1998 Defender 300TDi Rebuild

cube1729 · Jul 19, 2015

Hello Everyone,

So with the sun shining I kicked off my 300tdi rebuild project today. I have always wanted to own and rebuild a Defender and finally last month I became the owner of a lovely green 90.

Started removing the body work. My plan is to strip down the body work, remove the engine and running gear so I have a completely bare chassis. The chassis is in really good condition with minimal rust so I'm going to shot blast it, repair the small areas of rust and then send to be hot dip galvanized and powder coated black.

Already removed the instrument as I am installing the updated TD5 binnacle and gauges. I have already rewired they loom, made new connectors for the warning lights, installed the correct temperature sender and replaced the speedo cable with a transducer.

I love the open top look.

Took a lot longer than I expected to remove the front wings. The bolts connecting the wing to the bulkhead are not the easiest to reach are they?

Al2O3 · Jul 19, 2015

Sound like an interesting project. Pictures not working for me!

aaronmorris · Jul 19, 2015

Al2O3 said:
Sound like an interesting project. Pictures not working for me!

Nor me. We likes pictures on here

cube1729 · Jul 19, 2015

Thanks Al2O3 and aaronmorris for letting me know. Should be working now, let me know if you still can't see them.

mick the builder · Jul 19, 2015

no pics.

GATSO · Jul 19, 2015

no piccys meeeeeeeeeeeeee neeeeeeeds picccccccys

Al2O3 · Jul 21, 2015

Pictures working now!
It does look in very good nick. If the chassis is as good as you say, why are you rebuilding it? Just clean it and Dinitrol it inside and out. If you keep on top of it, it'll last for years.

cube1729 · Jul 22, 2015

Al2O3 said:
Pictures working now!
It does look in very good nick. If the chassis is as good as you say, why are you rebuilding it? Just clean it and Dinitrol it inside and out. If you keep on top of it, it'll last for years.

I'm intending to rebuild it to showroom condition, I guess its my OCD but I want a shiny new looking Defender from top to bottom

Al2O3 · Jul 22, 2015

Sounds great. Showroom condition is a massive job though. If you're aiming for that level, and if you're not already, you want to follow rebuild threads such as Gatso's or James Mac's. Good luck with it, I've got you in my Watched Threads list

arboorman · Jul 22, 2015

Nice one - can't beat a rebuild thread! I'm up the road from you in Hound Green - give us a shout if you need a hand. I'm no mechanic but happy to help if possible

FMog · Jul 23, 2015

Really fancy giving my 91 200TDi a full rebuild in 5 years or so! Will definitely be keeping my eye on this thread

james6546 · Jul 23, 2015

FMog said:
Really fancy giving my 91 200TDi a full rebuild in 5 years or so! Will definitely be keeping my eye on this thread

Def worth it. The only problem is once you finish one you want to do another.

I just drove mine up to the farm and it is still an amazing feeling to think that I built it, even though it was 8 months ago.

James_mac · Jul 23, 2015

Al2O3 said:
Sounds great. Showroom condition is a massive job though. If you're aiming for that level, then if you're not already, you want to follow rebuild threads such as Gatso's or James Mac's. Good luck with it, I've got you in my Watched Threads list

Thanks for the shout out mate

james6546 said:
Def worth it. The only problem is once you finish one you want to do another.

Mine isn't even finished yet and I'm having to stop myself from buying another project ha

james6546 · Jul 23, 2015

James_mac said:
Mine isn't even finished yet and I'm having to stop myself from buying another project ha

Yup, it is really addictive. It is just the current price of defenders that is stopping me. Maybe a VW beetle...

cube1729 · Jul 27, 2015

A few more body parts removed this weekend, it was quite slow going as most of the bolts are rusted and difficult to remove, have to admit the angle grinder was needed for a few!

I also discovered the tub and seat box are quite badly corroded where they bolt to the outrigger but should be able to repair these areas.

Getting the tub out the way I can now see the full condition of the chassis.

Overall the chassis is really solid but some areas will need some attention. In particular the drivers side outrigger has completely rusted through.

Al2O3 said:
Sounds great. Showroom condition is a massive job though. If you're aiming for that level, and if you're not already, you want to follow rebuild threads such as Gatso's or James Mac's. Good luck with it, I've got you in my Watched Threads list

Always knew it was going to be a big job but starting to realise how many little things there are to do. When I was planning, I thought of all the big thing like shot blasting the chassis but replacing all the rusty bolts will take the real time.

arboorman said:
Nice one - can't beat a rebuild thread! I'm up the road from you in Hound Green - give us a shout if you need a hand. I'm no mechanic but happy to help if possible

Thanks for the offer, I may take you up that some time

Back to the office for a week of daydreaming about how to remove the bulkhead and engine

Kwakerman · Jul 27, 2015

Don't forget to drain all the oils before removing engine / gearboxes / axles etc, just saves a lot of mess if they leak on the floor. I'm in B/stoke but travel near Hook most days, if you are rebuilding engine I have a crank holding tool for undoing the pulley nut if you need to borrow it (do it before removing engine as it uses one of the chassis rails to stop it turning)

Al2O3 · Jul 27, 2015

cube1729 said:
I also discovered the tub and seat box are quite badly corroded where they bolt to the outrigger but should be able to repair these areas.

I've seen people weld sections in to the tub at those points. Aluminium welding is not that easy though!

YRM do excellent repair/reinforcement sections for this problem.
http://www.yrm-metal-solutions.co.uk/epages/BT4822.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/BT4822/Products/175

You'll also want one of these if you go down that road.
http://www.yrm-metal-solutions.co.u...hops/BT4822/Products/122/SubProducts/122-0001

You will need a shed load of stuff, so make lists of what you need before you order stuff from anywhere. That way you save the postage and have a more organised record of what you have bought and, later, what you still need.

cube1729 · Aug 4, 2015

As I was away this weekend I wasn't able to make any progress dissembling my Landy but I did manage to arrange a new galvanized chassis!

Originally I wanted to repair my chassis and then get it galvanized. However; after reading many of the forums I decided against this as although it is possible, it seems that there are many are risks and most the general feeling is it not a good idea. So I decided to buy a new one instead of taking these risks and was really lucky to find one at a good price that was bought for a project that didn't happen. So on Monday I took the day of work, hired a trailer and drove a 200 mile round trip to collect it.

I'm really over the moon!

mrchurchill109 · Aug 4, 2015

Re: Chassis: That's going to make a few things easier...

Can i recommend that now that you've got it in bits you inspect it fairly carefully and make a general plan of what you think needs doing if you haven't already? I've done more than a few landys over the years (and one of them twice...) and a what-to-do-and-when punch list will be a handy thing.

Forr example if you want to clean and repaint the axles it's easier to do with them off the chassis, however as has been pointed out here removing the crank nut is easier IN the chassis as you've something to brace against.

Just a thought.... Alan

cube1729 · Aug 4, 2015

mrchurchill109 said:
Re: Chassis: That's going to make a few things easier...

Can i recommend that now that you've got it in bits you inspect it fairly carefully and make a general plan of what you think needs doing if you haven't already? I've done more than a few landys over the years (and one of them twice...) and a what-to-do-and-when punch list will be a handy thing.

Forr example if you want to clean and repaint the axles it's easier to do with them off the chassis, however as has been pointed out here removing the crank nut is easier IN the chassis as you've something to brace against.

Just a thought.... Alan

Hi Alan,

Totally agree. Although I have never build a Land Rover I have rebuilt other cars and it really helps to have a plan rather than working out as you go alone, as you mentioned some times there is a better order to do it. For this build I actually have a 500 line project plan detailing what needs to be done including cost estimate so I can budget my spend each month (My wife is an accountant so demanded the cost estimate!)

.

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