Fitting lower battery boxes

Today I got the lower battery box back from rubberizing, that stuff sprayed onto pickup truck beds. It fits very snug around the right frame member. Raising it into place takes some effort, even empty. Harder still with 4 batteries loaded in the outer boxes, as then the weight tops 500 pounds.

Why install it with some of the batteries already inside? The rear interior side panels extend about 4" off the metal side wall. If I removed the decking under that, mud spray would be into that cavity.

I will cut up to the location of the interior sides. The opening will enable access to the battery terminals but will not be large enough to insert/remove batteries.

Thus, those batteries, 2 on each side, must be loaded in the box before it is raised.

AC Compressor Mount

I made a mount for the electric AC compressor. It is bolted to the frame above the steering shaft.


(the compressor's purple paint started flaking off, so we painted it it brown later.)

Power Steering Pump Mount

Made a mounting bracket for the electric power steering pump. It is mounted to eh body next to the original 12V battery. The arm with the broken mount point will be sandwiched in place.




I took measurements from the pump to the steering box for the new hoses.

Vacuum Pump Mounting

I made brackets for the vacuum pump and reservoir, mouting is on the fender next to the brake master cylinder.

Power Windows

The power windows were misbehaving. I removed disassembled and cleaned the console switches, but the problem persisted.


I found this article about a common issue with the window ECU. I resoldered the loose joint, and I also bypassed the ignition power supply so that the windows are always 'live' - I do that with every car that I can.

Ceiling liner discovery

Removed the ceiling liner - it was sagging right where the front sun-roof would be.



I discovered soem kind of tracking device concealed there.



Not sure of the brand, but it was tied into the locks and lights. Gone now.

I patched up the cables that had been spliced and ran some wire loom from the front to the mid light, just in case...



To repair the liner, I cut a large concave hole in the foam from the top side, removed the piece, applied glue to the fabric from the 'inside' and then pressed is all back together. (sorry, no pictures of that)

Paint Engine Bay

Today we painted the engine bay. Had some brown paint sitting around doing nothing so it was drafted. Note the hoses for power steering hoses and air conditioning.

2" receiver tubes

I was thinking that maybe one day I would want to take a trip longer than the batteries could sustain. Perhaps a trailer with either a generator or more batteries could be the answer. How to attach the trailer....?
A 2" receiver tube (150mm long) and some 6mm steel plate cut to the shape of the rear cross member was welded on. Later I cut some more 6mm steel into triangles and welded them on as gussets.



Later, I realized that it was much more likely that I would need to tow the Discovery, rather than it towing something. As there were no good hard-points on the front, I welded a 450mm long 2" receiver tube, along with 50mm angle iron braces, to the front cross member.


It is fortunate that height was just right to protrude through the front plastic bumper cover.

Suspension

Put the car up on the stacked tires to work on the suspension. Mainly changing all the bushings, but also to put in the air springs, which are essentially tough balloons that go inside the coil springs.

Battery Wire and Lugs

Today I ordered 50ft of 4/0 (AWG 0000) welding wire from EWS Welding Supply; total just under $200.
I also ordered 50 copper lugs for 4/0 wire from Ryder Fleet Products (go figure) for $52 total.

Finsh Battery Box Assembly

Finished welding the sheet metal bottom and sides of the lower rear battery box.

More Rust Remediation

More body rust to patch.

Rear driver side door:


There left rear wheel well:


This is where the original battery was located. Before...

and after...