As mentioned in the "Descent into...madness" post, I've given myself a 50th birthday gift (50?! How the hell did that happen?!).  It's a 1984 300Tdi 110, or at least it will be.  Right now it's a 1984 pile of corroded parts on a frame with no powertrain, and an unsuspecting 1995 300Tdi 110 Commercial body.

Job one has been stripping the '84 hulk of anything worth keeping.  There isn't much, but then I really just bought it for the VIN and V5 (UK equivalent of a title).  I was able to salvage the steering shaft, pedal boxes and the brake servo/master, the heater box, the vent flaps and controls, 4 Alpine windows, the Salisbury axle shafts, the rear fuel tank (steel, not plastic), and probably the best bits -- two D90 saddle tanks and the associated piping.  With the saddles installed, total fuel carrying capacity is upwards of 40 gallons, giving a range of about 800 miles between fill ups, and no jerry cans to mess with.

The '84 has a great history; the guy I bought it from lived in it for sevaral years and traveled all over Europe, the middle east and Africa.  The PO is using the front body on his build of a HiCap 110 pickup.  I've found coins from all over while stripping the truck, I'm trying to come up with a clever way to put them in the new build as a legacy from the '84.

picasaweb.google.com/velocewest/110#

I collect the '95 next week.  It started life as a fire department service vehicle in Ireland, now it lives in the Orkney Islands.  I'm taking the train to Aberdeen, Scotland to pick it up from the ferry.  Then it will be about an 8 hour drive home for a shakedown cruise.  It should be uneventful, the truck has less than 80,000 miles on it, and it's been well maintained.

The only immediate change will be to cut off and weld the 84's VIN to the '95 frame, and install the '84 VIN tag on the brake pedal box.  Then I can "scrap" the '95 and take the '84 off SORN, get an MOT and get the truck taxed and legal as a model year 1984.  Next up will will be to remove the full bulkhead that separates the cab from the box, and to install a set of D90 slider windows in the box sides.

More as it happens!

 Tony,

You are the best kind of madman to undertake such an adventure and save a vehicle like that. ...and it even comes with a camp stove, good for making coffee while you figure out what to do next.  I admire your skill to attempt such an undertaking.

A quick update, I'll get more pics on Picasa soon. I picked up the '95 on Tuesday 21 September. I flew to Aberdeen, Scotland, and collected the truck from the ferry terminal where it arrived from the Orkney Islands.

OK, for 2,000 quid I wasn't expecting a showroom vehicle, but... well. let's just say it looks like it may have been used to commute to Scotland, which is about 40 miles of ocean. Yep, she's a bit rusty. The doors are nothing but aluminum sheet from the locks down, the steel frames are simply gone. The rear cross member I can poke my finger through. Eek.

Oh well, I wanted a project! Anyway, the drive home was relatively uneventful. I did discover a small problem with the locks at a rest stop an hour or so north of Edinburgh. Like, they lock, but don't unlock... Of course all the tools I had thoughtfully packed were locked inside, and I left the lights on. Initial efforts resulted in me breaking the door handle off, but not budging the lock one micron. I was almost to the point of breaking a window, when it occurred to me that I would be buying doors, so why not just take the direct route. A walk around the truck brought me to the tow hitch, which to my good fortune is a Dixon-Bates that has a removable pin, and to my further good luck was not so rusty that I couldn't free it. A couple minutes later I was back on the road, with a minor scar in the door skin...

The only other issue on the drive home was discovering that the "P" gasket was leaking and peeing water down the side of the engine. I had to stop a couple times to fill the coolant tank, but that just gave me a chance to empty my fluid reservoir. The 300Tdi ran strong and "smooth" all the way home, over 450 miles.

I've been in mad parts gathering mode. I have a timing belt kit and a bunch of gaskets on order, I'm going to do the whole front of the engine. I found a nice 1.2 ratio LT230 to replace the stock 1.4 ratio box. Actually I bought a complete LT77 trans and the t-case for the equivalent of a whopping $100. The LT77 I can sell on for at least $75, and I can sell my 1.4 ratio case for another $75, so I actually made money on the 1.2 case. I found a set of 110 sliding back windows for $120. I have a line on some nice sliders for about $150. The biggest expense is the doors. Best I could find was a set of 3 (I only have three, it's a van body) for $750. They are complete, with windows, door cards, hinges, even the back wiper.

The '84 frame is in decent shape, so the rear cross member will come from there. I think I'm going to have to replace most of the brake parts, and the '84 is no help there becaue it has drums on the back and solid front discs, and the '95 is disc all around with vented fronts.

One nice find was a set of Mudstuff Oops, Exmoor Trim seat rails on eBay for about half retail. They lift the driver's seat about 1.5 inches and provide some tilt adjustment, which makes an amazing difference in the comfort of the driving position.

I sprung for a little bling, and bought an LED rear fog lamp and LED license plate lamp. I also whipped up a TonyTech 12v halogen backup light like the one I put in Thirsty the RRC.

As I spend more time poking around the truck, the happier I get. Defenders are so elegantly simple. All the body panels are just flat or folded aluminum or steel. The few curves are simple and generally don't affect functional areas like the load bay or seat box. If you want a different part, you can make it with simple tools. Most of the body is held together with rivets, so changes or replacements take no more skill than required to drill holes and pop rivets. Even I can do that!

Pics of the red truck added to picasa -- picasaweb.google.com/velocewest/110#

Also, I've been pondering colors.  The '84 is Marine Blue, and I like that.  With a white top it's a classic LR color combo.  But I was looking at Jason's Taco build thread, and the red/black combo is compelling.  I've never been much for red, and a 110 is a bloody lot of real estate.  Still,  now I'm thinking black hood, , black sliders, black sills (bedliner coated), and tint on the sliding side windows will break up the red quit a bit.

The other color I'm tempted by is NATO sand, in a flat finish.  Again with some black accents.

Did a little work yesterday -- spent about 3 hours replacing the drop arm ball joint. The rubber boot was gone, so it was in dire condition.

Most of the joint came out easy enough, after I cut off the crown nut with the angle grinder. But the top cup was seized in the drop arm, and was not budging. It finally emerged after liberal use of heat, penetrating oil, and 30 minutes of patient work with a punch and hammer to drive it out.

For the record -- I admit it. I should have spent an extra 1,500 quid and bought a truck that had not spent the last 6 years on a small island in the North Sea. It's not just the visible corrosion that makes things challenging. It's the accumulated effect of salt air on everything. I cleaned the intercooler with a pressure washer and it blasted most of the cooling vanes out, the aluminum is so corroded.

I pulled the tub cappings off the blue hulk, as the ones on the red truck are like steel Swiss cheese. The cover for the rear Salisbury will be traded with the blue hulk.  I chopped the rear 1/4 of the frame off the blue hulk and it will get welded in to the red truck.  I think I might take the front axle housing from the blue truck and get a sewer cap diff cover welded on, then swap the housings. The diff cover on the red truck is quite thin, I think I could poke a screwdriver through it in a couple spots. I ordered all new brake calipers and discs, I can't believe the PO got the truck through a MOT with the brakes as bad as they are. He must have a relative with a MOT station...

Hopefully today I will get the side slider windows installed. The guy who sold me the windows found a good solid bonnet (hood) in his stash and offered it for £25, so I need to collect that this weekend. My "new" doors should arrive today as well. Last night I picked up a starter, intercooler, turbo, vacuum pump and air con compressor for cheap from a local I connected with on a Landy forum. He had an injection pump, but it was the later ECU controlled one unfortunately. I'm trying to accumulate spares when I see them cheap, so that when I return to the US I have replacements for the critical and expensive diesel parts that are not readily available.

She's coming together! I'll post more pics when something cosmetic happens.

First side window in today! New pics in the Picasa album.

picasaweb.google.com/velocewest/110#

What are you doing up so late Tony?
 

:)

Posted By Ben Bailey on 10/02/2010 8:06 AM
So, are you restoring the blue one or the red one? Or just collecting parts to see what you come up with?

The Brits would classify it as a "bitsa", as in, bitsa this one, bitsa that one.  It will be about 70% the red one, maybe 10% the blue one, and the rest from other donors.

What I'm doing is legally morfing the red '95 into an '84 using the VIN and V5 (UK title equivalent) from the blue hulk.  Since per UK law the VIN is tied to the frame, and frames get replaced on Landies, there is a process to tie the VIN to a new frame.  The "new" frame in my project is the one from the 95.  Other than the frame, nothing matters.  I will swap the VIN plate on the brake box, for consistency.

Why?  Because I can import a 25 year old Defender into the US without needing to meet NHTSA or emissions standards.  Thinkin' ahead!

Took a run today to see the guy who sold me the sliding windows. The original purpose was to pick up a bonnet for the stonking price of £25. By the time I left I had a set of almost new +2" gas shocks including the rear pin top mounts for a whopping £30 all in, a steering guard for £25, and one from the Holy Grail list -- a windscreen with folding bottom clamps. Not sure why I needed this for a 110 hardtop, bit if I ever want to build a softtop, I have a folding windscreen. And hell, it was only £40...

As for the bonnet, it's cool -- it's from a very early Defender, an '83 or '84, and the frame is amazingly clean, no rust at all.

More progress today. Installed the "new" bonnet, and de-installed the headliner and the CD player. The headliner will be replaced with something more durable and with a higher insulation value, and the CD player is being moved, either to a cubby box or in the Mudstuff dash panel for which I lust.

Also took out the instrument panel to clean it up. While at it, I installed LED lights for gauge illumination. I love 12v LEDs, so much improvement for next to no money, and it's nice being able to see the instruments at night. Also had to fix my headlight switch -- it decided to break Saturday, fortunately right after I pulled into the driveway. It was an easy fix, just needed a little solder.

The focus now must be on the items needed to get the MOT done. I have received the new brakes, but I forgot to order pads -- Doh! Also, I need to order a windscreen seal. Those two jobs and getting the rear of the frame cut off and replaced and Smokey will be ready for the MOT.
 

A few more pics in the album picasaweb.google.com/velocewest/110#

Two more projects ticked off the list (maybe three depending on how you count). I got the new seal on the windscreen and got it in the frame. Had to go pick up some thicker cord to pull the seal through the frame. Unbolted the top, and then replaced the windshield/frame and the tub capping.

I found a steel mesh grill and a pair of Series 3 headlight trims. I like how it looks, more like the early V8 Series 3 trucks. I've about settled on painting the truck NATO sand, the matte style used by the factory on the new Puma Defenders. I saw a DoKa painted with it on my Solihull tour, and it still appeals to me. I'll probably do all the trim in black.

The big action today was buying a galvanized chassis. I found one for a very good price on the LRO forum. It turns out the seller is liquidating a bunch of Defender parts that were his brothers. The brother was killed in a road accident a couple months ago, driving his LPG-fueled V8 110. All the money made selling off the trucks and parts is being put into a trust for the two children. I was vacillating on buying the chassis, but when I heard the story I had o do it. It's a nice setup, rolling on 24 spline axles with polybushes, 2 inch lift springs and new shocks. I'll swap my rear Salisbury axle and sell the rear 24 spline.

The chassis swap will be a big project. I may pay to have someone do the heavy lifting, because I don't have all the tools here I had in the US -- heavy duty jack, engine hoist, etc...

More pics on Picasa picasaweb.google.com/velocewest/110#

Incredible rebuild Tony!  Keep up the good work.

More "progress"...  A mate of a mate was supposed to come over Sunday morning to do the welding to the frame needed to get through MOT, so on Saturday I fired up the angle grinder to cut off the bad and make way for the good.  As is often the way with these things, the worms got out of the can...

Not a big surprise, but I found more rust.  So instead of replacing the just the last foot or so of frame and the rear cross member, it's also going to be necessary to replace the cross member that holds up the front of the fuel tank.  Again the blue hulk comes to the rescue.

I suppose some are wondering "didn't you buy a galvanized frame?  Why are you fixing the rusty one?"  Well, that's a good question.  The answer is, swapping frames -- or more correctly, moving the body to a new frame, is going to take a while, and I want to sell my BMW and start driving the Landy, so I want to get it through MOT now.  And since the blue hulk is providing the parts, all it will cost is the welding, which I'm getting at "mate of a mate" rates.

I also got the driver side door swapped, although I still need to finish installing all the window and lock hardware.  I had read that getting the door aligned could be a pain.  I held the new door up to the hole, latched it at the back, and bolted up the hinges.  Maybe it was beginners luck, but when I was done, it was perfectly aligned.  Serendipity!

 picasaweb.google.com/velocewest/110#