Chassis Swap - Suspension Bushes - Arrived Today

Its like Christmas - a big box of bushes arrived from Alive Tuning - and a very good service they provide too.

And at £166 for a full set including VAT and shipping, I was very happy at the price.

Chassis Swap - Suspension Bushes

Seeing as the weather has been dismal, I haven't finished painting my rear door hinges.

To cheer myself up I have been engaged in a little retail therapy.

Finding a bargain always cheers me up - I hate cheap things, but love to get good things on the cheap.

After much searching on the internet, I discovered that  Alive Tuning do Superpro Bushes for a good few quid less than other vendors.  So armed with my trusty credit card I have ordered myself the Defender kit (KIT0043AK).


This kit is the first item in the big box of goodies to be taken up to Paul Marsden.  Sally is booked in with him this coming autumn for chassis swap, so I have a couple of months to get the parts together.

Hinges - Rear Door - Step1

The hinges on the rear door are starting to rust, so I bought a new set from a trader on ebay a couple of days ago.  I won the auction and got the set set for £24.99 including postage.  A bargain!

I have to admit the listing did not make it clear whether or not these hinges were genuine LR parts.  However, at that price I thought they were probably cheap pattern parts.

Now, I don't normally buy cheap parts as I have come to the conclusion that you just end up throwing them away and then buying good quality.  In the long run it is cheaper to buy quality in the first place.

That said, if these do turn out to be rubbish, they just have to hold the door on long enough for me to paint and refit my old hinges.  In this case, I will refit the old and throw the new - if they are OK I will have two sets to rotate.

As they arrived

After a coat of etch primer.











Next going to add a coat of high build primer.

Wheels & Tyres - New Alloys + BFGs

This morning I got a call from the mobile tyre fitters to tell me they were on their way.
I chose a mobile fitter because I didn't want to get pulled driving on the bald Discovery tyres that came with the alloys.

So after an hour or so, Sally looked like this:

Fresh with a new set of 235/85 BFG A/T

I was very happy with the service - the wheels were balanced with stick on weights and torqued up properly with a wrench (in a star pattern).

They came in at a very reasonable £569.36 fitted and balanced with new valves (and with the old tyres disposed of).



I'm so happy with the quality of the service, I am giving them a shameless plug :)

I must be goin' soft in me old age.









Now Sally looks the bees knees in her new boots and even young Master Tod got in on the act by fitting the new centre caps for me....

I am a very happy piggy.
Called  the insurance company to inform them of the change and they said they already thought she had alloys so there will be no change in premium. Result!

Looking at this photo, the next job is obvious - paint me rock-sliders and buff out the white bloom on the door - a landyman's work is never done.


As an added note some of the weights (hidden on the inside of the wheels) are clip on - since I didn't specify stick on only, this is not a criticism merely an observation.  Still very happy with the tyres and the service.
Further note - I had Event Tyres back to put a tyre on my spare wheel - this time I asked for stick on weights and that's what I got!

Alloy Wheels - Fitted Them Today

OK my wheels are now clean, the weather is good so it's about time I fitted them there wheels.

Now these came off a discovery so obviously the tyres are too small.

I have an appointment tomorrow with a mobile tyre fitter who will fit my tyres of choice...

Alloy Wheels - Centre Caps

I recently decided that by the time I had bought plastic adhesion promoter and special plastic primer I could have just bought some new plastic centre caps.

So I did and they arrived today - Part Number ANR2391LUQ
And at £22.24 for three with delivery from LRSeries.com, I think they were not a bad price.

Chassis Swap - Specced and Ordered

After considerable thought I have decided that a replacement chassis is the best way forward, and the spec I have chosen is as follows:

• Defender 90" 300Tdi galvanised chassis, with
• anti roll bar mounts
• mounting holes for NAS roll cage
• rear mounts for additional fuel tank
• Td5 Rear cross-member
• A pair of Galvanized Heavy Duty Standard Height Front Shocker Mounts
• A Bolt in Gearbox Cross Member for 300 TDi

I chose the additional rear tank brackets to give me the option (at some time in the future) of replacing the rear tub with a Td5 item.  No body mods would then be required for the rear fuel filler.

The mounting holes for the NAS cage will allow the future conversion to NAS style soft-top without making holes in the galv.

And finally I chose the Td5 style crossmember as I think they look neater.  Since I do not off-road Sally I do not need the extra strength the Tdi crossmember affords.

Alloy Wheels - Wheel Nuts

Just received a set of locking wheel nuts from 4x4Mail Order.  They were well packaged and arrived quickly, so they seems a good supplier so far.
Just need to check they fit!