re building the series

[nick w]

hello peeps having stripped the series 3 down to the chassis i am now rebuilding her and putting the body work back on first i put the front pannel which houses the rad all good then it came to the wings as i had not removed the bulkhead i thought this would be simples oh no nothing lines up and the bolts that fix the wing to the rad pannel are around 1 inch out i know its a land rover so one can expect some marring up problems but this seams a bit much so any tips or pointers would be much appriciated sure theres some simple explaination any help much appriciated

[rtbarton]

Are they one inch out for and aft or up and down?

Did you remember the rubber spacers under the front panel?

[nick w]

Are they one inch out for and aft or up and down?

Did you remember the rubber spacers under the front panel?

for and aft mate up and down and the rubbers are in the front pannel 35 years old and still fine

[rtbarton]

for and aft mate up and down Sorry, don't understand what you're saying here. Is the misaligment horizontal or vertical?

Is the panel perpendicular to the chassis?

[simonb]

Work from the back. Rear tub is located by the rear cross member tabs which are fixed. Then fit doors that will locate the bulkhead in the right postion. Then fit wings with front panel loosly bolted to front cross member so you have some adjustment.

I did it that way in my rebuild and it all lined up beautifully. I had a new bulkhead and front panel as well.

You may need to slacken off the big vertical uprights from the chassis which pick up on the steering box/footwells.

Doesn't matter if you didn't touch the front panel and bulkhead, once the body is unbolted, things will move.

[nick w]

tryin to work front to back due to space

[FridgeFreezer]

What SimonB said - it's a real jigsaw, the rear tub mounts and bulkhead mounts are the main datum points. The tub goes 1st because it has very little margin for error once it's sat on the chassis and bolted to the rear supports, it should be pretty much straight & level (or Land Rover's version of). From there you can do the doors/bulkhead and get the gaps all nice for those, then the roof/windscreen which should result in well fitting doors which open & close nicely. The front wings, bonnet and breakfast panel have a fair degree of jiggle, are not so critical, and are easier to correct than the rest.

[Snagger]

tryin to work front to back due to space

You can't get the alignment right if you do that. You'll just have to create the space or roll the vehicle around to allow assembly from rear to front.

It's done by fitting the tub, leaving its front bolts loose, and fitting the bulkhead on its two main bolts. Run a string line along the top corner of the body bulge, below the top door hinge and above the tail lights. Adjust the height of the front end of the tub until the body line matched the bulkhead and then tighten all the tub bolts.

Then set the bulkhead by using the shimming washers between the outrigger and door pillar to set the door aperture spacing (984mm if I recall correctly, but measuring several SII/SIII/Defender door apertures will give you a good average to work from). Set the bulkhead parallel to the front of the tub with the steering box supports.

The doors should be relatively simple, adjustment being made on the bulkhead side of each hinge and on the striker plates on the aft door pillars.

The front wings bolt on at the rear first, then into the rad panel. Remember to fit the rectangular rubber pads between the bottom of the rad panel and the chassis brackets - many people forget and it caused rapid rusting as well as misalignment.

There are photos of the body build-up on my blog.

[nick w]

You can't get the alignment right if you do that. You'll just have to create the space or roll the vehicle around to allow assembly from rear to front.

It's done by fitting the tub, leaving its front bolts loose, and fitting the bulkhead on its two main bolts. Run a string line along the top corner of the body bulge, below the top door hinge and above the tail lights. Adjust the height of the front end of the tub until the body line matched the bulkhead and then tighten all the tub bolts.

Then set the bulkhead by using the shimming washers between the outrigger and door pillar to set the door aperture spacing (984mm if I recall correctly, but measuring several SII/SIII/Defender door apertures will give you a good average to work from). Set the bulkhead parallel to the front of the tub with the steering box supports.

The doors should be relatively simple, adjustment being made on the bulkhead side of each hinge and on the striker plates on the aft door pillars.

The front wings bolt on at the rear first, then into the rad panel. Remember to fit the rectangular rubber pads between the bottom of the rad panel and the chassis brackets - many people forget and it caused rapid rusting as well as misalignment.

There are photos of the body build-up on my blog.

cheers thats very comprihencive i will also look at your blog thanks again