Thread: "Snowy" January 1993 Defender 110 Tray Back Ute

Originally Posted by V8Ian

Lionel, I think it's time to send those seats on a boat ride.....to China.

at last the voice of reason...

Originally Posted by DazzaTD5

at last the voice of reason...

Well Dazza,

My first instincts upon seeing the seats started something along the lines of, "well I am going to [mumble] those seats off, Lickety-split". This plan of attack can be evidenced by my starting an earlier thread which had the title of ... Alternative Seats for Defender - Not Exmoor Trim. Unfortunately Snowy needs to have a roadworthy inspection before it can be registered, this means the seats have to be compliant to the design codes. I have been looking for people selling second-hand Defender seats. Especially since it would be not hard to find some in better condition than Snowy's seats. Until something comes up I can get other work done on Snowy. Go back to the description of my first instincts to identify that the 'voice of reason' was present from day dot on seeing the seats. The roadworthy inspection does complicate things somewhat.

Kind regards
Lionel

Hello All,

This weekend I worked on preparing Snowy for the trip to the chassis repair place in mid June. I had to take off the steel side tray and pressure wash the chassis as part of the preparations. I have previously taken off a topographic module that was previously a 2A ex-Army Ambulance. I used a 'bay' of pallet racking to form a structure so I could lift the module off the trailer I transported it home on. Then I parked a 109 rolling chassis under it and lowered the module down. Either four or six pallet racking beams were used to keep every thing rigid.

Time has since marched on and all that pallet racking has been assigned to fill its intended design purposes. I bought some more beams a fortnight ago. However, there were no vertical frames on offer. The frames have remained elusive. So I bodged something up with spare beams as vertical legs and four long stroke 8 tonne hydraulic rams. Yes, 8 tonne is overkill - they were just the most popular and reasonably priced. It probably took me four times longer and a couple of occasions of heart in the mouth before my goal was achieved. Meanwhile, knowing as I was working along how much quicker and safer the pallet 'bay' method would be. Guess what I am going to use when I lower the tray on to a trailer so I can move the tray around and work on it. Yes, I am scoring Marketplace and various sources for second-hand frames. I did check out a local supplier for new frames. However, upon seeing the quote for supply I thought my eldest son probably would not appreciate being sold into servitude - so I walked away.

So, 'where are the photographs' you ask? Hmm following on from workplace health and safety guidelines it may be astute not to post such evidence. The method I used worked and I did not wake up in the middle of the night screaming last night. There is always tonight I suppose. Fingers crossed that one of the possums does not leap from the weeping bottle-brush in the middle of the night onto the ute tray. It could be one very surprised possum and it could provide an interrupted sleep for me too.

I was able to catch some corrosion in the form of scale layer with pitting under the scale. I removed the scale with a cold chisel and hammer, then cleaned the area up with a wire brush on an angle grinder. Prep-washed the area and then sprayed it with red oxide. The pitting did not cause holes so I must have just caught and treated the rust in time. I also gave Snowy a bath courtesy of a pressure washer and there is still some shine in the paint that was covered by a layer of grime and less pleasant things.

Well, getting the tray off Snowy was the biggest thing on the 'things to do to prepare Snowy checklist'

All in all, it was a highly productive weekend. A little scary at times - but productive, and no harm was caused.

Kind regards
Lionel

Hello All,

No photographs because it grew too dark. I however, tracked down some pallet racking frames at one of the local scrap yards and I managed to pick up a very good deal. Turns out it was genuine Dexion racking that had just been painted over! I picked the frames up at 2:00 pm and then spent some time installing the pallet racking frame and beams under Snowy's steel tray. I then gracefully lowered the ute tray down onto the beams. Then promptly removed all traces of Bodgey Brothers and their technique of raising the tray off Snowy's chassis. Nothing to see here - everything was done according to workplace health and safety rules.



While I was at the scrap yard inspecting the two frames for Snowy, I asked one of the blokes at the scrap yard if there was any more pallet racking frames. They said 'no'. Then I asked if I could have a look around. After a short stroll I saw a good looking white steel ute tray. I then took another look and worked out what the ute tray had been stacked onto. The ute tray was on an island in the middle of a sea of scrap so I had to observe from a distance. After a while I went 'Yep, that is a pile of pallet racking frames'. Another four frames joined the two I had already bought for Snowy. So, that was a couple of wins for today. Extra pallet racking frames and Snowy's tray siting on a nice stable platform.

Kind regards
Lionel

Hello All,

I scouted out the local scrap yards and at last I found some pallet racking frames. I have been playing MarketPlace Messenger tag with a bloke who had a set of pallet racking for sale here in town that started two months ago. Then suddenly - due to their ill health, the advertisement was taken down! Anyway, on Wednesday I bought a 4000 mm and 3500 mm long pair of Dexion frames - the vertical sides, for the princely sum of $15 each. The two different heights were the only ones they had and I was not going to complain. Especially, considering the great bargain price I got them for! This purchase allowed me to make the pallet racking bay to hold Snowy's tray the way I prefer to do. The pallet racking bay also makes it so much more safer and efficient to raise and lower the tray.

All I have to do is place another row of pallet beams below the beams directly under Snowy's tray and secure the hydraulic ram 8 tonne jacks to the beams with either the no hooks style of 'belly strap' type of ratchet straps; or I could lash out an buy some U bolts used to mount trailer axles. This will stop any chance of lateral movement of the jacks while they lift and lower. Having a jack get into a pendulum sweep while lifting something heavy up is not a desirable outcome. The longer the jack's stroke position the wider the sweep or sway of the load. Then at some point during the sway the load can experience a Humpty Dumpty event. Ratchet straps from the side of the load to a fixed point, like a concrete house stump can prevent the pendulum effect. However, it still rates as a pretty Bodgey Brothers' system of working. The one I had to resort to after secondhand pallet racking in Bundaberg became scare as hen's teeth when I first needed it. Using the Bodgey Brothers' technique while knowing and being experienced in a better way to do something was more than just a tad frustrating. Especially, with that little voice sounding off in my ear, "Lionel, you know a better and safer way to do this!". Sod off, inner critic! Go and do something useful, for a change!

Well, Snowy's tray is all safe and securely mounted and stored. Just have to wait until June when Snowy goes for a car trailer ride. Off to the place where his chassis repairs will be done professionally and a nice pretty, blue plate will be mounted somewhere in the engine bay. All on display for the nice Department of Main Roads and Transport's Vehicle Inspectors to observe and tick off.

Kind regards
Lionel

Lionel, necessity was the mother of invention. Nothing would ever have been achieved without a fair measure of bodginess. The smart operators, generally survive, by recognition of the hazard and mitigation of the risk.
Well done.

Hello All,

The second major obstacle for Snowy's repair work arrived in the post all the way from Horsham, Victoria - yesterday. A driver's seat frame with a seat back tilting lever and a tilt adjustment angle quadrant that has its full set of teeth is now in my possession! Hen's teeth and rocking horse poo give you some idea of the apparent rarity of these items. The first and significantly most major obstacle for getting Snowy roadworthy is the chassis repairs. They are scheduled for mid June. It would be good to have at least the driver's seat in place when Snowy gets a ride on a car trailer to the repairer's.

I had originally been converting a BMW leather seat upholstery that I bought for the princely sum of $70 for a full front and back seat set. I figured my time is my own, so any time spent modifying the seat foam and hand stitching was not going to cost me anything - okay apart from the odd needle stick and related blood loss.

The only drawback has been the interval of time it has taken me to complete the quest for the seat frame. I was just about to finish the sewing on the seat base when I had a look at Snowy's driver's seat tilting mechanism and noticed the condition of the teeth. With the tilt lever completely broken off the farmer - previous and original owner, had used gorilla-mode to tilt the driver's seat forward and backward over the years. The end result was about 4 teeth at the start of the quadrant and 4 teeth at the end of the quadrant - and no teeth in between. I figured what is the point of continuing sewing unless I can find a replacement seat frame?

woo wooo woooh insert theme music from the Time Zone blur and smoke the screen a bit. Time passes, I reckon it must be close to six months later. In the interim I have been down lots of dead ends and followed numerous false trails to find a replacement seat frame . Then yesterday a big parcel arrives in the mail. Sadly, by which time bits and pieces - like my awl - that were left in a handy place - at the time of first starting to sew. Since then the known location of that handy place has become less firm in my mind. It will no doubt involve a search tomorrow to find the awl.

In the meantime, after some confirmatory viewing of YouTube I restarted my sewing efforts tonight. I had completed about 15 cms of sewing when I noticed that I had one of the seams folded over the wrong way. Sigh ... unpick the stitches and start from scratch on that section of sewing. Now, after about half an hour - time flies when you are having fun - I swapped the 'fancy' stitch to a bog standard taught to our class in primary school stitch. Then used a couple of tricks in straining the tension of that section of stitching and I can finish up shop tonight with some visible progress being made. It would have been faster progress if I had my awl in hand. Oh, well - a quest for tomorrow. Find the awl. Plus put a third coat of paint on the seat frame. The pillow is calling me. Have a good night oops make that 12:35 am - I was so intent sewing that it is now a new day!

Kind regards
Lionel