Series IIA Chassis up rebuild

[Loulou]

Hello Landylees,

I am at the same stage of reconstruction: adjustment of the upper glass panels.
It's a real mess and you are doing very well, good result of adjustment that I do not achieve.

The lower part of the door is quite easy to make.
For the upper part with the two windows, it's a different story ...

The two vertical planes of the upper part do not have the same "slope / inclination"; the one near the cover has a different angle than the front part against the windshield. Therefore, if you force you risk getting a twisted plane and the window will not slide.
The main problem with my LWT is that the windshield locks (MRC2416) butt against the inside return of the glass frame, so no adjustment play possible.

All the photos seen from SeriesIII and LWT have this upper part which yawns on both sides.
Therefore for me, I will wear a fisherman's oilskin in my LWT when it rains ...

Regards.

Looloo

[landylees]

Hello Landylees,

I am at the same stage of reconstruction: adjustment of the upper glass panels.
It's a real mess and you are doing very well, good result of adjustment that I do not achieve.

The lower part of the door is quite easy to make.
For the upper part with the two windows, it's a different story ...

The two vertical planes of the upper part do not have the same "slope / inclination"; the one near the cover has a different angle than the front part against the windshield. Therefore, if you force you risk getting a twisted plane and the window will not slide.
The main problem with my LWT is that the windshield locks (MRC2416) butt against the inside return of the glass frame, so no adjustment play possible.

All the photos seen from SeriesIII and LWT have this upper part which yawns on both sides.
Therefore for me, I will wear a fisherman's oilskin in my LWT when it rains ...

Regards.

Looloo

I'm following your thread and you are not doing too badly yourself!

I suspect I am trying too hard to get it just right. As I played with the tailgate adjustment, I was smiling as I couldnt imagine the Army

I will hopefully post a picture of the driver side later today and let's see whether it is better or worse than the passenger side.

[AR4412]

Oh the joys of getting doors and door tops to fit on a Lightweight. I'm so glad that the Recce won't have any doors on it.

I believe the fun began at the design stage, and became a riot of laughs from then on. The main problem as I see it, is that the lightweight bulkhead is the same width all the way down as the top of the Series bulkhead is at the very top. Give or take a few mil, 150cm. On the Series, the bulkhead slants inwards to the top from the height of the door capping, (Just above the door hinge.), where give or take a few mil it is about 30mm wider overall. So, in old money that means that the bottom of the door top where it begins to lean inwards is already a good half inch closer to the bottom of the windscreen on the Lightweight. So, unless the doors are stepped away from the bulkhead, or things like seal mounting lips are bent, then the door tops will always touch the bottom of the vent panel/screen frame first, and pressure exerted on the bottom of the door top will push the top of it further away from the windscreen.

Apart from there being slightly less water and animals, it's a nightmare of biblical proportions to get the door tops sitting nicely against the winscreen frame. You should see how far out from the body the doors on my coiler need to be to get the Defender door tops to sIt flush to the windscreen frame.

Regards,

[Oneandtwo]

They can be got perfect by adjusting the windscreen seal retainer inwards as far as it will go on the bottom half of the screen using cold chisel and hammer. Sounds brutal but it is really the only way to get the door tops positioned correctly.

If you look at the photo of my Lightweight with properly fitting doortops, look how far inwards the door top is positioned in relation to the bottom corner of the windscreen. That photo was taken when the top horizontal and rear seals were brand new - the door top now sits even better now those new seals have compressed over 18 months.

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[landylees]

So I have removed the new and very expensive early Lightweight hard cylindrical seal on the windscreen and got the gap at the top to a more acceptable 8mm. I suspect if get the hammer and cold chisel out I will get this down further. I suspect I will be making the windscreen seal out of some cheap soft and compressible rubber I have lying around tomorrow. So with all your advice and plenty of time I am making progress.

I have fitted the drivers door bottom but the door top fouls the windscreen on that side...

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[Loulou]

Hello Gentlemen,

Reading your messages reassures me ... I am not alone in this tide .
Good luck to all and see you in a few weeks for everyone's solutions.
Thank you all for your comments.

Regards.
Looloo

[landylees]

I removed the leaking oil cooler pipe that I had made to discover the brass union came off with the nut. My first ever soldering attempt therefore scored a fail. I re-soldered it with some proper flux and silver solder then refitted. Also, fitted the chains to the tailgate and tightened up the front panel and driver side wing. Yes I am avoiding the driver's door for now!

[landylees]

Fitted the seats today...dusty finger prints to be removed

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[Pifco]

Those grey seats look superb, as does the whole build. I might have to get a set of those when the time comes.

Pete

[weetchus]

Serious Lightweight envy going on here. Lovely work.