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View Full Version : 93 Range Rover LWB, rust buster!



grnthng
07-31-2012, 12:56 AM
This is my long term project....which it has turned longer than I anticipated, but I think I'll have it wrapped up by winter! That's all could muster with 1 spare day a week!
My main objective was ROT, and this Connecticut native had plenty of it! Main problem was the rear crossmember, which looks like a hard job to replace it...but its actually not, once you drill out all the spot welds things start speeding up!
Then I had to take care of pretty much every corner of the body.....its a good thing I waxoyled my frame when I did, because that held up well!
Make sure you look before you drill....you make strike oil,,,uhh! Gasoline that is, I almost poked a hole into my fuel tank!!!

So I'm replacing the crossmember, got a welder this summer and had fun learning how to use it!
As for the the patching....I used the; neutralize the rust and patch it with fiberglass method....I did it in the front foot wells a few years ago and it has held up brilliantly!

I have since replaced the crossmember and it looks decent...I'll up load the pics later!

Mechanically she's holding up I hope...the Borg warner t/c has been replaced with a D1 unit (thanks Randy)!

Then I will work on the suspension bits!

Frank84
07-31-2012, 10:51 AM
Wow! Looks like you have your hands full there. I went through the same thing on mine in some of those areas. My rear x-member was salvagable but I had a lot to do in the rear wheel wells like you're doing. How are your front foot wells? Mine needed a bit of attention probably from years of having standing water from a leaky sunroof.

grnthng
07-31-2012, 10:52 PM
My foot wells were not too bad...I had patched them up a few years ago with fiberglass! My front wheel wells were pretty bad!! So this time around since I bought a welder, I was planning on going back in there and welding in some sheet metal....as I started to do that I realised how well it held up (fiberglass) that I just did the same thing where applicable and sheetmetal only where I needed it!

My left rear seatbelt anchor and wheel well were the worst!

Since I took these pics...I've done alot of, cutting out the rust, patching with fiberglass or sheetmetal, then sealing everthing with a quality rubberized undercoating...I'll upload those pics later!

grnthng
07-31-2012, 11:12 PM
BTW...to all, this x-member actually got to this state over the years from a 15mph tap from behind! When I got the call from my wife that it was just the bumper that got damaged, well don't take their word for it!

At the body shop put your pride aside and yes the Jeep Cheeroke involved had way more damage....however the bump opened up a couple of spot welds and turned into this!

Pressure wash and coat them....oh all the free time I would have if I had spotted this earlier!

grnthng
07-31-2012, 11:20 PM
All buttoned upp!
$99.00 Britpart and 4 Sundays later....hope this Britpart holds up! I did everthing but dip this crossmember into hot tar!

grnthng
07-31-2012, 11:56 PM
I just use Permatex 81775 to treat the rust and seal it with fiberglass and then undercoating and waxoyl!
The 81775 rust treatment (don't waste your $$ on the spray form) it does not work the same way as brushing it on! In my opinion this works better than POR15 (your just masking the rust) where as 81775 turns the rust pitch black! And its 10 times cheaper!!

Frank84
08-01-2012, 08:06 AM
Wow! That is a lot of work! Impressive - should be rust free for a long while when you are done. Mine had rot in pretty much all the same places but to a much lesser extent with the exception of the footwells.

grnthng
08-01-2012, 01:55 PM
Thanks, I actually think you took on a bigger task with the engine swap and the wiring.....I've been into my dash already to pull the heater box out to replace the blower and the heatercore, and I just don't want to do that again!
On a LWB, I could never figure out all that wiring!!

None the less, it is satisfiying to have everthing redone and tidy!

Frank84
08-01-2012, 07:40 PM
Yeah, you'd have even more wiring on the LWB. Mine is simple compared with the later Classics.

grnthng
09-03-2012, 11:58 PM
So, I think Iam done with the rust, because I am doing a lot of sealing up with Waxoyl and undercoating!

Got my tailgate back on....barely! I didn't prehang the tailgate and measure the xmember latterally, I was off by a 1/4" but made up for it with the play in the mounting bolts on the tailgate!

Also got the front bumper out for derusting and painting and sealing and on the RR...finally out of the way! Check!

Brakes lines.....holy crap, what a pain in the ass doing this with body on the frame! Ofcource, i had to this the hard way....uncoil, shape, prefit!

Last but not least.....under pressure from the little man, I had to finish the chopper build! Way past his deadline! I just hope he appriciates this!

grnthng
09-04-2012, 12:05 AM
I guess you cannot upload more than 5 pics at a time, huh!
The chopper build!

grnthng
09-23-2012, 09:34 AM
This is very strange.....so I am starting to put my LWB back together and without warning all of the sudden when I reconnect the battery to check lights and other systems etc., the horn sounds with about a 3 second interval and the door locks actuate until I turn the ignition.
The engine starts and there are no other faults, I basically have to remove the fuse for the horn, which is the same for the hazards and high beam switch! Don't know the relation to the door locks though!:confused:

I haven't started to trouble shoot it yet but.....when I had this thing completely apart I didn't have this problem!

Alarm issue, ground issue, or something that will go away as I put everthing back together, Idono!

Frank84
09-23-2012, 10:27 AM
Definitely sounds alarm related somehow. Not sure what that would be from though. Hmmm...

grnthng
09-24-2012, 11:17 PM
OK, I pin pointed it...so for anybody with a LWB, assuming it is wired like mine...you never know, however according to the owners manual the circuit for the horn also includes the hazard lights and the high beam switch!
The only thing I did not remove were the headlights the whole time I was working on it....so recently I took them off to wire city lights into my H4's. Apparently when you remove the headlght assemblys it affects the ground in that circuit, because as soon I put them back in everything was fine again!
As far as the door locks.... I can't figure that one, unless its because i was messing with this thing with the doors open!
Anyway Thanks, Its all good for now...makes me appriciate my '83 and how it lacks all those complicated circuits!

Frank84
09-25-2012, 11:27 AM
Amazing how tied together things are. Imagine how difficult it would be to track an odd ball electrical issue on a 2013 RR?

grnthng
09-25-2012, 01:05 PM
They don't even call them mechanics at the dealers anymore.....they are technitions and their main tool now is a laptop instead of a wrench!

grnthng
09-27-2012, 09:40 PM
Is this spider trying to tell me something!:p

Frank84
09-28-2012, 07:31 PM
I think that means you better hurry up and get this thing back on the road! Funny because the same thing happened to me.

grnthng
09-29-2012, 08:21 PM
Here are a few more pics.....I getting close now I think, i seem to be putting more and more parts back on it!
Definitly the hard jobs are done now!
I forgot to snap some pics of my headlights before I hung them bank on, but I bought these cool little lght bulb sockets that I tapped in to the back of my H4's! Basically, I tapped into the parking lamp wire in the corner lights so my headlights will have that euro look at dusk when I only have my park lamps on! I think the DII's have that feature!
I also experimented with these tiny but powerfull single LED marker lights off the semi-trailers...they look great! Also wired my Hella 3000's, that was fun!
I'll have to get some night pics!
I've also been getting some of the interrior back in....took me some time to get all the wood trim stain to match...I went with some dark mahogony I had lying around, but after that final coat of polyurethane went on the end result was worth the extra work!
Getting anxious to work on the suspension! Where does the time go!

Frank84
09-29-2012, 08:30 PM
That looks fantastic!

grnthng
10-02-2012, 11:42 PM
Thanks, here are some more!
Interior, getting there!
City lights in H4's to run with parklamps, done!
Led marker lites through taillight lens', took a while but done!
Frnt axle, waiting on taller springs!

Frank84
10-03-2012, 06:52 PM
That paint looks so nice! Did you do an LT230 conversion or just have a shift knob?

grnthng
10-04-2012, 12:15 PM
Last summer the viscous coupling locked up, so Randy had a LT230 in a DI so it was swapped out the Borg Warner....no more viscous coupling! Good eye BTW, I did have an aluminum shift knob on there, but it wasn't fitting right!

I'm afraid the paint is to nice.....considering it might spend a little time scraping up against things! Thank you though!
There is a lot of orange-peel, that you can't see in the pictures!
Everybody is telling me I should have sprayed it in matt-black!

grnthng
12-01-2012, 12:15 AM
Found some time to start hanging some suspension parts on it, while I wait for some Terrafirma stuff! I am on an increasing, or I should decreasing budget here...so I decided to re-use my OME springs and I will be using a spacer up front for the increased wheight of the ARB bmpr.
I hung my RTE front radius arms with the blue bushes...still have to order some shocks and its becoming very hard to choose! I'm still researching...and I am leaning towards the new Bilsteins 5100 monotube off-road shock!

Almost there though!

Frank84
12-01-2012, 02:02 PM
Wow! Looking really good!

grnthng
12-04-2012, 09:23 PM
Thanks, Frank!

Took this pic with the original alloy and my original spare....still can't decide wether to use the steels I resprayed or go with the alloy and respray the black center in silver also!

Amazing how skinny those original Michelins were! I'd like to find 3 more that are virgin like mine just for the hell of it!

Tom109
12-05-2012, 11:39 AM
The LWB looks great!

I'd go with the RR alloy wheels, they just look right. You could sell the disco steelies on to a Series owner...

Tom P.

grnthng
01-26-2013, 04:49 PM
Thanks, Tom...I'm sorry I didn't respond sooner I was locked out for a while due a change in email address and hence I could not reset my password!
Anyway, I decided to just keep the series wheels... after test fitting a wheel, I thought it looked pretty sharp with the black rim!

I have been finishing up all the bits on it, so I will just post the rest of my pics!

grnthng
01-26-2013, 04:55 PM
Ordered a roll of the headliner material.....almost messed it up, but it looks somewhat acceptable!
Roll of extra wide material cost $125. inc. ship!

grnthng
01-26-2013, 05:02 PM
Here's all I needed to finish-up the suspension!

grnthng
01-26-2013, 05:07 PM
Somemore of the suspension!

grnthng
01-26-2013, 05:46 PM
Nice fit....I'll wait till it gets warmer to give'em a fresh coat of paint!

At first, I didn't know what to expect with the ride height....so I winged it with my original springs (OME med. fronts 751, they needed a 2'' spacer) and OME hd in the rear!
Shocks are Bilstein 5100's (extended lenghth is 28''), I didn't account for the almost 2'' extra that the u-shaped shackles added, so I will have becarefull and test and watch the brake lines!

I am fairly happy with the stance! I will have to test for fender rubbing!

Frank84
01-26-2013, 07:51 PM
Great work! It is too clean under your truck - you're going to have to fix that....

Are you out working in this cold weather?

grnthng
01-26-2013, 09:13 PM
Hey....yeah I didn't want to leave my wheels lying around so I threw them on and snapped a few picks and I was done, just too cold!

Tom109
02-01-2013, 03:33 PM
Looks great! Although the '83 looks naked with those little wheels...

Tom P.

grnthng
02-08-2013, 12:11 AM
Actually, it would be the tires...those wheels are actually 7'' as opposed to the 5.5'' series steels!
And to me the wierd part is the cut out front fenders with the small tires....and there is a lifted suspension in there somewhere!

Tom109
02-08-2013, 02:41 PM
Eh, wheels/tires - 220/221 - whatever it takes!

Tom P.