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Land Rover 2

A Land Rover is surprisingly adept at corroding, the combination of aluminium and steel together,

and pockets of steel happy to accept wet mud, lead to spectacular rot.

We're replacing the rotten chassis and I must now repair the bulkhead.

The bulkhead is a hollow steel sandwich which is the support for the doors and front wings.

The bulkhead also supports the steering, heater and pedals, the footboxes are exposed to road debris and with their double skin rot away easily. The fresh air vents and windscreen fit to the upper section.

                                       The bulkhead is heavy, so I craned it out and cleaned it up,

then welded new steel in the footwells.I also repaired the area under

 the window frame hinge holes which rots away, but our

bulkhead wasn't as bad as some I'd seen,

when all fixed I primed and painted it.

Defender bulkhead repaired
Land Rover bulkhead
Lifting defender bulkhead out
IMG_3569.JPG

The bulkhead is a major Land Rover structure and takes some removing, with everything stripped off I craned it

out of the chassis then welded and painted it,

ready for fitment to the new chassis

Defender 200tdi engine

I separated the engine and gearbox, then lifted the engine out and fixed it to my stand.

The stand started to sag and I felt it wasn't strong enough, so I put the engine down on blocks.

If it fell on the ground that would be a disaster!

I then removed the gearbox, which is also a heavy lump.

I took this to be stripped and repaired, one of the failure points is the output shaft, and this one had failed.

Removing Defender gearbox
Defender output shaft worn out

With the engine on the ground I needed some help to get the bottom pulley off, the 30mm centre bolt is not LH thread and it was very tight. With one man locking the flywheel and another bracing the engine I needed a 2mtr Acrow prop shaft to loosen the bolt. When that was removed the bottom pulley, and the cam belt drive pulled off simply.

 

The 200tdi diesel engine has a toothed belt driving the fuel metering pump and the camshaft, the pump drive is a bit difficult to understand,

but it was all removed and the pump taken to Steve at

Burscough for refurbishment.

As I've said previously, this 200tdi engine has a reputation for long life,

with regular oil changes it's still good at 200k miles. One reason is this bracing structure at the bottom of the cylinder block, shown below.

This keeps the engine rigid and prevents flexing. It makes for a heavy engine, but it means all the bearings and moving parts run

true in their proper positions.

200tdi front cover off
200tdi cylinder block brace
Land Rover engine

The Land Rover engines of this era have a deserved reputation for reliabilty​, keeping going when lesser motors would have

given up.

That rubber debris would be in the sump of a Ford wet belt engine,

ready to block the oil intake

I cleaned the engine and fitted a new front shaft seal, cam belt, tensioner, water pump and all gaskets.

The front cover has several different length bolts securing it, the previous remover had painted the bolt heads to show where

they went back, I did the same thing.

The sump was removed for cleaning, it is fitted using black mastic sealer, I tried a recommended non-standard cork gasket, but this crushed at the correct sump bolt torque. I threw it away and used the correct mastic, which works well when applied quickly. 

I'll replace the old viscous fan with an electric unit.

With the flywheel cleaned and a new clutch installed, I collected the repaired gearbox and prepared it for installation.

I joined the gearbox to the engine, with the clutch kit I had bought a lining up mandrel, which made the job easier. The gearbox is a heavy item, and so is the engine, but with the chassis bare I could use two engine cranes to drop the units in together.

I had the starter motor and alternator refurbished, and I bought a seal kit for the clutch cylinder. With everything fitted I could 

carefully hoist the engine into place on its new mounting rubbers.

Land Rover engine and gearbox

It went surprisingly smoothly! I took my time and everything 

slotted into place, it certainly squashed the springs down.

Defender bulkhead

I was then able to lower the bulkhead onto the new chassis.

Two big bolts secure the unit to the chassis outriggers, 

washers are used, as on the production line, to space the bulkhead into

a central position. I measured carefully to the rear outriggers,

when I removed the bulkhead it had 3 washers on one side,

and just 1 on the other, the new chassis was well jigged however

and a single washer each side worked well. 

Fitting Defender engine in
Defender parking brake

The handbrake is a large drum on the rear drive shaft, the back plate and 2 shoes are secured to the gearbox, a cable from the handbrake lever operates a cam which applies the brake.

The shoes weren't worn, so I cleaned it all up and gave the drum a coat of Toolstation Rustin's black metal paint on the outside.

This paint is water based, here is Rustin's info..

 

Rustins new formula Metal Paint is a low VOC paint for use on both bare and galvanised metal. It can be applied directly without the use of a primer and is suitable for indoor and outdoor use. Ideal for gates, metal tanks and all ferrous metal surfaces. Not suitable for use under cellulose finishes. Containing anti-corrosion additives the paint has a low odour and dries to a smooth satin finish in just 2 hours. Brushes can be cleaned with water.

This paint is thin, and I had my doubts, but I sanded the rust off the drum and applied the first coat.

It didn't cover well, so when it dried I gave the drum another coat. It seemed to penetrate the metal surface somehow, I smoothed it over with a rag dipped in the paint. This gave a nice smooth finish, free from

brush marks, and it dried quickly to a satin sheen.

I must admit I was quite impressed, it's easy to apply, not messy and thick, and dries fast. 

It seems to key onto the surface, and being thin it doesn't obstruct bolt holes, hmmm..we'll see! 

 

quick_dry_metal_paint_1_1.jpeg

We hope you enjoy this change of pace, more soon. Thank you for reading, and all the best.

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