Yeah, it was hard to get any sense of where the hissing was coming from. I was at the back of the car, and I could tell it was ‘driver’s side’ - but couldn’t be any more precise.

I dislike working with brakes and brake fluid, but I suppose there’s not much more involved than syringing as much as possible out of the reservoir and then sticking lots of blue roll around it to catch any residual fluid when levering it out? I am wondering about the accumulator. If it’s the original it would be 22 years old by now, but I’ve no way of knowing whether it is or not.

Can I come at the suspension question from a different direction and focus on the behaviour at the back. With new Dunlop sensors, just calibrated, new air springs, I’d have expected the back to behave perfectly - not rising up beyond the target height, jigging up and down, and then dropping down to the bumstops. Could this also be linked to the valve block? I can’t see what else it could be unless there’s a problem with the ECU?

I must admit it didn’t occur to me last night to check whether there were any errors showing on the Nano.

Thanks - every day’s a school day with this car.

I’ll maybe try re-bleeding first, or see how the car goes once I get it tested, but will also research the suggestion above. Is it complicated to take the reservoir off?

I’m sure I have one of those ‘toy things’ somewhere…. I’ll try and track it down and try that tomorrow.

There was something unusual doing the calibration. Because the bags were empty, and connected, lifting the body caused a vacuum in the bags. Except… lifting and raising the back was causing a hissing sound somewhere, and because I was working alone, it was impossible to be working the jack, and listening for the noise at the same time.

More progress….. and more questions…

Got the brakes bled OK - all seemed to go as per the book. The car’s not MoT’d so no chance for a road test. The question here is that after a bit, with no pressing of pedals or anything, I turned on the ignition again and the ABS pump ran for about 10/11 secs. After another little bit, turned the ignition on again and it did the same. A problem with the bleeding, or the accumulator?

Then the EAS calibration. That too went without a hitch. So, I turned the engine on (nice to hear it again!) and waited a bit. Lots of pops and bangs from both axles and…. Up went the back; not much action on the front…. then the back dropped down a bit. Selected ‘high’, back went back up, not much movement on the front. Selected ‘standard’ and the back dropped down to almost access height.

While all this was happening I did the soapy water leak test on the front air springs, the valve block, and the reservoir - no leaks there. And, the back axle moves ‘consistently’ - as in both sides do the same thing.

The springs are all new now. Brand new sensors on the back, used/good on the front. Have I ballsed up the valve block rebuild when I did that a few months ago?

5 of the shield bolts came out OK - I think I was very liberal with the plusgas - the 6th sheared. I tried to drill and remove it, and ended up with a sheared bolt-removal thing stuck in the hole. So I just drilled another hole alongside and tapped that. A bodge, certainly, but I don't think it's structurally significant, and it is just a brake shield.

The brackets had disintegrated to the point of being unusable. I think it's one of those examples where the RH one is £4 and the LH one is £44 - or something like that. So as with the chassis brackets for the brake lines and ABS sensor I bought a suitable sized piece of stainless, cut and drilled that. All very solid now.

"Thumbs up" Gd, thanks very much. I absolutely assumed that's what you'd meant, but just wanted to be sure. I haven't tapped the access blocks yet, but it's on the list.

Time flies...fun... etc.

I won't bore you with all the details and photos, but good progress is being made. All the shiny refurbed bits are gradually coming back into place, and things are looking more car-like.

Bit of (dodgy and rough) fabrication work to make new brackets from stainless:

Re-assembled axle "getting there":

Back under the car:

More or less built up:

And the car back on its wheels!

At this stage the air springs were just manually inflated, and three out of four managed to leak down again by the following morning, but I'm happy that it's off the axle stands.

Next things will be to do the brake bleeding, and then the EAS calibration. Then getting a working sunroof - or at least one which will plug the hole; and to get the interior fixed. At that stage it would be fingers crossed for a fresh MOT, and this time one I'd have more confidence in.

How apt that to find this thread I had to search for 'idiot'....!
As you might guess, I didn't get this done yet, but an axle refurb will do that to you.

I was reviewing what's above - all very clear, but then I noticed the reference to the "extended" blocks. I thought that "extended" was a special ECU setting which the car went to automatically if grounded, and wasn't something that would be set by the user.

I have made up blocks in 4 heights - High, Standard, Cruise, and Access.

I was going to start with the High ones, and work down, as outlined above. Just checking that I haven't missed anything?

Excellent - thanks again. With a fair wind I might have it mobile again this weekend… though an MOT could be another story.

Thanks for the further replies. Not quite so straightforward maybe.
I've a set of the four valves ordered. I don't need them anywhere else but on the RR, and I only have one of those, so I guess it's likely they'll stay with the car. It's also more or less at 'standard' weight - no winches, bars or anything.

I think there's a distinction above between filling the whole system, or individual corners? There's an attraction to the permanent 'tee' system, but for me at this stage, just trying to lift the car off the bump stops temporarily, do you think a 'cigarette lighter' tyre inflator would lift an individual corner OK?

Ta

Thanks Gents,
So - Tees = permanent. Keeping them in the boot (whether 3 or 4!) means you disconnect the bags from the valve block when needed, and add these on the end.

Then, when pumped up, assuming no leaks, they just individually hold pressure until released?

I know I could find this, but as I'm here, what sort of pressure are we talking about (in psi) - a bike pump, or 12v tyre inflator?

I noticed the recent thread about the via-Air compressor and filed it away for future reference.

Thank you.

Hi guys,

I’ll update my ‘ups and downs’ thread, but I have been making progress. The refurbished rear axle is back under the car and in place. Just a couple more things to sort out and I should have her back on her wheels. Hopeful for next weekend.

Now as with the top end engine rebuild I’m thinking there will be a lot ‘going on’ when I first power up - brakes will need bleeding and the EAS will be empty and need calibration (new rear EAS sensors).

So I’m thinking that I might take one of them out of the equation (EAS) by pulling the relay, but that it would still be nice to have the car off the bump stops.

So is there a view on the best ( or easiest - not necessarily the same thing) way to have a manual back up EAS, or the best/decent kit to buy, and where to install?

I don’t doubt this has been done before, but I did search and found nothing in the first page or so.

I’m hoping to have a sound and reliable EAS system, but apart from this refurb start up, it does seem like a good thing to have tucked away for emergencies.

Any suggestions gratefully received. Ta.

Hi Chris,
I’m about 4 or 5 years behind you, but lots of parallels. Have owned a 300Tdi 110 for 20 years, and bought a P38 for £1000. Not so much to stop using the 110 but initially as a fun, stop-gap while I had the Defender off the road for a bit.

It’s my 3rd Range Rover over the years, but the first P38. My list of stuff I’ve done is very, very similar to yours. Been sticking up some pics, daft questions etc for general entertainment on my “ups and downs” thread.

The beast is currently in the garage, chassis on axle stands while I completely refurb the rear axle, but so much looking forward to getting it back on all fours, fitting a working sunroof and my nice leather seats so I can enjoy the warmer months.

Nowhere near Telford though….!

I’d found the Drizz Developments via Google, but haven’t been able to watch the video yet.

I have been thinking though that whether it’s DIY or not depends on the space and the tools etc you have available - specifically a hoist or ramp to help separate the body from the chassis; and then a forklift or similar, to lift the bare chassis on/off the trailer.

If you were able to separate the body and the chassis; and had an engine crane, I don’t think it would be that far from DIY.

Once I’m mobile again, I’m going to get in touch with an underseal/rust treatment place and see what they reckon their chemicals can do. I’m told it was ca. £600 to prep and treat a Defender, and that’s a bit cheaper than £3000 to do the chassis - which I suspect is probably a bit low away up here.

Edit - OK, just watched the first two videos, and I’d agree that it’s at the furthest end of the DIY spectrum. It doesn’t really seem technical in any sense, just a bit involved, and lots of heavy lumps to shift about. If I’d a ramp and a hoist then I suppose I might think about it more seriously in the future, but for the moment this is definitely not on the agenda!

Thanks Harv - a bit of perspective there! We were about 2 or 3 below on Tuesday; about 3’ above freezing yesterday; and they’re forecasting 10’ today!

I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be doing anything in a garage at -28!

Thanks David, assuming that's a "before" pic of yours, then there are parts of my chassis that don't look too bad.

I think you've touched on something important there though, about not being distracted by the size of the problem. I've probably been doing that and thinking that it wasn't worth doing anything if I wasn't doing it 'properly'.

Another issue right now is that it's winter, so not all the paints and coverings are happy going on below 18'c, in an unheated garage. And let's face it, how often does the north of Scotland see temperatures above 18'C even in the height of summer!

Today I managed to remove all of the brake lines – front to back.

You might remember I’d asked a question a while ago about replacing the whole lot with a braided/sheathed/stainless system, and this is what will be going back on the car.

I also removed the rear EAS sensors. I know one was ‘*@%’ but when I tackled the other side, it more or less fell out into my hands as well. All four plastic lugs just snapped.

On the replacements, I’m planning to drill out the old fixings and then use stainless nuts/bolts to replace them, not least because I had to grind off the fixed nuts on the back of the chassis brackets.

The thing that’s circled in the pic above is the bracket that fixes underneath the chassis, and supports the ABS cable, as well as the join in the brake line to the caliper flexi-hose. As you can see, there’s not much left of that, and the other side’s just as bad, if not worse.

I checked the prices - £4 for one; £32 for the other. I’ve ordered a bit of 2mm stainless plate, and I’ll fabricate replacements easily enough – with spare left over for the next time I tackle anything like this.

A couple of questions now…. (there’s always questions!). When I was removing the brake lines underneath the car, the hose literally just fell out of the EAS reservoir plug. OK, it wasn’t under any tension, but still……

I can’t find a part number for this bolt/plug, or more specifically the specification for the O ring that fits around it. I’ve probably got something that will fit, but it would be good to know exactly what I should be aiming for. Anyone?

And finally …. Some pics to show the state of the chassis. Just like the axles, and everything else, there are parts where it has a 2mm layer of ‘blown’ rust. Other parts where it’s a mix of original paint, and rust coming through.

I will touch up some of the things I’m working on (EAS sensor bracket) but I’m not ready to start doing a whole ‘wire brush, prime and paint’ on the whole chassis. But just for a longer term view, what’s this like in comparison with others? Has anyone gone to the extent of dropping the chassis off and galvanising it? (Maybe this last thing is a hang-over from ‘Defender-land’).

Anyway, tomorrow I might just run out the new brake lines and prep the EAS sensors, and their brackets. I’m committed next week to making progress on a friend’s Defender bulkhead replacement, so it might be a little while before I can come back to this.

(Edit - in relation to the chassis rust, I meant to say that it looks pretty grim, but just like other stuff on the car it's pretty solid underneath. I was hitting various parts of it with a 2lb lump hammer and it was OK. I mean I wasn't hitting it hard enough to try and knock the car off the axle stands, but reasonable blows. So I don't think there's any danger of MOT failure or the like... just that I'm starting to 'wonder' about where to go with it.)

A wee update (maybe 2), just in case you thought I was slacking!

Like I said in another post earlier, working air con. isn’t top of my priority list just now. We’re still here….

Rear axle is still out, and has now been sand-blasted and ‘tarted up’ along with its various components – diff cover, hubs, brake shields, radius arms and panhard rod.

I wasn’t really impressed with the paint job the guy did, though for £80 I can’t complain too much. So I’ve ended up priming it and painting it using the ‘Por-15’ system. I don’t really enjoy using it, or painting generally, but I’m happy enough with how it’s turned out.

Various bits after being wire brushed….

…Primed…

(primed)

…and painted.

Looking back at the pics further up the thread, I have to say I’m quite pleased with this. I just hope the Por-15 coat is as hard-wearing and long lasting as it’s claimed to be. I know it's not supposed to be UV stable, but given that all this stuff is tucked well underneath the car, I'm sure it'll be fine.

I did ask on another thread about the pros/cons of changing the diff pinion seal. I was worried that some bigger bits of rust had got in under the shield and could potentially damage the seal. I was right about the rust getting in, but not so sure it would have made any difference. In any event I got it all cleaned up, new seal in nice and square and torqued it all up again. Note the simple but effective flange retaining tool…

It probably wasn’t really necessary, but I’m happy I’ve done it; confident it won’t leak; and I’ve learnt a bit more about how the diff. works.

I also tapped the axle casing to fit one of the ‘screw in’ breather fittings. I’ll run a pipe from this up the chassis to the engine bay.

I’ll do a second instalment to this, rather than one monster post.

Excellent, thanks Brian. I’ve no reason to suspect moisture having got in, so fingers crossed the system will have shut off as you’ve said. Sorry for the wee hijack O/P.

I’m following this to try and learn as usual, and won’t stray too far away with this question I hope: a/c wasn’t a big priority for me after getting the car, and I suspect the system was empty, possibly for some time.

I am in touch with a local a/c guy who’ll come and check out the system once the car’s back on the road. When I confirmed the system was empty, I did change the condenser when I did the heads and camshaft and added up dyed lubricant as advised by the a/c guy.

But would a compressor be damaged or need replaced if the system has had no coolant?

I’d support these sentiments wholeheartedly. I’m always grateful and like to say so, but happy to take this opportunity as well.