D2 chassis replacement

Ok, having finally resolved the legal issues with the supplier, work has recommenced on preparing the chassis.
Washed it down, then T-washed it. (pics) Started on the Etch primer but work got in the way...as per....

Etch primer finished today - just before the rain came - phew! It took 4 x 500ml spray cans. Seems there is a lot of metal in all the add-ons, brackets, etc.

Just on the off-chance - anyone know the size of the flanged bolts that hold the 2 bolt-on crossmembers on? M8 x 30mm comes to mind, but I really don't feel like lying on the wet drive, undoing existing ones in the dark.....

m8 x 20

Cheers James

Is that the replacement chassis with correct exhaust hangers??

And so, between the gales and the downpours the colour scheme changes: from etch primer through high-build primer and hence to satin black:

meego said:

Is that the replacement chassis with correct exhaust hangers??

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Alas no, it is the much-discounted original with allowances made for the attachment of a second set of hangers. The plan is to cut the ones off my existing chassis and weld them to the correct rails, that way I don't need to disturb the galv more than necessary.

Beneagles said:

Alas no, it is the much-discounted original with allowances made for the attachment of a second set of hangers. The plan is to cut the ones off my existing chassis and weld them to the correct rails, that way I don't need to disturb the galv more than necessary.

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Shame they couldn’t even sort out their own blatant f*** up properly!!

If that had been my business it would have been “I’m very sorry for this error, I will get a replacement sent out to you ASAP and arrange collection of the incorrect one”.

Customer service is severely lacking in many businesses these days....

I have just found this thread while searching for Shielder Chassis problems on google.

Original contact was made on 02/07/18, to be told a lead time of 3-5 weeks, so I placed the order. I purchased a 110, 200tdi chassis, cost £2380 total. I sent one email per week until 01/08/18, just asking for any updates to delivery times, kept getting the same story that it’s on time for 4-5weeks, until 30/07. This time I got a story about a holiday in Ireland causing a delay. Fair enough, we are all entitled to holidays. The following week, I got told it’s in transit to me, but they didn’t know which courier had it, or when it had been dispatched. I smelt a rat, so persisted with calls for updates, still getting the same story that “3 chassis had been dispatched with a new courier company and they couldn’t prove it”.

Finally on Friday 03/08, I rang for the last time. This time it was to inform them I wanted my money back as they couldn’t prove the chassis was built or in transit to me, and I wasn’t happy as today is the 5 week deadline. The bank refunded my money this morning, and I had a phone call. Shielder had miraculously “found my chassis in a yard in Liverpool”. I don’t believe it’s there, as even now they can’t send me proof of dispatch.

This is a word of warning to anyone who is considering trying to save money, don’t bother. I will be around 7 weeks behind on my rebuild after ordering another chassis and waiting for the lead time. I still have to wait another 14 days for the bank to be happy with the response from shielder, so I can’t order another one until then.

Several months later:

It’s been a busy summer, both for me, and for the garage, so absolutely no progress has been made. Hulk and the chassis lie side by side on the front drive…a constant reminder of what needs to be done….and my runaround is steadily falling apart. So.. a change of approach. I had originally planned on driving Hulk to the garage before stripping him down, but with things the way they are I now intend to strip as much as I can here in order to reduce the ramp-time to the minimum. Not the easiest approach, but needs must.

Right then….from the back. Rear bumper and towbar previously dealt with, now for the fuel tank. I have disconnected the fuel filler pipe and breather, lifted the rear carpet and unplugged the fuel sender unit,
disconnected the lines, and loosened off the carrier bolts. Taking the weight on a trolley jack with wooden baton the distribute the weight :
I can now release the carrier fully and lower the tank to ground level. Carefully balancing the tank on the trolley jack it was pulled clear, manoeuvered into position under the new chassis.
The carrier was given a quick coat of hammerite and fixed back into place. I am replacing the fuel pipes from the sender unit to the filter so these get attached now.
With the tank in position I can now remove the filter housing from Hulk and transfer it to the chassis.

New filter ready to fit as appropriate

Rear suspension aspects:

Slackened off the 2 watts linkage bolts attached to the old chassis but left in place at this stage.

Slackened off the 2 rear Radius arm/chassis bolts.

Slackened off the 4 rear Radius arm/axle bolts.

Removed each of the rear Radius arms and replaced rearmost bush on each.
Cleaned, painted and refitted Radius arms with new nuts for the axle fittings and new nuts and bolts for the chassis end. Discovered these would be best done singly as the axle moved while fitting the first one and was a bit of a bu66er to refit the second! Even better if this had all been done once the body was off…freeing off the nuts holding the radius arms when lying under the vehicle ain’t easy….can’t get a decent length of bar on them!!!!!


Fitted new shocks to the new chassis :

Rear springs are attached to Axle – top just sits in chassis bracket

Had a look at the Bump stops and discovered that Sheilder don’t include the fixings for these in their build. Not happy! Will investigate further one the body is off and chassis swapped.


Rear brakes:

Working on new chassis fitted the 2 flexi pipes behind the front wheel arch, laid new conifer piping to the 2 rear flexi pipe mounts and fitted new terrafirma flexis

Disconnected the 2 ABS sensor cables.

Just a wee note about the radius arm bushes: I was only replacing the chassis-end bushes as these had been an advisory in the fatal mot:
Removed the bushes by heating the rubber with a MAPP blowtorch and then using an old chisel to remove the rubber that ran up the centre tube. Once I had a level surface I drilled through the bush next to the outer sleeve with an 8mm drill bit. Once all the way through I let the drill swing round the exterior edge, pulling the rubber way from the sleeve. Removed drill and knocked the bush out with a hammer. Then gently hammered a thin screwdriver down between the body of the radius arm and the sleeve, forming a v shaped section. Used a broader screwdriver then to split the sleeve and out it popped. Cleaned up the inner edge of the arm, applied a little grease, and got the guys at the garage to press the new bush in.

Pics...continued:

So, working at the front end I :

Removed battery and engine bay clutter.

Removed fan, intercooler & radiator – these were a faff but had to be done I suppose. Usual issues of old, rusted bolts – most of which will be replaced.

It was actually possible to remove the intercooler, and hence the radiator, without removing the fan, but I will remove the fan at a later stage to make the reassembly process easier. Main reason for not doing so now was the lack of 36mm spanner!

Also detached the A/C pipe bracket from the chassis.


Disconnected and removed fuel cooler – 4 very tight bolts – the bottom two being very difficult to get at! Wasn’t entirely sure why this had to be removed, rather than just disconnected…but the Haynes book of lies said so…and later on it twigged…can’t get to the engine mounts otherwise!

Disconnected wiring loom(s)

Front Brakes : disconnected ABS Sensor cables and fed cables back through bodywork.

Removed centre console in order to release handbrake clevis pin. Withdrew cable from underside of body.

Front suspension:

Removed and treated radius arms – same as rear - but one at a time.

The track rod needed to be released in order to remove each arm.

Refitted until body off.

Removed shock absorber bolts, and removed turrets – those Irwin nut grabbers are great!

Fitted turrets and new shocks to new chassis

Freed off the anti-roll bar bolts (replacing linkages and bushes)

Remembered to go back and do the same in the rear arb.

Ready to roll to garage………

My new besties:

Loving this thread Beneagles - giving this noobie some real inspiration, boldly seeing bits of Disco's I ain't NEVER seen before

Any progress which the ole' beast?

Henry_b said:

Any progress which the ole' beast?

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Yes!!!! Amazing things have happened - will catch up over the next few days. Suffice to say that the old chassis is no more....and the new is almost ready to receive the body back on.

And so….time passed….the chances of getting free ramp time dwindled ….so I finally gave up and decided to finish the job on the driveway. A somewhat daunting prospect, and one that wasn’t going to be any sort of quick-fix – given the hours I work, the random nature of those hours, the demands of fostering, and the Scottish weather. Countless times I would just have found the right spanner, or the heavy hammer, or whatever and the phone would ring or the rain would fall. As a result, there are fewer pics that I would have liked. However….

I decided that the easiest way to raise the body would mean removing the engine and gearbox first, thereby limiting the height factor:

Off came the bonnet, out came the starter motor (2 easy bolts, one b*stard nut). Bought and used the 36mm fan spanner, removed the fan belt – and decided that the tensioner was a bit beyond it sell-by date - unbolted the power steering pump, unbolted the air-con pump, removed sections of cooling hoses, made sure that all the wiring was clear, and removed the front section of the exhaust. As is usually the way – the exhaust connection was easier than expected, and the easier expectations were proving to be the hardest.

And so onto the bellhousing bolts – see link for the problems therein https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/engine-to-bellhousing-bolts.346340/ – and eventually the engine was free and ready to lift:

Now for the gearbox. To split or not to split, that was the question. Local advice was to remove the transfer box first in order to reduce the weight but I quickly found that I could not get sufficient purchase on the necessary bolts to do so, and decided to work with it entire. 17 years of rust meant that the crossmember bolts were a no-no and the trusty angle grinder was called upon to cut the mounting brackets from the old chassis. Why does no-one make a 2” grinder – one that fits into awkward spaces? Why was the metal that I needed to cut in so much better condition that those aspects of the chassis that caused this whole shenanigans in the first place???? Finally managed to remove both cross members and cut the captive nuts out before cleaning up and painting both sections.

I also cut the back and centre exhaust sections off and cleared the space I needed for lowering the gearbox. I drained the transfer box but couldn’t budge the drain plug for the gear box! The mounting bolts however, were easily dealt with. Judicious use of 2 trolley jacks and the gearbox was out. Disconnected the wiring and the high-low cable – discovering in doing so that one leg of the cable connector had snapped off, so another unexpected part required.

So now both the engine and the gearbox were clear, and resting on a couple of old tyres.
Now for the body.

wow big job there - will b worth it tho. get the wd40 onto the bolts now and let it start soaking in.