LJ70 Build Thread!

[Roger Fairclough]

Hammerite sets rock hard, so, in my opinion, is not suitable for any thing that flexes.

When I did my back axle, I had the old paint and rust removed by shot blasting. I then painted the surface with a decent zinc primer and covered that with a bituminous paint. I also use the bituminous paint on the chassis and to repair any damaged underseal. It's dirt cheap, about £7 for 5 litres.

Galvanizing is the answer for parts that can be done, but it requires either shot blasting or a chemical strip beforehand. The coating is about 0.008" thick, and in a salty coastal environment will loose about 0.001" per year in thickness. If you do galvanize a chassis, you will need to use a specific primer if you paint it immediately after coating, otherwise paint adhesion will quickly fail.

A galvanized surface will "repair" itself if scratched.

Roger

 

[Ben]

i never thought of bitumen paint Roger, good call.

i used it years ago to paint some stables, painted the corrugated tin sheet roof and the wooden sides, worked well. i then used it successfully on a big trailer.

IMHO hammerite isnt what it used to be.

they changed the formula a few years ago to make it sprayable, which basically means they thinned it down, so its no longer as thick as it used to be, and doesnt give anywhere near as good a coverage as it used to.

 

[jeepmadmike]

Old engine oil is corrosive Ben don't do it!

Filling cavities with wax is a problem to unless they are dry.

I rebuild a mk1 cortina 1500gt a few years ago to use as a historic rally car, I had to replace the inner and outer sills as the base of them was rotten- they where half full of wax (old guy I bought it from waxed it yeary!) but the base had moisture in it and then rot!

I really like black waxoyl for the surface of the under body, chassis and axles etc, snag is it takes an age to dry - but it stops the rot (as long as the surface it clean and dry to start with) I've been using it for 15 years and it works.

Hammerite is crap tractor paint from my local farm shop is amazing stuff...

 

[Ben]

i didnt realise its corrosive.

ive heard of people using it for years and never having problems.

does waxoil ever dry completely? i found that after i sprayed it under a vehicle everytime i came to do some work on it from then on, id end up covered in the stuff, and the only thing that would get it off my skin was white spirit!

that tractor enamel paint is good stuff, ive been using it for the last few years.

 

[AndyCook]

i ordered some black enamel chassis paint - and interestingly 2.5 litres of it still costs less than a litre of hammerite

 

[Ben]

i ordered some black enamel chassis paint - and interestingly 2.5 litres of it still costs less than a litre of hammerite

where did you order that from Andy?

 

[AndyCook]

ebay
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CHASSIS-BLACK ... 2a181fa14d

the tractor stuff must be similar, but might be cheaper from an agricultural supplier?

 

[Ben]

very late start today, as i was on skype for 5 hours!

so first job was to remove the old hand brake cable.

this was proving difficult on my own, so i decided to unbolt the handbrake lever.

i was still struggling to push all the little fins in and push the cable through at the same time.

so i unbolted the small pressed metal tray piece in the hope that would make it easier.

it was still a struggle, but eventually i got the cable out.

next job was to sort the calliper out.

i found that to have the lever on the calliper in the position i needed it, the spring then wasnt providing enough force to pull the lever back fully after operation.

so i decided to drill a third hole.

spring fitted.

took a few attempts at fitting it, to work out the best positioning of the lever, so that it didnt foul the prop shaft.

its not very clear in the pic but the disc was catching on the piston side of the calliper, and i could see about 3-4mm of clearance the other side.

so i found some washers that fit the bolts, and were various thickness's ranging from 1.5mm-4mm.

i decided to try the 2mm washers first.

it was bit tricky, but i managed to get the washer on first and then the blue spacer.

the dog thought it was a good idea to come and lie on me as i was trying to bolt the calliper on.

reconnected the cable.

i found when i pulled the handbrake lever, the lever on the calliper was hitting the end of the cable, before the calliper had pushed the pad out all the way, tightly against the disc.

so cable back off and on the bench, and angle grinder ready.
perfect job for the cordless grinder, because it spins a lot slower than a 240v grinder and is a lot easier to control on precise work.

so i wanted to cut about 10mm off the end, but had to be careful not to go through and damage the cable.

so i cut most of the way through, all the way around.

put it in the vice and used some pliers to twist off the end.

i then used the grinder to slit down both sides of the piece id cut off. i was then able to shear it in half with a pair of pincers.

all done.

refitted.

and now working perfectly and not fouling.

it all seems to be working perfectly now.

i ran the engine with the rear wheels off the ground and left in gear for half an hour, and although the disc is catching the pads very slightly in places, due to the disc not running perfectly true, the disc and calliper never even got warm.

 

[Red Oktober]

Sterling work Ben

 

[Ben]

ebay
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CHASSIS-BLACK ... 2a181fa14d

the tractor stuff must be similar, but might be cheaper from an agricultural supplier?

no the stuff i buy from my local farm shop is about £7 for a 1 litre tin. good stuff though.

Sterling work Ben

thanks Carl.

 

[Ben]

just realised i never updated this thread with any pics from my last laning trip.

North Wales.

a lot of the lanes were very tight for the cruiser. the smaller suzuki's were fine, but it was tight for the landy.

managed to obliterate a wing mirror on that first lane.

the next lane was a great lane, but the start of it involved opening a gate in what can only be described as a lake of slurry a foot deep!

well worth it though, very tight, technical lane, with lots of axle twisters as you climb the hill.

lots of spring lambs around.

more tight lanes.

one thing i will miss in OZ is all the old castles we have in the UK.

we stopped for lunch outside the church. a sign in the church stated we were 1000ft above the village of Henryd, which is where the byway runs to from the church.

very tight leading down.

this gate was quite tight, i had about 2" of clearance each side.

the lane soon got very tight. on the pic below i had an inch of clearance each side.

i wanted to move a few rocks and keep going, but the rest of the group voted that i should reverse and leave my truck at the top.

no lane has beaten me yet, and i will be back to drive the whole of this lane!

this one tree really needs a piece notching out of it with a chain saw.

this fallen tree across the next lane, really needed moving!

so an 8 meter strop and a kinetic rope.

i must have taken about 10 reverse pulls, gradually getting faster, until i was reversing at about 20mph before the tree was finally pulled down.

the home made front recovery points worked faultlessly!

we re-rigged the ropes, so that it was around another tree to change the direction of the pull.

this worked well and the track was soon clear.

got to the end of the lane to find the gate padlocked shut, so out with the trusty bolt croppers and onto the next lane.

was a great trip and i look forward to getting back up that way soon.

here is Daves blog of the days trip!

http://www.bits4vits.co.uk/store/-39-la ... g_172.html

 

[TonyP]

Nice one Ben. Glad I am not the only one whoes hands look like that after abit of work

 

[Ben]

thanks Tony.

yup can tell ive been working on the truck today. ground in oil and cuts.

 

[ModelMakerMan]

100 pages on this thread!

 

[Ben]

maybe another 100 pages and my truck might actually be finished!

 

[ModelMakerMan]

maybe another 100 pages and my truck might actually be finished!

Havent you worked it out yet? Itll NEVER be finished, there will always be something else to do! Thats how it is with us petrol (or diesel in this case) heads.

 

[Ecoman]

I'll drink to that.

I get a job done on the 80 and the missus says "is that it? have you finally finished it?" and the answer is always, "Well its almost done but I just have another wee bit to do".

The reality is there will be always be another upgrade/mod/repair/tart up/ service etc to do next week!! Its the nature of the beast and i wouldn't have it any other way

 

[Ben]

well im hoping it will be some where near finished by the time i come to export it! cant wait to get it over there and get out and explore OZ in it.

will be in Victoria for the first few years so im hoping to get up to the Victorian High Country as often as possible!

mods still to do:-

-front ARB locker
-dinitrol the underneath
-rear disc conversion
-gearbox/transfer box guard.
-internal roll cage
-home made roof rack
-bigger tyres
-re-geared diffs, if bigger tyres throw the gearing out to much

 

[Roger Fairclough]

Ben.

Just a couple of points.

1) The caliper should slide on the black plastic tubes. You may find it beneficial to lube them with grease. This should alleviate the need for the distance washers.

2) How good is the disc brake?

Roger

 

[Ben]

hi Roger, the washers were necessary, because the calliper was already at the end of the black plastic tubes, but needed to go further.

it seems to be working fine now, but i havnt been able to drive the vehicle and test it properly.

im waiting for replacement bushes for the rear panhard rod, and a new seal for the front output on the transfercase, to fix the oil leak.

i dont want to drive it without changing the seal, because oil will go all over the disc and new pads.