Q835XSC - Dutton Legerra Series 2

[Adrian Southgate]

So, collected last weekend and the first chance I get to go over it we have snow / hail / rain and gales... lovely if your a penguin I guess...

Q835XSC purchased from the factory in 1988, completed in 1990, stored for the winter in 1991 and there it sat for 22 years, possibly one of the saddest Legerras I have ever seen apart from my black one.

It was rough, body panels off, windscreen missing and a sorry case of 4 wheel drum brakes... 

Today it got a wash, nothing special just caravan cleaner and a sponge but an improvement on fungus and moss...

Hell of a job on here lads, starting with a body off chassis check, bushes and bolts and some refurb bits fresh from the sand blasting cabinet.

I will be posting more detail on Mr G's but major updates will be copied onto here too.

[Adrian Southgate]

I'll have to see if I can find those then as I have a cunning plan for the unregistered one...

[Big Vern]

When Pete Brown SVA'd one some years ago there were a few articles in DT - he shows what he did to make the chassis less floppy.

[Adrian Southgate]

I learned a lot from the green one and 9 years down the line do not want the same issues messing up this one. This chassis flex has got to be one of it's worst failings with the geometry being a very close second. 

If the ARB mod and the chassis mod is done right then this WILL be straight lol...

[Steve Kerswell]

good finking  Ade, never looked at it that way, good idea :-))

[Adrian Southgate]

I was working on the principal that if I over did it then I could gasket the boot and wedge the roll bar to bring it up. There are four mounting points after the diagonal riser, four bolts on the cage and two at the rear of the tub, the entire back end sits on those points as the rest of the chassis is below those and on the green one I fitted a 6mm foam gasket to all top surfaces. Most of this rear part didn't compress despite not gasketing the roll bar. The roll bar plates are 3mm and welded on top of the chassis. There is no allowance for this under the body which is flat.

The 'weak' spot is the join between the lower horizontal and diagonal elements so maybe a bit of triangulation gusset is a good plan too if there is room (I seem to remember there being a gap here so a plate fitted to the outside of the chassis rails might be feasible.

[Steve Kerswell]

After doing Nicks I was surprised how much difference it made, my thoughts are to much backbend may cause the door gap to increase at the top beyond deflection. As you say it's difficult with no body on to check, that's why I spoke up. Nicks hardtop would not fit with someone in the seat, it does now and the door lines up empty or full.

[Adrian Southgate]

Right, got it.

As this chassis hasn't been subjected to 25 years of potholes with a pilot fitted I'm reasonably happy its not permanently deformed so maybe the back bend isn't needed and it just needs the brace fitting 'as is'  rather than me sitting on it?

[Adrian Southgate]

Until the body goes back on I'm not sure how to check the results to be honest.

The reason I flipped it is for easier access to clean the bottom of the chassis rails and to make the welders life easier by getting it off the floor. If welding the brace as it sits and I don't have to sit there while he tacks up then i'm happy. The only tension in that at the moment is gravity, do you think that will be enough then Steve?

[Steve Kerswell]

Umm? Slip it in flat where the middle arrow is, between the two boxes that should give a small tension in backbend when you clamp the ends down. Weld the ends, allow to cool, then weld the middle with the piece of plate still in, only needs to be long enough to create tension. 50mm or so. I could do this quicker then writing it all out :-)) one finger typing on a phone!!

[Adrian Southgate]

You said when you did Nick's that you stitched a bit of 20x20x3 along the bottom. isn't this being done in the same place?