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D90 rebuild to 100" wb... plus a few other mods ;)

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90 d90 mod rebuild
107K views 215 replies 41 participants last post by  Landy_Andy 
#1 ·
Was asked by another forum member to post up a few pic's of my D90 rebuild. Short history, been playing with LR's for about 10yrs, emigrated from the UK to Canada almost 5yrs ago and before leaving the UK did the LR show scene with my good buddies from Qt Services.

So, here are a couple of pic's of the truck as I brought it over from the UK after being parked up for the past 4.5yrs whilst I built our new home.
 

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#3 ·
Now.... to start the work for stretching the wheelbase to 100".... out comes the grinder :naughty

Next was time to decide what to do about the back end of the chassis, I could have just extended the old frame but I've always wanted a challenge style truck, so I priced up the rear 8274 winch tray from my old friends at Devon 4x4. Unfortunatly, the shipping was going to cost more than the tray kit. Thus, I drew it up from scratch had the parts water jet cut locally & got to work with the welder. A week later I had a nice & chunky new rear winch tray....

I also aquired the front end off an ex-MOD tub to to make a hi-cap style rear cab bulkhead. The back is still undecided between a trayback or a basic tube tub.... more beer decided to make that decision :)
 

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#5 ·
Here's a pic of the rear tires mocked up at 100" wb, will give a near 90 degree departure angle.

Next to finish off the rear tray & whilst I was at it I added a demountable tow hitch.
 

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#6 ·
Whilst working on the rear tray I also made up a set of front cage mounts and a new set of frame mounts for the rear 4 link suspension.... going 4 link was a bit easier than making an extended 'A' frame.... and it looks cool too :cool:
 

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#7 ·
Here is a couple of pic's of the rear axle. I cut off the old 'A' frame balljoint mount & drew up some 1/4" plate parts to make a top truss. Once welded up it's well chunky & should give a solid mount for the new top links.

Still waiting on the rest of my JJ's to arrive, then I can finalize the pinion angle & finish weld the spring mounts & shock tabs.
 

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#8 ·
Just about up to date now, I covered over the RHD steering/pedal holes as I'm also converting to LHD during the rebuild and resprayed it. Also, got the rear bulkhead tidied up, capping closed off on the back corners & generally reinforced with chequer plate.

The screen frame & truck cab back are also painted and ready for rebuild. Next to work on the cab roof & get the rear bulkhead painted.
 

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#9 · (Edited)
So, that's it so far..... about 5 months on & off working on the project. List of small stuff still to do is quite long but from major items we have, rear rollcage & some sort of back, rewire the engine for Megasquirt and a general rewire of all the 'add-on' stuff using high grade automotive wire.

Hoping to get the remaining joints this week & then I can get the rear axle back under her & see how she flexes out. I have a hunch that I made the axle top mounts too tight, so they may have to be cut off & remade.... will see :rolleyes

If you want see her flex back in the UK.... http://youtu.be/DgBcgLTieTE

If the wife would let me I'd love to build a truck like this D&G Torus.... http://youtu.be/Vxtq78ARB5I

FYI... all the cut parts were drawn up using Bendtech Sheet Metal & I'll be using it to make the rear cage too. Here is a work in progress drawing of the cage and the model I made of the rear winch tray. On the cage grey is my existing exo over the cab, red the new rear section and the orange a basic tray. Will prob build the rear cage first and then mull over the back once I see how it looks & drives.
 

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#13 ·
Andy this is so awesome. I really like how you made the rear tray. Please keep posting more pics.
I can't take credit for the design, Simon Buck & the guys at D44 get that..... would have purchased one of theirs & saved some design time & fab work if the shipping had been realistic. Paying more to get the part than the part costs is just not on :(

------ Follow up post added April 3rd, 2012 07:33 AM ------

Awesome. Looking forward to seeing this progress, and very interested in the megasquirt mods as well.
There is a whole sub-forum here on squirting you RV8....

http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showforum=36

Enjoy :)
 
#15 ·
C if you wanna fool around with MS I have two you can play with. I even have a MS III daughter card so you can turn on the lighted dancing hula girl when the engine reaches 180 F if ya wants. If you decide that you love it and want to keep it you can pay me what I paid for the kit. This way you save all the build time and go right to the screwing around part. Heck you are free to modify it if you want, but it has all the components to do fuel and spark, so it's a short hop to having it go.
 
#17 ·
Thanks for the offer and I'll certainly let you know of I ever get the time. The problem is I would *like* to mess with lots of things but really don't have time for any of it. Right now my interest in doing an EV trumps playing with fuel injection systems, and I haven't got the time to do that yet!
 
#18 ·
Here is a pic of the MS board in a nice alum box I've got for it, plan is to use the Amphanol connectors on the box end for the loom connections and keep the 'not so waterproof' 25way D type inside. I'll mount the relays & fuses onto the top of the case lid so it's all together & prob mount the whole thing behind the drivers seat for easy access. Just wish B&G had put some mounting holes in the PCB then I could have done away with the lower half of the alum case too.
 

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#22 ·
Following this with interest, keep the pics coming Andy. Especially the rear 4 link.

What are your plans for the front?

Ian
Front already has a Qt 3 link on it.... so for the time being that'll stay. Long term I might make some new tubular shock towers but for the time being now, not really a priority.

------ Follow up post added April 4th, 2012 10:21 AM ------

Amazing quality behind your work. This is art.
Thanks.... not too bad for an amature fab & welder :)
 
#23 ·
Been a while since I got to work on the 90, had to get back to building works on our house now the snow has finally cleared & the outside temps got a bit warmer :)

The boss is happy(er) so, got the rear links tacked up & the axle trial fitted last night. Very happy with how it's sitting :party

Next to pull it all back out, finish the welding on the axle casing & links, paint it all & get it rebuilt into a rolling chassis. Going to concentrate on putting the cab back together next then & then work on the MS install.

Would be nice to be able to drive it out the shop for some spring cleaning soon as I want to get the floor re-finished & painted before it get too hot here.
 

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#24 ·
Got some time last couple of weeks to get the axle finished up & check out the rear flex. Decided to go with 14" Bilsteins as I got them used at a good price, Set the droop so that the X-Eng 'X' springs are fully extended but still just loaded, then once I knew the approx top damper location checked the up stroke & with it sat on the bump stops. All worked nice & then finished welding up the brackets on the axle.

Now to shoot some paint and get all the fab'd parts and the bodywork colored up ready for bolting back together, the rear bulkhead doesn't look too bad for saying it was well & truly 'squadie' bashed by some brits at CFB Suffield :rolleyes
 

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#31 ·
Slow progress... waiting on parts & the replacement loom to arrive from the UK, so made a start on the new brake lines and began to get the dash back together ready for the wiring loom to go back in. More work on the Megasquirt to do next....
 

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#35 · (Edited)
Finally got some time to work on the D90 again, built a rolling lifting frame & got the front half of the cage sat back on the truck. Re-measured the old cage & new cage mounts then spent a while on Bend-Tech to get the new back cage started. Using the cage clamps to link the 2 sections should be plenty strong, esp with 9 points of connection once done. There is only 5" between the existing cab hoop & the new back one so the link tubes will be very short. Should make for a nice & rigid structure.

Hopefully get some time soon to bend up the new back hoop, can then work on the rest of the cage.
 

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