[DaimLan] Two-chassis restoration

DaimLan
#1

Dear “Listers”,
I have always believed that the best way to restore a
vehicle, if you have the space and are taking everything off, is to have
two chassis frames. Many of our vehicles have been stripped for spares
in the past and spare chassis frames are around for you to obtain. For
example, I have six Lanchester L.D.10. chassis frames in my garage.
Having two frames is by far the best method for a full
restoration, bacause everything is always either in place or in
progress. Even the bolts and spring washers do not get mixed up, lost or
put in the wrong way round. With a normal full strip down, everything
has to be stored in boxes, bags etc and refitted long after the item has
been removed. With this method, copious notes need to be made, the
memory fades, hardware and parts can get lost.
With a two-chassis restoration, each part is removed from one
chassis, restored or cleaned and fitted to the restored chassis, using
the same (or new) hardware, with full memory of the recent removal
process. Even the bolts will be put back the same way round. Strip down
and rebuild take place simultaneously, so depression is less likely to
set in and if you do give up, any prospective purchaser can see that
everything is assembled and in place on one or other of the chassis
frames. Even the body shell can usually be left in place whilst the old
chassis frame is being stripped. This reduces the risk of distortion.
I have just written this piece of advice to a car owner (not a
Lanchester owner) so I thought that I would share it with you. The
argumentitive ones amongst us can now tear it to pieces!
Regards, Adrian.
---------------- ************ ----------------
Adrian H. Hanwell.
AHANWEL1@FORD.COM.
---------------- ************ ----------------

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#2 
       I have always believed that the best way to restore a

vehicle, if you have the space and are taking everything off, is to
have
two chassis frames. Many of our vehicles have been stripped for spares
in the past and spare chassis frames are around for you to obtain. For
example, I have six Lanchester L.D.10. chassis frames in my garage.
Having two frames is by far the best method for a full
restoration, bacause everything is always either in place or in
progress. Even the bolts and spring washers do not get mixed up,
lost or
put in the wrong way round. With a normal full strip down, everything
has to be stored in boxes, bags etc and refitted long after the
item has
been removed. With this method, copious notes need to be made, the
memory fades, hardware and parts can get lost.
With a two-chassis restoration, each part is removed from one
chassis, restored or cleaned and fitted to the restored chassis, using
the same (or new) hardware, with full memory of the recent removal
process. Even the bolts will be put back the same way round. Strip
down
and rebuild take place simultaneously, so depression is less likely to
set in and if you do give up, any prospective purchaser can see that
everything is assembled and in place on one or other of the chassis
frames. Even the body shell can usually be left in place whilst the
old
chassis frame is being stripped. This reduces the risk of distortion.
I have just written this piece of advice to a car owner (not a
Lanchester owner) so I thought that I would share it with you. The
argumentitive ones amongst us can now tear it to pieces!

This sounds an excellent idea, but apart from my Land Rover, my cars
do not have separate chassis. When I restored the Land Rover it was
the chassis that needed replacing and I was able to get a brand new
galvanised one which should outlast me.

Unfortunately there is an order for taking things off the chassis,
and the
order is reversed for things to be put back. For instance, the first
thing
to be put on the new chassis was the wheel/axle/spring assemblies, which
had to be the last thing off the old chassis. Well, OK, the springs were
new and so were some of the U bolts (some types were unavailable),
and the wheels could be taken off any time, but the axles needed to
be the last things off as they are big heavy things and by far the
easiest
thing to do was to take the chassis off them (actually I hit the chassis
with a sledge hammer and it broke in two. This was on a recovery truck
which was exempt from the MOT test). Of course to lift the chassis off
the axles it has to be light enough so it was stripped before hand.

Similarly to remove the engine it is normal to remove the radiator, its
panel and both front wings, and to replace them in reverse order, it
is not worth bolting the panels back until the engine has been
dismantled, rebored, the crank reground and reassembled with new
bearings, pistons, valves and springs, oil pump gears etc.

So though it sounds a great idea, the practicalities seem to weigh
against it, but then maybe I am missing something.

Roger
1969 V8-250
1972 Land Rover Series 2A Civilian “One Ton” pick up truck (only 175
RHD built) fitted with harvey-frost recovery crane.

[Commercial use of subscribers e-mail addresses prohibited.]On 22 Aug, 2006, at 09:54, Hanwell, Adrian ((A.H.)) wrote:

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