qwakers Posted September 1, 2019 Author Share Posted September 1, 2019 today i finished all of the chassis work and most of the door frame work. i also cut up the tail lift and nabbed the bottom cross bar to cut as it was the right size. chassis work finished... door frame.. roller door runner extensions so, whats left? cut some 12mm ply and fiberglass both sides to infill the box sides make a door section to fill the gap at the top. re-lay the floor. make the panel below the door and the ramp trays so they slide in and out. finish off the returns beside the door framework re attach the lighting still, getting there. and so far, its cost me absolutely nothing bar time and a bit of gas and wire... oh, and a couple of gallons of red for the genny.... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwakers Posted September 8, 2019 Author Share Posted September 8, 2019 ive got the next two weeks off to finish the lorry, seems a bit excessive now, considering its nearly done ! side profiles have now been cut, fiberglassed and gelcoated (grey, cos i had it left over from my garage roof, 4 years ago!) and glued in: i also made a start at refitting the floor. that was more than a little frustrating but is half done, with no pics, soz. also at the beginning of the week i commissioned a engineering company to fold me up the panel that's going below the door. it needs to be 2.6m long but the sheet only comes in 2m or 2.4 meter lengths, so i had them fold up 2 out of 2m sheet, and i tig welded them together this evening. i must say, the more i use my hobart tig the more i like it. so neat and tidy, no grinding back, just a bit thirsty on gas and electricity.... considering this is only my 3rd or 4th attempt at tig, im pretty pleased with this.... go on do your worst, critique this novice welding Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blanco Posted September 9, 2019 Share Posted September 9, 2019 Its as good or better than my novice welding is all I can say........ looks good to me if not technically perfect, I reckon it'll do very well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lo-fi Posted September 9, 2019 Share Posted September 9, 2019 For beginner TIG, I'd say that's not too bad! Practice will make it steadier and neater, but it looks like a sound enough weld. A "tig finger" is a great investment. Makes it much easier when you can rest your pinky on the work to steady without getting burned through the glove. Possibly looks a little cold, which actually ends up getting too much heat into the work as you have to wait for the puddle to form and spend more time each dab than if the puddle forms quickly, you fill, then move on. Keep it up, loving your work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arjan Posted September 9, 2019 Share Posted September 9, 2019 Hat Off !! Well done - your welding is soooo much better than my splattering ! Truck looks very good - better than I thought it would be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwakers Posted September 9, 2019 Author Share Posted September 9, 2019 thanks guys, i was always scared of tig, always thought of it as black magic but it turns out, the basics arent that hard, the finnesse on the other hand... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwakers Posted September 9, 2019 Author Share Posted September 9, 2019 floors in.... which might turn out to be a mistake, i think ive just made my life far harder than it has to be sorting the ramps... but it was raining so i did what i could in the dry also dismantled and added a section to the door. doesn't seem like a lot of stuff done for a 10 hour day.... but sanding fiberglass flat takes forever and i had to put the door together and take it apart again about 10 times.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderzander Posted September 9, 2019 Share Posted September 9, 2019 Nice work ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arjan Posted September 9, 2019 Share Posted September 9, 2019 very nice ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landroversforever Posted September 10, 2019 Share Posted September 10, 2019 Looking good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwakers Posted September 10, 2019 Author Share Posted September 10, 2019 god im tired! multiple jobs completed today, worked on the lorry all day then home and fitted a new turbo to the laguna... first thing i did was build the corners of the column up. then i fabricated (fancy word for cut a bit of 2mm sheet up and drilled some holes) a body capping to cover the transition from old body panel to new.. then i made a couple of infill pieces, and bolted them in, then a couple of coats of paint. all is well with the world just the ramps and the electrics to sort now. then at about 730pm (a full 12hrs after starting my day ) i got home to a new turbo for my daily, so i decided to crack on with that. first off i had to remove the snapped studs in the manifold and used cut off bolts (because that's all i had to hand) to make new studs. i carefully made them the same length as the original and then refitted the manifold to the car without checking. guess what? the flange on the new one is thicker! so out came my new studs and new ones made, all was well.... next i had to set up the VNT side of the turbo, not anything like as complicated as it sounds. you use a vacuum pump to measure how much vacuum it takes to start moving the arm, then you adjust the length of the rod coming out of the actuator until it meets the factory spec. then i fitted the turbo, took about a hour, and sorted the injector washers. used a injector seat cutting kit to clean up the sealing surface, new washer and torqued to spec, so its running properly now. which is nice. finished about 10 mins ago, so not a bad time for the job, would have been a lot quicker if i hadn't been peeing round with studs.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arjan Posted September 11, 2019 Share Posted September 11, 2019 Well Done ! Looking good ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwakers Posted September 11, 2019 Author Share Posted September 11, 2019 got started on the ramp slides/runners/storage today. a lot of fabrication work goes into stuff like this, so im not ever half way on one side, predominately because it was raining all day... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted September 12, 2019 Share Posted September 12, 2019 I'm still jealous of just how much space you have to play with in & under a truck like this compared to the PITA we had squeezing everything into the 127 conversion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted September 12, 2019 Share Posted September 12, 2019 5 hours ago, FridgeFreezer said: I'm still jealous of just how much space you have to play with in & under a truck like this compared to the PITA we had squeezing everything into the 127 conversion Time to order your Vityaz? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted September 12, 2019 Share Posted September 12, 2019 1 hour ago, Bowie69 said: Time to order your Vityaz? They're lovely but even with a lottery win I'd think twice T813 / T815 would be the ideal but TBH I reckon stock 8x4 roro/hiab chassis cab would be a good and versatile overland setup - low ground pressure, good traction, body could be a roro camping pod, but without being an AWD unicorn. Doubt I'm ever going to have the time, money, or space to prove that theory though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwakers Posted September 12, 2019 Author Share Posted September 12, 2019 ramp frames completed, jut gotta shorten the ramps and fit the end panels and lights... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arjan Posted September 12, 2019 Share Posted September 12, 2019 Looks good ! Those ramps are nice but look heavy. Any chance of making them move in and out by air ? Saves a lot of your back... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwakers Posted September 12, 2019 Author Share Posted September 12, 2019 (edited) i cant think of a way of doing that, nor do i really want to, to be honest. they arent as heavy as they look, i can pick one up one handed, and the engineering to automate wont be simple.. Edited September 12, 2019 by qwakers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lo-fi Posted September 12, 2019 Share Posted September 12, 2019 Marvellous work. You've forgotten the wheels on the ends of the ramps for driving a Land Rover (or RX8) up while the truck is moving... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landroversforever Posted September 12, 2019 Share Posted September 12, 2019 If you shorten the ramps by the amount they’re sticking out of the body not going to make the ground-to-ramp angle too steep? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwakers Posted September 13, 2019 Author Share Posted September 13, 2019 dont forget ive also got the folding section to add if that becomes a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderzander Posted September 13, 2019 Share Posted September 13, 2019 It is looking great 👍🏻 Will you use those little tubes across the end for a bolt and pin to secure them against that rear body? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwakers Posted September 13, 2019 Author Share Posted September 13, 2019 (edited) no they’re hinges for the folding section. all will be revealed shortly just waiting for a new angle grinder as the commutator just melted on my current one! Edited September 13, 2019 by qwakers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwakers Posted September 13, 2019 Author Share Posted September 13, 2019 ramps shortened, hinges swapped to the top so they fold the other way, rear panel fitted and braced to the chassis. nearly done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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