Front chassis refurb, Hopefully!

[mike k]

I've started work on my 2a, initially looking at repairing the dumb irons at the front with with new front chassis repair legs, as I'm a novice when it comes to landies I thought this might interest others who are in the same boat, this first picture show the 2a with the front wings and radiators removed, only took a couple of hours, I was well impressed!

[mike k]

This piccy shows one of the reasons for the work as well as rot under the bump stop

[mike k]

On this we've removed the axle and ready to grind the old and prep for the new

[mike k]

It's now dark and you can see the chassis is ready for the new parts and some patching, this should hopefully be done this coming weekend.

[Big Sandy]

Hi Mike,

I shall be watching the replacement of the dumb-irons with interest...I shall be doing it myself soon! The only worry I have, apart from being sure of getting everything lined up right, is the quality of the replacement sections! They certainly aren't as good as the original parts, there's a lot less metal in them! There is none of the box section bracing inside the front of them, in fact they are nothing more than a box with an end welded on! Still, better than rot though!

[Mark Richardson]

Looking forward to the updates as well.

I am about to do the same but with the added problems associated with fitting a 4 bolt PAS set up and mounts for a PTO hydraulic winch.

the method i was going to use was to weld strengthening plates over the joints

[weedy]

welding more plate will only give you higher risk of crack ing but if you get the legs with the extension then when you have welded the eges then drill through the side which over lap then weld up the hole the size of the hole are best about 12mm

by the way this is recamemdid way of joining high stress joints

[mike k]

These pics were taken a few weeks ago but I haven't had the time to post them.

This one shows the new ones in place and welded, and a the extra plate welded around the bump stop area.

A bit of grinding ensured they went on OK, we re-attached the bumper briefly to get the alignment, it was pretty straight forward, I have to confess I grinded the metal templates while some one else welded though!

[mike k]

Once a liberal coat of underseal was applied they look in good shape. Everything's back together now and seems to be handling fine, unfortunatley due to brake problems I haven't had chance to put it through it's paces off road.

[Big Sandy]

That's an improvement! Look a lot better than they did. Using the bumper as an alignment tool is a good idea, filed away for future reference......

I was looking at the footwells in your photo..... If you havent already fitted the inner wings, can I suggest that when you do you put some 1/8" washers between the inner wing and the footwell, that way it allows the dirt and water to run through between them instead of collecting in the angle and creating a rust trap. Hopefully save some work in the future.

What are your braking problems?

[mike k]

Hi Sandy,

The wings are back on but I've only put 2 bolts in the inner mudshields at the moment so I'll follow your advice with the washers when I fit all 4.

As far as the brakes go it looks like the master cylinder is leaking, I've already replaced both front cylinders when I did the work, since I'll have to bleed the system I'm going to replace both rear wheel cylinders aswell as the master cylinder then it's job done, hopefully!

Not a good feeling when your brakes ain't there!

[Big Sandy]

Definately better to be safe than sorry!