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Paime's 90 TD5 Chassis Swap


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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.

 

 

Edited by paime
Wanted to attach an image but it kept going upside down!
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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!

 

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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.

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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. 

 

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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.

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I don’t understand why people put so much time and effort ( on a 90, 110 is a bit more involved ) into not breaking the body down to man portable size pieces at the start of the re-chassis process. 
The improved access to axles, engine etc must save time in the long run. Then there is the inevitable remedial work on seatbox, battery box etc which is easier when it is in pieces. 

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"I don’t understand why people put so much time and effort ( on a 90, 110 is a bit more involved ) into not breaking the body down to man portable size pieces at the start of the re-chassis process. 
The improved access to axles, engine etc must save time in the long run. Then there is the inevitable remedial work on seatbox, battery box etc which is easier when it is in pieces." 

I'm with you on that one. All those areas where panels are bolted together that are busy corroding away, at least separating them there is chance to carry out remedial action and halt the corrosion to prevent them becoming white powder. Also it does allow adjustment to take place, as two different chassis are unlikely to be built to the same specifications (it is a LR after all) what may be ok when lifted in one piece from one chassis may not match up when placed on a new one so you end up undoing many of the fittings anyway. Personally I never considered lifting the body as one, it was always my intention to dismantle into manageable sections. Mine took 3-months start to finish working only weekends, a couple of bank holidays and a few days off work etc. Evenings were a non-starter as by the time I had got started on something it was time to pack up again.

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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!

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If I was doing it again, I think I would opt for keeping the body in one piece. If you deliberately set out to do a full nut and bolt rebuild then that's one thing, but if you are just trying to swap a chassis, I would avoid taking it apart any more than you absolutely need to.

It's just a rabbit hole you don't want to go down. I thought my build would take a year.

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2 hours ago, Stellaghost said:

Maybe you should use that for the motivation to get it finished, loads of workshop space lol regards Stephen

Space?! lack of at the moment! :lol: 

6 minutes ago, paime said:

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!

Project creep is very real. Even worse if you're a perfectionist as everything you take apart then gets fettled before it goes back.

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10 minutes ago, landroversforever said:

Project creep is very real. Even worse if you're a perfectionist as everything you take apart then gets fettled before it goes back.

Its been bad enough dealing with just the oily bits. Got the axles, radius arms and trailing arms blasted and painted properly, new bushes and dampers throughout, new zinc and stainless bolt kits, new fuel filter housing, A frame ball joint, swivel balls and kits, swivel housings, all of which wasn't budgeted for. Even had to get those annoying wee brake lines that go from the caliper to the bracket at the end of the flexi hose which are £20 each on a TD5, not that I'm bitter of course...

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Back to your alignment issues. Is the gearbox crossmember in place? If not it may be worth putting this back in, as I have heard that things can spread with the weight a bit and hence the bulkhead outriggers don't line up with the bulkhead. 

Otherwise take the front wing off and it may be a case of ratchet straps and brute force to line things up 

Hate to tell you this but "Even had to get those annoying wee brake lines that go from the caliper to the bracket at the end of the flexi hose which are £20 each on a TD5, not that I'm bitter of course..." you can get away without these and just get brake hoses with a banjo which connect straight to the caliper which makes doing wheel bearing and other jobs so much easier. 

Good luck

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you can get away without these and just get brake hoses with a banjo which connect straight to the caliper which makes doing wheel bearing and other jobs so much easier. 

Exactly what I've done on my 110, bought a pair of custom made hoses from David of Llama4x4. got rid of the silly short rigid pipe & the top bracket that sits under the top swivel pin bolts.

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Yes, splitting the various body parts makes a lot of sense..
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We split the rear body of the 110

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The 4 of us lifted the lower half onto the chassis

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Bit more work - but much, much easier to handle

 

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