My take on a stage 1

Introduce yourself and your vehicles and post (or link to) photos
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Jamie_grieve
Posts: 41
Joined: Wed Dec 02, 2009 12:10 am

My take on a stage 1

Post by Jamie_grieve »

Hello there folks!
Great to see there's a forum for stage 1's. I've had mine since '91 and didn't know this place existed. I've been looking at some projects past and present on here and hats off to some great work guys.
I rebuilt mine whilst studying engineering at uni 16 yrs ago and in all that time I can honestly say all it needed was oil and spring bushes. Lots and lots of spring bushes. That said, I did stick a 3.9 in it with the original carbs and then came the PTO winch but the point is that I've had a totaly 100% reliable vehicle in all that time. It fell over a few times, got smashed and bashed on rocks and in 2 crashes ( it won in both cases!) and abandoned in fields for months at a time whilst i was overseas and never once let me down.
It was time though when I came home in September after a three year stint in Angola for a bit of a reaquantence with my old pal. Took it out and whilst high centred on some big gnarly lumps of sandstone managed to put the fan through the radiator.
This was the final straw for the old girl. It hadn't been on the road since '04 just being used round the place we live on and had deteriorated quite a bit. The bulkhead was the worst of it. It had more in common with a teabag than a metal thing.
About 6 weeks ago I decided to rebuild it again. The first time I did it, I did it as a short wheelbase (90.6", LT95 + standard swb rear prop + Salisbury) with a fabricated section grafted onto the original front of chassis. Then came some abuse, neglect and a PTO winch and I grafted on a front bit of chassis with the same dimensions as stage 1 but with extended spring hangers as in 1 ton vehicles. Relocated damper mounts and spring perches on the rear axle. With this configuration I get about 32 deg of articulation which is more than a standard 90 and why it eats spring bushes.
This time round, the chassis and suspension is staying as is, just new bits. Springs, dampers etc but I've put on a pair of Santana PS 10 axles with discs.
Right now it's a rolling chassis and I'm in the middle of making a bulkhead because I couldn't find a good one to replace the 'teabag'.

Front:
Image

Rear:
Image

I'll post some more photos when I get the chance.
Cheers guys.
Jamie_grieve
Posts: 41
Joined: Wed Dec 02, 2009 12:10 am

Post by Jamie_grieve »

I see only one photo and just the link to the next. Is there some strange ritual I need to perform to make it happen? I'm not that used to all this uploading malarky.
Cheers.
5988
Posts: 692
Joined: Fri Mar 13, 2009 8:57 pm
Location: Lincolnshire

Re: My take on a stage 1

Post by 5988 »

Jamie_grieve wrote:Hello there folks!
Great to see there's a forum for stage 1's. I've had mine since '91 and didn't know this place existed. I've been looking at some projects past and present on here and hats off to some great work guys.
I rebuilt mine whilst studying engineering at uni 16 yrs ago and in all that time I can honestly say all it needed was oil and spring bushes. Lots and lots of spring bushes. That said, I did stick a 3.9 in it with the original carbs and then came the PTO winch but the point is that I've had a totaly 100% reliable vehicle in all that time. It fell over a few times, got smashed and bashed on rocks and in 2 crashes ( it won in both cases!) and abandoned in fields for months at a time whilst i was overseas and never once let me down.
It was time though when I came home in September after a three year stint in Angola for a bit of a reaquantence with my old pal. Took it out and whilst high centred on some big gnarly lumps of sandstone managed to put the fan through the radiator.
This was the final straw for the old girl. It hadn't been on the road since '04 just being used round the place we live on and had deteriorated quite a bit. The bulkhead was the worst of it. It had more in common with a teabag than a metal thing.
About 6 weeks ago I decided to rebuild it again. The first time I did it, I did it as a short wheelbase (90.6", LT95 + standard swb rear prop + Salisbury) with a fabricated section grafted onto the original front of chassis. Then came some abuse, neglect and a PTO winch and I grafted on a front bit of chassis with the same dimensions as stage 1 but with extended spring hangers as in 1 ton vehicles. Relocated damper mounts and spring perches on the rear axle. With this configuration I get about 32 deg of articulation which is more than a standard 90 and why it eats spring bushes.
This time round, the chassis and suspension is staying as is, just new bits. Springs, dampers etc but I've put on a pair of Santana PS 10 axles with discs.
Right now it's a rolling chassis and I'm in the middle of making a bulkhead because I couldn't find a good one to replace the 'teabag'.

Front:
Image

Rear:
Image

I'll post some more photos when I get the chance.
Cheers guys.
there you go

you put the [/img] on the line below the image - has to go strait at the end of the image link as you did first time (dit your post youll see ) - or quote mine youll see whats different
disco2hse
Posts: 1637
Joined: Sun Apr 27, 2008 3:51 am
Location: Auckland NZ

Post by disco2hse »

Hi Jamie,

Glad to have you along. If you have some pic's pre-second rebuild that'd be pretty cool.

Sounds like your motor has been well used and abused. Good stuff.
Alan

1983 ex-army FFR 109 Stage 1
2005 Disco 2 HSE TD5
Jamie_grieve
Posts: 41
Joined: Wed Dec 02, 2009 12:10 am

Post by Jamie_grieve »

5988, Thanks for that. I'd never have seen that as long as I lived!
Here's an almost usefull photo pre rebuild. It shows how I made the back bit of chassis and grafted it on to the original stage 1 front which then got a new bit grafted on to that. The uprights hold the slam panel and radiator and basicaly holds the front together without relying on the wings. It also protects the radiator from underneath from getting spiked by tree branches or the winch cable. The front crossmember got chopped out and replaced by a stronger one.

Image

I'll dig out a photo of it complete before I took it apart too.
I've nearly finished the bulkhead now. I'm trying to get it finished before Christmas. Might be a bit optimistic since I've still got the roll cage to do.
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