[evilfij]

I would consider swapping the steering box to a P38a or scout II steering box. They mount outside the rails. Having owned a DBW 530i, the pedal mounting will be interesting to say the least with the shape of the D90 bulkhead.

 

[evilfij]

Goo gone works best on stickers IME.

That and a razor blade got all the carpet adhesive stickers off my NAS tub without any damage to the paint.

 

[evilfij]

When you reinstall the bulkhead bolts, slather the shafts in anti-seize. Actually I slather everything in anti-seize. I prefer wurth copper but the silver permetex works well too.

 

[evilfij]

I just like wurth Charles. It seems nicer, but there is no principled reason other than I think copper is better. There is usually a dealer somewhere. The HS2000 (or whatever they call it now) is the best spray lubricant I have found.

 

[evilfij]

It is true that people have pets that look like them. ;-)

 

[evilfij]

Sorry to hear about your cat. I love pets more than people. Here is my cat, well my ex-GF's cat. I really miss her. $4k to get the sewing needle she ate out at UPenn vet. Worth every penny.

 

[evilfij]

I think the Michelin looks old school so I would not switch them.

 

[evilfij]

After all that work and you did not use proper footwell repair panels ....

For shame.

 

[evilfij]

Oh that makes sense. It is just the proper replacement panels are a few hundred bucks and given how amazing this project is I was surprised with the scrap metal repair.

 

[evilfij]

Roversnorth sells the copies with the ribs and two separate parts as original.

http://www.roversnorth.com/Land-Rover-Parts/942

 

[evilfij]

Sorry to criticize. It looks good. When you put the bulkhead bolts back in, slather them in antiseize.

 

[evilfij]

Vultures descend on the old heater box in 3 2 1 ....

 

[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.

 

[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 ------

Oh no! Was it okay?

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

 

[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.

 

[evilfij]

Paint does not stick to galvanizing well at all.

I would paint in pieces. Make sure it is well cured and transport and assemble carefully.

 

[evilfij]

Hopefully they're not the only ones. Glasurit says their 801- epoxy primers provide outstanding adhesion on galvanised steel.

For the galvanized sheet metal panels that are standard on new vehicles (for the most part) this may be true, but hot dipped is another ballgame. Unless you paint it right after being dipped or sand it or something it does not stick.

 

[evilfij]

You are painting monza and not portofinio? Interesting, it will take someone who really knows defenders to notice. I can't wait to see how it turns out. My poor red 94 needs paint help. The front fenders were resprayed and the rest of the truck looks pink (which I would not mind if it were all the same).

 

[evilfij]

Well I can't do any painting yet. We're being bombarded with some major storms with the remnants of a typhoon. Hopefully we'll have some good weather before spring. One thing I don't like on the Defender are all those Phillips-head screws on the floor plates, hinges, bulkhead diaphragm, front wings, etc. I had to lock a vice-grip onto the rusty ones to get them off or use the angle grinder. So I'm replacing all of them with the torx screws found on the Puma trucks.

Fill them with anti-seize and they will come off. The problem is that they rust to the captive plates.

 

[evilfij]

Also, spray the captive plates from below with clear waxoyl.