How I removed my Defender 90 Body on my own

[Landowner]

My Defender 90 needed a new chassis so here's how I took the body off, I was on my own so had to devise a way of lifting the chassis off the body.

I got all set up during the week, took me about four hours in total to prepare for the lift off, I did get some help on the day but they came more out of interest rather than me needing any help.

Not in the order that I did it but the order that I should have done it,

First I removed the front wings, bonnet and grill section. and disconnected the wiring from the bulkhead

Then I took both front floor sections out as there will be welding done later.

Took all the doors off as well for painting and repairs

Next is to raise the landy up on ramps or blocks or whatever you have got and chock the wheels

Then I set about taking all the bolts out that hold the body to the chassis.

There are ten nuts and bolts holding the tub to the rear cross member

There are four nuts and bolts (two each side) holding the rear tubular outriggers to the tub

There are two nuts and bolts (one of a pair each side) under the seat belt mounts

There are two nuts and bolts holding the seat box to the chassis (one each side of the tunnel)

There are four large screws nuts (two each side) holding the footwell / pedal box to a bracket on the chassis

Last but not least are the two large bolts with nuts that hold the bottom of the bulkhead to the chassis

Some I had to grind off but those under the tub were ok after a soak in penetrating oil.

I took the fuel filler out of the body, removed the breather pipe and tucked it all underneath

Next I disconnected the wiring loom at the back where it come out of the chassis ( it was joined there with connectors ) and pulled the loom out of the chassis from the front where it enters the chassis just under the bulkhead on the drivers side.

I then disconnected the handbrake cable at the brake lever end.

The wires to the fuel tank were next and I hung them over the steering wheel

The clutch fluid pipe disconnects at the resevoir

I took the speedo cable off from the speedo end to save crawling under the chassis again

Steering column disconnected at the universal joints

My wiring engine loom is just one plug so that came off.

Moving round to the nearside

I took the heater off the bulkhead cause I want to paint but you can just disconnect the heater pipes.

The live from the battery needs to come off the starter or you can take it off the battery and feed it through out of the battery box.

The battery earth on mine connects to the transfer box so that came off also

Make sure its in neutral and remove the gearlever

Last I took the two front brake pipes off at the chassis

I think that's the lot

I then lifted the rear of the landy with a jack and pushed a scaffold pole through above the chassis just behind the rear wheel and rested the pole on two large axle stands

Lower the chassis down and the rear tub will part from the chassis leaving the tub on the axle stands

The body needs to be about 34 inches from the ground (at the sills) when it is resting on the axle stands depending on what wheels you have on but you will need 34 inches clearance regardless

Then I lifted the front axle with the jack and ran a pole though the body at about fuse box height and strapped the bottom corners of the bulkhead to the pole. The pole was supported both sides on trestles and the chassis lowered down away from the body.

I then pulled the chassis out from under the body.

More pics in next post

[Landowner]

More pictures of the body coming off

[mickeyw]

Good write up. I'm sure this will give confidence to folk that have minimal resources for such a job.

I'm looking forward to reading about your rebuild.

[Scandi]

A couple of years ago I managed to bend my chassis on a desert trip in Egypt and had to have it straightened by the local LR dealer.

The quickest and most economical way was to strip it out by myself (of course with help of some friends).

My method was very effective by use of a standard engine hoist and some lengths of chain as per the photo attached.

The only items removed from the body were the rear seats and the battery.

A minor mishap was that I managed to knock the valve of the hoist before having put the jack stands underneath so the window frame got dinged a bit.

[Disco-Ron]

I built a scaffold framework around mine, pulley block onto the bulkhead, a scaffold tube under the rear floor with a highlift. On each end, and up it went, and a week later the shiney new chassis went back under..... simples.....

[Meatslicer]

I lifted my 110's tub up by putting galv'd link plates up through all the upper body mounting holes and attached chain through all of them and over an engine hoist arm set at maximum reach. Lifted it up about 3 feet, just enough to get myself and a welder under the tub to sort out the multitude of rusty holes hidden by the previous owner with filler and oily mud! Because I put in a bulkhead removal frame before I lifted it off it hasnt buckled the tub edges and there is a plank of wood set between the rear tub edges to stop the back folding in.

If I could have lifted it a few inches first I would have mounted the chains on the floor which would have given me a few more inches height when lifted

My only problem is banging my head repeatedly on the ends of the floor supports every time I get under there. They are set at just the right height to attempt to scalp me. A few more inches would have probably helped but I got lazy when it was already lifted.

My sankey trailer came in handy to assemble the new chassis and body parts that will be going on in the next few weeks, so I could work out if I have all the parts I need. I am making a soft top station wagon body from a van hard top. Missing a few angle brackets that were not fitted to the van body, so that was a good move.

Amazing how many solutions we can all come up with to the same problem.

Eric

[Ohlins]

Necessity is the Mother of invention. 

 

Well done.

 

 

.

[LostChord]

On 4/26/2014 at 3:41 PM, Landowner said:

My Defender 90 needed a new chassis so here's how I took the body off, I was on my own so had to devise a way of lifting the chassis off the body.

I got all set up during the week, took me about four hours in total to prepare for the lift off, I did get some help on the day but they came more out of interest rather than me needing any help.

Not in the order that I did it but the order that I should have done it,

First I removed the front wings, bonnet and grill section. and disconnected the wiring from the bulkhead

Then I took both front floor sections out as there will be welding done later.

Took all the doors off as well for painting and repairs

Next is to raise the landy up on ramps or blocks or whatever you have got and chock the wheels

Then I set about taking all the bolts out that hold the body to the chassis.

There are ten nuts and bolts holding the tub to the rear cross member

There are four nuts and bolts (two each side) holding the rear tubular outriggers to the tub

There are two nuts and bolts (one of a pair each side) under the seat belt mounts

There are two nuts and bolts holding the seat box to the chassis (one each side of the tunnel)

There are four large screws nuts (two each side) holding the footwell / pedal box to a bracket on the chassis

Last but not least are the two large bolts with nuts that hold the bottom of the bulkhead to the chassis

Some I had to grind off but those under the tub were ok after a soak in penetrating oil.

I took the fuel filler out of the body, removed the breather pipe and tucked it all underneath

Next I disconnected the wiring loom at the back where it come out of the chassis ( it was joined there with connectors ) and pulled the loom out of the chassis from the front where it enters the chassis just under the bulkhead on the drivers side.

I then disconnected the handbrake cable at the brake lever end.

The wires to the fuel tank were next and I hung them over the steering wheel

The clutch fluid pipe disconnects at the resevoir

I took the speedo cable off from the speedo end to save crawling under the chassis again

Steering column disconnected at the universal joints

My wiring engine loom is just one plug so that came off.

Moving round to the nearside

I took the heater off the bulkhead cause I want to paint but you can just disconnect the heater pipes.

The live from the battery needs to come off the starter or you can take it off the battery and feed it through out of the battery box.

The battery earth on mine connects to the transfer box so that came off also

Make sure its in neutral and remove the gearlever

Last I took the two front brake pipes off at the chassis

I think that's the lot

I then lifted the rear of the landy with a jack and pushed a scaffold pole through above the chassis just behind the rear wheel and rested the pole on two large axle stands

Lower the chassis down and the rear tub will part from the chassis leaving the tub on the axle stands

The body needs to be about 34 inches from the ground (at the sills) when it is resting on the axle stands depending on what wheels you have on but you will need 34 inches clearance regardless

Then I lifted the front axle with the jack and ran a pole though the body at about fuse box height and strapped the bottom corners of the bulkhead to the pole. The pole was supported both sides on trestles and the chassis lowered down away from the body.

I then pulled the chassis out from under the body.

More pics in next post

Very ingenious and creative. Out of curiosity, how did you go about lowering the body back onto the chassis?

Edited March 11, 2022 by LostChord