sorry but the wiper cover has gone to another forum member, I may have some of the dash parts though, back home on Sunday so I can look inti it then
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Cliff - 1981 Series 3 109 V8 Stage 1
- Thread starter Cliff4WD
- Start date
Please do let me know what you have GridMan, cheers.
Sorted out some mains power today.
Spent the day repairing a failed SLS RHS on my Discovery 2, but did have a quick 1/2 hour spare, so took the roof off the 109.
Yep no problem, back from skiing so I will have a rummage, unfortunately the lower dash panel was really rotten so I had to discard it but I do have the upper panel with air vents and some other bits, will look into it this week.
Yeah, so far so good. I have the benefit of it having already been rebuilt once before. The chassis is a beautiful solid and clean galvanised one, and the bulkhead was obviously replaced at the same time. It's just a shame that they couldn't have stretched to a galvanised bulkhead too. Fortunately, I'm getting it before the rot has gotten too far on the replacement. It's the footwell seems that have the problem. The other area of corrosion I need to get sorted is the doors. They have gone at the bottoms and the sliding window guides are shot.
So far, the bolts have come undone with a bit of penetrating fluid and a carefully applied turning force. I'm sure I'll soon find some more problematic ones, but fingers crossed.
The biggest problem I can see ahead, is sourcing replacement parts for refurbishing the bits I want to renew, e.g. props, cv joints, etc. The elephant in the room is the gearbox, the PO thought that the gearbox was shot. I haven't been able to drive it to make a judgement myself. Apparantly it was making a lot of noise and was not good. When I moved it, it felt fine but there was a bit of noise. However, it sounded like release bearing/spigot bearing squeel to me. I have a second LT95 to go in if needed but I have no idea if it's any better than what's in already. It does have an overdrive fitted though so that will find its way in at some point.
I was struggling with RH front wing removal yesterday, contortions needed to hold a spanner on nuts inside wing at same time as undoing bolt from outside; my name is Cliff, not Stretch Armstrong.
So far, the bolts have come undone with a bit of penetrating fluid and a carefully applied turning force. I'm sure I'll soon find some more problematic ones, but fingers crossed.
The biggest problem I can see ahead, is sourcing replacement parts for refurbishing the bits I want to renew, e.g. props, cv joints, etc. The elephant in the room is the gearbox, the PO thought that the gearbox was shot. I haven't been able to drive it to make a judgement myself. Apparantly it was making a lot of noise and was not good. When I moved it, it felt fine but there was a bit of noise. However, it sounded like release bearing/spigot bearing squeel to me. I have a second LT95 to go in if needed but I have no idea if it's any better than what's in already. It does have an overdrive fitted though so that will find its way in at some point.
I was struggling with RH front wing removal yesterday, contortions needed to hold a spanner on nuts inside wing at same time as undoing bolt from outside; my name is Cliff, not Stretch Armstrong.
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Made life a bit more organised today and bought a new tool cabinet and a few more sockets and stuff.
Oooo thats VERY tidy !!!!!!! 
Thanks, lol. I got browned off working like this:
Ha...you've been in my workshop then !!
Got stuck in again today. It's slow progress getting the corroded nuts and bolts undone, and not having worked on one before, working out what needs to be undone and taken off takes time too, but it's moving on. Got the front RH wing...
...and floor off
It does seem I've been quite lucky in that the rot is not too bad; pretty much just the footwell this side.
The repair done by PO for MOT is rubbish though...
Welded in a patch but didn't do anything to protect it from further corrosion, also patched on top of rusty steel.
Seems absolutely pointless to not do the job properly. All it needed was a bit of a wire brushing and some rust stabilising paint and it would have lasted years. As it is, it's been about 3.5 years and needs to be done again.
...and floor off
It does seem I've been quite lucky in that the rot is not too bad; pretty much just the footwell this side.
The repair done by PO for MOT is rubbish though...
Welded in a patch but didn't do anything to protect it from further corrosion, also patched on top of rusty steel.
Seems absolutely pointless to not do the job properly. All it needed was a bit of a wire brushing and some rust stabilising paint and it would have lasted years. As it is, it's been about 3.5 years and needs to be done again.
Got the LH wing off today. Slow but steady progress. Shouldn't be too long before I can get the bulkhead out and start repairs.
Top of footwell by heater box
Bit more where it's bolted to support
And a hole in bottom of the pillar.
So, probably will replace both wells complete rather than mess about patching, a section of pillar (although that looks patchable its so small). I'll replace both the mounting feet too. Strip the whole thing back to bare metal and see if I can get it galvanised.
I'm more concerned about the state of the front axle. The swivel mounts look pretty crusty. It'll be coming off in due course and getting blasted.
Top of footwell by heater box
Bit more where it's bolted to support
And a hole in bottom of the pillar.
So, probably will replace both wells complete rather than mess about patching, a section of pillar (although that looks patchable its so small). I'll replace both the mounting feet too. Strip the whole thing back to bare metal and see if I can get it galvanised.
I'm more concerned about the state of the front axle. The swivel mounts look pretty crusty. It'll be coming off in due course and getting blasted.
I've been slowly inching forward getting the old girl apart. All was going relatively well considering its age and how long some of the nuts and bolts have been married together. Then I came to remove the steering wheel, and it would not budge. Tried everything in the pull it, hammer it, heat it, curse it, tool box but nothing worked. After trying advice given on standing grasping it and yanking at it and giving it the shock treatment with a blow to the flushed off locknut and still no joy, I decided to try a bearing puller.
There's a special tool for removing the range rover classic steering wheel that looks like a bearing puller with a plate to go under the wheel boss to pull against. So, I made a plate out of a piece of 6mm steel...
Put it in position...
...and put a bearing puller on it.
Result...
...one very bent plate and a steering wheel stuck solid that refuses to budge.
So, what on earth is the solution? Should I strip the steering box and remove the column from that end instead. It needs to come out as I'm getting the bulkhead out of the vehicle.
There's a special tool for removing the range rover classic steering wheel that looks like a bearing puller with a plate to go under the wheel boss to pull against. So, I made a plate out of a piece of 6mm steel...
Put it in position...
...and put a bearing puller on it.
Result...
...one very bent plate and a steering wheel stuck solid that refuses to budge.
So, what on earth is the solution? Should I strip the steering box and remove the column from that end instead. It needs to come out as I'm getting the bulkhead out of the vehicle.
Feck !!!!.. .. that's one stuck on steering wheel !
It could be that the only way out of this is destroy the steering wheel and cut it off the column with an angle grinder and cold chisel. Before that last resort, how about retensioning with the plate & puller, give it another soak of penetrating spray and leave it over night?
.. that's one stuck on steering wheel !It could be that the only way out of this is destroy the steering wheel and cut it off the column with an angle grinder and cold chisel. Before that last resort, how about retensioning with the plate & puller, give it another soak of penetrating spray and leave it over night?
Got straight back on it today. First off, make a second plate to double up and spread the pulling force. It will now wrap around the column below the wheel and bolt the two halfs together.
Put it in place and on with the bearing puller...
Started to tighten up and watched the steel begin to bend under the strain. My heart sank as this was really beginning to get ridiculous now. However, I persevered and just as the puller was on the verge of coming off the bending plates, donk! Movement at last. I quickly reversed the plates, refitted the puller, and began to crank. Slowly the wheel finally eased up off the shaft.
Well, what a relief. Can't believe such a stupid problem could cause so much grief. Loads of time and effort spent trying to undo something that should have come apart far easier.
As I suspected, the splined shaft and bearing surface is corroded...
I was also correct in doubting the penetrating oil was getting in; it clearly hasn't. Tip for anybody re-assembling or putting nuts on bolts; put some bloomin grease on!
Put it in place and on with the bearing puller...
Started to tighten up and watched the steel begin to bend under the strain. My heart sank as this was really beginning to get ridiculous now. However, I persevered and just as the puller was on the verge of coming off the bending plates, donk! Movement at last. I quickly reversed the plates, refitted the puller, and began to crank. Slowly the wheel finally eased up off the shaft.
Well, what a relief. Can't believe such a stupid problem could cause so much grief. Loads of time and effort spent trying to undo something that should have come apart far easier.
As I suspected, the splined shaft and bearing surface is corroded...
I was also correct in doubting the penetrating oil was getting in; it clearly hasn't. Tip for anybody re-assembling or putting nuts on bolts; put some bloomin grease on!
Well done... that took some sweat ! You really would'nt have thought you would get rust like that on a steering column.
Right, now that the steering wheel is out, I could crack on. Stripped the remaining bits still attached to the bulkhead, pulled the loom through, speedo cable freed, brake pipes, clutch pipe, choke cable, throttle pedal, freed the feet from seals, removed the two bulkhead to chassis bolts, and out it came.
Next up, the seat box.
Next up, the seat box.
And the seat box and side seals are off. Sprayed a can of degreaser on the greasy dirty bits and gave it a bit of a scrub. Needs a pressure wash now.
Getting a bit daunting now. Taking stuff apart is relatively easy; repairs and reassembly takes a bit more effort.
Getting a bit daunting now. Taking stuff apart is relatively easy; repairs and reassembly takes a bit more effort.
While I'm waiting for an order of bulkhead and seal replacement parts to arrive, I made a start at removing the rot from the bulkhead.
I'm not the first one here. This bulkhead already had repairs done in the past. Shame the work wasn't done well enough to prevent the problems I now need to resolve. First of all, drilled out a number of plug welds. They were all over the show.
As I suspected though, the rot extends all the way underneath...
...so removed the piece further across to reveal clean metal...
...and cut the piece off. I'll have to have a go at fabricating a replacement
That will have to do for today. To be continued...
I'm not the first one here. This bulkhead already had repairs done in the past. Shame the work wasn't done well enough to prevent the problems I now need to resolve. First of all, drilled out a number of plug welds. They were all over the show.
As I suspected though, the rot extends all the way underneath...
...so removed the piece further across to reveal clean metal...
...and cut the piece off. I'll have to have a go at fabricating a replacement
That will have to do for today. To be continued...