Now I have the longer shocks & relocated brake lines I have been down to the tunnel access to our fields to test the flex out.
Spec is:
+2.5″ HD OME springs (gave 3″ lift
+2″ coil spacers at the front & +2″ shackles at the rear
+3″ Rough Country shocks (+2″ BPEs at the rear, not fitted at the front yet)
JSK arb disconnects
Need to get hold of some cranked front lower control arms as they are limiting front flex by binding on the axle mounts at the moment.
Fairly easy job, moves the start of the flexi line down around 3″ and forward 2″. I coudn’t get the tap to take on the frame rail so fixed the bracket with a stainless rivet. Red line shows original position.
Just spent a few hours working out the config of the seat runners to get some WJ leather seats into my Cherokee. Seems a straight forward swap, just need to drill a couple of holes and modify the seat runner to move the adjuster back.
There seems to be 2 ways to do the drivers seat, use the original seat frame and motors off the XJ and put them onto the WJ seat (you have to do this with the passenger seat) or modify the WJ runners to fit the XJ (gives you an extra inch of headroom). I chose to modify the WJ runners for the drivers seat.
First off you use the runners from the WJ seats BUT then need drilling to move the adjuster block rearwards so you can get the seats far enough back. Use the pin in the floor of the XJ as a reference point for mounting the seats, you then need to drill the other 3 holes, one through the floor at the rear (used a 10mm bolt straight through the floor as it is reinforced) and 2 through the floor crossmember for the 2 front mount holes (used original bolts).
The WJ runners will need to be bent on the front mount point to match the shape of the front crossmember (see pictures).
For wiring the electric motors I had the plug from the donor car that plugs into the seat (much easier to wire the WJ plugto the -ve & +ve wires from the XJ loom, then the seat just plugs into the loom) power for the seats is the red/blue wire for 12v and I used both black -ve wires.
Soak all the bolts for a day or so with some penitrating fluid
Order to remove is:
Power steering pump (remove bottom bolt first!)
Throttle body
sensor wires & pipes
fuel rail
inlet manifold
exhaust manifold
doing up the bottom bolts on the inlet manifold is a real pain in the arse, you need to fit #4 cylinder bolt first (on my manifold at least) before you fit the manifold on then tighten it up, otherwise you dont have the room to fit the bolt in afterwards (ratchet ring spanner required)
I have got it all back together apart from the fuel rail now as i need to fit new O rings to the injectors, hopefully have some tomorrow
Upgraded the fuse boards to blade fuses this lunchtime, no more fuses dropping out and lights working intermittently 😀
just got 2 x 8 way blade fuse holders for £5 each plus a big box of fuses for £8ish (200 fuses).
all you need to do is remove the mount plate and take the fuse holders out through the back then cut the wires from the back of the holders (one at a time so you don’t mix them up, as clolse to the old fuse holder as posible), crimp on a spade end and plug into the rear of the new fuse holder.
I took ages deciding on what to do with the suspension on the XJ, after 85k miles the rears were really saggy.
As I do alot of miles I didn’t want to ruin the ride so I settled for a Pro-Comp 2.5 in lift kit, this included uprated parabolic rear springs, uprated front coils, nylon bushes and ES9000 gas dampers.
A day before you start, go around all the suspension bolts with WD40 to loosen the rust and crap that collects, I did and I still got a bolt to shear. I started with the rear as I thought it would be the easiest to complete, it took 2 of us (cheers Russ) 4 hours to do, if you have access to a pit or lift it will take alot less time. NOTE, free off all the nuts before you remove the wheels, they are done up really tight.
It is fairly straight forward, remove the shock (and dont break the bar pin bolts they are a bitch to drill and tap, I know!) remove the 4 nuts on the axle U-bolts and lower the axle away from the spring. Remove the rear chassis/spring bolt leaving the shackle on the spring then take off the front spring bolt (doing the front first means you have to support the front of the spring as when it swings down you cant get at the rear shackle, I know ;o)
Fitting is the reverse of the removal, be carfull not to trap any brake lines in the u-bolt and make sure you have a large vise to press in the new nylon bushes (try and get them fitted to the spring b4 you buy them).
And now the fronts, If you have a coil spring compressor this is actually quite simple, it took me about 45minutes per side (where were you Russ?) First off remove the ARB link bar, then fit a spring compressor while the jeep is still on its wheels, when you jack up the body of the jeep you just need to remove 2 bolts that hold the bottom of the coil spring to the axle and lift out the spring, dead easy!
With a 2.5in lift the new springs just drop in, a bigger lift will require a spring compressor to fit them or for you to remove one of the axle control arms (big hassle). Fitting the dampers is quite easy, the only problem being the lack of access for the 2 spanners you will need to remove the top nut.
Refit the front shocks and thats it!
With 2 people and a warm garage it can be done within a day easily. The handling on road is much improved and off road there are a lot less bangs from underneath, just got to get some disconnects now :o)
2 things the MOT tester failed her on were the leaking swivel oil seals and the condition of the brakes so the front hubs needed stripping down to swap over the parts.
19 years of rust has taken a good hold of every single nut and bolt on the 110, brakes included, it took 2 hours to take out the 4 bolts holding in the calipers.
The quick way to drain the brake fluid!! Well all the brake pipes are bing replaced so why bother undoing sized nuts.
This particular nut took 1 1/2 hours to take off and resulted in 2 broken sockets, in the end I had to hammer a 12mm socket onto the very rounded head to get it off.
Next up were the drive plates on the hubs, suprise suprise a bolt sheared off, luckily leaving an inch or so sticking out so should come out faily easily.
Then the driveshafts.
Then the hubs themselves
The view inside the swivel/axle tube
Bits taken off so far, Drive plate on the left, bearings and the stub axle.
Quick tip if you are removing the disks, turn the hub upside down and put it in the wheel with the studs in the holes on the wheel, holds the hub firm so you can undo the bolts holding the disk on.
Thats it for now, it started raining again.
Swivel assembly with the seal removed, the seal is retained by the plate on the left
Assembly back on the axle
Driveshaft back in
CV cover plate and mud shield back on
Just waiting for the hub to go on
Hub back on, just need to put the calipers on and its done :o)
The calipers had been left with worn pads in them which ment the pistons were rotten
A set of pistons and new seals will have them back as new
Caliper minus the pistons
Caliper with new pistons and seals fitted, quite an easy job, just remember to lube the pistons when you put them in
New pistons, seals, bleed nipples, pads & disks, plus plenty of coppaslip
Hubs & brakes are all done except for fitting the flexi hoses & bleeding.
The dreaded rust has got hold of the chassis, I needed to replace the bulkhead outriggers with new ones
The front side of both outriggers was holed and paper thin, not worth repairing as they are easy to get at with the bulkhead off
Drivers side one has the fuel filter and fuel lines on it, both of which I am replacing so will have to move them out of the way before setting about it with the angle grinder.
Nearside one chopped off
Havent welded for years but luckily it soon came back, looks okay apart from the top front bit where I managed to put a line of weld in the wrong place.
Near side finished, ready for paint.
Both outriggers are now fitted and painted ready for the bulkhead. I have bought some new fuel hose as the old stuff was really rotten.
I managed to source a late TD5 bulkhead in very good condition with all the fittings still on. I need to strip out the loom and brake lines and fit the old loom from the ’86 bulkhead and new brake lines.
Seems to be alot of wires in the later 110’s
New style fuse panel
Electronic throttle from a TD5
Loom removed, took half a day to remove the dash and take the loom out in one piece (I have managed to sell the loom to someone doing a TD5 upgrade on a 200 TDI Landy)
The loom and fuse panel
The old loom fitted and dash back on, seemed to fit okay, just hope it all works when wired back in!
Lifting in was actually quite easy with 3 people although the bulkhead was very heavy with all the stuff attached.
Those sill channels I cut out to get the old bulkhead out were impossible to get hold of, I waited 3 weeks for parts to arrive then gave up and welded the old ones back in.
First big mistake putting the bulkhead in, fixing the floor down before the doors were on, turns out the bulkhead was leaning back, more on this later.
I used an external window frame sealent to seal the floor down
The steering wheel nut, 6 weeks to track one down, turns out my old bulkhead had a different thread on it so I couldn’t use that one, Land Rover didn’t have one, I finally managed to track one down from a breakers but not after cancelling one MOT due to no steering wheel!
Bye bye old bulkhead 😥
I fitted up the wings only to find the doors didn’t close! Seems the bulkhead was leaning back about 1/2 an inch, after much head scratching I came up with the following.
I loosened all the bolts holding the wings and bulkhead to the chassis and pulled it upright will ratchet straps on each side and tightened everything down. I now have 35in door gaps top and bottom of the bulkhead.
The bulkhead has rusted away at the top and been filled with fibreglass and filler, only solution is replacement.
You cant even open the vents as they are covered over in filler!
As the bonnet was coming off I rubbed down the steel frame and painted it with red oxide.
Right wing came off first, every bolt was siezed up, took about 3 hours to get off (hey it is my first attempt!)
It looked like rain so I put the bonnet back on for now.
Whoever filled up the bulkhead should be shot!
Right wing off
All the bolts on the left wing were siezed up, most of them broke or required cutting off
This nut developed a nice round shape, time for the hacksaw
Finally 2 wings off, just the stripdown of the bulkhead to go
Hmmm, rust, found 2 holes in the passenger bulkhead outrigger, they aren’t too expensive so I think I will replace it rather than repair it.
While I was at it decided to paint the chassis with red oxide primer, most of it is on my hands.
Old wiring loom needs to come out and go into the new bulkhead
top tip for removing steering lock, drill a 4mm hole in the old stud and hammer in a 6mm torque bit, you can then wind the stud out.
All the filler came out of both sides of the bulkhead while I was drilling out the door hinge screws
Sills coming out! I need new ones and wanted the old ones out quick as they stop the bulkhead lifting out so I just cut the end off.
Bulkhead out!!
The floor and gearbox covers need to come out to get the bulkhead out.