Andrew's Defender 90 3.0i Project

[evilfij]

An LT230 will run without a material amount of oil for thousands of miles. I would fill it with cheap 90wt, run it for 500 miles, drain and refill and call it a day. It is probably fine.

[Chip]

Okay. I'll keep my fingers crossed it's good. I don't really want to tear it apart unless I have to. I'll fill it with some cheap oil and drive it awhile & drain it out before I put the good stuff in then. I fixed the drain plug hole. I already had a M14x1.5 plug tap from Snap-On and Curt had a 1/2" drill bit. I cleaned up all the bits with q-tips. Now I just need a new drain plug. This one on Amazon, Gold Plug brand, seems to have good reviews.

[RBBailey]

I bought a Disco once and did my part in checking the fluids..... Except for the Lt230... It had been cleaned, and looked like it had recently been opened, and had a new gasket in it, so I didn't bother.

3 months later, it started to cease up while driving. No oil in it. The previous owner had a friend who had changed the transmission filter, but didn't know what he was doing, opened the t-case by mistake, closed it back up, and never put the oil back in. Learned my lesson. And learned that the Lt230 is pretty bulletproof as well.

[Chip]

Oh no! Was it okay?

[evilfij]

Given the amount of build up in the case (normal), I can't imagine the bearings even rusted.

------ Follow up post added May 20th, 2016 09:33 PM ------

Originally Posted by Chip

Oh no! Was it okay?

Even if it was not, it ran for three months without oil.

[Nomar]

Gold Plug magnetics are nice. I now have one for my 7.3

Andrew, your LT looks pretty good from the quick view inside.
I'd do like Ron suggested and run cheap oil in it at the beginning and then change it.

We once had a ROAV club member who drove back to Virginia from WV on a few teaspoons of oil in the LT if I remember correctly...


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[Vernonk01cha]

Hi Andrew,

Very interesting build - I own a 1999 original SA build 2.8i 110 pick up very special vehicle!

Please post an update soonest!

[Chip]

Hey Vernon,
Welcome to the forum! If you'd like, post pictures of your truck in the registry. I'd love to see it.

I have just a few things left to do before I put the body back on the chassis. Then the next thing to do is the exhaust. Then paint for the new wings and doors. I'm trying to decide if I should galvanize the under-seat boxes and the tub & door cappings. My friend Curt thinks I should just leave them painted since things don't rust much here in the western states, but I think it would give it a cool retro look.

[Vernonk01cha]

My 2.8i Defender

[evilfij]

I would galvanize them. The cappings in galvy look great on red. I would also do the inner panel to the tailgate and the NAS bumper, light bar, and tire carrier.

[bjf]

Originally Posted by evilfij

I would galvanize them. The cappings in galvy look great on red. I would also do the inner panel to the tailgate and the NAS bumper, light bar, and tire carrier.

Not a fan of doing the bumper, tire carrier, or light bar, but I do agree the capping looks great on a red nas truck.

[Jymmiejamz]

I agree the galvanised cappings look good on red (and blue) trucks, but I think it looks kind of goofy on a NAS truck. I would galvanise then paint.

[bjf]

Originally Posted by Jymmiejamz

I agree the galvanised cappings look good on red (and blue) trucks, but I think it looks kind of goofy on a NAS truck. I would galvanise then paint.

I would be worried paint wasn't done correctly. If it was mine I would paint cappings and tub separate then install with exposed rivets.

[sonoronos]

One thing to note as someone who has recently painted their galvanized cappings: It's not easy to paint the interior of the capping. Now I know why the factory used to paint the cappings after installation on NAS Defenders - it's virtually impossible to get an HVLP gun inside the capping in a production environment.

I needed some serious fixturing to get it in a position to HVLP the interior of the capping by hand. In production, you'd have to dip-coat the cappings to paint them inside and out.

[Chip]

Beautiful truck Vernon! I like the color.

I wouldn't paint the cappings after galvanizing them. I think they look great on the red. Thanks for the photo Barry! Not a bad idea at all to galvanize the bumper, light bar, and tire carrier. But if I do those too I think I'd have them powder coated black afterwards.

I did some little miscellaneous things today. I found out why my rear speakers never worked. A corroded connector at the bulkhead. So I replaced it.

(shown without lock plate)


(chassis harness side)


I replaced the nut plates at the rear of the tub because they were rusty. Drilled out the threads in the center one since the seat belt bracket goes behind it. Probably should have just designed the bracket to act as the nut plate. I'm not sure how that bracket is suppose to be since I've never seen one.



Some galvanic corrosion, but not so bad. I painted on the rear side between the nut plate, then I painted the nut plate (I used black on the nut plate because they're not exactly visible from outside the truck.) I dabbed a little paint on the heads of the split rivets so they don't get rusty (they already had specs of rust on them new from Rovers North. Maybe I should have used something else besides the original type, but I figured I'd keep it the way it was.)



I fixed a broken port on the fuel vapour separator with some heavy duty adhesive heat shrink (with a little tape around it to make sure the glue doesn't close it up). Is that a purge valve? Before I put it back together I tried blowing in it both ways but air wouldn't go through. Does that mean it's bad or just needs more pressure to open than I can blow? (Edit: Okay, according to the workshop manual, the pressure relief valve opens when the pressure in the separator reaches between 5 and 7 Kpa.) I'm not sure if it's related, but one time I filled the tank with gas one of the valves on top came out and gas spilled out. I hope that doesn't happen again.

[Chip]

My new stainless Double 'S' exhaust just arrived from the UK. Shipping was pretty expensive for the one with the center silencer, so I got it without. I'm going to get a Stainless Works turbo chambered muffler. I listened to some videos and they seem to have a nice deep sound. Turbo Chambered Mufflers

[Nomar]

Originally Posted by Chip

I fixed a broken port on the fuel vapour separator with some heavy duty adhesive heat shrink (with a little tape around it to make sure the glue doesn't close it up). Is that a purge valve? Before I put it back together I tried blowing in it both ways but air wouldn't go through. Does that mean it's bad or just needs more pressure to open than I can blow? (Edit: Okay, according to the workshop manual, the pressure relief valve opens when the pressure in the separator reaches between 5 and 7 Kpa.) I'm not sure if it's related, but one time I filled the tank with gas one of the valves on top came out and gas spilled out. I hope that doesn't happen again.

^^ Andrew, what size are the 2 screws that mount the small vapor tank to the tub?? ^^


I've lost my screws AND I see yours are readily accesible

.

[Chip]

Originally Posted by Nomar

^^ Andrew, what size are the 2 screws that mount the small vapor tank to the tub?? ^^


I've lost my screws AND I see yours are readily accesible

.

They're the same screws used on the fuel tank heat shield. Looks like they're 1/4" with a 14 thread, and 5/8" long. When I replaced the heat shield I used stainless screws and with a hex head (I had to use vice grips to get the old rusty screws out), but I think I'll reuse the mild steel ones with mylar washers for the vapour separator since it's bolted onto aluminum.

[Nomar]

^^ Thanks! ^^

I dont recall my vapor tank screws being in bad shape at all (before I lost them)

The fuel tank/shield screws were a bit rusty, but not terrible.



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[Chip]

It's starting to look like a truck again.