New Toy [Warning: Pic Heavy]

[Towpack]

This thread convinced me I needed one of these endoscope thingies. First place I wanted to check was the sills. This is where the sunroof drains into on an 80 and fills up with water when the sill drains get blocked and the water spills over into the front footwells soaking the carpets, as has happened to me on a couple of occasions. I'm amazed 80's don't suffer from rotten sills more than they seem to.

From the top of the sill looking down at the bottom seam....

The drain slot can be seen here, a grommet sits in the round hole. The black stuff is dirt and debris presumably washed down from the sunroof and ends up blocking the drain slots. No corrosion though thankfully. You'd think it'd be a perfect rust trap with such a daft sunroof drain setup.....

 

[stuzbot]

This thread convinced me I needed one of these endoscope thingies...

Welcome to the Amateur Keyhole Surgeons Society!

'm amazed 80's don't suffer from rotten sills more than they seem to...

Those are pretty impressive pics, especially given what the sills on most Collies look like by now. The 80s must have been built in the days before Toyota started buying their steel at the 50p shop. How do the 80s do on chassis rot?

 

[BobMurphy]

Towpack - that's impressive, I guess the '80' was the last model built with proper rust control.

My '98 '90' and 2001 '100' are both off the road with body rot, I'm slowly making new panels and welding things in but I feel its a losing battle. I'll stick with it though.

Its so bad I considered buying a Landrover to tide me over .

Bob.

 

[Lancashire Cruiser]

Oi, Land Rovers aren’t that bad Bob. Ok a Defender is a bit slow, uncomfortable, noisy, they leak water in, the chassis and bulkheads rot but other than that they are fine. I have 3 and I love them all but I love my LC equally because it’s not slow, it’s comfortable, bone dry inside pretty quiet and mine isn’t rotten

 

[Jacob100]

Can also double as a rudimentary reversing/trailer camera.

 

[AndycruiserguyLomas]

How do the 80s do on chassis rot?

In general they don't, well I've had a few and not seen one which needs it. I wonder what was the thinking that a box section chassis is superior to a "C" section one though? The 3 Chevys I've had Blazer, Tahoe and Suburban ( 83,97 and 98) all had the chassis in great condition compared with the Cruisers, I guess that they can't trap the mud and road crap like the box section ones do.

 

[chapel gate]

Welcome to the Amateur Keyhole Surgeons Society!



Those are pretty impressive pics, especially given what the sills on most Collies look like by now. The 80s must have been built in the days before Toyota started buying their steel at the 50p shop. How do the 80s do on chassis rot?

they dont really, they are very good. they can rot behind the steering box.

 

[Towpack]

How do the 80s do on chassis rot?

I wonder what was the thinking that a box section chassis is superior to a "C" section one though?

........especially on a 4x4 vehicle like an 80 with genuine off road capability and liable to be subjected to mud plugging and wading. Most HGV's I've looked under use C section chassis rails. I assumed this was purely down to ease of manufacture and assembly on the production line.

 

[RichC4]

Hmm I have an endoscope, maybe I should have a poke around the sills.

 

[Jake the Peg]

My neice’s boyfriend just collected his brand new Hilux last week, an inspection of the chassis shows absolutely no coating at all on the inside of the chassis rails, and a rather think coat outside.. He had it waxoyled before it got dirty! I wonder why manufactures are allowed to build and deliver vehicles knowing that within a few years their structural integrity will be compromised and crash safety rating reduced? Just look at how many Navaras snapped and Nissan bought back!

 

[BobMurphy]

Oi, Land Rovers aren’t that bad Bob.

I know.

Tongue firmly in cheek there .

A neighbour has at least a dozen Landrovers around his cottage (and large workshop). He was selling a 1999 V8 petrol Disco for a friend so I had a look at it. Its a Japanese import, 92,000 miles with MOT to mid-November.

At first I said no, but as the '100' repairs dragged on I thought I might as well buy it and run it for a bit as I need a heavy towing vehicle. Unfortunately its been promised to a pal of his who wants to put the motor & Autobox in a Defender 90 .

At the moment its in my yard as he had to make room for a Combine Harvester to pass his cottage. I have driven it and been under it. There is no corrosion on the body and only light rust on the box chassis. The Active Cornering Enhancement (ACE) has failed again and needs to be removed and replaced with simple ARBs - not too difficult. Its a bit tatty in parts but would clean-up.

I would have bought it - but its fate is sealed. Pity as there is a lot of life left in it.

On with the welding (once I've finished replacing all the brakes on the Mazda6).

Bob.

 

[stuzbot]

Oi, Land Rovers aren’t that bad Bob. Ok a Defender is a bit slow, uncomfortable, noisy, they leak water in, the chassis and bulkheads rot but other than that they are fine. I have 3 and I love them all but I love my LC equally because it’s not slow, it’s comfortable, bone dry inside pretty quiet and mine isn’t rotten

When I got my first Japanese 4x4 [a Nissan Patrol Y60] after owning 4 old Land Rovers, I was pleasantly surprised to find that "Passenger door flies open when you go round a corner" was not a universal design feature on all off-roaders.

How do the 80s do on chassis rot?

In general they don't, well I've had a few and not seen one which needs it....

Time to win the lottery then... or hope to find one where the owner doesn't use the internet and so doesn't know what kind of money they go for these days.

I wonder what was the thinking that a box section chassis is superior to a "C" section one though?...

...Most HGV's I've looked under use C section chassis rails. I assumed this was purely down to ease of manufacture and assembly on the production line...

I've wondered this too. I've seen people on Youtube cutting up old trucks and the C-section chassis are usually completely rot free. In fact, the 'Binky Lads' did one on another of their 'Never-Ending Story' playlists and that was solid as a rock too:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGSOZAHg1yQG7umJ-72Q-aSY2SG-vnCa_

Hmm I have an endoscope, maybe I should have a poke around the sills.

..or maybe blissful ignorance is better.

...He was selling a 1999 V8 petrol Disco for a friend so I had a look at it. Its a Japanese import, 92,000 miles with MOT to mid-November.... I have driven it and been under it. There is no corrosion on the body and only light rust on the box chassis.

I've read that the Series 1 Discos rot on the body but not on the chassis and the Series 2 Discos rot on the chassis but not on the body [er... or it could be vice versa]. So, allegedly, if you swap the right body onto the right chassis, you've got a pretty rot-proof combo.

Whether that's true or not, I know not. I was cured of my Land Rover fetish after owning a Series IIA, 2 Series 3 and a Defender 90.

[I think my Land Cruiser fetish may be even shorter lived!]

 

[stuzbot]

On the subject of chassis, I was ruminating earlier... [Shout from the cheaper seats: "That'll make you go blind!"] ...and I wondered why chassis can't be made in sections which bolt together? I know that something bolted together is intrinsically weaker than a one-piece, but I'd have thought that --with suitably sturdy brackets / mounting plates /bolts/ etc. a sectioned chassis could be made just as strong as a one-piece. With the advantage that [in our cases] when your Collie rots out at the back, you unbolt the rear section of chassis rail and fit a new one. Rather than having to scrap an otherwise perfectly good truck, or fork out nearly what it's worth in the first place, to get it welded up.

I presume, as with most things, cost is the main issue. But maybe someone with more engineering chops than me could say whether it's even theoretically feasible?

 

[RichC4]

Pulled the side skirt off and had a poke on my nearside, near my arch rust patch.

Found a hole.


Just inside.




A bit further, this is maybe 10-20cm along the sill. Seems fine.


I had a look further along and it was all clean.

 

[stuzbot]

Result! That lot's not too bad at all.

 

[RichC4]

Got a friend of a friend who is a mobile welder coming over to fix the arch and sill on Wednesday, hopefully that's all it needs for a while.

 

[Tractionman]

Good news Rich, looks like you caught it in time before major works neccessary

 

[SteveJB]

Was there a couple of members who had bought a fabrication company and were thinking about making cruiser bits to sale wonder if they could help Stuzbot with his tinworm problems
Stuz are you going to give up on cruisers or going to reinvest the money in another one and be more aware to look for price reduction problems be a big shame to lose you and your thought provoking tales of woe

 

[Tractionman]

+1. Stay with us Stuz.
Apart from anything else, your good humour in the face of one big problem after another, is an inspiration to us all. Would you be better selling while it still has an mot, although though the problems are still there, someone could drive it away ?

 

[chapel gate]

On the subject of chassis, I was ruminating earlier... [Shout from the cheaper seats: "That'll make you go blind!"] ...and I wondered why chassis can't be made in sections which bolt together? I know that something bolted together is intrinsically weaker than a one-piece, but I'd have thought that --with suitably sturdy brackets / mounting plates /bolts/ etc. a sectioned chassis could be made just as strong as a one-piece. With the advantage that [in our cases] when your Collie rots out at the back, you unbolt the rear section of chassis rail and fit a new one. Rather than having to scrap an otherwise perfectly good truck, or fork out nearly what it's worth in the first place, to get it welded up.

I presume, as with most things, cost is the main issue. But maybe someone with more engineering chops than me could say whether it's even theoretically feasible?

the chassis is welded together in sections.