Another catch up post...
Had a problem with the fuel tank, while calibrating the gauge (using water instead of petrol) I found a leak on one of the seams. So the fuel tank had to be put on hold until another visit to the ali fabricator could be sorted out. Got the gauge calibrated at least....
This Saturday yet more time was devoted to the new rear shock absorber mounts - all the 8mm holes I had painstakingly drilled were too small as, at some point Land Rover changed to M10. This wasn't helped at all by the fact that I no longer seem to possess a sharp 10mm drill bit, all I will say is that you should NEVER, EVER run 3mm box section inside a chassis leg !
For some light relief I added some more bling in the shape of a stainless "exhaust finisher" from D44. It does serve a useful purpose by stiffening up the rear panel where I cut the hole for the exhaust.. but mostly it's just bling
Roger "Two Sheds" came over to lend a hand in the afternoon and got the old Simex off the bead lock rims, Having 32 bolts holding the bead in place is a really good idea... undoing 160 of them half a turn at a time on the other hand isn't a 2 minute job...
We then fabricated up the spare wheel support framework which was welded to the chassis and gives a 4x2 box section to support the wheel. last job was to drop the rear winch into the cross member - this revealed that, for some reason, the exhaust had moved over a couple of inches and was now fouling the brake ratchet.
Sunday I, yet again, started with the rear shock absorber top mounts, determined to finish the job off once and for all. I was forced into buying a second pair of mounts from scrapiron racing to match the existing ones. Despite me stating specifically I didn't want the version with the axle strap mount on them, that was what they sent me anyway. Not a problem except that the extended lump fouled on the rear cross member extensions. After trying a number of things to resolve it in a civilised manner, a slitting disk in the angle grinder removed the extra lump of metal so all I had to do was bolt it up - after cutting and rethreading the M10 x 120mm bolts I had as the 100mm ones didn't quite reach through enough. Finally, they are bolted on and ready to add seom shock absorbers to !
Next job was to figure out what had happened to the exhaust. This led to a complete redesign of the rear section, cutting and welding the section running alongside the chassis a few times until it was right. Need to take Mr Angle grinder to the tail pipe though as, moving the exhaust nearer the chassis rail means it now sticks out of the side of the wing by a couple of inches. Will wait until I'm certain I'm happy with the position before I cut it though.
I fitted the old fuel tank into the load bed, nearly doing myself an injury when the fuel all ran to one end as I lifted it. Strapped it to the spare wheel carrier so it couldn't go anywhere and managed to stretch the fuel lines to reach it so I could get the vehicle mobile for Monday's visit to the Ali fabricator.
Stripped all the junk out of the cab - speakers, CB etc... and took the headlining and sun visors out so they can be cleaned.