small bit of boot welding needed......one day later.

[Matt_H]

Well after using the disco to shift a great deal of the 7 tonnes of pebbles in our back garden to the local tip I thought it was time to hoover her out and remove the 100 or so KG left in the boot and foot wells! ;-)

Decided to remove the rear door trim to get the last few stones out, noticed a rusty spot and stuck a screw driver right through it - bugg3r!

Cleaned back the rust and its about 6 inches long right on the rear door seam.  To make matters worse it extends down to that body cross member where the bodyto chasis mount is.  So a platewill have to be welded in - obviously there is not enough room so the diesel tank will have to come out.

Managed to get two of the screws out of the inspection cover to disconnect the pipes. The others I had to chisel off - luckily they were quite small screws. that done and the diesel pipes sealed off I start to undo the tank bolts - thoroughly enjoying my new impact wrench.  I then realise I have to take the tow hitch off too.  Doesn't seem to be a factory fit as they've used two nuts to space the distance between the side pieces and the chasis.  Of course it's all rusted solid internally (much like the steering drop arm middle bolt)  Angle grinder time!

Got the side pieces off and found that to remove the actual drop plate bit you need to take the bumper off!

What a polava to weld a small patch.. ah well they always say it'sthe preperation that takes the time!

So now I have two chassis tube mount things with rusted solid bolts in them.  I quite fancy replacing the tow hitch with one of those demountable jobbies which I think go as part of a replacement rear bumper..

So..my question is - is there an aftermarket rear bumper with demountable hitch receiver that doesn't need to use the exisiting chassis suport tubes that the original hitch uses?  Of and of course, how much does it cost?

Many thanks
Matthew

[Range Rover Blues]

If there is one, don't use it.  I don't know how new your car is but on the latest cars it's not legal to fit a towbar that doesn't use the mountings specified by the manufacturer.  On a LR product it's just common sense.

Once you've taken the heads off the bolts you will probably find they will drift out nicely, often they are only M10 whereas the holes will take M12 easily.

[Matt_H]

1990 so pretty old inthe big scheme of things - at least when it comes to the age of the rust worm!

Th bolts seem to be filling the tubes totally - there is no head on either side as I had to cut them off - the only way was flush as the tank was right next to one end and the other didnt have an end on it at all!

I offered up a decent size punch and whacked it with the 3 foot hammer thing used for my ground anchor but it didnt shift - I can only think oxy-acetalete will help and I dont have any here.

I guess I'll be drilling them out then!  At least I can put everything back minus the tow bar once I've done the welding.  I did think about grinding themounts off totally and welding in new tubes but I dont trust my welding enough to tow something with it after - call me paranoid!

just been surfing and the soutdown tank guard looks nice - guess it uses the standard mounts so I'll have to fix the old ones anyway!  However £160 eeeeeek!

Matthew

[Range Rover Blues]

£160, is that all :)   I paid about £300 for mine with the tow-pack and carriage.

If you're too skint for that look at the Scorpion one for less than half that, but does not include tank-guard.


BTW, the Southdown is heavy! :shock:

[Wanderer]

There's not much else on the back to bolt the towbar to Matt. Heat and a big hammer.

Ed

[Matt_H]

lace work would be more appropriate for the back body cros member....

Anyway I managed to get one out (the one with the head intact) using the 3 foot hammer. The one on the other side (which didn't have a head on the bolt) has obviously allowed much more water in and was rusted fast. I started to drill it out and did quite well until I punctured the side of the tube - bugg3r!

So now I'm not sure what my options are- I guess the best bet would be to cut out the tube part and weld in a new one - I don't suppose you can buy them off the shelf can you?  Any other ideas?

ta
Matthew