border said:

Had another good look and its worse then I thought, didn't really think it would be springs as they are only a year old.
Think its the body mount rusting away don't think this is an easy fix, so better get cracking and get my Defender Rebuild through MOT and on the road then decide what to do with this.

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kevstar said:

If your going to rebuild it your better chopping the sills of & replacing them with box section
& new mounts, ive just done one side of mine the last owner fkn pumped some holes behind
the mounts full of silicone & waxoiled over them, I only found it after id patched & repaired the
old mounts & sill on the other side. Ive ended up ripping it apart & found loads of cr@p repairs so
ive been welding for the last few weeks.

Any idea of a price if your going to off load it.??

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Kev12 said:

Not sure you're on the right track here. In the first pic your body is lined up with the chassis so I dont think it has dropped.
The chassis and towbar brackets are obviously not in line with the axle and at a glance your O/S spring has 1 less coil than the N/S

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Hicap phill said:

Can you measure from axle to hanger. This will rule out the springs then.

as for the sills & mounts.
Box section & ask @dieseldog69 & @resto_d1 how easy it is

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Hicap phill said:

Spring hanger (where the spring fits into)to the axle.
Just make sure you measure same point both sides

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Hicap phill said:

That shows a good inch drop.
Have you removed the springs yet?could be a bit broke of the top or a locating ring(as they have played with the suspension)

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border said:

Was going to untill I seen the rust at mount, but will give it a go tomorrow. But looking at the rust still think it needs a lot of work.

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Hicap phill said:

Can you measure from axle to hanger. This will rule out the springs then.

as for the sills & mounts.
Box section & ask @dieseldog69 & @resto_d1 how easy it is

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border said:

Well I aint no welder that's for certain , so would have to pay someone for that, but suppose would be worth it at the end of rebuild.
Not got a clue yet on value, its got a Cracking engine and box only 93000 genuine miles, never misses a beat. not even an oil leak after I serviced it with all filters ect.. plus got light bar and work lights , , would leave them on if I got decent price. MOT Till October, unless the body falls off before then
Anyone's welcome to make an offer.

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kevstar said:

For someone that cant weld id say by the time he's finished he will be good at grinding lol
The hardest part is cutting away all the rot then cleaning back to get decent metal to weld
to, welding it is the easy part but rolling about on your back trying not to get burnt is not
everyones idea of fun.


Ye can keep the lights if it half's the price lol
If its just the body mount & the sill is ok mounts are 30 quid get a mobile welder to do it.

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dieseldog69 said:

Springs are handed and drivers side sits higher to compensate single occupancy and the extra hardware on that side.

My money is on rotted out body mounts, check rear body crossmember as these are prone to punching through to cross member and the sills are prone to rotting to pieces.

View attachment 215963 View attachment 215965 View attachment 215967

As you can see, that just fell to pieces.

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My eyes!!!!

I thought body mounts were a consumable?​

resto_d1 said:

You don’t need body off to do your mounts mate - they all go and it’s not a big job but as Kev said all depends how much you need to cut back and you then end up chasing your tail. I bet if you look at where your bulkhead meets the front inner wings she’s gone there too.
Your sill end to arch panel will be dead, then when you do that you’ll see your arches are going, so you’ll take off the rear quarters and realize your inner wings are dead too....
It does get expensive and many think “oh yeah she just needs a boot floor for mot” then they look further and discover body is barely attached and made from ww2 baccy tins - hence the name, discovery.
Notice how odd all the d1 restorers on here are too - it’s from inhaling burning seam sealer and emptying their wallets on parts they’d never have thought they’d have to buy. They also have far more “car clothes” than normal clothes as all their t shirts are covered in seam sealer, burns or primer. Weirdos.

Didn’t you only buy it use whilst the fender Is being done? And defender is nearly done after all the blood and pain of last year of so on it?

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border said:

Yes Mate only bought it to get me about while doing Defender, hoping for MOT on it next week, so this will be sorned off road then Ill either keep it and spend all the time I need to do it up, as I'm in no hurry at all, could be in my place for a couple of years but if I start it I will finish it. Or if I get a decent offer will part with it.
Just thought if I can get another Defender project I can use the engine out of Disco too.

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resto_d1 said:

Sounds like a plan doesn’t it. Fingers crossed for mot. You’ve bloody earnt that price of paper!!!!!
I do a lot of miles in defender and it’s never going to be as quiet as the d1 due to it not having these mounts - everything vibrates through. It’s worth me keeping it decent and tip top though as never loosing money really. The d1 would be a far more practical car, especially for mileage if I got it to a nice reliable standard. I don’t think I’ll like it like my 90 though and may even sell when it’s done as keep looking at getting a 90s 7 series to restore one day

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