 | Home > My Defender > My 1984 Ninety |
 
|
|
|
| landy andy Member Since: 15 Feb 2009 Location: Ware, Herts Posts: 5741  
|
Tyre dressing.
 |
||
6th Aug 2019 8:08pm |
|
| L90Andy Member Since: 29 May 2014 Location: Stratford-Upon-Avon Posts: 719  
|
Brilliant, thanks for all the tips fella's
As I have that exact Bosch heatgun I'll give that a try next! Pennies can be saved for more interesting things then. Cheers. Instagram: L90andy My 1984 Ninety: http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic56071.html - SOLD! My 2015 Defender: http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic39625.html - SOLD! |
||
|
7th Aug 2019 12:00pm |
|
| L90Andy Member Since: 29 May 2014 Location: Stratford-Upon-Avon Posts: 719
|
Thanks to all those who contributed tips for restoring the plastics. I ended up using a few methods, summary as below;
1) Boot polish. Looked good initially, then soaked into the plastic and within 20 minutes had made no difference. 2) Heat gun. Took a surprising amount of time to bring any colour back, but did work eventually and they stayed dark matt black. 3) GT85. Gave them a good soaking, then buffed up after a few hours. Essentially gave them a bit of a sheen. All back together and looking better. Be interesting to see how long it lasts.  Click image to enlarge But that's not all I had in mind when I started the front end facelift... I'm obviously on the same page as DieselJim when he said:
As I said at the start of this thread, this one is all about recreating the images of LR's I had when I was little, and in doing so making it 'of its time' with period correct accessories so as not to ruin its originality. I've never really had a need for a winch and likely never will, but seeing the big Warn 8274's on Camel Trophy, Coastguard, Rapier Gun Tractors and similarly equipped 90's in the Tim Webster articles in LRO and Nick Dimblebey's TEW hybrid made me want one, so that's what its getting. If I was a designery sort I'd call this a mood board, but I'm not so here's some pics I like featuring massive 8274's! Handily my 4yr old (who incidentally calls this "his Defender") also wants a big winch like Chase's truck in Paw Patrol so he can "rescue people from the sea". Hmm. Click image to enlarge I've had the original factory fitment mount in stock for a few years now, I remember seeing these available from Ryders International in old LRO adverts. Love how agricultural it is, with no effort at all to integrate it or make it more slimline. Fitting it meant cutting a large section out of the bumper so I mocked it up on the car to make a 'CAD' template to cut the bumper with. Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge I had to use the hi-lift to spread the mount to get all the shared bumper holes to line up. Seemed to work well and doing this meant I drilled the new holes in the correct places. Click image to enlarge Then they bolt together in several places using 11 bolts. Despite there being a separate bolt-in section at the bottom intended to regain bumper strength, I think its safe to assume the remnants of the bumper won't have much ability to withstand knocks. I re-positioned the standard towing loops on the bumper front face, using two additional layers of the aforementioned bumper cutout as backers, giving them extra strength by linking them up with the bumper to chassis mount area. Once everything thing was in place, I sprayed all the cut edges with Cold Galv Zinc spray. Click image to enlarge Another key element I like on LR's is the offset front number plate. I procured a metal bracket and modified it to fit around the mount. Its nice and solid so should withstand the odd bow wave. Click image to enlarge After the work restoring the plastic trims, they had to come off briefly so I could nibble away some edges to allow the bumper to fit. Click image to enlarge Next up was to dust off the 8274 that's been under the workbench. It was working when it went under there, but it was certainly ready for a light going over before being bolted back on. That's where I'm upto now. Jobs for the winch include a general service, unseize the freespool, replace the 'W' badge and replace the wire. Click image to enlarge Being well aware of the increased mass I'd be hanging over the front axle of a non PAS car the only concession to non 1980's equipment will be some synthetic line. Its proper Warn rope and is grey so won't be too obvious to the casual rivet counter. Talking of which, being somewhat of a stato myself, I've been keeping a tally of the weight as I've been going. So far we've got; - Winch tray & fixings (not inc bumper): 12.5kg - 8274 inc wire: 47kg - Wire rope: 13.8kg So it'll be ~50kgs over the front by the time its done. Still, all good things in life result in weight gain 
Despite there being plenty of other jobs still required, I'm intentionally doing the winch fitment now as I want to get the car to its finished weight before I do the suspension. I'll be playing with the spring rates to get a softer ride and a slight lift. Don't worry, nothing daft and no bright coloured springs! Once I've finished with the spanners I've got a Warn 'Powered Interrupt Kit' to do the electrical side of things - expect questions then as wires are not my strong point! Instagram: L90andy My 1984 Ninety: http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic56071.html - SOLD! My 2015 Defender: http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic39625.html - SOLD! Last edited by L90Andy on 5th May 2020 10:50am. Edited 1 time in total |
||
|
16th Aug 2019 11:42am |
|
| L110CDL Member Since: 31 Oct 2015 Location: Devon Posts: 10817 
|
Nice addition to the front of the 90 Andy, goes well together
1996 Golf Blue 300Tdi 110 Pick up.
Keeper. Clayton. |
||
|
16th Aug 2019 7:30pm |
|
| L90Andy Member Since: 29 May 2014 Location: Stratford-Upon-Avon Posts: 719
|
Bit more done...
Using my new found skills of plastic restoration I used the heatgun again to bring the black back on the solenoid cover. The 'W' badge seems to be unavailable so I made my own with some vinyl wrap samples 
Click image to enlarge All fitted back together and a quick wire brush over the winch itself and its looking a lot more respectable. Just about to spool the rope on in this pic. Click image to enlarge  Instagram: L90andy
My 1984 Ninety: http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic56071.html - SOLD! My 2015 Defender: http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic39625.html - SOLD! |
||
|
3rd Sep 2019 8:30pm |
|
| HK07 Member Since: 15 Dec 2016 Location: Hampshire Posts: 746 
|
Great work going on here, I very much enjoy this thread.
I love the look of your landy, I especially love the Galvanised cappings etc. 2007 90 Puma - Love it - Best car I have ever owned. 1989 Ninety 200tdi - Love it - Second best car I have ever owned. 1951 80" Series 1 - Love it - Third best car I have ever owned. |
||
|
3rd Sep 2019 8:38pm |
|
| Steve R Member Since: 13 Jun 2012 Location: Leamington Spa & Walton-on-the-Naze Posts: 166 
|
Absolutely loving this Andy - perfect, especially with the XCLs and Warn, my dream Ninety as a kid!
 |
||
|
3rd Sep 2019 8:40pm |
|
| LCJ Member Since: 07 Sep 2009 Location: UK Posts: 201 |
I do admire your fabrications skills there. Personally pefer it without the winch but get what you're trying to achieve
I might be late but for restoring the black plastic smooth peanut butter works well, believe it or not! |
||
|
3rd Sep 2019 8:52pm |
|
| L90Andy Member Since: 29 May 2014 Location: Stratford-Upon-Avon Posts: 719
|
Since the new year I've starting a big push on the Ninety as I want to be using it for its original intended weekend toy purpose. Plus its a big birthday year for me so would be nice to have it usable for that, so get the kettle on, loads of waffle and picture spam coming up. I actually did most of this before lock down, and since then progress has slowed. So, back to the retrospective...
Having got the car to its finished weight, next on the job list was a suspension refresh. I always change the springs on my 90's to get a spring rate more suitable for my use (using LR springs, nothing aftermarket), so I go softer and taller for a more compliant ride and the handy by-product is a 'healthy' looking stance, plus decent articulation. Its not used for heavy loads so not worried about that. I also renewed the dampers as I had a set of standard new take offs and fitted a new chassis bush set. All the misc items were judged on an individual basis as I stripped it down; turrets, nut plates, spring retainers, spring plates etc. Due to garage size I did one corner at a time. Also cleaned and painted the chassis and axle on each corner as I went hence took longer than a simple damper and spring swap! Front o/s corner first, wheel off here's what I was confronted with; Click image to enlarge Removing the damper and turret first fully expecting the usual seized or sheared turret ring bolts. In fact I got the full 'bingo' set of two coming off easily, one sheared and one was so rusted I couldn't get a socket on it, so that one was drilled out. Click image to enlarge Next challenge was removing the lower damper fixing, this put up a fight and even with the Stiltons merrily deforming the damper it still wasn't shifting. Decided better access was needed for potentially more drastic methods, so as the spring was being scrapped I cut it out the way. That done I finally got the damper free and out through the wing having temporarily moved the header tank. Looking at the state of the turret top I just replaced the whole lot for ease. Click image to enlarge Pleasantly surprised by the state of the spring plate axle mount and axle case, both have original paint underneath all the baked on crud. Next off was the radius arm so that could be cleaned up and re-bushed. To do that I needed to remove the track rod but hit a snag when the split pin sheared in the TRE. Couldn't get pliers or drill access so decided to shear off the remains by torquing the nut up, didn't want to undo it in case the taper started spinning. The pin remnants sheared easily, then I span the nut back off no problem. A few sharp taps with a hammer and the taper let go. Once the track rod was out the way that meant the radius arm could be withdrawn. Bushes didn't look too bad but they are all getting replaced so it was only work of a moment to drill and cut the old ones out. Click image to enlarge Panhard rod came off next and again the old bushes didn't put up much of a fight. With lots of clear access I flap disked the chassis, broke out the Buzzweld CiO and painted it all up along with the radius arm, panhard rod and spring plate. Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Couldn't be bolting new shiny bits on to a filthy axle so a few hours of elbow grease, stiff brush and some degreaser got the axle cleaned up. Amazed by the condition of it underneath the crud, lots of original paint, guess oil leaks have their uses! Click image to enlarge A quick splash of CiO then it was reassembly time. Click image to enlarge I'm using polybushes purely because they are easy to fit as I don't have a press. Made sure I got black ones so looks vaguely standard at a glance. Click image to enlarge As an aside, I bought a new DeWalt Impact gun which Mr Amazon kindly delivered to my shed so the wife doesn't know I've been spending even more on this! Hehe New shiny bits going back on, had a real struggle getting the polybushes on the dampers to compress enough to get the nuts on. Ended up buying genuine rubber ones instead which were softer so that resolved that. I always use the Discovery 2 turret mounts (RBC100111) for a few reasons; the studs are better protected so don't form a mud trap so less likely to shear in the future, they have a decent section of isolation to cut down on NVH and that isolation section gives a 'free' ~10mm lift. Click image to enlarge As mentioned the new spring is a bit taller than standard, but softer. It was slightly harder to fit with those Disco 2 mounts due to the internal rubber sleeve, but with the aid of spring compressors went in easily enough. Click image to enlarge I'll torque all the fixings up once its rolling on its wheels, so after that I moved on to the rear o/s. Rear offside then; Click image to enlarge Looked a bit crustier but the strip down was much easier than the fronts for a few reasons; more room to play, separate spring/damper assembly, shiny new impact gun (the 'Gamechanger') and no steering bar in the way. From positioning the jack to all being apart was about half an hour. Rear trailing arm bushes looked okay but changed them anyway so all the chassis arms are poly and all damper bushes are rubber. Flap disked and degreased the chassis and axle end ready for paint. Again, pleasantly surprised by the state of the chassis. Even though I knew it had had a rear quarter chassis before I feared more extensive rot, but looks like I can cross chassis replacement off the list! Click image to enlarge Bit fiddly prepping and painting the fuel tank crossmember around the external mounted fuel pump, but got there in the end. Unfortunately closer inspection shows the tank is weeping which explains the smell! Job for another day as its not actively dripping. I bought new spring retainers as they were very thin with rust, but no issues with the spring plate or axle mounting brackets, just like the front. All freshly prepped bits got a coat of CiO and then all went back together. Click image to enlarge The re-bushed trailing arm went back on first, followed by the the new spring with Range Rover top isolator (ANR2938). New rubber bushes on the damper and that's the o/s all done! Click image to enlarge Then it was time to turn it round and do it all over again on the n/s side. Couldn't resist a 'half a job' picture of the slightly wonky stance. I measured the angle of lean at 1.5 degrees, which over the vehicle width of 1800mm equals ~45mm higher on one side to the other. That number should come down a bit once the other side is done and it settles down, I reckon on a ~30mm lift overall. Click image to enlarge I won't document the other side to the same degree as was basically the same as the above and that was long winded enough for anyone! However the n/s front was much easier to get apart than the o/s. It had a relatively new damper and turret ring plate recently so all the nuts came off easily. Strange to have only replaced one side though. Whilst I was doing the front, I put a new steering damper on. Looks pretty fresh under there now! Excuse the cables, they are the winch wires not fixed in place yet. Also note leaking swivel Click image to enlarge Rear n/s was scabbier than the front as per the o/s. Extra scabbiness points in the form of what used to be an exhaust pipe. Whipped that off for better access to the chassis which didn't take long! Click image to enlarge Whilst round the back I also removed the height adjustable ground anchor/towbar. I've no need for it so it was replaced with a simple recovery pin and jate rings. Click image to enlarge Having cleaned and degreased the axle corner I got a better look at the remaining exhaust pipe, the mid silencer looked nearly new but the front intermediate pipe had definitely seen better days so that came off too. Whilst the exhaust was all apart I then had a bit of mission creep and decided I'd take advantage of the access space and new found lockdown time to fully degrease and paint the rest of the chassis, so now the whole thing is done. Its had some historical patches but the oil leaks have kept it in remarkably good shape. New exhaust sections proved tricky to get right for various reasons so that's why its not fitted yet. I was waiting to sort that before fitting the trailing arm, spring and damper but wanted to feel like I'd actually completed something so threw it all back together and that was job jobbed! Click image to enlarge At this point I wanted to take it out for a shakedown run before torquing all the fixings up but thanks to another lockdown project in the garden I had 2 tonnes of sand blocking the garage so no finished pictures until I've laid the patio! So as it was confined to the garage I started on some other jobs, namely finally fitting the rear seats and tidying up the rear load area which will be another post soon. Hopefully soon it'll see fresh air and after a good clean I'll get some pics. Instagram: L90andy My 1984 Ninety: http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic56071.html - SOLD! My 2015 Defender: http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic39625.html - SOLD! |
||
|
1st May 2020 8:28am |
|
| JOW240725 Member Since: 04 May 2015 Location: Suffolk Posts: 7907 
|
Great work
James
MY2012 110 2.2TDCi XS SW Orkney Grey - http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic43410.html MY1990 110 200TDi SW beautifully faded Portofino Red - https://www.defender2.net/forum/post743641.html#743641 MY1984 90 V8 Slate Grey - https://www.defender2.net/forum/post744557.html#744557 Instagram @suffolk_rovers |
||
|
1st May 2020 8:46am |
|
| Neilios Member Since: 01 Nov 2017 Location: Co. Durham Posts: 169 
|
Looks great, just rad from start to finish, had a fearless 90’s and 110’s would have another in a heart beat, great original style👌 1997 110 Hi-Cap Keswick Green
1997 90 Truck Cab Blue 1996 Discovery Pickup |
||
|
1st May 2020 9:37pm |
|
| L110CDL Member Since: 31 Oct 2015 Location: Devon Posts: 10817
|
Great work and update, thanks
1996 Golf Blue 300Tdi 110 Pick up.
Keeper. Clayton. |
||
|
3rd May 2020 8:25pm |
|
| mini Anaconda Member Since: 23 Aug 2016 Location: Thames Valley Posts: 793
|
The winch bumper/winch and tyres are perfect.
BORG - Bucks & Oxon 4x4 Response Group
|
||
|
4th May 2020 7:17am |
|
| L90Andy Member Since: 29 May 2014 Location: Stratford-Upon-Avon Posts: 719
|
Thanks for the kind comments chaps. I'm desperate to get it out for a play and see how its all looking in daylight!
Hopefully another update coming soon Instagram: L90andy
My 1984 Ninety: http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic56071.html - SOLD! My 2015 Defender: http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic39625.html - SOLD! |
||
|
5th May 2020 10:52am |
|
|
|
| All times are GMT |
< Previous Topic | Next Topic > |
Posting Rules
|
Site Copyright © 2006-2025 Futuranet Ltd & Martin Lewis
