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trickster5000

Member Since: 12 Dec 2015
Location: East Yorkshire
Posts: 504

Preparing for a full rebuild

Hi guys, looking to tap into the knowledge and experience of everyone who has done a full rebuild for some tips.

My current chassis is deteriorating quickly and will need a considerable amount of welding for its next MOT. I'd rather do the job properly and rebuild it onto a galvanised chassis this summer.

I know the chassis will take a while to come so need to order that well in advance but is there anything else I should be getting sorted well ahead of time?

Which chassis company do people recommend for quality and longevity (can of worms I know...

)? Also I will need 300tdi engine mounts putting on a Ninety chassis, do most companies offer custom mounts?

What parts commonly need replacing so I can start looking to gather them now?

Should I get my bulkhead galvanised?

Are there any really good "whilst its off" upgrades to do (eg - dash replacements, axle/suspension upgrades etc)?

Should I try to salvage my current wiring loom or scrap it and buy new?

A lot of questions/wittering I know but any advice on the rebuild process will be greatly appreciated

Matt.

'89 90 CSW with a 3.5 V8 conversion (WIP) - http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic46809.html

19th Dec 2017 6:19pm

Mash

Member Since: 09 Feb 2015
Location: Guernsey
Posts: 1674

I will miss loads but there are many threads on rebuilds Greeni and myself for example have running threads.

I used Richards chassis and it was a great company to deal with, you can ask for bespoke modifications I believe.

Loom will be look at and replace/keep once it’s removed as it depends if it’s been bodged or damaged.

Storage is a big one as you remove parts have away of storing it and labeling it to make life easier upon reassembley.

* Make a plan * most important make a plan and stick to it.

Clean and inspect each item before putting it back together any doubts repair/replace as it saves time in the long run.

Don’t half ar$e it, clean and paint axles etc a nice shinny rebuild can be let down by slapping on dirty/rusty parts like axles.

Build up a collection of seals,screws,bolts and other fittings, trawl through the parts book and search the part numbers on google, often it will tell you what size bolt/screw/nut it is and you can bulk buy these much cheaper.

Soundproofing and rustproofing even a galvanised chassis can rot out.

I’ve missed loads but others will infill

90 wolf - Jasmin http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic39408.html
90 V8 - Maggie http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic42564.html
110 TD5 - Buggsy http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic59029.html
52HG25 lightweight https://www.defender2.net/forum/topic72342.html
D3 Hse - Fiona
Capri 2l S - Anna

Think I might have a problem............

19th Dec 2017 7:08pm

foxyred

Member Since: 16 Jul 2016
Location: Nottingham
Posts: 227

1994 Defender 90 200 Tdi HT Montalcino Red

When I did mine I swaped the tub and fitted a rear fuel tank, also used Richards Chassis

19th Dec 2017 7:12pm

grafty99

Member Since: 15 Aug 2012
Location: North Devon
Posts: 4787

I'd get a stainless bolt kit in stock

2002 90 Td5 Station Wagon
1990 Vogue SE
Triumph Tiger Explorer 1200
Td5 90 Thread http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic50767.html
Tdi 110 Thread https://www.defender2.net/forum/topic69562.html
RRC Thread http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic54492.html
Instagram http://www.instagram.com/george_grafton

19th Dec 2017 7:19pm

grafty99

Member Since: 15 Aug 2012
Location: North Devon
Posts: 4787

Its a more personal thing but I would paint the chassis black as well

19th Dec 2017 7:20pm

Rick-T

Member Since: 04 Aug 2016
Location: Auckland
Posts: 12

1997 Defender 110 300 Tdi CSW Bonatti Grey

I'm halfway through my 300tdi 110 rebuild and I've definitely learned a few lessons:

1. Space. I started in my double length carport which felt like enough room during the stripdown. Pretty soon my spare room was full of new parts, my workspace was full of old parts, my deck was a makeshift workshop because my workshop was a makeshift storeroom (you get the idea)...

2. I would make a plan after you strip the vehicle down, this way you can get a better idea of what to prioritise in your budget. Once you start getting parts off, you'll realise that everything is pretty tired and in need of sprucing up but I wish I had made priorities based on what was most important to get the vehicle back on the road and then what could be done in subsequent months or years.

3. They say to make a budget and then triple it when rebuilding a Defender. I think you only really know the truth of this when you're in up to your neck in a rebuild. Things can get very expensive very quickly if you're not careful (I wasn't careful

)

4. I'm rebuilding on a Shielder chassis, it's a pretty rough and ready product (most holes needed drilling out and the second-row floor cross-member mounting holes don't line up. It also has the rear style bump-stop mounts at both ends) but seems solid enough.

5. Painting is expensive if outsourced and very messy if done by yourself.

6. A small sandblasting cabinet is great for cleaning up small to medium sized parts quickly (although you'll soon have a mountain of brackets and such so it becomes quite a large job) but make sure you have a good air supply, I would say a 100 litre, 3HP belt driven compressor is a minimum requirement.

7. I got an Autosparks chassis loom which was very reasonable and great quality. I just repaired my main loom where required.

8. How much repair does your bulkhead need? I'd get it grit-blasted to uncover any rust and then go from there, I've just finished welding mine up and there's no way I want to go through that again so I'm definitely getting it galvanised.

9. Get a workshop manual as well as a parts catalogue, I downloaded the parts catalogue to my iPad and keep it with me in the workshop so I can quickly search parts numbers to get bolt specs etc

Like I say, I'm only halfway through, it's a very enjoyable experience but it has been a very steep learning curve but ultimately worth it. Staying positive and motivated is very important in the face of seemingly unending rust and filth

19th Dec 2017 8:57pm

mikeh501

Member Since: 07 Jan 2013
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 1142

Some great advice above. Id asbolutely galv everything you can. You only get to do this once! Save all your brackets and get it done in one go.

Id also try and save your existing bulkhead if possible. Buying one is expensive and it might not be exactly the same as yours for brackets and holes etc.

You can easily make a rear loom to a better quality than original. I fed mine into convulted tubing and fed it over rather than inside the chassis so it can be modded in the future if required.

Dont buy a specific defender stainless bolt kit. Go to your local supplier and buy an absolute load of m6,8,10 bolts in various sizes. The bigger or longer specialist bolts you can get in a kit, but you will use tons for just general fitting of ancilleries.

You will have to decide whats good to replace whilst its in bits, but that list would be looongg

how bigs your pockets lol. Suspension was high on my list along with pretty much everything else lol.

In terms of chassis, id go with marsland every time. Ive seen plenty of richards chassis and they dont look to me as good a quality. The richards ones are apparently slightly thickers material, but marsland ones have much more webbing strenghtheners from what ive seen. The marsland ones are OEM from GKN who make them for LR. Marsland then change the engine brackets and galvanise the whole lot. You are getting a OEM chassis basically so no worries about things not being correctly made, which has happened with richards. do a google.

I spent over a grand just with YRM metals who supplied a bunch of galv bits and replacement bits for the tub and other bracketry. I found the front edge of the tub was rotten, plus the rear edge, and I changed to galv cappings. You wont know until you pull it to bits.

Dont know what tools you have, but I bought an engine lift which has been really useful for all kinds of things. e.g. its lifting the rear of my tub right now while i fix it

If you want to really save money, you can lift the entire body off inc the bulkhead one go, and drop it down onto a new rolling chassis. I was going to do this, but decided to go balls deep as it were lol.

enjoy! and make a thread of your antics.

20th Dec 2017 1:13pm

trickster5000

Member Since: 12 Dec 2015
Location: East Yorkshire
Posts: 504

Thanks for the advice everyone! There will definitely be a thread!

Pretty sure it would drop to pieces if I tried to do a full "body off in one job" as the seat boxes are pretty rotten as are the tub cappings.

I think I'll certainly end up spending a fortune with YRM as like you say I'd rather do it all properly now. Matt.

'89 90 CSW with a 3.5 V8 conversion (WIP) - http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic46809.html

20th Dec 2017 3:18pm

mikeh501

Member Since: 07 Jan 2013
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 1142

id definately recommend doing the tub capping. it looks awesome once its done and isnt very difficult.

20th Dec 2017 4:53pm

Tommybahama32

Member Since: 11 Sep 2017
Location: cheshire
Posts: 31

1996 Defender 90 300 Tdi HT Bronze Green

I replaced my chassis about 4 years ago, used a Marslands chassis and would recommend them totally, everything fitted perfectly no redrilling or tapping holes very good finish and fit. As has been said these are genuine GKN chassis. Collected mine from Marslands, really helpful showed me the different engine mount options. Top job.

20th Dec 2017 5:51pm

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