LJ70 Build Thread!

[sae70]

Excellent blog Ben

I very much enjoyed reading it and I was there all weekend

I'd like to call the first lane that we did on the last day, down off the mountain 'Chuckle Lane' as it did just that for me. It had me smiling and laughing all the way down. Despite the potential for disaster round every corner!!! It really did make my day, twice

That lane that took us three and a half hours to navigate quarter of a mile should hold the 'Bastard Lane' name without doubt and if I never go there again it'll be to soon

I'm so pleased that we managed to fix your rad that first morning as the weekend would have been very different without your great personality and vast knowledge of the areas we drove

What an awesome weekend Nice one

Roll on Lincomb

PS - Have got the vids sorted into one but struggling to upload them currently

 

[Ben]

Thanks Steven!

regarding the rad i must look into getting a heavy duty thick core one made, ideally out of aluminium.

Yeah im really looking forward to Lincomb aswell! always a great weekend.

Let me know when youve got the vids up and i will embed it here.

 

[Graham]

Hi Ben,

Well it was about this time yesterday, that I just finished reading you "Saturday" lanes.
i have made a good reply of about 10 lines,,
Posted it, then the forum seemed to go into melt down.

So I post this with the hope it don't happen again.

The Land Rover seemed pretty cool, doing it's "dead dog" impersonation.
But then I guess, some Land Rovers seem to be able to perfect the animation.

If you had have been driving point, would your 70, have fell over, as did happen to Giles's?
Was he unlucky, or did he not judge the depth of the hole OK?

Gra.
(here go's the submit)

 

[Maverick]

Great Blog Ben.

re: Aluminium - you're making you own Diff, or a measuring tool to measure those TIGHT Lanes that 'bloke' keeps taking you to in the Lakes and/or Wales (errr, where are you going in 2weeks??)

BTW - Gary has deffo given up 4x4'ing!

 

[Ben]

Stevens video of us winching the landy back over.

At 1.19 theres a loud bang as the rear shock explodes.

[youtube:303ordi7]UxMWUzd4O6s[/youtube:303ordi7]

Hi Ben,

Well it was about this time yesterday, that I just finished reading you "Saturday" lanes.
i have made a good reply of about 10 lines,,
Posted it, then the forum seemed to go into melt down.

So I post this with the hope it don't happen again.

The Land Rover seemed pretty cool, doing it's "dead dog" impersonation.
But then I guess, some Land Rovers seem to be able to perfect the animation.

If you had have been driving point, would your 70, have fell over, as did happen to Giles's?
Was he unlucky, or did he not judge the depth of the hole OK?

Gra.
(here go's the submit)

Yes mine would have fallen over, but IMHO i wouldnt have taken the line he took, because mine is quite high and unstable on side slopes.

But Giles's landy is still running standard height suspension and no bodylift (just bigger tyres) so you can imagine how much of a side slope it must have been, trying to drive with 1 side of the vehicle in the bomb hole and the other side up higher.

a mixture of unluckiness and not realising how deep the hole was i guess.

Ive always found that when driving off road, if you become complacent for a minute, or dont concentrate for a few seconds, things can go very wrong very quick.

Great Blog Ben.

re: Aluminium - you're making you own Diff, or a measuring tool to measure those TIGHT Lanes that 'bloke' keeps taking you to in the Lakes and/or Wales (errr, where are you going in 2weeks??)

BTW - Gary has deffo given up 4x4'ing!

Thanks Brett.

nope not making either of your suggestions.

it is progressing well though.

picked up some more bits today, and going to buy a special tool tomorrow to hopefully finish it off!

Then i will get some pics up.

Where am i going in 2 weeks? hopefully not down any ridiculously tight lanes again!

not surprised Gary has given up.

Just hope Dave decides he doesnt want to give it all up.

 

[Ben]

My truck is first and for most a toy!

Being a SWB makes it good off road, and makes driving tight technical sections a lot easier than it would be in a LWB, but it also means i havnt got much room, which means space is tight, especially when camping.

I planned on making this last week, to avoid having to cook like this:-

but i didnt get time.

So this week i dropped off some measurements to my local metal fabricator, and the next day i picked up the 3mm thick aluminium, and paid him £30.

the rear door cards were looking tatty anyway.

pulled the door card off and removed the plastic fixings from the back.

they push tightly into the door and hold the door card on.

I marked around the door card onto a piece of aluminium.

and cut the corners off using a jigsaw.

next i clamped the old door card to my new aluminium one, and drilled through in the centre of where the plastic fasteners sit.

i drilled pilot holes in each plastic fastener, and after countersinking all the holes on the face side of the new aluminium door card, i screwed all the plastic fasteners to the aluminium.

This then pushed perfectly in place on the door.

onto the other side.

marked around the old door card.

and jigsawed it out.

cut a slot out for the handle, and drilled, countersunk, and screwed on all the plastic fasteners.

I then pushed it in place.

I marked the smaller piece of aluminium next, and cut off the corners. I then marked where the hinges would be, and drilled the holes to attach them.

I then used a tap to cut an M4 thread to attach the hinges to the aluminium.

I then marked and drilled a hole each side at the top, for the ropes to go through.

I cut some 15mm wide pieces off a piece of 40mm x 10mm aluminium bar, and drilled and countersunk a hole in each.

This is the order they bolt up in. the 10mm nut was the perfect thickness to act as a spacer for the turn catches.

bolted it all together and used some guy ropes off an old tent.

and pushed it in place.

small one next.

Decided to attach the hinges slightly differently on this one.

guy ropes on.

made some more turn catch's.

view of the back.

and front.

And fitted on the truck.

Should make camping a bit easier.

Take up hardly any room when folded.

The way id attached the hinges on the smaller one, meant that the table took up less room, than the other side, meaning it wasnt so tight to the drawers.

So decided to change the other side.

Took the table off, flipped the hinges round, and countersunk the hinge.

Now sat a lot closer to the door.

Very pleased with how theyve come out.

Just need to get some small stainless steel M4 countersunk, headed bolts. To replace the bare steel ones currently fitted. These will get threadlock applied when i fit them.

I might also buy a polishing kit for my grinder, so i can give the aluminium a mirror like finish.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/280705189555? ... 1423.l2649

 

[Maverick]

very clever Ben - all you need now is a comfy seat (on the bumper) between each shelf.

 

[AndyCook]

"so i can give the aluminium a mirror like finish"

then it will double up as a shaving mirror too

Nice piece of work simple, neat and very very useful!
I have often thought about doing something similar on my truck, but never got round to it
how long did it take?

 

[Chas]

Ben triumphs again

, I sometimes wish my 80 had barn doors so I could do something like that. A lovely, neat, practical job, well done Ben

 

[Ben]

Thanks guys.

Took about 4 or 5 hours id guess Andy.

I made and fitted the door cards the other day, then today i added the fold down tables.

Might get the diff out tomorrow, and see why the locker isnt engaging. hopefully its just a seal.

Also need to sort the cooling system out.

Ive got a new toyota thermostat to fit. Need to call a few places and get a price for a custom aluminium radiator.

I also want to start building a spare wheel carrier for the rear bumper. Just need to work out what to use for the pivot. A mate suggested i might be able to use a trailer hub.

 

[Julian T]

I quite like the tail gate on the 80, it is my seat, or table. I use it for my gas stove and food prep area when camping, with the upper half closed its a handy step for accessing the roof rack storage area or when adjusting the roof tent (I some times store additional items under the roof tent cover).
It was a deciding factor for me choosing the 80 series, as a bush mechanic I cant count the number of times I have used a tail gate as a work bench lol.

In my opinion you don't have to have rear doors to have the folding table option that Ben has, and all that aluminium has me green with envy I must admit

Ben that looks absolutely the dogs proverbial

 

[Trevor]

Very inventive Ben. Top job as usual.

 

[Mark N]

love the door cards Ben but not sure I would trust those plastic clips to take the weight of a saucepan of boiling water on your stove... if I understood right all the screws do is hold the plastic clips to the door card right?

Also if you go through water deep enough to soak the door cards then I would treat them with something else they'll corrode in a hurry.

Nice work though - will add similar to my to do list

Regards
Mark

 

[ModelMakerMan]

Nice one Ben

Ive tought about doing something similar but I want to add some storage in the doors at the same time too.

 

[Ben]

Thanks guys.

love the door cards Ben but not sure I would trust those plastic clips to take the weight of a saucepan of boiling water on your stove... if I understood right all the screws do is hold the plastic clips to the door card right? Mark

When weight is on the table the force is pulling down on the clips, not out.

When the screws went into the plastic clips, they opened up/expanded the clips a bit so there now a tighter fit than they previously were.

I did consider just tec screwing the door card on, but i didnt like the idea of making new holes in the door, which would inevitably lead to rust.

I like the way there attached using the standard original fixings.

Also if you go through water deep enough to soak the door cards then I would treat them with something else they'll corrode in a hurry.

Nice work though - will add similar to my to do list

Regards
Mark

Everything is aluminium, so im hoping a little water every so often shouldnt do them too much harm.

Nice one Ben

Ive tought about doing something similar but I want to add some storage in the doors at the same time too.

Thanks Dave.

I thought about making use of the space inside the doors, but in the end decided that butchering the insides of the doors to open them up, wasnt worth it for the amount of storage id gain. It would massively weaken the back door, and mean id never be able to refit the standard spare wheel carrier and wheel, if i should ever choose to.

 

[Gav Peter]

Very neat dude If the fixings prove weak, you could maybe use Riv-nuts instead...

 

[Ben]

Very neat dude If the fixings prove weak, you could maybe use Riv-nuts instead...

thanks mate.

Thats a good idea.

Feels pretty strong, so will wait and see.

If my breakfast/dinner ends up all over the floor then i will definitely be using rivnuts!

 

[Ben]

After spending a few hours this morning tidying the garage workshop and sheds, i decided to fix the rear ARB locker.

So wheels off, and axle stands in place.

Soon had the diff out, and the problem was immediately obvious!

The copper air pipe wasnt connected to the fitting screwed into the third member.

Got it in the workshop and on the bench.

I then discovered i hadnt fitted the O ring when i put it back together.

Some how i managed to find it in the pile of crap id swept up off the floor.

but it didnt look to healthy.

Went down to my local agricultural shop and managed to find one that looked identical, for 40p.

Fitted perfectly.

Diff looked alright, and no more scratches/marks on the ARB centre this time.

Checked the ring gear backlash.

Decided to test it this time before fitting it into the axle, which is what i should have done last time.

Worked perfectly, so i got it refitted in the axle.

Re-fitted the half shafts, prop shaft, filled the axle with oil, bled the brakes and put the wheels back on.

Then i decided to have a look at my alternator. On my trip last week id noticed the belt was slipping a bit, so i decided to try and fit the pulley off my original alternator, onto this 120AMP uprated one.

took it off and got it on the bench.

Put it in the vice, and removed the pulley.

Discovered that the pulley on the new 120AMP alternator has a 17mm hole in the centre. Where as my original one is about 15mm.

Had a look through my black smith drill bits and found a brand new dormer 17mm bit. But its designed for a lathe, and wouldnt fit the chuck on my drill.

So i need to take it to some one with a lathe and ask them kindly to bore the centre out on my old pulley.

Decided to finally do something about the mess inside my bigger drawer.

Worked out roughly where i wanted my essential bits of kit.

Cut and laid a piece of ply in the bottom, then added the items i wanted, and worked out where the dividers needed to be.

Screwed and glued it all together.

And dropped it in place.

Much better.

tool box near the front, followed by socket sets, high lift jack adaptor, fire extinguisher, and then other odds n sods. Then along the right hand side got my crow bar, bolt croppers, axe, saw's, and shovel.

Needed to fuel her up next, and seen as ive had a few people ask me about running on veg lately, thought id post up showing how i do it.

So 100 litres of vegetable oil from the cash n carry. Cost me £100 and will save me £45+.

On the left is a jerry can with 20 litres of diesel in it, an empty veg drum, and a full veg drum.

I pour 2-3 litres of veg oil out of a new drum in to an empty one.

Next i pour 2-3 litres of diesel out of the jerry can into the new drum of veg oil.

And give it a quick shake.

Stick the funnel in the truck.

Ive added a hose which goes down into the tank, makes pouring the fuel in a lot quicker!

And 20 seconds later the drums empty. I usually then leave the drum upside down for a few mins to let all the dregs drain out.

The saving money on fuel is nice, but what i find most satisfying is that, that money ive saved isnt going to the government in fuel duty and tax!

The bastards get enough out of me as it is.

 

[ModelMakerMan]

Its about time you cleaned the mess out of your big drawers!

I just ordered the same alternator as you. Tried and failed today to get the pulley off the old one by clamping the pulley in the vice and turning the nut but the pulley just slipped round the shaft, how did you do it?

Boring out the pulley wont be a problem for me (if you cant find anyone to do yours post it to me and Ill do it), is the shaft definitely straight and not tapered?

 

[Ben]

Thats how i got it off the old one Dave.

Held it in the vice and turned it with an extension bar on the ratchet as it was very tight.

You could always try an impact wrench.

Im pretty sure it is straight and not tapered yes.

The old one is tapered but i dont think the new one is.

I had to use a puller to get the pulley off the old alternator, but it fell off the new one as soon as i undid the nut.