Sandringham 6x6

[sako243]

After a minor distraction with a PTO table saw bench I got back on the 6x6 this afternoon.

First thing was slap some weld over the previously prepared patch.



Now that side of the chassis was supported it was time to cut into the other side. A little bracket was tacked on to help with alignment of the bump stop mount.



Much much hoovering ensued as you can probably see by how much carp is on the floor being blown out of various other holes with the airline.

Then some rust converter treatment, trying hydrate 80 now rather than the Deox gel as you don't need to wash it off.



Then covering it over with some wood some tidying up was done on the other side.



Then a patch was started for the other side.



Needs some fettling but I'm going to dress down the chassis in certain areas in preference to the patch so I'll wait until tomorrow when the rust converter has had some time to work.

Hopefully finish all this tomorrow, flip the chassis over and finish the welding on the other side as well. Then it'll be a case of starting to burn the rubber bushes out and replace the kaput ones.

 

[sako243]

Well the patch is mostly welded in but I'm running dangerously low on gas. I could nip up to a chap up the road but a bit mean calling on him on a Sunday (I've done that before with hydraulic hoses) especially as other things I can get on with.

I thought I'd get a bit fancy since I've got an 8t Sykes-Pikavant hydraulic puller. Well the ram is Sykes, the kit was a "10t" ebay special in which the ram gave up twice so replaced it with a genuine one which so far has much better.



Little adapter thingy turned to just below the OD of the bushes and an internal bore to allow pressing in of new bushes. Well it didn't work. Those nuts were both tight to the brace when I started.



So I thought well I'll pull the middle bit out with some threaded bar, I know ideally it'd be a 10.9 fine thread but I didn't have any...

Predictably this happened



So decided to return to the philosophy if it's liquid it can't hold anything. Blow torch to the inner steel to set fire / melt the rubber, it's been surprisingly resilient and not actually melting that much but enough to use the threaded bar with nuts and a mallet to hammer the centre out with relative ease. Chisel to scrap / push out the rubber bush and then my fast becoming favourite tool, the air hacksaw. Not the fastest but it's always getting the job done. Two slits about 6mm apart and then narrow chisel through to peel it apart then big cold chisel to collapse the outer bush and knock it out. Only cock-up so far has been not checking and not cutting deep enough on the second bush so broke the small chisel so that's been duly resharpened and put back to use.

Two down in 15 minutes or so, four more to go.

Slight change of plan due to low gas but as bushes are more accessible this way I'm hoping to get all four out, last bit of welding dressed and chassis flipped to finish off welding tomorrow with more gas.

 

[sako243]

Took some piccies this time because everyone loves piccies.







More fire!





5 down 1 to go

 

[sako243]

Last one done, also this shows why I don't necessarily trust the chassis modifications by Hotspur not to include sealed pockets. Bearing in mind this has been inside the workshop for at least 9 months...





I have drilled a drain hole so will hopefully drain when flipped the right way up.

Final patch has had the welds dressed



Also started needle gunning the remaining bit at the front of the chassis.

Plan now is

1. Remove front bump stops, damper bracket and gearbox cross member
2. Finish needle gunning sides and bottom of the front of the chassis.
3. Flip the right way up
4. Needle gun last bit at the front
5. Do about 8" of welds that on top of the chassis
6. Rust converter
7. Expoxy primer and paint
8. Chassis bushes into chassis
9. Reassembly

 

[sako243]

Did a bit more needle gunning and then decided to make a start on treating the chassis with Hydrate 80

 

[sako243]

Only a little bit done this evening, more Hydrate painting, now up to the gearbox cross member.



Also removed the front bump stops and gearbox cross member.

 

[sako243]

Well some stubbornness when I wasn't really in the mood saw lots of Gunk applied, wire wheeling, needle gunning, more gunk and finally copious amounts of brake cleaner saw the front of the chassis clean of oily residue and cleaned for more hydration treatment.



Then with the assistance of one of my wife's ex-work colleagues who came to fetch her child from us acting as counter balance the chassis was brought outside and the rear of the chassis needle gunned.



And although it possibly has more reach than @Stellaghost's engine crane I think his might actually have more capacity (well if I'm using the back actor). Only two pallets were harmed in the flipping of the chassis.



Might finish the top of the chassis needle gunning outside this evening and put it back on its dolly pallet to go back inside tonight. Then a couple of final bits to weld up and treat the top rail and it's ready for paint.

I've ordered some thinners as I'm hoping to cheat a bit and spray the chassis rather than brush it on. Following the same process as @Gazzar with a good expoxy primer as a base, then some Jotamastic and finally a top coat for UV protection. This chassis might see a bit more UV than most because of the switchable backs.

 

[sako243]

What happens when your helper disappears and the other candidate is doing bedtime. Operator and banksman all in one. Who needs helpers

And a mad moment happened and needle gunned the last bit of the top of the chassis, welded the bits on the top AND treated it all.

One small patch to weld by a damper top mount and a little bit to needle gun and treat in the light holders and that's that. Time for paint when the thinners arrive.

 

[RWD3M]

@sako243 I'm really enjoying this resto thread, thanks for taking the time, and making the effort to post the pics.

I have a question if I may. That rear end structure (lights, bumper etc) is that original 'Sandringham'? I ask because it looks very heavy duty, almost out of synch with the rest of the chassis.

 

[minimutly]

Well some stubbornness when I wasn't really in the mood saw lots of Gunk applied, wire wheeling, needle gunning, more gunk and finally copious amounts of brake cleaner saw the front of the chassis clean of oily residue and cleaned for more hydration treatment.



Then with the assistance of one of my wife's ex-work colleagues who came to fetch her child from us acting as counter balance the chassis was brought outside and the rear of the chassis needle gunned.



And although it possibly has more reach than @Stellaghost's engine crane I think his might actually have more capacity (well if I'm using the back actor). Only two pallets were harmed in the flipping of the chassis.



Might finish the top of the chassis needle gunning outside this evening and put it back on its dolly pallet to go back inside tonight. Then a couple of final bits to weld up and treat the top rail and it's ready for paint.

I've ordered some thinners as I'm hoping to cheat a bit and spray the chassis rather than brush it on. Following the same process as @Gazzar with a good expoxy primer as a base, then some Jotamastic and finally a top coat for UV protection. This chassis might see a bit more UV than most because of the switchable backs.

I've found a small roller works well.

 

[sako243]

Short answer is I haven't got a bloody clue.

Longer version is - I sort of came into this vehicle by accident so only after I bought it (because it ironically was going to be quite a practical vehicle for myself) that I started delving into it's history. The previous owner was a friend of a friend and died suddenly of a heart attack aged 50 with no will or spouse. We (the various people that know a little bit about it) wonder if it was a cherry picker in it's former life as it's got a plate in the cab that states travelling height 9'3 I think it is which is taller than the cab.

I don't think it's original "Land Rover" but whether it was done as part of Hotspur's conversion to 6x6 I'm not sure. The original rear cross-member has basically been plated over and from what I've seen from the welding on the rest of the chassis extensions I'd hazard it's after market as the welds look better quality. Although they've created rust traps on this as well.

I think each 6x6 might have been tailored for each customer so who knows whether it was before or after Hotspur got their mits on it but certainly the photos that exist online seem to show a variety of different cross-member setups.
E.g. a forestry commission one

Iconic Auctioneers - 1986 Land Rover Sandringham 6x6 by Hotspur-Sold

This is what our vendor had to say about this remarkable vehicle; "Here are the details on my 1986 Land Rover “Sandringham 6x6”. It is one of supposedly 12 vehicles around today and...

www.iconicauctioneers.com

And another auction stating that it's one of 12 believed to have been built.

https://collectingcars.com/for-sale/1982-land-rover-series-iii-stage-1-6x6

I have got in touch with the chaps at Dunsfold a few months back and he replied saying they did have some information on the Sandringham's but it would be a few months until he'd have the time to get to that pile of paperwork to sort through for archiving.

 

[sako243]

At a future date I may lop the back end of that chassis off as I know there's more rust behind it (basically they've plated over the original chassis) so there's no structural issues with it but as things stand it's about 1" too wide to fit under the cherry picker when it's fully extended on it's legs which is inconvenient to say the least. It's not too much of an issue because I can store it on some sleepers to raise it up (once I've repaired it from my "incident") so I can just reverse under it but I might try and sort that out at some point and slightly re-design it so that it is a bit more elegantly executed.

 

[RWD3M]

Short answer is I haven't got a bloody clue.

Longer version is - I sort of came into this vehicle by accident so only after I bought it (because it ironically was going to be quite a practical vehicle for myself) that I started delving into it's history. The previous owner was a friend of a friend and died suddenly of a heart attack aged 50 with no will or spouse. We (the various people that know a little bit about it) wonder if it was a cherry picker in it's former life as it's got a plate in the cab that states travelling height 9'3 I think it is which is taller than the cab.

I don't think it's original "Land Rover" but whether it was done as part of Hotspur's conversion to 6x6 I'm not sure. The original rear cross-member has basically been plated over and from what I've seen from the welding on the rest of the chassis extensions I'd hazard it's after market as the welds look better quality. Although they've created rust traps on this as well.

I think each 6x6 might have been tailored for each customer so who knows whether it was before or after Hotspur got their mits on it but certainly the photos that exist online seem to show a variety of different cross-member setups.
E.g. a forestry commission one

Iconic Auctioneers - 1986 Land Rover Sandringham 6x6 by Hotspur-Sold

This is what our vendor had to say about this remarkable vehicle; "Here are the details on my 1986 Land Rover “Sandringham 6x6”. It is one of supposedly 12 vehicles around today and...

www.iconicauctioneers.com

And another auction stating that it's one of 12 believed to have been built.

https://collectingcars.com/for-sale/1982-land-rover-series-iii-stage-1-6x6

I have got in touch with the chaps at Dunsfold a few months back and he replied saying they did have some information on the Sandringham's but it would be a few months until he'd have the time to get to that pile of paperwork to sort through for archiving.

Thanks, appreciate the info

 

[Robotstar5]

Have you thought of contacting James Taylor (Roverphile) about it's history?.

 

[sako243]

Have you thought of contacting James Taylor (Roverphile) about it's history?.

I'd never heard of him to be honest. I'm not what you'd call a Land Rover fanatic despite only ever having owned Land Rovers .

To me they're just been practical and suit what I do well. I do enjoy taking them off road, I have tried others but never really found I liked them as much or found them as capable out of the box let alone before you start messing about with them.

 

[Robotstar5]

I'd never heard of him to be honest. I'm not what you'd call a Land Rover fanatic despite only ever having owned Land Rovers .

To me they're just been practical and suit what I do well. I do enjoy taking them off road, I have tried others but never really found I liked them as much or found them as capable out of the box let alone before you start messing about with them.

Let me know if you want his email address and I'll PM you as I won't post it on a public forum.

 

[RWD3M]

I'd never heard of him to be honest. I'm not what you'd call a Land Rover fanatic despite only ever having owned Land Rovers .

To me they're just been practical and suit what I do well. I do enjoy taking them off road, I have tried others but never really found I liked them as much or found them as capable out of the box let alone before you start messing about with them.

He's quite a prolific motoring Journolist. I have a couple of books of his, not restriccted to Rover.

 

[Robotstar5]

He's quite a prolific motoring Journolist. I have a couple of books of his, not restriccted to Rover.

He has used a few of my pics and info in his books on special conversion Land Rovers

 

[RWD3M]

He's quite a prolific motoring Journolist. I have a couple of books of his, not restriccted to Rover.

What the F is a Journolist

Journalist, obviously.

 

[sako243]

So the plan for today was to do the last little bit of welding on one of the damper mounts and then get ready for paint.