Thread: Cousin John's County Project Part 3 The Body.

LT85s a nice strong box too, they suffer a bit on layshaft wear though.

Originally posted by one_iota+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(one_iota)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteBegin-crossy
I think he has a series 111 stage 1 box which i think is a lt 95 ????

Albeit in my ignorance and consequent confusion you may well be right.

John's now disassembled SIII was powered by the Stage 1 V8.

John's research suggested that this box would be stronger than the 5 speed in the County.[/b][/quote]

This is good.

You will be fine.

I have a friend with a 350 chev'd 109 race truck with a LT95 box, who has absolutley given the box a floging and it is still fine.
BTW this motor has close on 170kW at the rear wheels (a stupid amount of power in a rover )

Dave.

The chassis is out and has been cleaned and rust killed.





We now begin the task of dealing with body mounts for the 2” lift. Some are polyurethane (at the rear) others will be remade.

The most complicated component is the rear bumper which we decided to lift 2” rather than planting 2” on the top. This means an additional skin fixed to the existing bumper.

So off with the old:



Bit of exploration revealed rust in the rear off side chassis rail. So more grinding.

A sheet of 3mm steel, cardboard mock-ups and an angle grinder coupled with some rusty technical drawing.

The cutting (John wields an angle grinder like a surgeon with a scalpel).



The cut sheet:



The scored sheet ready for folding (the score is half thickness deep)



The folded sheet. We used an RHS and an angle either side of the bend line for the form and clamps. The bending was done cold using a lump hammer. The scored fold will be welded along its length for strength and sealing against corrosion.



The existing bumper and its new skin are tested together. Gussets and webs will be fixed for strengthening and plates for attachment to the chassis rails will be fabricated and fixed next weekend.





A satisfying two days’ work. Half of it spent thinking and tossing around ideas.

Originally posted by Hellspawn
Another great start. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img]

My comment is since you've gone that far you might as well go the gal dip after the new mounts are welded in and whatever other fiddling is done. Think it's still 40¢/kg for gal dipping for the chassis which is cheap really and will really stop rust for the future. They don't buckle the frames like they used to with gal'ing so it's pretty safe in that regard.

Then give it a hit of etch prime and paint it whatever colour you like. I think it would give a much better result than painting alone as at least that way the whole chassis is protected rather than the usual rusting from the inside out. Yellow chassis with the red body panels would look the part with blue or red suspension. :wink:


Those mags.... old "performance" brand arn't they..... ROH bought performance ? Just curious. 8)

There is a fairly big galvanising place at yennora just up the road from the RSPCA - I know its owned by the bloke that Runs Australias Best Tyre service (or used to be anyhow i think) im its called.....

Cant nember but its on Rookwood Rd, Joseph Street Berala / Lidcombe

G'day
The Series 3 box was noted for failures and the cure was to put in a Series 2 box. This was even with the standard petrol engine in the "3". Clutch is different but no problem though. The difference in the boxes is that the "2" box has no syncro on first or second gears amd a longer throw on the lever. The transfer case is the same therefore the PTO can still bolt straight up.
I run a 4.4 litre P76 V8 in front of a Series 3 box, in a Series 3 Stationwagon, with a high speed transfer case modification. No problems to date but I peddle awefully gently cos I don't want to make toothpaste out of my gears.
Might be worthwhile investigating Maxidrive Engineering for a PTO adaptor for a later type gearbox. I know he makes one, but can't remember for which model box.
Good to see what you are doing though. and not just paying someone else to do it.
Best regards,
Terry

Thanks LRTerry,

As it turns out the box is a LT95 which should cope with gentle application of boot.

As for DIY why pay someone good money and not have this much fun! [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img]

The last few weeks have been like a tailor making a suit. None of this off the rack stuff.

Measuring, cutting and welding bits.

Now is the time to test the fit and connect the bits with safety pins before final assembly.

The chassis is loaded with the engine and transmission so that the engine mounts can be tack welded into place.



The firewall is positioned and the body gradually lowered.

As the body is being lifted 2” one of the critical points is the front outrigger. This is the mounting point for the firewall and everything else to do with the body starts here. Note the two holes, the lower one is the original height! The metal work covers much engineering.



The body is then lowered onto 2” polyurethane blocks at the rear. The intermediate fabricated extended steel mounts will be tack welded into place.

Doors and front guards are added and tolerances checked with a string line front to back.

Measurements from chassis to body

The body alignment has been slow and steady but today it was achieved within 1mm accuracy literally

The tough part is that it all needs to be pulled apart again so that the final welding and chassis painting can happen. And the firewall needs some more work for clearance on the passenger side foot well.




It is looking very good even if John and I say so ourselves. Problems presented and solved.

Months of Sundays with wire brushes attached to angle grinders. About 6 man days work to strip the paint off the chassis back to bare metal. A few patches of rust cut out. Simpson Desert sand continues to pour out of holes whenever we turn the chassis over



Then we cover it up.

Firstly with etch primer and at last the black stuff goes on





20 years added to the life of the vehicle. It will see John and I out.