DEALING WITH FOOTWELL CORROSION

1 When the body was lifted from the original chassis and the outrigger was out of the way, a significant hole in the left footwell became apparent. 2 The bulkhead support brackets on both sides, which run between the footwell and the chassis, are removed to give better access to the affected area.

3 Viewed from under: all of the rust is cut away, leaving as much of the good steel structure as possible so that the footwell can be accurately rebuilt. 4 New steel is cut and shaped to replace the section that has been cut away. A cardboard template is very useful to help form the correct shape. 5 The new metal is clamped using a pair of locking pliers and is also bolted at the location of the hole for the bulkhead support bracket. 6 The repair plate is initially tack welded, re-checked, and then seam welded from both the interior and the engine bay side of the bulkhead. 7 The finished job is primed and painted to protect the new metal from the mud, water and general road grime that is thrown up by the front wheel. 8 The right side footwell is in good condition and did not require any repairs. A replacement galvanised bulkhead support bracket was fitted in place. 9 The body was lowered on the vehicle lift to carry out a few jobs such as fitting this galvanised bonnet slam panel and corresponding support bars. 10 The rolling chassis was then pushed in under the raised body and the trolley jack used to adjust its position in line with the body above. 11 The body is slowly lowered down towards the chassis, with the luxury of three pairs of eyes watching and checking for fouling or snagging.

12 As the body gets close around the engine area, things are taken very slowly and carefully – umpteen opportunities for problems to arise here. 13 As the shorter 88-inch body gets close to the 110 rolling chassis, care needs to be taken to avoid any damage to the chassis components. 14 In order to prevent any part of the 88-inch ready body tub damaging our new pipes and hoses, wooden blocks are used to keep things safe. 15 Now that the body has landed on the rolling chassis, parts can be removed that had previously been providing strength to keep the body rigid. 16 The 88-inch tub will now be removed completely. Here the series of M6 bolts, which fix it to the seatbox, are removed using 10 mm spanners. 17 The screen frame has been removed, and much of the Series III canvas support hoops and fittings. The steel roll bar is still in position. 18 The final fittings for the full canvas tilt need to be removed so that the rollover bar (incorporating seat belt mounts) can also be removed. 19 The inner sills also need to be detached from the 88-inch tub, and the bolts can be quite difficult to reach due to the confined space. 20 The 88-inch rear body tub is not particularly heavy – just quite bulky – and it is perfectly safe to be lifted off by two people. 21 The RH (passenger side) under-seat compartment is missing (to allow for the former centre fuel tank), and the battery compartment is rather rusty.

22 A secondhand replacement under-seat storage compartment was sourced, and has been hot-dip galvanised before being riveted in place in the seatbox. 23 Likewise a fairly good used battery compartment was found, shotblasted, repaired and galvanised. This has been riveted to the left side of the seatbox. 24 The battery is back in place in the new compartment and the positive and earth leads have been fed through their respective apertures. 25 A 110 rear body tub, in fair condition, had been held in abeyance for quite a while for the project, and has now been brought out and inspected. 26 With a much care and some manoeuvring, the 110 rear body tub is lifted in place on the rolling chassis and is ready to be aligned and bolted down. 27 Sighting along the contour of the body on each side gives us an idea of how much adjustment is going to be required to obtain an acceptable result. 28 We have not yet fixed the front wings to the chassis, so that a trolley jack can be used to make fine adjustments before the bolts are fitted and tightened. 29 Here a bottle jack is used in conjunction with a length of timber to adjust the height of the rear body tub, to make good alignment with the door. 30 To leave the bulkhead outrigger bolts in place, slots are cut in M12 spacer washers so the requisite number can be slotted in between the outrigger and bulkhead. 31 Bolts are in place and tightened, now that we are happy with the body alignment. The engine is fired up to move the Land Rover out of the workshop. 32 There is much work still to be done, but the Land Rover is now truly a 110 again and is ready for the next phase of the rebuild.