My new (old) Defender .. ;)

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I didn't have any tubing to hand so I just made plates to fit the body mounts that go on the chassis tubes. Check my build thread 😄
 
I figured that's what I needed to do. Piece of the proverbial really, and i do have a load of 5mm and 6mm plate available .. :)
 
Worked out the rocksliders, now treesliders and step .. offside is now welded up but not finished yet, nearside partially done, just need another bit of tubing really! .

As an aside, a nice one for a change, I sussed the welding out! I've been having issues welding straight without sputtering and splatting .. gas comes out the nozzle, wire comes out, high power, low power, feed-rate whatever the settings I couldn't get a proper weld going, only occasionally getting a nice looking weld.

Found out, purely a fluke, that my trigger is a two stage, or is buggered so works as a two stage. Press lightly and welding starts, press a little harder and gas starts!

I was pressing lightly, which is not enough to get enough gas through!!!! Now I know it and pull the trigger a tad harder I'm getting decent looking welds. Still can't keep 'em straight very well, no idea why not, but I always veer off to one side of the plates to be welded! Practising though, and trying different settings on the helmet.

What surprised me is that whilst the helmet is great at taking the flash away, it's also still too dark to see the line i need to follow, dunno how to solve that, other than with humongous bright lights shining in just the right direction ...
 
Step, Rock and Tree sliders … ;)

Fairly hefty .. 50 x 50 x 3 mm box and round section that’s a bit thicker with 6mm plate fillets!!

They have the usual attachment points, but also have 6mm tabs that are bolted onto the body sills and a ‘cup’ underneath the bottom of the door pillar, hopefully to stop the ends bending. Only done the drivers side so far, but the nearside is also nearly ready, mirror image, watch this space .. )

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They (it) might look odd to some people, but I’ve done it this way for a number of reasons.

1. I need sliders .. Some of the tighter lanes in Lakes and North Yorks we do had made their marks on the Disco body and whilst the 90 is narrower, I felt they were needed.

2. They ‘drop down’ ‘cos I is a short fecker and wanted a step .. likewise for Juliet. I haven’t lost any breakover angle ‘cos they’re still _just_ higher than the fuel tank.

3. I had the materials available, or rather, I had the square tubing, tc (top-cat, Top Bloke) provided the round pipe .. :)

4. I can’t afford to buy stuff so making it gives me summat to do at little cost other than time.

I like ‘em this way … ;)

Not quite finished. They need another coat or two of paint, and I've ordered a strip of non-slip skateboard decking for the tops of the step area. I've also still to clean down the silicone that had been used to mount the chequer plate sills and body trims .. still unsure whether to put them back on, probably will when i get round to it .. :)
 
Thanks.

I found that I was using the welding gun wrongly .. it has a two stage trigger. Slight pull starts wire feed, harder pull starts gas! I'd been trying to weld decently without gas, surprisingly I hadn't done badly!! The gas bottle, only pub gas, was also lasting a while, about 4 years!

Since I found this out, just a couple of nights ago, the welding has improved no end! Just need to learn to keep a straight line now ..:)

Tried to make the sliders strong enough that not only could I jack off a slider, I could pick the whole thing up, or drag it sideways, by one if needs be .. certainly be able to use it as an anchor for winching, or holding sideways .. :)
 
LOL, I think you do .. can't be bothered to find the correct colour paint, but the new hinges needed protecting.

It's a retro rat look thing ...
 
Paul your like a living LZ legend to me!!

I have been thinking of making some of these myself but with my skills in welding they would probably fall off when i jet washed them!! How did you cut the angles in the pipe?
 
Heh, angle grinder .. and worked it out by eyesight, seriously .. ;) If bits fitted they were welded, if they didn't fit they were ground till they did fit.

No dimensions, or plans as such, just offered pieces up, cut as required and tacked to see if it fitted right, if it did fine, if it didn't grind off, re-position. None of it needed much re-positioning.

Actually, I have to say, a lot it came from top-cat. He came round halfway through doing them and offered up the first front down angled round piece, instead of putting it at the 'usual' straight out .. and it went from there!

Fluid development I think it's called .. ;)

The finish is a bit rough, I only have an angle grinder and coarse discs, if I had some way of sanding them, or less coarse discs they'd be even smoother on the corners, though you can't see that in the pics. Mind, they're meant to be steps and to bash things, and slide along them, so primer and paint means I only need spray a bit to cover up scratches etc and the finish, for me, isn't really of much concern. Might have to be different if I make any more for sale .. :)
 
Heh, angle grinder .. and worked it out by eyesight, seriously .. ;) If bits fitted they were welded, if they didn't fit they were ground till they did fit.

No dimensions, or plans as such, just offered pieces up, cut as required and tacked to see if it fitted right, if it did fine, if it didn't grind off, re-position. None of it needed much re-positioning.

Actually, I have to say, a lot it came from top-cat. He came round halfway through doing them and offered up the first front down angled round piece, instead of putting it at the 'usual' straight out .. and it went from there!

Fluid development I think it's called .. ;)

The finish is a bit rough, I only have an angle grinder and coarse discs, if I had some way of sanding them, or less coarse discs they'd be even smoother on the corners, though you can't see that in the pics. Mind, they're meant to be steps and to bash things, and slide along them, so primer and paint means I only need spray a bit to cover up scratches etc and the finish, for me, isn't really of much concern. Might have to be different if I make any more for sale .. :)

paul,fluid development was the disco,not the tratter.:p:D:D
 
Few bits and bobs.

Tried to change the drivers seat yesterday, but the bucket seat just didn’t fit, then Juliet said why can’t you just fit the backrest? So here we are!!

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I also removed the centre seat base and back and cleaned it up a bit, then stuck a bit of carpet over the plate!

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Today I added a Superwinch flylead to control the winch remotely, in a safer manner than just having the radio remote. Can’t understand why there’s such a difference in wire colours for different companies, took me ages to figure out that yes, the lead/switch worked, and that the wiring was differently coloured, but actually easy to do, just time-consuming.!!

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I intend to make a plate to go behind the grille to cover up the wiring that's easily seen to make it a bit tidier, but it'll do for now, it works!! ;)
 
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