Vehicle & Technical > Discovery
The Birth of Pheonix (Technical Thread)
J.D.:
Suspension components primed for painting along with the steering guard and diff guards as I finished the other day. I thought red guards over a black axle would look quite good. Just need a complete can to do the Southdown Tank Guard and towing bracket now.
After 4 coats of red Hammerite. Also painted the intake manifold, header tank, rocker cover and metal intercooler pipe bright red (mainly because I'm a tart, not because it looks good). Sorry for the dark image, but it was about 2300 when I finished that night.
Automatic pedal box taken out, ready to install the manual one. However, because this truck has an adjustable height steering wheel, I had to cut the bottom off the auto box, make a cutout in the manual box and weld the bottom of the auto box to the manual box so the steering column seal will fit and the steering wheel can still be adjusted.
Adapted pedal box fitted in nicely and the master cylinders for the brake and clutch fitted fine. I've also put a softer clutch spring in so her indoors finds it nicer to drive. I had to go and visit my 'Land Rover Grave Yard' for some of the bits (thats a Disco', whats left of a 4 door RRC and a Series III in the distance):
Next job was remove the front seats to rub down and seal the inside of the car, however I hadn't quite bargained on going from this:
to this:
and then all the way to this:
Once rubbed down, the rust cut out and with a couple of patches welded in and primered over the top, it didn't look too bad. I just hope the passenger side is in better nick. I presume the hole in the corner of the footwell was why the carpet was wet, as it was dead inline with the front offside wheel.
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I then set about removing the fuel tank and filler pipe (needed to underseal the rear floor, put a diesel sender unit in the tank and put a diesel filler pipe on it). Tank came out nice and easily (apart from the 2 x 17mm bolts at the front which needed a breaker bar as even the impact gun wouldn't undo them!)
Now for the dirty smelly job, as the ground was dry, rubbing down the rest of the underneath of the body and chassis and undersealing with proper underseal. For anyone who has never used it, its like trying to paint with tar!. This is the main reason I inserted some breeze blocks between the chassis and the body, as I just needed a little more room for the hand and the brush.
Rear wheel arches got three coats as the wheels are going to throw all sort of abuse at the coating. For once, even after attacking the inside of the wheel arch with a wire brush, there was no rust or holes. Thats one thing at least.
Next jobs is to do the same as above on the passenger side, cut the V8 engine mounts out and weld the diesel ones in, cut the bottom pulley off the 200TDi and replce timing belt and head gasket and rear crankshaft oil seal.
Anyone got any ideas what I should do for a rear winch mount. On ASBO (though I rarely used it for off roading as it was a PITA to store in the truck), I had a Southdown towing bracket which had been cut down and a winch tray bolted to it with a 9,500lb winch in it. Shall I cut out the rear crossmember and weld in a winch tray, meaning the rear winch is there permenantly, which means remodelling the tank guard so I still maintain the towing capabilities or shall I keep my current system. A rear winch is useful to me for pulling vehicles onto trailers and dollies, but with the current system I can't have a trailer hitched up and use the rear winch, and it would mean building some brackets in the back of the truck to hold it securely (not too much of a problem, just loss of storage space and more welding lol.
A quick question as well, does anyone know if a diesel sender unit will screw into a petrol fuel tank and is there anything I should be aaware of using a petrol fuel tank for diesel? :-$
J.D.:
Ok, well the ABS pump and the majority of the brake lines have been replaced, the ABS pump was leaking so that had a replacement plumbed in.
Also removed the rear axle a while ago. Time to replace the A - frame balljoint and bushes. One bolt came out, the other needed a little pursuasion from the old four and 'arf! I have got a wide angle A frame balljoint to put back in, which will hopefully improve the articulation.
As did one of the old brake flexi hoses.
And I found the largest rust hole yet - in the passenger footwell at the front. Suspect this is why the front carpets were permenantly wet! Oh joy, yet more welding. :)
Rear axle had new brake lines, new brake discs and pads, new 6" extended braided brake lines (Goodridge), air line for the rear locking diff (ARB) and a nice shiny red QT diff guard (from Hammerite lol). Axle has also been rubbed down and undersealed.
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Considering I did all that in two hours on Sunday morning while the 'high command' was shopping, I thought I did rather well. :D
J.D.:
Ok, well I still had to get the A frame balljoint out of the carrier. I managed to move it slightly with a socket and hammer...
....but after that it went solid, and even with heat it wouldn't shift.... (but the workbench did start glowing nicely!)
So I used one of the hydraulics on the Scammel. I haven't taken any pics of this bit because I don't want someone trying to do the same and causing an injury.
Then an abrasive spinner on a drill was used to clean the inside of the carrier once it had been separated from the ball joint.
And a wire brush disc on the 4.5" was used to tidy up the carrier (because I like shiny bits).
I then had to swap the rear prop flange from a 3 bolt one to a 4 bolt one in order to fit a 200TDi prop, and remove the rubber donut. I have used this method of doing it as I didn't need to keep the 3 bolt flange, so damage is not a problem. Obviously if you want to keep the 3 bolt flange for future use, a little less violence is needed!
First, use a 4.5" grinder to put a shallow (10mm) cut behind each of the 'leaves' with the bolt holes in.
Then, put a shallow cut with the grinder between each of the 'leaves', avoiding cutting too deep and damaging the flange bolt.
Then use a club hammer to beat each of the 'leaves' back towards the diff, this releases the friction on the spigot and should allow it to be twisted free and pulled out.
The bolt underneath is 30mm and will need a breaker bar to undo. There is a spacer and a fabric washer underneath. If you want to (I did), the pinion seal can be replaced as well, and the four bolt flange can be inserted. Apply grease to the flange and seal to make them easier to fit.
J.D.:
Haven't been too busy with Pheonix at the moment, as my better half has just bought 'Poppy' so I have had to bow to pressure and do some work on that to get it ready for Hogmoor Enclosure this coming weekend. However, I have managed to do a few things in between other jobs. I was hoping to have it on the road (by which I mean engine in, gearbox in, X - springs on, tyres on, underbody protection on, with just the auxillary wiring to do) by the end of this week, but I don't think I am going to make it.
Got the new lightbar made up, and it took quite a bit of bending to get the arc to match the front of the bodywork on the truck, but once the bend was there, the welding was fairly easy.
Also got the lightbar painted up in return for a full service on 'Poppy' - and she has still got the steering guard and tank guard to primer and red Hammerite! :D
Also made up some recovery eyes for the front of both mine and 'Poppy', which are rated to 3.5T and sit very close into the bumper, reducing the bashed knees!
Fitted the tank which will hold the vegetable oil between the chassis rails as well, next job is to fit the small diesel tank which will fit under the rear floor on the drivers side, near the fuel fille. Must weld some mounts in first though.
Finally the new injectors arrived, which meant I could refind the head and fit them!
If anyone is interested in either the lightbar or recovery eyes (I do ones for Defenders as well), then the details are on the website in my signature.
bravo669:
loks smart so far!keep it up
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