Well yes, it has been too long since I did an update, both online and on the vehicle. I have 3 projects on the go of which this is the biggest, but the other two are also borderline crazy so it's hard to give this old girl the attention she deserves.
I did decide many months ago that the time had come to lift off the body and get the chassis properly sorted against rust etc and sort out the wiring and piping issues to a show standard, but that's kind of where I left it. I have a regular D2 rolling chassis to hold the body shell while it's off (plus some additional support for the bigger than usual rear overhang !). But have never really come up with a satisfactory method to lift the body off. I don't have access to a ramp which would make this a simple job, so I've been trying to figure out the best way to do this. The idea is to lift the body up (it's need 22" of lift to clear everything), slide the 6-wheel chassis out and the 4-wheel one in - job done. But I'm nervous about every method I've come up with for lifting and supporting the body shell during the chassis rolling exercise. I've got myself a couple of hi-lift jacks which can easily and quickly lift the body the requisite 22" at various points, but I need something that will then support the body at this new height (now 46" off the ground) without any possibility of it collapsing.
Additionally, there seems to be undue flexing around the join of the two donor bodyshells. Some of the points around where the two halves meet especially on the roof (which is steel) have cracked quite badly and I need to get that resolved urgently. I suspect that lifting and moving the bodyshell is only going to make this worse.
At the very least this needs to be repaired (and washed !
), but I think I also need to look at either reinforcing the join or using a more flexible paint
Anyway, I am going at this now with renewed vigour, so expect to see many more posts of the next few weeks and months !