Range Rover Classic Restoration

[helimadken]

Hi Everyone,

I am a year into my complete restoration of a 1987 3.5 EFI Range Rover. The car is typical, excellent chassis but everything else such as doors, sills, foot wells, bulkhead sides, floor, rear arches (inner and outer), boot floor sides, rear inner wings where rotten through. The car has had a hard life with many very bodged repairs and was basically held together with gaffer tape.

My target is to build a car that is free of rot, be able to keep up with modern traffic, be reliable and look/sound great. My budget, being retired, isn't bottomless. I sold a very nice Audi S6 to get me started, lovely car but soulless. I have worked on Land Rovers before and restored a S3 Safari LWB back in the 90's and owned 3 Discovery's so I know the brand. I like to do everything myself, from welding, mechanical work to spraying.

All metal parts are stripped right back to bare metal, all corrosion removed, treated in various ways before being painted.

Here is how the car looked, nice colour Alaskan Blue Metallic which I will stay with -

My first task, after stripping was to fix the doors. The frames where in a terrible state with huge gobs of filler and gaffer tape holding them together -

I bought some second hand doors and used various bits to piece the frames back together -

I spent a lot of time cleaning treating and flatting the door skins which weren't in too bad a condition. After stripping I cleaned the skin with Deoxidine and treated with Alocrom 1200 which turns the Birmabright a golden colour forming a barrier against oxidisation and provides a good basis for painting. The frames and internal surfaces got a coat of etch primer then some Corroless S2 followed by 2K primer and gloss black. The idea of the gloss black is to help water run off and prevent corrosion. The skin was then given a coat of etch primer followed by 2k primer before being put away -

 

[SeriesG]

That's some nice work that is. Looking forward to following this project.

 

[helimadken]

Next up was to repair the body. With the exception of the main wiring loom and heater box the whole car was stripped -

The usual stuff, piece of alloy held in place with black goo. Amazingly the car had recently passed an MOT -

Sills where absolutely shot with many repairs over the top of previous repairs -

So everything was cut out back to good metal -

And new complete sills fitted. These are Froggatts sills which include a good portion of the floor -

Then fitted new foot wells and repair sections for the floor -

On to the rear quarters, the wheel arches looked like patchwork quilts -

I thought I was going to reach the roof by the time I finished cutting -

But managed to get everything back together with new inner and outer wheel arches and boot floor sides -

I took off all the horrible rubbery stuff back to bare metal -

 

[Stu67]

wow.
that's a lot of new metal......
looks fab so far though...

 

[helimadken]

I made a decision regarding the front inner wings and they had to go as they where full of rot -

Also the roof had a very poorly fitted aftermarket sunroof which was held in place with pop rivets, it had obviously been leaking -

The roof was also full of dings and dents so I decided it had to go and set about looking for a new roof.

Once I had all the repairs done to the body it was time to start thinking about taking it off the chassis. I thought about how to do this for a long time. I am working out of a normal double garage and dont have access to fork lifts etc. This is what I came up with -

Using two engine cranes, the first is attached to a piece of angle iron bolted to the seat fixing points, the second to the rear crossmember -

Then I used some wheel skates, taking the wheels off to gain some height and the help of a very strong wife the chassis was pulled out to the side -

Then wheels back on and body placed on axle stands -

The body itself is actually quite light, I left the engine cranes in place as we live next to the sea in Scotland and get quite strong winds. The body actually blew off the axle stands twice over the coming months but thankfully no damage done.

 

[Paul d]

I made a decision regarding the front inner wings and they had to go as they where full of rot -
View attachment 524185
Also the roof had a very poorly fitted aftermarket sunroof which was held in place with pop rivets, it had obviously been leaking -
View attachment 524186
The roof was also full of dings and dents so I decided it had to go and set about looking for a new roof.

Once I had all the repairs done to the body it was time to start thinking about taking it off the chassis. I thought about how to do this for a long time. I am working out of a normal double garage and dont have access to fork lifts etc. This is what I came up with -
View attachment 524187
Using two engine cranes, the first is attached to a piece of angle iron bolted to the seat fixing points, the second to the rear crossmember -
View attachment 524192
Then I used some wheel skates, taking the wheels off to gain some height and the help of a very strong wife the chassis was pulled out to the side -
View attachment 524195
Then wheels back on and body placed on axle stands -
View attachment 524196
The body itself is actually quite light, I left the engine cranes in place as we live next to the sea in Scotland and get quite strong winds. The body actually blew off the axle stands twice over the coming months but thankfully no damage done.

Excellent job you are doing .think they call that properly involved it’s nice to see another saved ,should last for years to come .

 

[SeriesG]

The last picture reminded me of this:

 

[helimadken]

Perhaps I should change my forum name to 'two sheds Ken'

One is full of gardening rubbish, the other some classic Honda motorbikes, and the house is full of Range Rover parts -

As I said, very strong Wife, she is also very understanding

 

[helimadken]

Next up was to strip the chassis bare -

And attack it with the angle grinder fitted with the wire brush from hell so I could get some FE123 on followed by etch primer, corroless and 2k Epoxy Primer -

Once the top and side surfaces where done I could remove the axles and find a way of flipping the chassis over so I could get the bottom done. Used a 3m sling and found the balance point so I could man handle the chassis over -

Then I could spray the whole chassis using 2k black -

Went to town on diffs, axles, hockey sticks etc using the same treatment -

So I could then get the chassis built up. I replaced every last bush, bearing seal etc. Either bought new nuts and bolts or plated -

 

[SWBFreeLoader]

Christ. That is some seriously nice work.
I wish I had the time and space to indulge myself to this level of detail and attention to the task.
Can't wait to see the finished vehicle!

 

[SeriesG]

Christ. That is some seriously nice work.
I wish I had the time and space to indulge myself to this level of detail and attention to the task.
Can't wait to see the finished vehicle!

I'll second that. Very impressive. It'll be better than new once completed. I'd certainly choose this over a new Defender any day.

 

[paul123]

nice work some of those pictures of the rotten sills bring back memory's of the state my two door was in when i started on it. nearly tenty years later it still needs welding on a regular basis. when your is finished dont off road it like i did mine.

 

[Guitar Mick]

That’s very impressive. I take it you have used Corroless before and are confident it does a good job of keeping rust at bay?

 

[helimadken]

Thanks Everyone, much appreciated

That’s very impressive. I take it you have used Corroless before and are confident it does a good job of keeping rust at bay?

To be honest I really dont know, it seems to get very good reviews as a product. What I have been doing is to make sure all internal surfaces get a good coating of Dinitrol and ultimately I will find something (perhaps Lanoguard) to protect underside/external surfaces. After that it will be a matter of looking for any problems developing and fixing as I go along. Also this is primarily being built as a road car, dont intend doing any serious off roading.

Anyway dont trust me with advice on painting or anything else after the disaster I had with the chassis

A few weeks after spraying the 2K black I started to get micro blisters forming, particularly on the top surfaces. I tried flatting back and polishing but they kept coming. Not experienced this before, been spraying a long time and never seen it so aggressive. They kept returning so I took the decision to strip the chassis back down, take all the paint off back to bare metal and start again.

Generally micro-blisters are caused by moisture either in the primer or during spraying so I invested in a second two stage in line moisture trap for my air line and used a de-humidifier to bring the humidity level down in the garage. So I repeated the process and sprayed the chassis again in 2K gloss black.

Two weeks later I started getting micro-blisters WTF! I was totally puzzled as to what was going on. I had sprayed a test piece at the same time which was perfect. The only thing I could think of was residual oil in the chassis. This car had leaked oil like a sieve from engine, gearbox, axles everywhere, probably the reason the chassis was in good condition. I had thoroughly cleaned the chassis but I guess there could still be oil present. The fact that it mostly affected the top surfaces of the chassis backed this theory up.

So start again time, strip the chassis down, take all paint off back to bare metal etc for the third time. Then I attacked it with every degreaser I could find followed by a gallon of acetone. I decided not to use 2K again so I did a coat of etch primer then Corroless S2 primer followed by their RF16 glass reinforced gloss. Decided to go with a mid grey colour just to break the monotony of spraying black yet again.

That was back in October and I havent had another attack of the micro-blisters (that sounds painful doesn't it) so hopefully all is good.

In all I guess I lost 8 weeks painting the chassis repeatedly, those who have painted a chassis will know just how much surface area there is to prepare and paint.

 

[Guitar Mick]

Thanks Everyone, much appreciated



To be honest I really dont know, it seems to get very good reviews as a product. What I have been doing is to make sure all internal surfaces get a good coating of Dinitrol and ultimately I will find something (perhaps Lanoguard) to protect underside/external surfaces. After that it will be a matter of looking for any problems developing and fixing as I go along. Also this is primarily being built as a road car, dont intend doing any serious off roading.

Anyway dont trust me with advice on painting or anything else after the disaster I had with the chassis
View attachment 524342
A few weeks after spraying the 2K black I started to get micro blisters forming, particularly on the top surfaces. I tried flatting back and polishing but they kept coming. Not experienced this before, been spraying a long time and never seen it so aggressive. They kept returning so I took the decision to strip the chassis back down, take all the paint off back to bare metal and start again.

Generally micro-blisters are caused by moisture either in the primer or during spraying so I invested in a second two stage in line moisture trap for my air line and used a de-humidifier to bring the humidity level down in the garage. So I repeated the process and sprayed the chassis again in 2K gloss black.

Two weeks later I started getting micro-blisters WTF! I was totally puzzled as to what was going on. I had sprayed a test piece at the same time which was perfect. The only thing I could think of was residual oil in the chassis. This car had leaked oil like a sieve from engine, gearbox, axles everywhere, probably the reason the chassis was in good condition. I had thoroughly cleaned the chassis but I guess there could still be oil present. The fact that it mostly affected the top surfaces of the chassis backed this theory up.

So start again time, strip the chassis down, take all paint off back to bare metal etc for the third time. Then I attacked it with every degreaser I could find followed by a gallon of acetone. I decided not to use 2K again so I did a coat of etch primer then Corroless S2 primer followed by their RF16 glass reinforced gloss. Decided to go with a mid grey colour just to break the monotony of spraying black yet again.

That was back in October and I havent had another attack of the micro-blisters (that sounds painful doesn't it) so hopefully all is good.

In all I guess I lost 8 weeks painting the chassis repeatedly, those who have painted a chassis will know just how much surface area there is to prepare and paint.

Good advice there, thanks for sharing. That's a lot of grief but you got there in the end. Some of the lads on here have used Corroless on their rests and have been very pleased with it. I use Lanoguard on my Series and it is very easy to apply and it certainly gets into all the little nooks and crannies.
Here's the thread:
https://www.lrukforums.com/threads/...ment-for-the-under-side-of-your-landy.268009/

 

[helimadken]

Thanks for the link, interesting read and has definitely made my mind up over Lanoguard. I will get everything coated before I do any serious driving.

Back to the body, I took the roof off so I could strip, clean and paint the top rail, all of the interior got a coat of 2K primer -

Followed by 2K gloss black, no sooner got this done than it rained, bugger but it only marred the surface slightly -

Stripped and painted the new roof and got it fitted, the Range Rover sunroof has supports which where missing on the aftermarket version, once fitted the roof is solid -

Bulkhead repairs where done and I got my first colour on the car, its a good match for the original colour -

I decided to strip off all the underseal from the underneath of the body. This was a hell of a task but I wanted to do it so I could check nothing nasty was lurking underneath it, had to do several patches which I would not have found otherwise. The underseal came off relatively easily with a multi-tool fitted with a stripping blade. Everything was painted in the usual way, elected not to use underseal as I hate the stuff and this way I can see any problems forming in the future. I have used stone-guard in areas that will be exposed to gravel rash -

The frame of the rear lower tailgate was in good condition only needing a few repairs but the skin was shot -

So I fitted a complete new skin from Famous Four which was excellent. The internal surfaces where painted in my usual way then completely coated with Dinitrol before assembly -

 

[Guitar Mick]

Lovely, that tailgate looks like it just came out of the factory and it's not even got it's colour coat on yet!

 

[SWBFreeLoader]

That's exactly why I try never to get too involved in painting things.
It is an utter mine field, especially when mixing product brands and all the tiny little things that can go wrong ruining the whole job.
I think if I had to paint a chassis more than once i'd have invented a load of new swear words by now. Like an extra dictionary full.

 

[helimadken]

Yes it is amazing how many things can go wrong especially if you are in a normal everyday garage. I remember years ago painting a motorcycle tank, paint went on beautiful, smooth no reactions, sags or runs I was chuffed and decided to go for a cuppa. Opened the door and a huge gust of wind blew what seemed like the entire contents of the garden onto the fresh paint, I was gutted.

Stubborn sod me though just keep going till I get it right.

 

[RaggedJoe]

This has become a favourite thread, thank you for sharing. Great to see such excellent work on what will surely be a lovely vehicle when complete.

As a side note it also totally kills my vague longing for a RRC, as I have neither the patience nor the ability to do this type of work!