LJ80 Recommissioning.

[mk1joe]

Excellent! I will reference this when I come to doing the rear quarters, Thanks very much. Its interesting how the corners are a separate panel to the rest of the rear quarter, I assume that there is an upstand on the inside where they are spot welded together? I will be trying to replicate this at some point and I haven't managed to find any diagrams of how the panels should look standard.

I will be starting fabrication work on the front hopefully this weekend, and fortunately there is enough original metal still there to give me a good idea of how it should all be constructed. The only thing I would like to know is what the exact width of the grill/lights/front panel should be? After that everything should fall into place. Any chance you could throw a tape measure across that please at some point? It would be a massive help:)
Thanks again

[sj_durham]

As a former toolmaker myself i love to see a bit of milling going down haha not many folk left now who can though sadly

At 32 i haven't been in a toolroom in years now... Dead trade :(

Anyway I digress, I saw this on ebay myself and thought it looked well for the age.

Good luck getting it alive again Im jelious you have a machine's shop as ive always wanted one at home and always got offered lathes etc when space was tight.

If you are good at CAD i have a top notch 3d printer so can print up any bits you need in plastic to help as long as drawings are there or it's easy to draw

Mick

[lundigee]

Any chance you could throw a tape measure across

Apologies for not responding sooner, I will sort out some measurements for you.

Do you have the plastic front grill ?, which will be a useful template to set out the headlight positions.

[lundigee]

Okay, I can see from a photo that you have got the plastic grill and the headlights are in position.
For a general dimension and using the top centre screw that holds the plastic grill on as a datum, it measures 708mm to the outside i.e. the furthest I can measure just beyond the sidelights. I think my front is original (needs work), it is the front wings that are a later addition.

I am attaching a few photos of this area on mine, which may give you some more information.

If you need a more specific dimension I will try and help.

[mk1joe]

Thanks Mick! I do love having access to a well equipped machine shop. unfortunately it is really difficult to find the time to use it for my own projects... I have never attempted any CAD, but I doo have some uses for it. I have the plastic parts for one door (handles winders ect...) but not the other. so when it comes to it I would really appreciate your help in looking into making new ones!

And thank you very much for doing that for me Robert, its a massive help. I have tacked one half of my front panel back together, (just by eye where it looks right) and it measures 700mm from the centre. so it has potentially lost 8mm since it was cut off... 8mm is quite a lot and where its welded on will determine where the outer wings sit, and that will determine how I rebuild the inner arches. so it is important that I get it right.

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Thanks for the help guys! I'm really enjoying getting stuck into this build:)

[lundigee]

Neat butt joint, I would not worry about the 8mm. It will mean your LJ will be lighter and have less wind resistance.

[mk1joe]

Haha, very true! The joint is pretty much exactly how it was originally cut off. I will weld the other side on in the same manner and see how they marry up, as symmetry is the most important thing to me.

[mk1joe]

Progress is slow but constant.

Seeing it with its correct, cute little face back is encouraging. But I do struggle with motivation when it's soo cold down my garage. Bring on the summer!

[Jordi]

Looking good. Back to looking like a proper LJ.

Been struggling with the cold in the garage too. Just got a 47kg propane for the heater, should last a while.

[mk1joe]

I haven't made any huge leaps in progress recently, but last weekend I went and collected some new wings which scott sold me. Its a big advantage and I'm very pleased as its going to save a lot of time when compared to the old ones which I had planned to repair and use.