19th March 2017

Saturday morning and off to Highland Galvanisers in Cumbernauld to collect the chassis and bulkhead, all of which came nicely gift wrapped

Ready to be unwrapped

As I mentioned in an earlier post, due to a production error at Highland Galvanisers the chassis ended up being prepared for powder coating after it was galvanised. Realising the mistake I was given the option of free powder coating which saved Highland Galvanisers the cost of having to strip the chassis again and re-galvanise it.

The Powder coating really makes the chassis look new

Unfortunately when the chassis was palatalised and wrapped for shipping it was upside down so before setting it on to some axle stands I had to turn it over. Once again the engine crane came in handy and I was glad that I had bought a 2 ton crane rather than a lighter one.

During the course of last week I ordered all the bits that I would need to rebuild the chassis to the stage where it would have suspension and steering.

The first parts to be delivered were 2 new rear springs. These springs are much heavier duty than is found on most land rovers (ANR 3540) being rated at 430 lbs each. When sourcing them I found that  Island  4 x 4 had them on offer at half the price of some of the larger suppliers - in fact not many suppliers actually offered them as a available part. 

Before ordering the springs I found that there was very little information available about them on line, probably due to the fact that they are not a common part. Having contacted a number of suppliers I was unable to find out what height the springs should be when new and therefore I was unable to compare the new height to the height of my existing springs to see how much they had settled. 

While there is no apparent damage to the original springs they are heavily coated in rust which in itself is perhaps not a major problem, but as I am replacing the front springs and all 4 shock absorbers I decided that the opportunity to get new rear springs at a reduced price was too good to pass up on. 

New rear springs

Chassis set up under cover for the rebuild

With the chassis back it is time to start refurbishing the front and rear axles. Having checked the back lash on the differential there is very little movement in it and well within the 10 mm tolerance quoted in the workshop manual. As the diff turns freely without feeling rough I do not intend to strip it at this stage, but I will replace the seals and bearings along with the brake disks. Hopefully the callipers and back plates can be refurbished which will save a few pennies!

Draining the oil from the rear axle ready for stripping and rebuilding

The bulkhead also came back from the galvanisers. I had been concerned that it may warp given the heat of the galvanising process, but it looks to be pretty straight. One thing I have noticed is a slight deformation at the top of the scuttle panel where it joins the door pillar. This is I think due to blast media having filled part of the void in the pillar before it being dipped. Some bodywork will be needed to fix that, but overall it looks pretty good