Have you ever tried to replace the ball joint at the bottom of the steering drop arm? It seems easy enough. Clean off the gunk, drop out the old, pop in the new. Job done. Except that it doesn’t work like that. The steering on Vin Rouge was getting a bit iffy on the last leg of our trip and, as usual after extended travelling, I made up a list of those jobs that needed doing together with modifications and improvements I thought might be a good idea.
Top of the list was the front end, all to be done together. The bumper came off easily enough, as did the spotlights, ‘A’ bar, steering guard, radiator and all the pipes. It was then that it became obvious that the steering damper was not in the best of health and the ball joint was playing host to quite a large amount of the Northern Territory.
Replacing the damper took a mere ten minutes. Two coffees were required to consider how to break out the steering joint and the combined efforts of wedge, hammer and blowlamp did the trick. Cleaning up was messy, but necessary, which naturally moved on to fitting the new ball joint. Popping in the ball and loosely connecting it to the drop arm was simple. That left the small matter of the spring and a circular plate, held in place by a circlip. Now I’m sure that Land Rover sell a special (probably very expensive) tool for the job but I didn’t have one. Attempt one using a couple of G cramps resulted in failure and flying springs. Attempt two with a single G cramp and a couple of metal tubes met with similar results. I thought I’d try a different approach with attempt three and used a jack. All that happened was the Land Rover was raised. That’s a seriously powerful spring in there! Attempt four was delayed whilst more coffee was consumed. A couple of metal plates together with a couple of bolts that should compress the spring was the general idea. Wrong. The makeshift tool simply bent. However, the idea did seem to have some merit so the makeshift tool was remade using thicker metal reinforced with pieces of Australian Ironwood.
Attempt five - success. With everything clamped up nicely the circlip slipped into place with ease. Shame it took nearly all day. Happily the new radiator with all its attachments, and the new front bumper with all its attachments went together easily. The next job is to cut off the whole rear end of the chassis and weld in a new piece. Seems easy enough . . . .
With the front looking respectable and the inside now more or less free of red dust it’s time to tackle the back end. Vin Rouge spent its early years in the UK and suffered from the salting of roads during the British winters. The result was an infestation of rust worm in the back end of the chassis.
Early one morning the delivery courier arrived struggling with an ungainly and heavy chunk of steel that masquerades as a heavy duty rear cross member. In theory this is easy to fit as it comes with all the attachments. All that’s needed is to cut the two longitudinal chassis rails and weld in the new piece. Of course it doesn’t work quite like that. But first it’s the application of two coats of RustGuard for added protection and leave it in the sun for a couple of days to harden off.
Preparation started with the application of liberal quantities of WD40 to every nut and bolt. After a week of this twice daily treatment nearly all of the bolts could be loosened and so the long-range fuel tank was drained and removed, the spare wheel carrier and towing gear taken off, the batteries disconnected, all the cables pulled back out of the way and the rear wheels removed to provide working space. Day one passed reasonably uneventfully.
Fortunately, youngest son Alex has a friend who owns and is extremely competent using his plasma cutter and MIG welder, so come the weekend we got to work. The last few bolts came out and the plasma cutter was employed to cut though the first chassis rail. No problems. Must be time for coffee. The second rail has the added complexity that the main cable harness runs inside it (how do they build the thing like that?) and so it was necessary to cut the chassis rail behind the harness, then insert some heat protection before cutting the second rail to match the first.
After some rough trimming and cleaning of the exposed metal we were in a position to trial-fit the new part, except that it didn’t fit. Land Rover’s precision to the nearest quarter inch was clearly in vogues and so various bits had to be removed from the new piece before we could finally get it into place. Cue break for more coffee and some sandwiches.
Our very own pyrotechnic display soon had the back end looking tidy and the new rear cross member was bolted into place and spot welded. That cable harness was giving some cause for concern as it would be hidden behind the place where the welding would take place. We’d used a couple of rolls of electrical tape as sacrificial protection so far but felt that a something a little more substantial would be needed – just in case. The solution was found in a length of bamboo cut and split lengthways then taped around the cable harness. It worked! Celebrate with more coffee.
Welding took time. First a section on one side of the chassis was welded and while that cooled a section on the other side was done. After that it was a matter of welding back the bits we had to cut off to make everything fit. Come the end of the day, the chassis was whole again. Cue for beer – we’d had enough coffee.
Next morning a trial-fit of the fuel tank revealed that it didn’t, so modifications were required to the fixing brackets and that completed the cutting and welding.
Three coats of RustGuard later and the underside was beginning to look as it should. It was time to reinstall the fuel tank. It did go back – eventually – after a lot of pushing and shoving, accompanied by a steady stream of invectives. Cables were connected and much to my amazement, everything worked.
Several coats of protective wax/oil stuff was sprayed inside and outside the chassis, after which the wheels went back on, new mudflaps were fitted and the job was done.
Waking up the following morning I had rather en empty feeling. There was nothing more to do on Vin Rouge. At least until the next time.
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