Mk1 VW LT 35 Tipper Truck 'Lucky Lloyd'

Thank you.....I genuinely appreciate it 👍

As you've driven LTs in the past, I'm sure you'll remember how awkward they are to drive. Mine was an absolute pig to drive....but having taken the gear linkages apart, its not hard to see why. It's all going to get replaced, so hopefully will be a bit easier to get into gear. 

Hopefully it'll all be worthwhile in the end......it's a long way off, but I do believe there's light at the end of the tunnel 😄

Thanks again.....and there'll be more updates soon. 

Regards Dan 

This update takes us back to the beginning of April 21. 

With the front half of the left chassis rail almost complete, it was at this point that I bagged lloyd the replacement engine I mentioned earlier......a D24tic to be exact.







This was actually the only high point of the build so far. For one, it meant that lloyd was potentially going to end up with almost double it's original BHP, along with that amazing 6 cylinder turbo diesel sound that I crave....but also, it meant that with old engine out of the way, access to both sides of the front chassis was going to be a whole lot easier. Down sides of course were, more work ( a lot more work! ) and more cost ( much more cost than I had ever originally planned for! ). Anyway, I'll worry about all that later....but for now it was off with the gearbox and out with the old engine....


Gearbox off.......







The clutch was shot!....










....and as suspected, this is the offending oil seal that was slowly turning my driveway black!







Then out with the old donkey !  I dropped it out the bottom.....these are the only photos I managed to get of that process. 











With the engine and box out of the way I decided that a pressure wash was in order. It's amazing what a bit TFR ( truck wash ) can do......























Now then......for any of you eagle eyed readers with a memory like an elephant, you'll remember that I stated that I'd come to the decision to sort the chassis in quarters.......yeah, well that went out window and I proceeded to cut the left hand rear chassis off. Looking back, I'm not sure why I made that decision....but it must of made sense at the time. It's quite possible that it was something as simple as I'd run out off funds for consumables/materials to carry on with the front half and with no time to waste I just cracked on with it. The parting of the components attached to the rear was a lot more complicated than the front.....and there was more of it.

Once again, another example of just how rotten this apparently ' fully road worthy ' truck was.......

























Next on the list of boring and uninviting tasks was to clean in and around the engine bay above where the new chassis was going in......











But just before I did, I had to do something a flimsy rust eaten piece of steel that had become battered and bruised from the initial rotten chassis removal. It wasn't even worth trying to save, so it got replaced.























After mechanically removing as much of the rusty spots as possible, I soaked the whole area in phosphoric acid....let it do its stuff over night, cleaned it back of again,  then applied two coats of POR15 followed Matt black aerosol.


































That's all for now.....more soon 👍

Hi Dan, Your making good progress, i think i would have throw the towel in a while ago. The thing is when you get so far along determination sees you through especially when folk say you’ll never finish it. Yes i will be back at mine soon. All the best, Norman

Thanks..... I really appreciate your thoughts 👍

Hi Norman,  I was talking to my dad about the truck a few weeks ago and he said " the trouble with starting something....... is knowing when to stop! " well.....aint that right! 
I think the most common comment I tend to receive is why did I even bother in the first place.....especially as it's just an old truck?  It's a legitimate question......and it's one that I've never really known how to answer. But from now on, the answer will be " I started......and  just didn't know when to stop! " 😃
Anyway, looking forward to updates on your project 👍 

Just realised that I forgot to include a few photos of the truck with the rear section of chassis removed in the last update. They're not really that interesting, but if I don't post them, then it was a waste of time remembering to take the things in the first place 🤣.

Soooo......I'll just dump them here for good measure!.....

So.....another long overdue update.

 The last update showed temporary fitment of the front left chassis and the removal of the rotten lower half of the left rear.
 I have literally ate, slept and breathed this bloody truck for the last six months. I've been coming home after a 10 hour shift at work and spending two....three.....four hours of an evening doing something to the truck. I've been trying to work to the mentality of doing anything....no matter how small.....is progress. All I can say is....it's definitely paying off.

Now.....as I write this update I can reveal that I've actually finished the whole left side chassis repair/rebuild and reattached the out riggers as well as spare wheel mount. Plus I've done a few more bits to the cab and have completed the front right chassis repair/rebuild, removed the rotten right rear lower chassis and am half way through the repair/rebuild of that!!! As I'm sure you can appreciate, that's a whole lotta work that's happened and updates have been a bit thin on the ground as a result. Hence why everytime I update, it's to catch up from months ago.

Another reason as to why I've given away how far I've got, is because I know that I did the front left chassis a certain way.....then improved upon the procedure for reassembly on the left rear.....then by the time I got to the front right I had totally nailed the best way/order to reassemble everything with the least amount of risk of rust setting back in. Of course, I now wish I applied the same thought process to the whole left hand side! Still......I suppose that's the whole 'learn as you go along' thing that often happens. It's just really bugging me as I write this update to see the pictures of what I did and know that there was a better way! Never mind......what's done is done.

So......on with the show!

This first picture shows the reinforcement tubes fitted into the inner chassis reinforcements and the 45 degree finish on the ends as per the original.










Then it was the laborious task of working out where all of the wiring loom, fuel line and brake line clips go. Once their placement was marked, I drilled a 7mm hole in the outer chassis and then a 10mm hole in the same spot on the inner to allow the springy bit on the fixing clips to expand when they're pushed in.














Once again folks....I've not remembered to take any photos of what I'd say is quite an important part......which is....the alignment of the engine cross member bolt holes to the new chassis section. Basically, I fixed the new chassis section into place and then blotted up the alignment tool I made earlier on in the build. Once I was 100 percent happy with the alignment, I then drew around the washers on the alignment tool. You can just about make them out in the next picture.....







I then was able to place an identical washer in the circular template to locate the centre and drill a half inch hole in the outer chassis.
The inner chassis reinforcement was a really snug fit inside the outer, so I put the two pieces together, fixed them in place on the truck using the alignment tool and then reassembled the steering idler arrangement to insure that the inner structure was in the correct place....







It was then back off the truck, on with some clamps to stop anything from moving and back out with the washers to find the centre......










Then insert a bolt through the washer.....making sure that the washer remains bang in the middle of the black marker template....and attach a new bolt from the inside. Once everything was in place, it was time to weld the nut in place......













Reattach to the truck to check absolute alignment.....










While I was there, I lined up the anti roll bar mount. Everything lined up perfectly.....










Then weld the anti roll bar mount on. This was done before welding the inner in so that I could repaint the damaged paint on the inside caused by the welding.....











Then weld the inner to the outer......

( picture is of the holes drilled and ready for welding.....unfortunately no other photos until the next step )







With all that done, it was time to permanently weld the new chassis section into place...


































Then weld reattach the mini out rigger....

( this is where I cringe.....as I took a much better approach to this on the other side )







Tidy up the welds and slap a bit a paint on......





















Next on the ' to do ' list, was to decide what to do with the tail bar.....whether that be a simple clean up and repaint or remove it, de-rust it inside and out.....then put it back on.







Well.....as with everything on this truck, theres always more to it than meets the eye! On closer inspection, I could tell that something wasn't right with right hand side of it. It looked a lot cleaner than the rest of it. So, after a bit of a poke around it was evident that it was full of filler. Basically, at some point in the past been bent inwards quite badly. Who ever was tasked with repairing it, simply bent it back the other way and fillered in the massive crease that was left behind. Not only that....but there was quite a lot of rot that I hadn't noticed before. So, once again.....only one thing for it......

Chop it off!!!

























Then dissect it for good measure......































Yes.......I shall be making up a completely new one of these! Thats once again more time and expense!


That's all for now.....please feel free to comment 👍

I certainly am going to comment.

Just incredible work and progress mate.

I will be dismantling the Rezin Rockit chassis completely now, thanks again to Paul Y and blasting it all here at home if my compressor drives the pot……

Then prime, paint etc.

Easy compared to all you do.

But your work is inspiring.

Thanks again for sharing.

Two steps forward, one step back (with the rear bar)

You'll make it to the end if you keep progressing.