3 Attachment(s)
Update - Disassembly Day 2
As Day two draws to a close we can honestly say we have the Camel in pieces now. Plugger has toiled hard all day to get him to this stage and I think he is enjoying himself. Here is where we are at the end of Day 2:
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/attachment...1&d=1471753565
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/attachment...1&d=1471753565
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/attachment...1&d=1471753795
Ok, we have a lot better understanding of the issues that lay before us, namely:
>The chassis is rotten on the drivers side outrigger, drivers side fuel tank bracket and drivers side rear crossmember. The passenger side seems ok. Since Dad (me!) is an Engineer with a fully equipped workshop this is no big deal.
>Bulkhead has some bad corrosion in a few places. To remove it I had to cut the large retaining bolts off that bolt it to the outriggers - both sides. It is completely rusted through just below the lower door hinge on the drivers side. Since replacement parts are available, also no big deal.
>Came across some really ghetto repair jobs to both floors - passenger side more-so than the drivers side. Again, no big deal as we can fabricate and bend up new floors in-house.
>More assortment of bent, broken, rusted, frozen and rounded fasteners - not an issue, they all will be replaced with metric stainless steel fasteners where possible
>Rear tub in good shape
>Front wings in good shape
>Both inner guards in good shape
>All the electrics seemed to be in good shape - we could not find any burnt or frayed wiring on the vehicle
>Front diff seems to be ok
>Rear diff seems to be knackered - a lot of play between crown and pinion
>Different wheel types - the front two wheels are 16" steel but the SWB ones, while the back two and spare are the LWB type
>Front springs are different - one is 9-leaf (Front spring), while the other is 11-leaf (rear spring)
>Steering relay seems to be welded (badly) to the frame - I dont know why this is
>Steering box seems to be in good shape with no play
>All the drag link balljoints are knackered and will need to be replaced
>At a guess, all shocks and steering damper will need to be replaced
>The handbrake clevis was rusted solid, so it got the chop as well (literally) It will need to be replaced.
>The under-seat battery box looked to be in good shape, as well as the other under-seat compartments
>The bonnet is in good nick other than a dent where the re-positioned radiator was located
>Side sills are ok, one slightly bent
>The door tops are knackered - most likely rusted beyond redemption. The posts for the door tops are still in the doors on the drivers side!!
>Doors are in good shape, other than the note above. Both doors do not have locks!
>Rear tailgate is good condition, as are the hinges and locks
>The front frame horns are knackered. The tubes where the bolts for the bumper bar goes through are very flogged out (The Farmer used the little SWB to clear his fire-breaks from time to time, and used the Landie to push over saplings etc, so the bar was continually rocking back and forth). Also the underside of the horns are rusted through
>Engine has major oil leaks - no big deal, it will get overhauled.
>Seat box is in good condition except where the aftermarket buckets were bolted in and the factory rails were cut back
>Flexible brake lines are brittle and perished. They will need replacing.
>Bump stops are hard as granite - all will need replacing
>Fuel tank good, no dents, cracks or leaks
>It came with a heater. Unsure whether this is a demister too
OK, thats about it - I think you get the picture. For the money we paid its still a bargain and the more we work on it the more we love it! Its here to stay and next time it takes to the road it will be a new car with no expense spared (within reason i.e. not going to import a galvanized chassis etc)
Plugger and I sat down last night after dinner and mapped out exactly what he wants in his SWB. I am a little shy to put this up here in case it offends the purists, but here goes...
>He would like a snorkel - NP as we can make a S3 one fit
>He would like a winch
>He doesnt want any standard LR colour - we have settled on a short-list of colours which we will narrow down in the coming week
>He would like a custom front tube bar, and some rock-sliders - NP as we have a fully equipped workshop where we can manufacture all that in-house
>He would like to make it into a hard-top, not a ute. We need to find a hardtop for it
>He would like to keep the standard Landie rims - the big tyre look is out!
>he would like to go back to the standard Landie interior, with SIIA seats etc
Well thats enough typing for one afternoon. Next week we will do some preliminary cleaning then move everything down to the workshop for storage and also the starting of the restoration.
Please feel free to comment on any of the above - especially the gearbox being an A suffix, the different springs on the front and the different rims. More next week.
Cheers,
Tricky
4 Attachment(s)
Disassembly - Day 3 (cont.)
Continued...
Now it was a simple job of mating the two cuts, aligning and making sure the new parts were plumb and square. Then weld on:
Passenger side:
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/attachment...1&d=1472423499
Drivers side:
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/attachment...1&d=1472423499
Passenger rail underside:
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/attachment...1&d=1472423499
Drivers rail underside:
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/attachment...1&d=1472423499
Things to note - there had been repairs to these sections before, badly!! It seems that the previous repairer had removed the chassis number somehow. Luckily the mod plate has the chassis number on it!! I also extended the frame horns out another 35mm to allow for the winchbar fixings to be tightened without getting impeded by the spring mounts. Hopefully now this repair will see-out the rest of Camel's lifetime until more repairs may be needed well into the future.
More...
4 Attachment(s)
Disassembly - Day 3 (cont.)
Continued...
I also took the opportunity to affect some repairs to the frame rails themselves where the rust had compromised the chassis rail integrity.
Once again, it was a case of cut out the cancerous area back to good metal, fabricate a replacement part out of 2mm plate, weld in and then grind smooth.
Passenger side rail, before the first crossmember on the outside:
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/attachment...1&d=1472424646
Repair affected and ground smooth:
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/attachment...1&d=1472424646
Front crossmember on the inside near the steering relay:
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/attachment...1&d=1472424900
Repair affected and ground smooth:
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/attachment...1&d=1472424646
Points to note - in the last pics you can see where the steering relay box has been welded in, badly. Not sure why this is but it will have to come out to be overhauled. There are some other signs of cancer and cancer-repair further along the chassis but this will have to be dealt with at a later date. By this time it was getting towards beer-o'clock and knock-off time. More next week.
Cheers and thanks for all the support and kind words,
Tricky
