Thread: Project 130 Rebuild

Good luck with your project, looks like a big one.

If the chassis is as rusty as you say, 99% of the bolts will need to be replaced also.

I've been through this process and learned the hard way.

I like you, also started out thinking I could do a partial rebuild - but discovered ts not possible when they are this far gone.

So, with a limited budget, it becomes a case of working out a monthly budget and buying the most logical pieces for the next stage.

Since you're getting a donor chassis, I would get it sandblasted and painted first, and then start from there. As I see it, there is no point doing a full rebuild on a chassis that is not sandblasted and repainted.

Personally Ive really enjoyed this project -and now its getting closer to completion its even more fun.

in regards to suspension:

The overwhelming majority will tell you to keep it standard - don't give it a lift, its not required.

Koni shocks and king springs seem to be the most suitable for improving the standard springs and shocks - avoid cheaper no name brands and avoid ' lift kits.'

If your budget is limited, stay with the standard springs and shocks, replace the bushes with superpro - and keep the standard 235/85 R16 tyres on steel rims ( if they are stamped tubeless).

Nuts and bolts- use LRcat and actual samples and buy new ones from your local bolt supplier.
It simply is not worth the effort to clean up the old ones.
This was the cheapest and best decision made on my 130 rebuild.
Only spent around 100 and includes numerous custom brackets but excluding the stainless door hinge bolts.
Take the opportunity also to make some modifications to the fixings e.g. captive nuts/bolts etc to make the re assembly and potential maintenance easier.

Originally Posted by Andy130

Good luck with your project, looks like a big one.

If the chassis is as rusty as you say, 99% of the bolts will need to be replaced also.

I've been through this process and learned the hard way.

I like you, also started out thinking I could do a partial rebuild - but discovered ts not possible when they are this far gone.

So, with a limited budget, it becomes a case of working out a monthly budget and buying the most logical pieces for the next stage.

Since you're getting a donor chassis, I would get it sandblasted and painted first, and then start from there. As I see it, there is no point doing a full rebuild on a chassis that is not sandblasted and repainted.

Personally Ive really enjoyed this project -and now its getting closer to completion its even more fun.

in regards to suspension:

The overwhelming majority will tell you to keep it standard - don't give it a lift, its not required.

Koni shocks and king springs seem to be the most suitable for improving the standard springs and shocks - avoid cheaper no name brands and avoid ' lift kits.'

If your budget is limited, stay with the standard springs and shocks, replace the bushes with superpro - and keep the standard 235/85 R16 tyres on steel rims ( if they are stamped tubeless).

Thanks Andy,
I read your build thread start to finish over the weekend, it was inspiring.

My plan was not to sand blast the chassis, but to wire brush and then POR15 or KillRust the chassis, Ill look into sand blasting and see what the cost looks like, its also an issue of how to transport such a large chassis fro sand blasting.
I had considered strengthening the chassis behind the cab where this one has rusted out and where ive heard stories on here of them bending/snapping/cracking.

I know for my minis you can buy a kit that has every single bolt you need to build the car in it, its like 100pounds, wonder if the same thing is available for the 130? I do have a large selection of bolts form my RRC, the S3S1 and the S2a along with parts stripped from a defender wagon, ive got to buy industrial amounts of WD and get that soaking over the car also now that ive degreased it.

speaking of the degreasing process, I took a closer look at the 130 (havent really had a chance till this weekend to actually look at it) and I uncoverd two things i hadnt expected.
1- its running on massive offset 16" sunrasiers, i thought they were 15's originally, the tiny 265 65 tires on them though still stick out past the guards about 1cm
2 - the letters 'MD' on the rear flanges yay! lucky me. . . yet to pull the rear diff cover off to see whether the Axels have been done also, by guess is probably not, but still a nice surprise none the less.

oh yeah, after getting about 30tons of fisholine or similar of the car, the wheels turned out to be white not the black they looked, the shocks are actually rather new looking underneath all that grime and are bright orange (bushes are knackerd so ill change the whole shocks all the same anyway) and the 300tdi motor came up shiny as hell and still runs like a litle dream with its 221k kms on the clock, pitty im going to sell it and move to my 4jb1-t but onward and upwards!

ill certainly be lifting it, as right now it looks like a bit of a low rider, ill go budget suspension I think, king springs and maxitrax shocks (i know people think they suck, but the combo was great in my D3) already have new superpro trailing arm bushes that i had ready from the RRC, though im missing one of the giant washer spacer ring things hopefully i find it amongst my bits, the rest of the bushes ill go visit MR for a quoute on a full 130 worth of bushes and hope i dont have a heart attack!

Leroy

Originally Posted by strangy

Nuts and bolts- use LRcat and actual samples and buy new ones from your local bolt supplier.
It simply is not worth the effort to clean up the old ones.
This was the cheapest and best decision made on my 130 rebuild.
Only spent around 100 and includes numerous custom brackets but excluding the stainless door hinge bolts.
Take the opportunity also to make some modifications to the fixings e.g. captive nuts/bolts etc to make the re assembly and potential maintenance easier.

Ive got to get all new door hinges anyway, do they come with stainless bots in the kits? or do you have to buy them seperate?
Ill probably go the all new nut and bolt route now that i think about it anyway, at least for the most part.

what things did you rivnut/captive nut on yours? Ive been surprised at how well the bolts inside the car have come appart so far, im waiting till i have a full weekend to get it up on ramps and such to test my luck on the bolts underneath yet, WD40 soak wil happen this week as ive got 4 days off work (unemployed now :S yikes! hopefully something comes up soon or this 130 wont be getting anything done!)

ive been toying with the idea of a 4 seater conversion(i have 4 defender front seats sitting around) also, as that rear seat is horrid! or can you 'upgrade' the rear seats? it just feels like sitting on a $5 camp chair but you are in a car . . .

Leroy

Not much progress happening on this unfortunately,
Have managed to sell off a fair amount of my Series land rover parts to try and fund some work on this, however i also have a 67 Morris mini I'm rebuilding at the same time, so always seem to get little done to each.
What i have done however is test fitted my spare front seats in the back, and i think that the 4 seater conversion using my spare defender seat box as the base should actually work pretty well, however im not 100% set on the idea yet, as the dog would probably prefer the bench, and she is really my only rear seat passenger most of the time.
so on the lookout now for ways to make the rear seat more comfortable, been thinking of having it re trimmed with a lot more foam or something. . . but thats long way away anyway.

I did however manage to get myself a Mantec soft 'A-Bar' like i had on my puma 90, i love the look of these so much more than a bullbar, so will probably sell my ARB and TJM bullbars off now, though both have some rust and the ARB a dent so not sure what they are worth, and i will then fab up my own winch bar in the same design as the mantec one out of some 100x100x5 rhs, should be plenty strong.

I have also decided against using my Isuzu 4jb1-t in favor of keeping the 300tdi and mating this to my auto instead, so will look at selling the 4J and adapter plate along with the mounts for defender placement. my decision here was, that im trying to keep the car as land rover as possible, sort of my version of the ultimate 130 using as many factory options and parts as i can, as i hope this will also help when it comes to getting parts ect ect. so will likely have to tweak up the 300 to account for the power loss in the auto though.

hopefully seperatingt he auto from the 4J adaptor and bolting to the 300tdi will be an easy task? ive never removed and auto/fitted an auto to a motor before, plenty of manuals though. . is there much difference int he process? things i need to be carefull of ect ect?

Leroy

another update for those people following(probably no one haha!)
my Isuzu motor has sold, and turns out the auto with it was for a V8, so that went with it for the grand total of $500.
so I'm now on the hunt for an auto for the 300tdi. This means it will probably have to stay manual for now, therefore it wont get used as much as it will just kill my Knee.
It is however but a short jaunt to the highway, so ill still get to drive it, but unfortunately the offroad work will be a bit much on my knee with a Manual, so the girlfriend might just have to learn better offroad skills untill i can get the Auto.(something tells me that will be more stressful than fun!)

Also picked up, lifted king springs(second hand, limited use) and some oztech shocks?(again second hand limted use) not sure what they will be like, came from a guys puma 130 as he went apt flexy coils and some super long travel shocks or some such, id have been happy with stock replacement suspension, but at $300 for the 4 coils and shocks which look all brand new. . happy camper here, also purchased off gumtree a 130 hcpu trailer. . . was the cheapest way to get a 130HCPU tub, but i now need the mounting bracketry and the fuel fillter bits as it has neither. . Anyone want to buy the rolling trailer chassis off me?

plan to try and strip the new chassis of its road gunk and surface rust on the weekend, along with some coats of killrust or similar, and maybe even get the front stripped from the 'donor' vehicle ready to pull the motor.
going to need to source a set of front control arms though so i can get the second chassis rolling whilst the donor is also rolling though. . .
unnamed.jpg

That tub looks in good nick........mines MY13 and a bit dented

Cheers Paul

Havent been here for a while ...life and stuff.... so reading your thread, you sold the 4jb1-t ? I was curious to see how that would have gone into the 130. Whats the plan now?