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Post by nickyjuk on Apr 27, 2021 21:45:27 GMT
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Post by nickyjuk on Apr 27, 2021 22:13:37 GMT
It might look tight, but width wise, it is absolutely fine. The engine currently has the loom, pedal box, clutch reservoir and a half dozen other things piled on top of it making it look awkward. The only thing that has been trimmed on the body at this point was the flat plate where the battery would normally sit on a standard RV (in the corners between the wings and the bulkhead). A small amount needed trimming from the front edge so it no longer fouled the engine mounts. With the bulkhead snugly pushed up against the back of the engine, it mimiced the fit of the original Discovery, and the radiator and grill just about fitted in place too. It wasnt all rosy though, an obvious problem was the lack of space for the light bowls as the radiator was almost tight against the grill. Then, looking at the side of the jeep, the balance wasn't quite right. I had the body as far forward as it would go to create the biggest area behind what would become the cab. I have intention to use this as a working vehicle of sorts and the longer the bed, the better. But with the body pushed as far forward as it could go, to make that long bed, the front wheels were right at the back of the front wheel arch, and it didn't look right. A compromise was needed, and the body edged back until it was reasonable. It isn't perfect, but as I'm fitting a car body to a different car's chassis, I'm content with the fit. Sliding the body backwards has meant that the room between the front of the engine and the front panel has been reduced. To overcome this, a newer, thinner radiator and an electric fan to replace Landrover's viscous number looked to be the order of the day. Then the problem with the headlight bowls could also be overcome by using shallow led headlights.
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Post by nickyjuk on Apr 27, 2021 22:18:52 GMT
It looks like the wheel will align somewhere around here..
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Post by biggles1 on Apr 28, 2021 10:26:45 GMT
This is great! You're making fast progress.
John
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Post by nickyjuk on Apr 28, 2021 22:13:52 GMT
Thanks John. I'm making progress, but it isn't that fast.. I started everything a while back, and this narrative will soon catch up with where I am.
It is amazing where time disappears when researching things and trying to minimise the costs. With a lot of bits needed, I find myself researching my purchases to death. LED lights were one of these things. I'm not a fan of them really and would have happily driven around with the authentic looking original lights, even if they did only glow like a couple of candles. However they won't fit, and the shallow LED alternative will. I spent ages researching these, and discovered that although UK RHD lights have an uptick on the left side of the car and European LHD lamps do the same on the right side, North American lights just have a flat beam pattern. After some confusing back and forths with sellers on the Chinese AliXpress site, I managed to buy some lamps there. There are a lot of modern designs for sale, and I believe they all have a flat beam pattern as they are frequently sold to the American Market. At least I really hope they do! It also turns out that a flat beam pattern is ok for a UK MOT. I suspect these are the same lamps that are sold by landrover part resellers for three times the cost I paid.
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Post by terryrob on Apr 28, 2021 22:17:31 GMT
Some great work going on here guys, well done ,verry inspiring.
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Post by nickyjuk on Apr 28, 2021 22:17:37 GMT
Hopefully not too out of place
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Post by biggles1 on Apr 29, 2021 13:42:50 GMT
I reckon they look okay and, as a bonus, you should see where you're going!
John
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Post by Peter on May 1, 2021 11:13:30 GMT
They look OK. As long as they have the E4 on they will be OK. I bought a pair of flat cut off 7" units from the States but bulb type H4 and they are E4 marked so OK.
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Post by nickyjuk on May 2, 2021 21:41:02 GMT
Thanks Peter, that's reassuring. I'm sure they are E marked. I've managed to adapt the plastic wipac light bowls for them to fit.
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Post by nickyjuk on May 2, 2021 22:04:35 GMT
OK, so... I've now got to the stage where I'm afraid the squimish may want to look away! I measured this up several times, then several times more to make sure. I carefully marked everything with a thin marker pen over masking tape, then I left it until the following evening when I measured it all again. Not that unsurprisingly, the Eagle isn't quite symmetrical. Some of which is by design, some of which may be by design, and some of it definitely isn't! The seat box on the passenger side is further forward than the driver's, presumably to aid access to the rear seats (a good idea), the footwell on the driver's side is about 10mm longer than the passengers (no idea why!), and the length of the gap behind the doors on each side differs too! These differences add to the spice of making accurate measurements when adapting the body! In the end, I just had to commit, and carefully sliced off the rear end of the body with an angle grinder and a 1mm cutting disc. It made the best cut of anything I tried, but oh! What a lot of dust!
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Post by nickyjuk on May 2, 2021 22:08:19 GMT
Measuring back from my first cut, I made a second parallel cut, removed the middle section then promptly stuck the two ends back together with gaffer tape to check it wasn't too bad. Thankfully it wasn't. So I placed a seat in to prove it to myself!
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Post by nickyjuk on May 2, 2021 22:09:07 GMT
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Post by Peter on May 3, 2021 10:16:05 GMT
Great when a plan comes together.
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Post by pedro on May 3, 2021 11:30:29 GMT
Nice to see it coming together, are you sure your going to be happy with the front wheels set back? I wouldn't want you to regret it later, The V8 one we both know of had its wheels correctly positioned but of you course you know more about how it fits than I do. Maybe the chassis are different? Also LED headlights are not legal here retro fit, only factory fitted allowed, depends how well you get on with your mot guy.
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Post by Peter on May 4, 2021 10:18:59 GMT
Nice to see it coming together, are you sure your going to be happy with the front wheels set back? I wouldn't want you to regret it later, The V8 one we both know of had its wheels correctly positioned but of you course you know more about how it fits than I do. Maybe the chassis are different? Also LED headlights are not legal here retro fit, only factory fitted allowed, depends how well you get on with your mot guy. It's a bit of a grey area if the lights are E4 rated I think, I was not sure of it which is why I went for H4 units. If you are using Wipac bowls surely std unit will also fit?
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Post by nickyjuk on May 4, 2021 11:31:05 GMT
The problem I have with the standard Wipac bowls is that they are too deep. As they protude a long way back through the grill, I would have to set the radiator further back, which then means I don't have space for a fan. The LED alternative light units are so shallow they restore at least 2 inches (50mm), which allows everything to fit. Understanding the rules around LED lights is confusing. My interpretation is that if the entire light unit is an LED one, it is legal. However, 'upgrading' or modifying a H4 light unit with a LED bulb is not.
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Post by pedro on May 5, 2021 23:25:15 GMT
Yes its a grey area, I read to be legal they need to meet ECE standard 128 or ECE standard 148 (whatever that means) to pass an MOT. Although I changed my bulbs in my current car a few years ago to LED bulbs not knowing it was not legal. MOT guy said there was no proper light pattern and blamed dirty light glass, not sure why he didn't notice led's in there. Maybe just fit them, and have a back up plan ready.
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Post by Peter on May 6, 2021 10:06:32 GMT
The problem I have with the standard Wipac bowls is that they are too deep. As they protude a long way back through the grill, I would have to set the radiator further back, which then means I don't have space for a fan. The LED alternative light units are so shallow they restore at least 2 inches (50mm), which allows everything to fit. Understanding the rules around LED lights is confusing. My interpretation is that if the entire light unit is an LED one, it is legal. However, 'upgrading' or modifying a H4 light unit with a LED bulb is not. What about bringing the bowels 2" out with spacers leaving the grill where it is? If only for the MOT, with std H4 units, then swap back to flusk LED units when you have that bit of paper in your grubby mitts?.
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Post by nickyjuk on May 6, 2021 20:59:51 GMT
I think between the two of you, you've stumbled on my plan.. Try the LEDs, with a back up of H4 lights and bowls on stalks if required!
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Post by nickyjuk on May 6, 2021 21:21:12 GMT
Anyone looking at my last picture of the Scrambler taking shape will notice that I haven't really managed to lower the body an awful lot. It is quite a bit lower than it was when first offering the body up, but still needs quite a leap to get up into it! The gearbox and transfer box from the Discovery don't quite fit in the original tunnel, so with a bit of sigh, the angle grinder was deployed once again to nibble pieces away. With the tub already shortened, I was definitively committed. The offending spots were the inside of the driver's seat box where the body sat onto off the transfer box and the side of the tunnel on the passenger side where the body was once again tight to the gearbox. It is about twenty years since I last did any fibreglass work, and remember it as a bit of a disaster. I ended up with everything setting too quickly and gloved hands that looked like more like bird nests within a few minutes of starting. This time through, it wasn't too bad. Admittedly I managed to get some of it in my hair, but I think it was a bit of an accomplishment. Instead of slicing up lots of matting, I used fibreglass tape that had been knocking around from another project. I keyed everything using the angle grinder and used some of my fibreglass offcuts. All of this will eventually be hidden away underneath carpet and most of it beneath the seats, so I made sure it was sturdy with many layers, but it definitely won't win any beauty awards.
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Post by nickyjuk on May 6, 2021 21:25:12 GMT
Not quite symmetry..
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Post by Peter on May 7, 2021 13:15:50 GMT
don't worry about symmetry, there isn't an Eagle that is. Looks strong and what goes on under foam, vinyl, carpet etc is no ones business. Looks like a nice set of clocks and gauges there, bit of a polish, slap a bit of black vinyl on the dash and jobs a good'un.
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Post by Peter on May 7, 2021 20:16:00 GMT
Adrian Chapman, this article is probably clearer.
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Post by nickyjuk on May 10, 2021 21:36:54 GMT
Interesting reading, but it talks of swapping the bulbs, not the entire headlamp unit. Technically, this is a rebodied Landrover Discovery which may add more complication. Retaining the original rectangular Discovery headlamps was not going to be possible. I'm not sure we'll have a definitive answer on this until it either comes back with an MOT test certificate, or not.
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Post by nickyjuk on May 10, 2021 21:53:22 GMT
On with the build.. After modifying the tub floor to cater for some of the Discovery's mechanics, I pinned the front and rear sections of the tub together with clamps and more gaffer tape. I then started stiching it back together with more fibreglass tape. Originally I was going to keep the double skin of the rear tub, but the slope on it was such that it came a lot further forward into the space behind the seats than I wanted, so I carefully sliced the inner skin away, with the intention of fixing it back again at a sharper angle. With this removed, the cuts I made on the inside of the two sides butted tightly up against the rear of the tub, so I glassed these together first to make sure it was all just about lining up where I wanted it. Once this set, I then glassed the bottom edge.. all of which took me some time. With the outer skin still not glassed together, I took advantage of some extra pairs of hands to lift the body back onto the chassis, so I could start figuring out and fabricating a frame to mount the body to the chassis.
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Post by nickyjuk on May 10, 2021 21:57:21 GMT
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Post by nickyjuk on May 17, 2021 22:03:23 GMT
With the body back on top of the chassis I started making up a frame to hold the two together. There are no CAD drawings going on here, simply measuring it all and trying to align everything. It is at this stage it became more apparent that the body really isn't symmetrical. As already mentioned, the footwell on the passenger's side is slightly shorter, but to be honest, I'm not sure it really matters that much. It also makes me feel better about my agricultural engineering! With the body resting above the chassis I started measuring everything up, then fabricating the one side, so I could slot it back underneath, while cutting the steel for the opposite side to tack together after I could get some help to lift the body back off again later. The body sits about 75mm above the majority of the Discovery chassis, so I used some 50mm box tubing, which I think is more than sturdy enough. For flat areas, where the body mounts to the chassis I used some 5mm steel plate that I thought strong enough, and would eliminate flex. The body mounts on the Discovery are I think a little strange. They are cylindrical blocks with an off centre hole through them. I don't know how they built the Discovery, but each one is positioned differently, as if they were welded into place, or drilled individually to align with the body. Each pair is also at a different height, just to add to the awkwardness. With the frame clamped in place, the holes were each marked, then things were partially disassembled, the body mount points drilled, then tacked together with a few welds. The initial frame allowed me to put the body back on, and gave a better idea of the position the tub would be in. It is still quite high, but some side steps will hopefully sort out issues with getting in and out, and it also allowed me to gauge how long I could practically make the rear bed.
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Post by nickyjuk on May 17, 2021 22:06:52 GMT
The unfinished, but initial body-to-chassis mounting frame.
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Post by nickyjuk on May 18, 2021 20:51:16 GMT
With the unfinished cab sat on top of the unfinished frame, it was time to take the Scrambler for a spin - so we pushed it outside. With a bit of space to work around it, I enlisted some help to work out how big to make the bed on the back of the Scrambler. Using pallets for measuring things out, it was immediately clear that two full Euro pallets would make it too long, but everything would just about be OK with a standard and a short pallet. This made the bed six feet long, and this felt like a nice round number for the width of the truck too, so I decided to go with it. The bed would sit above the rear wheels, without a crazy amount of overhang on each side.
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