simonr Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 I agree - electroplating is worthless on something with cavities, and a bulkhead has lots. Make a frame out of box section to hold the chassis mounts true. Any other distrotion will be trivial and easy to hide / adjust. If you are going to all the trouble of changing the bulkhead, unless you are using a brand new part, it's crazy not to galvanise it! Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orgasmic Farmer Posted October 12, 2013 Share Posted October 12, 2013 Chris. If you want some advice from someone who has done this recently (me), then reckon on 12 months to do it and do it properly. If you really don't want it off the road for that long then I would really really recommend that you do just one of the other at a time and not both. This may seem counter productive but believe me the amount of work involved in doing both is huge and unless you are 100% motivated and have all the space and kit and new bits to hand then it will drag. Ebay is littered with projects where the seller doesn't have the time to finish it. I would suggest changing the chassis first and while the body is off in one piece go round and loosen as many bolts around the front end as you can, one at a time, remove each, grease or replace with new, and then bolt them back up. Do one at a time so as not to disturb anything. You will learn where everything is and when you come to change the bulkhead it will be a doddle. Just my 2pence worth.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daan Posted October 12, 2013 Share Posted October 12, 2013 Chris. If you want some advice from someone who has done this recently (me), then reckon on 12 months to do it and do it properly. If you really don't want it off the road for that long then I would really really recommend that you do just one of the other at a time and not both. This may seem counter productive but believe me the amount of work involved in doing both is huge and unless you are 100% motivated and have all the space and kit and new bits to hand then it will drag. Ebay is littered with projects where the seller doesn't have the time to finish it. I would suggest changing the chassis first and while the body is off in one piece go round and loosen as many bolts around the front end as you can, one at a time, remove each, grease or replace with new, and then bolt them back up. Do one at a time so as not to disturb anything. You will learn where everything is and when you come to change the bulkhead it will be a doddle. Just my 2pence worth.... That's very true, There are people doing a car build (because that's what you are basically doing when you replace a chassis) in 3 weeks, others take 3 years, most people never finish it. If you are going for the bulkhead option at the same time, I would advice you to get a replacement bulkhead, get it galvanised and fit it to the new chassis. It then become a rather straightforward swapping job for all the parts, rather than take the car to bits completely, repair the bulkhead and try to build it up 3 months (or so) later, wondering were this and that bit go? Daan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigelw Posted October 12, 2013 Share Posted October 12, 2013 I was thinking along the same lines Daan, new BH and chassis then it's just swapping stuff over, although I did go one further and think about S/H axles and building up a rolling chassis with BH first and that would really speed things up! Won't discuss my own build but I am a full year into it now and getting closer to a point where it can go for the safety test but sometimes it still feels like a million miles away!!! I saw a project Defender two weeks back, basically everything just lobbed in the back of the loosely fitted H/top, the guy was planning on doing it within 6months, and sold it on after 2yrs as life just kept getting in the way as it does, money and this, that and the other. I nearly bought it, then SWMBO kicked me in the leg and said if it turned up on our farm she was gonna aim a little bit higher and I thought better of it!! I have been watching the thread by Western and think he has it pinned for a long weekend but he is only chassis swapping I think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted October 12, 2013 Share Posted October 12, 2013 Yes just a straight chassis swap, I reckon it'll take longer than a long weekend, but we will see how it goes. I'll update my thread as the changeover progresses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.