2 Door Range Rover project

[DonkeyApple]

RicksAlfas said:

DonkeyApple said:

I fitted a set to the rears on another Rangie and discovered that the front lights were permanently on main beam!!! I have absolutely no idea what kind of voodoo was going on but LED bulbs seem to send the whole lighting set up loopy.

I'd heard that can happen on some "modern'ish" cars, but I thought the RRC might pre-date any such peculiarities. Obviously not! Chrome paint it is. As bright as you can get it.

The real test will be whether it burns!

[DonkeyApple]

Would make going to get a gallon of fuel easier

You wouldn’t automatically think that modern kit would fit an old wagon either! I assume it mounts on the hitch?

[DonkeyApple]

Cheers. I’ve just prepped them in red oxide and have a can of chrome spray in the post.

I considered proper chroming but it’s actually quite complex to remove the electricals so they can be dipped.

Tim foil is the fallback.

[DonkeyApple]

NomduJour said:

No possibility of gluing some newer bulb holders in?

The late Classics have a plastic reflector bowl for the fog lights but that it, I have a set and may use them, Will see how the chrome paint looks.

[DonkeyApple]

Interestingly, those casings were from a late Classic and the scallops in the sides were introduced for the US market where additional side light bulbs were fitted.

I did consider drilling them out and fitting a bulb but Incouldnt really see the advantage in the grand scheme of things.

[DonkeyApple]

RobXjcoupe said:

You may find the red oxide will peel quickly from the plastic. I know it’s a pain but you need to remove the red oxide, then use a plastic etch primer. The chrome spray usually needs a black undercoat before the chrome spray finish is applied.

Thanks. There’s no plastic. The lamp sections are diecast. To be honest, I’m half expecting the heat from the bulbs to mess up the paint.

[DonkeyApple]

RobXjcoupe said:

DonkeyApple said:

RobXjcoupe said:

You may find the red oxide will peel quickly from the plastic. I know it’s a pain but you need to remove the red oxide, then use a plastic etch primer. The chrome spray usually needs a black undercoat before the chrome spray finish is applied.

Thanks. There’s no plastic. The lamp sections are diecast. To be honest, I’m half expecting the heat from the bulbs to mess up the paint.

I know red hammerite burns off a brake light bulb. As a reflector it should be ok though

It’s red oxide. I’ve been using it to key satin black on some stuff prior to baking after printing and it seems to produce a much tougher surface than just spraying on direct. Weirdly I’ve found the top coat bubbles without the undercoat but I’ve no idea why.

Let’s say getting the heater control fascia done was a ball ache of a learning curve.

If it fails then it’s back in the sand blaster and I’ll pop down to the village nutter for some tinfoil.

[DonkeyApple]

C Lee Farquar said:

These rear lights seem a bit slap dash in comparison to the rest of the build?

At the very least I was expecting you to have sourced some new stock from an itinerant Aborigine via bush telegraph.

I did have to wade through a sea of nettles to get to the donor vehicle I took them off if that helps restore some faith?

It’s all a bit of an experiment. Quick blast in the cabinet, few coats of red oxide and the chrome paint due Thursday so if no pictures by the weekend then you’ll know it’s been a disaster.

[DonkeyApple]

RobXjcoupe said:

DonkeyApple said:

RobXjcoupe said:

DonkeyApple said:

RobXjcoupe said:

You may find the red oxide will peel quickly from the plastic. I know it’s a pain but you need to remove the red oxide, then use a plastic etch primer. The chrome spray usually needs a black undercoat before the chrome spray finish is applied.

Thanks. There’s no plastic. The lamp sections are diecast. To be honest, I’m half expecting the heat from the bulbs to mess up the paint.

I know red hammerite burns off a brake light bulb. As a reflector it should be ok though

It’s red oxide. I’ve been using it to key satin black on some stuff prior to baking after printing and it seems to produce a much tougher surface than just spraying on direct. Weirdly I’ve found the top coat bubbles without the undercoat but I’ve no idea why.

Let’s say getting the heater control fascia done was a ball ache of a learning curve.

If it fails then it’s back in the sand blaster and I’ll pop down to the village nutter for some tinfoil.

A few years back I repainted the inner part of a set of wheels. The wheel inners were back to bare aluminium and was advised to etch prime them before a gloss black top coat and polish.
5 years later they haven’t peeled, flaked what so ever. Now any refurbished aluminium parts I have are etch primed first. Steel is ok using a regular primer but the etch does what is says and I wouldn’t change that now. I get a good long lasting finish with regular rattle cans but always use an etch primer first

Thanks. Red Oxide will be fine in this particular use because it is within a sealed environment. The core concern is whether the heat generated from the bulbs will have any material impact.

[DonkeyApple]

C Lee Farquar said:

Adjourned until Saturday afternoon

Yesterday saw a firm decision to move to Plan B with regards to the painting of the lights. Plan B fundamentally being constructed around the concept of ordering the correct paint second time around.

In the meantime, all the internal electrics are now complete and the tow hitch was back from the powder coaters so that was fitted. I wasn't going to originally have a tow hitch and had taken a very heavy, adjustable one off but this summer my children have fallen in love with camping and as I don't want to be lugging all the kit in and out of the car the plan is to keep it all in a trailer and just hitch it up and go to make my life easier.

I didn't particularly like the standard pressed plate type of hitch and the one that I have used is a wonderfully heavy duty thing that still manages to look quite slim/elegant. It originally arrived in the UK attached to a South African import so I am assuming that this is where it originated from as I've not seen the design before.





These pictures have also reminded me that I planned to replace the mudflaps as I should be able to remember what the car is so don't feel I need those reminders at each corner.

[DonkeyApple]

And just in case you find yourself pondering what the squiggles in the dust are on the upper tailgate, they are obviously the directions to the powder coaters.

[DonkeyApple]

Would have been plenty of room as she clearly left all her shoes at home.

It’s a chunky thing. I reckon it lowers the centre of gravity sufficiently to not have to fold the rear seats down.

I don’t know about midflaps. I’ve a set of originals that I bought possibly ten years ago when I started buying stuff for this car!

[DonkeyApple]

I think they are pretty generic bolts and with the part numbers do people like Famous not have them?

[DonkeyApple]

I’ve one of those hitches on one of my donor wagons. I just took the rear bolts off it last week for the system I fitted to mine.

What are the exact bits that you need as apart from the fact that I tried to remove it to fit to another car for an emergency random ebay puchase collection and failed as a bumper bolt was seized, I do have all the bits.

I’ve also a full Dixon Bate adjustable system that I removed from my 72. Galvanised and not looking like it’s ever been used but sitting there desperate to tow an aircraft carrier. Serious kit for shifting donkeys and mothers in law.

[DonkeyApple]

Incidentally, the 72 had its maiden outing this afternoon. Few laps of the village to test everything. Nothing immediately caught fire. Engine temps got a bit high and I suspect the viscous fan isn’t working. There’s also a light mechanical clonk in the drivetrain when lifting off the power. Up on the ramp tomorrow to check out the niggles.

[DonkeyApple]

Attention has turned, in my spare time over the last week, to some of the finer details of the interior trim. The dash components never fitted together particularly well at the best of times and covering all the parts in exceptionally thick leather has not made that any better and in some places quite the opposite.

A case in point is where the upper dash meets the lower dash section on the driver's side. On the passenger side, LR made a plastic fillet that fudged the gap between the early upper dash design and the aircon undertray that appeared in the early 80s as well as a fudge plate on the end of the wooden dash trim that held the vents. On the driver's side there is no such set up apart from a small plastic slither plate that was inserted on some cars to bridge a gap that sometimes occurred between the upper and lower sections.

You can see this filet piece fitted here!



Not exactly a pretty sight. A combination of the main components never fitting together particularly well in the first instance, compounded by the thick leather. After several hours it became clear the only real solution was going to be to cover the filet piece in leather and use that to 'soak up' as much of the discrepancy as possible:



The painting of the rear light clusters didn't deliver any tremendous results. The gold spray that I have gives a perfect mirror finish but the same paint in silver or chrome just doesn't. I've decided to just leave as is as the third brake light does the best job of warning other drivers and I've put the plastic reflectors into the fog lamps.

[DonkeyApple]

I've also put a few more miles on the car and found a few snags such as a few of the dash controls not working but these have subsequently been resolved.

Probably the big thing to crop up was when it was raining heavily and there was standing water. The car did not behave at all pleasantly when hitting water. A huge amount of water was dumped onto the screen but more importantly the car veered strongly.

A lot is possibly down to the wheels, they have an offset that puts some of the rubber a little outside of the bodywork and I suspect this also messes up the geometry. The tyres are also over ten years old, despite being unused. The solution there is to put some nice new road orientated tyres on my refurbed steel Rostyles so that will be done in the coming weeks.

At the same time the car has been going on and off the ramp having the later rear seatbelt mounting brackets welded on and the fixtures put through the floor and the chaps working on the car began to suspect that the car had a lift on it.

Now the long term plan had always been to lower the car so that it behaved a little better on the road. My old LSE would lower by an inch when underway and so I reckoned that just taking an inch out permanently on this car would be a sensible move. On further inspection the car currently has a 1" lift on the springs so these are going to come off and I've a set of 1" lowered springs on the way to go on. I've opted for the fronts to be the diesel spec as these are a little harder than the V8 ones.

They suspect that the current springs may be police spec at the rear and yet a soft set up at the front which could go part of the way to explaining a strange feeling to the balance when turning in to tight corners.

On the upside, new plates have arrived.

[DonkeyApple]

The refurbed Rostyle steels have gone back on today with new boots.



Lack of power to the heater is to be investigated, Doors and front panels need aligning properly and now the rear seatbelt mounts are in the car will be ready for the next round of testing. If the 1" lower springs arrive this week then they can replace the 1" lifted springs currently on there.

[DonkeyApple]

Thanks. I was expecting more but so far it’s been a few niggles with the instrumentation. Fuel gauge doesn’t seem to be working properly, currently thinking it’s the new sender.

Only big thing was the handling. It was fine during basic testing but during the heavy rain it threw up some characteristics that needed instant redressing. The tyres we knew were a little hard but the offset on the wheels was definitely an issue, hence the quick decision to get new tyres on the refurbed steels. Spending some time with a tape measure and wandering between this car, my 4 door and my late 2 door commercial revealed the car had a lift in the springs so that expedited the purchase of the 1” drop springs that were planned.

One job is the lettering. I need to make a template as Obe lost the one I had. In order to do this someone has to wade through nettles and brambles to a reference shell. I have a feeling that that person is me.

[DonkeyApple]

No surprises who was wandering through the much today. Anyway, managed to find a car which once had the old style lettering and created a masking tape template before heading back to the office.

As far as I’m aware, the lettering and other decals are now on and the doors have been aligned so getting close to putting a few more test miles on.