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Chassis Repair Options


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Very nice job on those sills!

Those bits are the only steel structural part of mine that I'm not quite sure on yet. I have covered the chassis and bulkhead, but the sills/c-posts on mine are probably knackered too so I might need to achieve something similar. Looks like a lot of fabrication though sad.gif



A friend & myself repaired my 110's sills & C post's before Xmas, we used 50x30x3mm rectangular box for the sills rather than use a U channel, the C post lower part was repaired with more rectangular box, that just slid inside the existing part & was drilled/puddle welded into place, the sill front & rear brackets were retrieved from the original sill, cleaned & fitted, all was given 2 coats of Galvafroid paint & then 2 blue top coats, sure it'll last another 10 to 15 years at least.
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It's amazing what you guys are able to do! I gave myself a pat on the back when I changed a prop shaft :(

How do you learn to do this kind of work?

Well I bought a Series 1 when I was 14...and the rest is history! My dad and I had already rebuilt 2 x Series 3's and well I fancied something a bit different, so I taught myself how to weld and now 10 years on I reckon I would be happy tackling most jobs, this Defender has tested me a bit at times though! But the fabrication side of things is mainly self taught, just jug everything up, take lots of measurements and weld in a sequence to give minimum distortion...one of the best things I have discovered is flap disks for angle grinders, they are brilliant for tidying up welding and flatting back the harsh grind marks left by normal cutting and grinding disks AND if you want it to last...GALVANISE it!

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Well I bought a Series 1 when I was 14...and the rest is history! My dad and I had already rebuilt 2 x Series 3's and well I fancied something a bit different, so I taught myself how to weld and now 10 years on I reckon I would be happy tackling most jobs, this Defender has tested me a bit at times though! But the fabrication side of things is mainly self taught, just jug everything up, take lots of measurements and weld in a sequence to give minimum distortion...one of the best things I have discovered is flap disks for angle grinders, they are brilliant for tidying up welding and flatting back the harsh grind marks left by normal cutting and grinding disks AND if you want it to last...GALVANISE it!

I'm so impressed with people's abilities and knowledge. I suppose if you started learning before you were 14 and your dad taught you a lot, you would be pretty knowledgeable by now! I began at the age of 29 and have learnt very little over the past two years. Still, plenty of time yet :)

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Wow, some really useful stuff on here, thanks Defender_300TDI!

A blatantly O/T question, apologies, but how did you repair and/or refurb the battery box to such a high standard?

IMG_1193.jpg

Nice to see the wiring done properly too!

Well I have an obsession with FATMAT! Well that and I believe in doing things properly and doing them right first time. This Defender is going to take me to Cape Town one day so it’s got to be right in my mind. As to the seat base, well I bought a half decent Td5 one and stripped it back to bare aluminium, had it sealed and sprayed by the car body shop that is doing all the panels on the Defender. Once home I set about covering it in FATMAT which is a soundproofing sticky backed, heat reflective material that can be formed around curves with a hot air gun. Wasn’t too hard to do but will keep the noise out and stop much of the heat from the transmission.

Bare Ali Seatbox and floor pan:

IMG_1137.jpg

Painted, wiring done and FATMAT fitted:

IMG_1207.jpg

Speaking of wiring check this out (I am rather proud of) my wiring for my split charge which I made the loom for and wired in the additional fuse box which will run accessories.

IMG_1633.jpg

The Anderson plug (which will allow me to jump start the vehicle and other vehicles) is wired to the heavy duty isolator switch you can see on the left, this also has the winch feeds connected so I can completely isolate the winch...From the switch its then wired direct to the starter battery (both poles to make sure that the winch sees the current it needs and its earthed to the chassis).

IMG_1645.jpg

Cheers for the comments!

Rob

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Such a tidy job! Makes me want to strip mine down and do it all up.

Does the insulation protect against heat and sound?

I'd like to know where you sourced the fat mat from ? was it in UK or from overseas & what costs to fit out a 110SW. ?

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I'd like to know where you sourced the fat mat from ? was it in UK or from overseas & what costs to fit out a 110SW. ?

Hi Ralph

Cost is around £2.80 per square foot. So far I have used 40 sq ft to do the bulkhead (both front and back), the front floor panels (inside and out), the seat box (again inside and out) and the foot slam panel that bolts to the back of the seat box on a 110 CSW. I plan on doing the inside of the rear floor panel and lining the rear tub, plus the insides of the doors. All in I would estimate around 100 sq ft to do a VERY thorough job, though you could get away with around 60-70 if not doing both sides of the bulkhead, front floor panels etc

I purchased it from ebay from a seller called tecknick. Very helpful and even supplied a free roller and stickers. Its great stuff, very easy to manipulate once warm and sticks to panels VERY well (providing no grease etc is present). It’s both heat and sound reflective AND its resistant to oil, water and salt.

Here are a few close ups!

IMG_1209.jpg

IMG_1161.jpg

Regards

Rob

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Well I have an obsession with FATMAT! Well that and I believe in doing things properly and doing them right first time. This Defender is going to take me to Cape Town one day so it’s got to be right in my mind. As to the seat base, well I bought a half decent Td5 one and stripped it back to bare aluminium, had it sealed and sprayed by the car body shop that is doing all the panels on the Defender. Once home I set about covering it in FATMAT which is a soundproofing sticky backed, heat reflective material that can be formed around curves with a hot air gun. Wasn’t too hard to do but will keep the noise out and stop much of the heat from the transmission.

Ah got ya, start off with a non-ropey seatbox :D

That Fatmat stuff looks like the dog's dangly bits for use in a Defender, are you planning to cover it over with anything? Presumably in the passenger footwell area you'll want to protect it from muddy feet?

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Probably a footwell mat :P

For what it's worth, I learned t'other day that YRM have expanded their useful range to include all the component parts of the B/C post & sill assembly (apart from the upper B post it seems...but I don't think they rot? Mine aren't anyhow...):

http://www.yrm-metal-solutions.co.uk/defender-8-c.asp <- See bottom of list.

Even if you bought the whole lot and stuck it together it would still be cheaper than new ones from LR (circa £400+ per side), so I may go for that option. I need to assess the parts of mine when I get them off, but the C post will definitely need replacement (big hole right next to seatbelt mount...)

As much as I admire Rob's fabrication skills above, YRMs products have been good for me in the past and have the advantage of being laser cut so should be straighter than my efforts :P

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Probably a footwell mat :P

For what it's worth, I learned t'other day that YRM have expanded their useful range to include all the component parts of the B/C post & sill assembly (apart from the upper B post it seems...but I don't think they rot? Mine aren't anyhow...):

http://www.yrm-metal-solutions.co.uk/defender-8-c.asp <- See bottom of list.

Even if you bought the whole lot and stuck it together it would still be cheaper than new ones from LR (circa £400+ per side), so I may go for that option. I need to assess the parts of mine when I get them off, but the C post will definitely need replacement (big hole right next to seatbelt mount...)

As much as I admire Rob's fabrication skills above, YRMs products have been good for me in the past and have the advantage of being laser cut so should be straighter than my efforts :P

Oh man....had I known about these repair sections, well that would sure have saved me some time! Ah well, it was fun doing all that welding, at least I have a REALLY good set of B-Posts now.

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