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thatbloke

New Member
I have a 1990 defender 90 The chassis is in a bad state so I have bought an 1986 rolling chassis that I managed to drag back from Cornwall to Bristol on an old caravan chassis. I have since cleaned it and painted it Post Office Red with chassis paint. I have also purchased, also on e-bay, a 1996 disco 300tdi rear axle as it has disc's instead of drums. I am now buying all new Bolts, bushes, bearings and joints as whilst the chassis is bare I think it would be the best time to do it. The 90 has stood for a few years while my health improved as I an Disabled. There is no indication as to how old the cam belt is on the 2.5 diesel engine, so that will be renewed along with the water pump and all other belts. in fact any thing perishable will be replaced. It is a van at the moment, A truck would be more suited for me, so have managed to acquire (E-Bay) a cab back and roof. Enjoying the project, not done any thing like this since the 1960's in my teens when I did a few VW Beetles and a Dune buggy.
 
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I was wondering, I shall be replacing the shocks and springs, Is there any bebefit in a 2" lift kit? The 90 will be used as a road worthy vehicle also Off roading, green laneing. In my working life I was a photographer. Now in retirement I do a lot of Landscapes but can no longer get to where I need to be with a wheelchair so my thinking is, that it will be a good tool for that, where permitted.
 
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Only real advantage of a lift is to enable fitting larger tyres, a standard 90 is well capable off road
 
I am considering bigger wheels and tires! to also give it that curb appeal. I know at 63 without good health I should be looking at a more gentle life, but, hey, you only live once!
 
Keep up the good work...fine example to most of us :)

I've 265 tyres on my standard height 90 ( just installed 30mm spacers as the tyres touched the chassis on full lock ) so I personally wouldn't fit a 2 inch lift.

We also need photos of your rebuild !!!! :)

P.S. I'm less than 5 years behind you !:D
 
If you stick a secondhand chassis on a vehicle don't you need some sort of ID check/vosa test?
 
Have tried to put pictures up but to no avail. I will be trying again. The disco rear axle I bought off E-Bay sounded good, The seller said, " it had light surface rust, because it had been left out side for four weeks. When it arrived on a pallet, the diff pan had oil over it. With my wire brush I cleaned it, oil leaked out in several places, the whole of the top of the diff pan had small holes and was very thin and delicate. On one of the shocks brackets the rust was swollen in layers and flaked off when brushed and prodded, and was to thin to be safe. The end section of the axle casing where the disc brake backing plates are, has layered flaking rust about 3/16th thick The disc back plates are mangled, holed and rusty, the wish bone ball join had been sawn off as someone had tried to split the nut off and gave up. The Pinion bearing is worn as there is alot of side ways motion when pushed. To put it right with parts, costed out at about £175 it cost me £100 + £55 postage = £155. I have emailed the seller but no reply so have now escalated it to E-Bay asking for a £75 refund as I can recoup the rest on the sale of the diff and scrap. Not one of my best purchases. Lesson learned.
 
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The seller agreed to the refund of £75. have now striped the Axle of the Diff and drive shafts. I have managed to secure a good axle case locally, so will now clean, paint and rebuild. Happy days.
 
SteNova said:
really the vehicle should end up with the id that matches the chassis number
Click to expand...

No you get inspected and keep same ID other wise there could be 2 cars with the same ID. There is a legal way to do it, most do not
 
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Thor1950 said:
No you get inspected and keep same ID other wise there could be 2 cars with the same ID. There is a legal way to do it, most do not
Click to expand...

if i bought a bare chassis with v5 etc and built it up with random parts why would it need an inspection?
 
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