ejparrott Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 I have a hole in the top of my radiator cover panel on the front surface at the top, I assume is meant for the key barrel to fit into. I did wonder because I couldnt think what would have exitted at the front above the bull bars and lights.Eric About 30mm diameter? That'd be the lock hole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejparrott Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 Replace brake drums with disks but I understand this would probably mean changing the rear axle?Eric Not necessarily, which axle is it? Gremlin has converted his rear axle and I've got the bits to do it when I find time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickeyw Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 Anyway, Mine has ribs and little vents at the rear but I will be changing it for a smooth top, (sorry CW) only because I have had problems in the past where water made its way in under the ribs and through the joint under there and it was almost impossible to stop without removing the ribs, sealing and re-riveting. I have a hatred for water dripping on my head INSIDE a vehicle. I managed to stop it leaking for a while by painting the whole roof with liquid rubber but its actually cheaper to replace the roof! Eric, you tickle my ribs (pun intended) if you think a ribless roof won't leak just like a ribbed one All 90/110/Defender roofs have seams in similar places, and Landrover was never especially good at assembling the component parts with sufficient sealant. The ribs are spot welded to the top of the roof. The first 'ribless' versions do actually have ribs, they're just on the inside , and not as strong as the ones on the outside. This only really matters if you like standing on top of your Landy The most recent (Td5 onward I think) roofs have minimal pressed in stiffening ribs, and I am unsure whether they are in fact of one-piece construction. Not sure I'd want to stand on one of these. But probably the second most common source of water in a Landy is condensation. If you don't have a good headlining you will still get rained on each time you go round a corner, especially on a cold day when the ice on the inside is slowly thawing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 Late roofs have five or six very low profile external ribs pressed into the panel which don't add strength, they just prevent drumming. They also have one internal spot welded significant rib along the centre-line for reinforcement. My 109 used to suffer roof leaks through the joints covered by the outboard ribs (the centre rib being over a single sheet). Part of the problem is that the little drain channels in the ends of the ribs fill up with debris - these are little humps that extend sideways in the spot weld flange at the point where the curve at the end of the rib reaches the roof sheet. I did also consider drilling a few holes to allow me to fill the ribs with expanding foam to keep water out in the first place, but after cleaning the drains, it wasn't necessary. Of course, adding a headlining really helped too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meatslicer Posted January 11, 2013 Author Share Posted January 11, 2013 Yeah I noticed the condensation thing. I have just relined the front header with insulation and have a Rad Haz insulation kit to line it over the top and back to the rear door, got another one to make a curtain between the seating and the rear tub to make it a bit cozier. The driver side joint between the front tilt and rear tub roof panels is where the water is coming in. I sprayed it with red water-soluble paint and waited for the next rain shower (torrent) and mapped where it was coming in. Its not a huge amount of water but it is mucky and cold. I have a later smooth 110 roof currently on my sankey conversion which I know is water tight so I will be swapping them. I have a heavy duty roof rack with chequer plate on it if I ever need to stand on the roof for something. While the roof is off I was going to change the windscreen too. How do I identify the axle type? Cant see any part numbers or identifying marks on it. Can you tell the difference by sight? I can photograph the axle and post it if anyone can tell me what I've got on there from it. At last its stopped raining now so I can get out and do some fiddling on this project. Gotta take the footwells out so I can get some new ones in there as soon as I can for the mot next month. Eric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejparrott Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 Can tell by sight. It'll be a Salisbury I'm sure. If so, there's an inspection cover bolte on the back, and no ring of bolts around the diff nose on the front of the case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mo Murphy Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 Changing the roof for a later smooth one ? Christ, man have you no compassion, did you not read the quote about the kittens ? With deepest concern Mo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meatslicer Posted January 11, 2013 Author Share Posted January 11, 2013 Its either that or make it a soft top and just have hoops and a bit of canvas I'm afraid. As I said earlier, I have a hatred of rain on me inside a vehicle, but I can put up with rain from an open roof. Thats natural rain. I'll have a squint at the axle and see if I can see any identifiers on it. Failing that I will photograph it and let you lot have a butchers. Eric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 Its either that or make it a soft top and just have hoops and a bit of canvas I'm afraid. As I said earlier, I have a hatred of rain on me inside a vehicle, but I can put up with rain from an open roof. Thats natural rain.I'll have a squint at the axle and see if I can see any identifiers on it. Failing that I will photograph it and let you lot have a butchers. Eric all 110's upto the late Td5 have Salisbury rear axle, then it changed to a P38 RR variation. rear drum braked salisbury can be converted to rear disc brakes fairly easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meatslicer Posted January 12, 2013 Author Share Posted January 12, 2013 Got a photo of the rear axle with my iPhone but the quality is pretty poor for some reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 The photo is clear enough for the purpose. It's a Salisbury. The diff pan has a ring of bolts, but the diff housing is integral to the axle casing, and you have the two large holes in the rear face of the diff housing which are for a spreader unit (like a jack) to spread the opening wider to get the diff and its bearings in and out of their seats. It's the strongest axle LR used on Defenders, though the ENVs used on some Series vehicles may have been stronger. It's a very good axle to have, and swapping the drum brakes for discs isn't hard - the calliper brackets bolt on to the flange where the drum brake back plate and stub axle are located. You can either go the expensive route and fit 300Tdi (and later) callipers, discs, hubs, stub axles and half shafts, or do what Gremlin and I did and use second hand 90/110 front hubs and the correct calliper brackets, and try different combinations of discs and callipers to see what fits. He and I came up with the same solution - 110 rear discs and Discovery or RRC rear callipers with a spacer between the axle flange and calliper bracket to line the slot in the calliper up with the disc. I don't know what the alignment would be like with 110 rear callipers - the Discovery callipers I used came with the entire braking system and front axle from a donor vehicle. Using the 90/110 (pre Defender) front hubs will allow you to retain the existing stub axles, half shafts and drive flanges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejparrott Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 Paddocks sell the brackets now for fixing the callipers to the casing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meatslicer Posted January 12, 2013 Author Share Posted January 12, 2013 Cor you lot are useful. I thought the picky wouldn't be any use. So that's another thing I can get done without breaking the bank. Looks like I made a reasonable purchase anyway when I got this off eBay, surprised or what? Cheers all Eric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 Take a look at the axles section of my blog ( nickslandrover.co.uk ) and you will find articles on how I modified my identical rear axle with discs in the cheaper manner. It's not too dictate how you must do it, but it does show a way that worked for me and has given me excellent brakes (comfortably over 80% efficiency on the MoT the other day). It might at least give you a little inspiration. Ignore the suspension bracketry mods on there - those were to fit the axles to a leaf sprung 109 so don't affect you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Two-Jacks Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 If we are doing pedant type stuff...First they were badged One-ten and Ninety, later on (around G reg-ish?) they were badged 110 and 90, prior to ther Defender name appearing to coincide with the arrival of the Tdi engine. Oh and lift handle doors ran until C-reg trucks, like mine my 90 In its former incarnation was a "D" and that had lift up handles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcc1979ian Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 Mine is a 1985 (B) and it came with push button handles but i have my suspicions they had replaced the lift ups. Thankfully now i have lift offs with removable tops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 Mine is a 1985 (B) and it came with push button handles but i have my suspicions they had replaced the lift ups. Thankfully now i have lift offs with removable tops. I'm pretty sure that you now have what it would have been fitted with when new, as long as you have the alloy tops with both panes moving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meatslicer Posted January 15, 2013 Author Share Posted January 15, 2013 Just took my door cards off the front doors. What a mess!. rusted to shreds and the door skin is blistered and bent. Time for some new doors then. Why on earth didnt landrover put some kind of plastic channel in the bottom to stop all the rusting? There dont seem to be any drain channels either. Talk about rubbish design. Even a plastic sheet taped to the outer door skin and laid over the bottom channel would have worked. Eric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UdderlyOffroad Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Welcome to the vehicular masochists society! I went the ‘expensive’ route when converting my Salisbury to discs, in that I effectively procured all the bits listed in the parts catalogue (mostly from a scrappie who wouldn’t sell me the whole axle but didn’t care about fixtures+fittings….go figure) and literally bolted it all together. Hub Bling by udderlyoffroad, on Flickr I managed to wangle some ‘narrow’ hubs for free from a 300 Tdi-era Disco my brother was scrapping. Land Rovers are like old Fords in that respect, bits from one model will usually fit another! One thing I would say is, carefully price up the options before you go for it, even the cheap route will soon mount up the costs too if you have to get new calipers and discs, and budget for replacing at least one stub axle! And whilst you’re at it, might as well replace the bearings…genuine ones aren’t much at £8 but you do need two each side….you get the idea. Ideally, get yourself another Salisbury axle, refurb+convert that one, then swap axles and sell the drum one. As for doors, yes they’re not a great design, but remember what started that corrosion was galvanic action between the dissimilar metals, the aluminium door skin and the steel door frame. Good doors are hard to find, but the more modern ones have steel skins. Or you can repair and re-skin your existing doors. Again, ideally you want to refurb a door ‘offline’ then swap them over and sell the one you’ve just taken off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meatslicer Posted January 23, 2013 Author Share Posted January 23, 2013 Wow! Just practiced sandblasting on a take off panel. Had to turn down the pressure to its lowest setting and the paint came off in seconds. Gotta make up a blasting cupboard with collection vents in the bottom to recycle the grit. Result. Eric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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