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Well, it's 99% done now..phew! (still waiting for fuel filler hose)
Snorkel
The snorkel was nice and easy
The wing is just a bolt on piece and once I had found the last bolt hidden behind the bumper it came off easily.
Originally I was going to have the rigid pipe entering the wing, so I cut an elongated slot in the wing with a set of hand nibblers
I had some flexipipe left over from a previous job on one of my Paj's and I used this to connect to the airbox, though a new hole in the inner wing (plenty of silicone sealant to protect it from the edges of the hole)
I chopped away a bit of the box section of the inner wing to make some more room and gave the fresh edges a coat of hammerite
In the end I decided to bring the flexi pipe out of the wing and connect it to the drain pipe by the windscreen pillar. This left me with the wrong shape hole in the wing.
I stole an idea someone else on here used and made a plastic plate out of the side of an old 25l oil can and pop riveted it to the wing, again plenty sealant to protect the edges.
Things still to do with it - get some lower profile clips to mount the rigid pipe and tape the joint up with some self-amalgamating tape, clean off the traces of sealant and possibly fit a bend at the top so the mushroom sits upright
Suspension
I bought the 2" suspension kit from Roughtrax, +2" Monroe shocks, thicker springs, thicker torsion bars and added a new set of longer brake hoses.
Again, doing the suspension was an easy job.
The new coils are a good bit thicker than the originals, though the same length.
Jack the back end up so the axle is hanging free, undo the top shock mounts, undo the bottom bolt and remove the shocks.
Get spring compressors on one spring and start winding it up - do a bit on each side to keep it from getting lopsided. If you have someone with you, get them to bounce up an down on the hub to free the spring as it saves a lot of winding up the compressors. The second side comes out a lot easier as the axle can be be pushed down without having to squeeze the other spring.
Once both springs are out, compress one spring and slip it in. I used a spread bar to push the axle down to make more room, but it's more effective if you can find someone willing to stand on the hub.
Repeat for the other side and then fit the new shocks
voila!
Torsion Bars
The important thing to remember with the torsion bars is that they are handed for left and right hand side, either end is a different size and they are keyed, in other words they will only go in one way round. The new bars from from roughtrax are considerably thicker
To remove the torsion bars, jack the front end up so the wheels are hanging free and there is minimum tension on the torsion bars. Put a spanner on the top nut of the adjuster and start winding out the bolt - one side was easy the other side was very stiff and once it was off the nut was so hot with the friction that it burnt my fingers!
The torsion bars then come out with a bit of pulling and yanking. Fit the new ones and take up the slack on the adjuster bolt.
Front shocks
Front shocks are easy, remove the top nut, remove the bottom bolt, pull it out and stick the new one in!
Once the shocks and torsion bars are in you need to set the height, this is done by tightening or loosening the adjusted bolts. Once you adjusted you need to bounce the car up and down a bit to settle it out. Important note, if you are doing this by jumping up and down on the winch tray, then make sure the bonnet stay is secure as it hurts when the bonnet falls on you and you look very silly!
Body Lift
The body lift was a bit more work. I decided to try a 3" lift as most people seem to go for 2".
Some of the nuts holding the chassis to the body were a buggrer to undo and I had to introduce two of them to Mr 9" angle grinder!.
Once all the bolts were undone I disconnected the fuel filler and glug pipe from the filler spot and removed the brackets holding the handbrake cable to the body work -seen behind the fuel pipes in the pic below. I also disconnected the brake pipes going down to the chassis and the flow and return from the fuel tank but it turned out there was enough slack in these
The fuel flow from the filter to the pump had to disconnected, but there was enough slack in the return from the pump.
I had already taken the radiator out as it was to be replaced.
Then it came time to jack the body. I had to rest the trolley jack on my old Paj's winch plate laying across a wheel to get enough hieght!
Once you have got enough height, slip the pucks in, drop the bolts through and repeat for the other side.
I did have to do some fettling to the steering column. This involved nibbling a bit out of the bulkhead to get the required angle
and extending the length of the column. I popped down to my local metal fabricators to see what they had and walked out with a bit of thick walled steel tube with a bore only a millimetre larger than the diameter of the shaft and they only charged me 50p for a 12" length
I ended up cutting the shaft in two between the doughnut and corrugated bit and then sleeving it and drilling and bolting. Though I did cock up a bit and it's not straight, so I'll get another column and try again, but it will do for now. I needed to add an inch to the lenght for a decent fit
Relocating the rad was a pain as part of the air-conditioning system was in the way and preventing me from drilling new holes through the bulkhead on one side. I ended up making a bracket from some uni-strut to support that side.
I still need to do some work with the transfer lever, I took it out and bent it a bit so I can select High, Neutral and L4 but it's too short and looks silly
Things still to do -
Bumper brackets, it's held on by the corner bolts and zip-ties!
Cut and extend transfer lever
Fit new fuel pipe - when it arrives
Redo steering column
Overall, I'm very pleased. It has taken the back end from 19" from the centre of the hubs to the wheel arch upto 26" and the front from 21" to 26" - yes I had a very saggy arse!
Next things to do:
Drop the front ARB, fettle the exhaust and lower the diff
Regards
TFB
Snorkel
The snorkel was nice and easy
The wing is just a bolt on piece and once I had found the last bolt hidden behind the bumper it came off easily.
Originally I was going to have the rigid pipe entering the wing, so I cut an elongated slot in the wing with a set of hand nibblers
I had some flexipipe left over from a previous job on one of my Paj's and I used this to connect to the airbox, though a new hole in the inner wing (plenty of silicone sealant to protect it from the edges of the hole)
I chopped away a bit of the box section of the inner wing to make some more room and gave the fresh edges a coat of hammerite
In the end I decided to bring the flexi pipe out of the wing and connect it to the drain pipe by the windscreen pillar. This left me with the wrong shape hole in the wing.
I stole an idea someone else on here used and made a plastic plate out of the side of an old 25l oil can and pop riveted it to the wing, again plenty sealant to protect the edges.
Things still to do with it - get some lower profile clips to mount the rigid pipe and tape the joint up with some self-amalgamating tape, clean off the traces of sealant and possibly fit a bend at the top so the mushroom sits upright
Suspension
I bought the 2" suspension kit from Roughtrax, +2" Monroe shocks, thicker springs, thicker torsion bars and added a new set of longer brake hoses.
Again, doing the suspension was an easy job.
The new coils are a good bit thicker than the originals, though the same length.
Jack the back end up so the axle is hanging free, undo the top shock mounts, undo the bottom bolt and remove the shocks.
Get spring compressors on one spring and start winding it up - do a bit on each side to keep it from getting lopsided. If you have someone with you, get them to bounce up an down on the hub to free the spring as it saves a lot of winding up the compressors. The second side comes out a lot easier as the axle can be be pushed down without having to squeeze the other spring.
Once both springs are out, compress one spring and slip it in. I used a spread bar to push the axle down to make more room, but it's more effective if you can find someone willing to stand on the hub.
Repeat for the other side and then fit the new shocks
voila!
Torsion Bars
The important thing to remember with the torsion bars is that they are handed for left and right hand side, either end is a different size and they are keyed, in other words they will only go in one way round. The new bars from from roughtrax are considerably thicker
To remove the torsion bars, jack the front end up so the wheels are hanging free and there is minimum tension on the torsion bars. Put a spanner on the top nut of the adjuster and start winding out the bolt - one side was easy the other side was very stiff and once it was off the nut was so hot with the friction that it burnt my fingers!
The torsion bars then come out with a bit of pulling and yanking. Fit the new ones and take up the slack on the adjuster bolt.
Front shocks
Front shocks are easy, remove the top nut, remove the bottom bolt, pull it out and stick the new one in!
Once the shocks and torsion bars are in you need to set the height, this is done by tightening or loosening the adjusted bolts. Once you adjusted you need to bounce the car up and down a bit to settle it out. Important note, if you are doing this by jumping up and down on the winch tray, then make sure the bonnet stay is secure as it hurts when the bonnet falls on you and you look very silly!
Body Lift
The body lift was a bit more work. I decided to try a 3" lift as most people seem to go for 2".
Some of the nuts holding the chassis to the body were a buggrer to undo and I had to introduce two of them to Mr 9" angle grinder!.
Once all the bolts were undone I disconnected the fuel filler and glug pipe from the filler spot and removed the brackets holding the handbrake cable to the body work -seen behind the fuel pipes in the pic below. I also disconnected the brake pipes going down to the chassis and the flow and return from the fuel tank but it turned out there was enough slack in these
The fuel flow from the filter to the pump had to disconnected, but there was enough slack in the return from the pump.
I had already taken the radiator out as it was to be replaced.
Then it came time to jack the body. I had to rest the trolley jack on my old Paj's winch plate laying across a wheel to get enough hieght!
Once you have got enough height, slip the pucks in, drop the bolts through and repeat for the other side.
I did have to do some fettling to the steering column. This involved nibbling a bit out of the bulkhead to get the required angle
and extending the length of the column. I popped down to my local metal fabricators to see what they had and walked out with a bit of thick walled steel tube with a bore only a millimetre larger than the diameter of the shaft and they only charged me 50p for a 12" length
I ended up cutting the shaft in two between the doughnut and corrugated bit and then sleeving it and drilling and bolting. Though I did cock up a bit and it's not straight, so I'll get another column and try again, but it will do for now. I needed to add an inch to the lenght for a decent fit
Relocating the rad was a pain as part of the air-conditioning system was in the way and preventing me from drilling new holes through the bulkhead on one side. I ended up making a bracket from some uni-strut to support that side.
I still need to do some work with the transfer lever, I took it out and bent it a bit so I can select High, Neutral and L4 but it's too short and looks silly
Things still to do -
Bumper brackets, it's held on by the corner bolts and zip-ties!
Cut and extend transfer lever
Fit new fuel pipe - when it arrives
Redo steering column
Overall, I'm very pleased. It has taken the back end from 19" from the centre of the hubs to the wheel arch upto 26" and the front from 21" to 26" - yes I had a very saggy arse!
Next things to do:
Drop the front ARB, fettle the exhaust and lower the diff
Regards
TFB
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