 2017 Did you do the repair work to the footwells with the bulkhead off the vehicle or on the old chassis? if off then the A pillars could each be out by 6mm which isn't much really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timc1967 Posted September 5, 2017 Share Posted September 5, 2017 I wonder if a rachet strap around the chassis to pull in the sides while you fit the bulkhead? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveturnbull Posted September 5, 2017 Share Posted September 5, 2017 1 hour ago, timc1967 said: I wonder if a rachet strap around the chassis to pull in the sides while you fit the bulkhead? I'd take the other approach and get a hi-lift jack in between the bulkhead pillars. Chassis are chunkier steel that bulkheads. Plus I think distorting the chassis will give more troubles down the line with fitting gearbox crossmember etc... 12mm isn't that much anyway, well within LR tolerances of 'to the nearest inch' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terryh Posted September 5, 2017 Author Share Posted September 5, 2017 So seems my mistake was welding in the new footwells with the bulkhead off the chassis. Didn't think about it at the time and I also had the chassis stored somewhere else whilst I worked on the bulkhead. I think I will try and spread the legs of the bulkhead to make it fit. I don't have a hi-lift jack so will need to have a think about how I will do it. Will be another 10days or so until I get back to having some time to work on it again so in the meantime any other ideas gratefully received. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muscat Posted September 6, 2017 Share Posted September 6, 2017 I had the same problem - galvanised chassis and galvanised bulkhead, with a >10 mm gap. The bulkhead was a new, unused item, which was within a few mm of fitting before I had it galvanised, so I was confident that the galvanising process had distorted the bulkhead slightly. I didn't fit a support bar to the bulkhead mounts before galvanising. I took Dave's approach and used a hi-lift jack to spread the bulkhead, however my jack was too short to fit between the A pillars. I installed one mounting bolt and then jacked against a chassis rail and the other A pillar using softwood pads. Two man job to stop everything slipping... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPendrey Posted September 6, 2017 Share Posted September 6, 2017 18 hours ago, Terryh said: So seems my mistake was welding in the new footwells with the bulkhead off the chassis. Didn't think about it at the time and I also had the chassis stored somewhere else whilst I worked on the bulkhead. I think I will try and spread the legs of the bulkhead to make it fit. I don't have a hi-lift jack so will need to have a think about how I will do it. Will be another 10days or so until I get back to having some time to work on it again so in the meantime any other ideas gratefully received. Can't picture what fits where exactly, but couldn't you use a small bottle jack (2T for example) and a good bit of 2"x2" (or bigger), ideally hardwood? Use the jack to push the wooden post against the bulkhead 'post' to move outward? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickeyw Posted September 6, 2017 Share Posted September 6, 2017 A hydraulic jack and a length of wood will work for spreading too. Just make sure the jack's pump is at the bottom, otherwise it'll be starved of oil and won't pump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dag019 Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 On 9/5/2017 at 2:11 PM, timc1967 said: I wonder if a rachet strap around the chassis to pull in the sides while you fit the bulkhead? I would use a combination of both the methods mentioned above. When fitting the gearbox cross member you jack the rails apart to be able to slide it into place so a ratchet strap pulling them in "gently" should give you a couple of mm without the risk of distorting the chassis (I wouldn't want to pull the chassis in the full 12mm). That is then a couple of mm less that you will need to spread the bulkhead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR-HIPPO Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 (edited) Your chassis measurement would seem to be OK. I have a bare galvanised chassis here with a galvanised Bulkhead attached. As far as I can tell with a tape measure (and the wife) the bolt centres are ~1502mm apart. My gearbox X Member is not fitted yet. If you were to attack your old bulkhead bolts with an angle grinder and cut diagonally along the length of the thread, so that you end up with a long taper or wedge shape, you may be able to tap them home and stretch the bulkhead. I have a few bolts cut this way in my box of "special tools" that I have used to align problem holes. Good luck. Edited September 7, 2017 by MR-HIPPO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terryh Posted September 14, 2017 Author Share Posted September 14, 2017 Ok so gave jacking the bulkhead apart a go and it worked. Lifted the bulkhead and fitted the bolt at the drivers side. Used a small bottle jack, some wood to prevent any damage and with some fiddling got the passenger bolt through. There was a bit of creaking as the bulkhead flexed but nothing to worry about. Just need to get it off again and paint it now! Thanks for all the replies 👍 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quagmire Posted September 14, 2017 Share Posted September 14, 2017 Nice one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballcock Posted September 15, 2017 Share Posted September 15, 2017 You can make a simple safe jack for that kind of job by using a suitable length of tube with a large nut & bolt and a washer into the end, basically a small acrow prop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejparrott Posted September 16, 2017 Share Posted September 16, 2017 Richards have been using 1505mm as the centres for the outrigger bolts for a very long time. The problem would seem to be with your bulkhead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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