Just buy a used truck out of the south or southwest, swap over your good stuff. If you really are attached to the body and interior, then for 1/20th of the price of the galvanized frame you get a frame and a truck to part out. In the middle of the frame swap you can Por-15 it (which will hold up better than the galvanized frame in Chicago anyway).

 

No firsthand knowledge of how well this works, but this might be an option with the parts precut in a kit for about $100 delivered from the UK:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Rear-Chassi...-/401728167987

 

Great find!

 

That is a great find and if a welder was able to find metal to grab to, I'm sure the suspension portion would be feasible to fix. I'll definitely show that to anyone I discuss metal fabrication/welding with. Thank you!

 

If this works for you, I may buy that kit and get proactive.

 

Unfortunately it appears my chassis may be too far gone for repair. I know that many people do not agree with having the chassis swapped out as it doesn't make sense financially when you can pick up another Rover for less $$.

I.
Don't.
Care.

Bertha is going to the spa this year.

I've owned five vehicles in my 49 years of breathing on this earth.
I know, right? I can count them on one hand.

I'm a woman that keeps things around when I love them. Bertha has treated me right for 11 years and now it's my time to do right by her. I want her here for a long time.

Thanks everyone for all of your input in what to do. It's enough of a safety issue that I think I should get it done right the first time rather than prolonging the inevitable by patching something up. Onward to finding the right replacement chassis and getting the work done. I'm kind of excited about the endeavor. I've had some good recommendations on here and on the Facebook groups and will let you know how it goes. It will definitely be a learning experience and, in the interim, I think I'll knock out some of the things I've been meaning to fix like the driver side window that won't go down, switching over to the 180 degree thermostat and the sticking caliper issue. Oooo... I think I'll even try to change out my fobs!

 

Good luck and Godspeed!

Oh, and pics when you get to it!

 

Sooooo...frame swap has been postponed for awhile because I got her fixed! After all of the doom and gloom last month (the frame damage really took the wind out of my sails), I dragged my feet a bit with picking Bertha up from the garage where she was located. I guess you could call it 'thinking time'...

I must have taken too much time thinking because the mechanic sent me an e-mail asking if I was ever going to come pick her up. I hadn't spoken to him before - had only dealt with his partner. Anyway...I called him up and we had a long talk and he tried to persuade me to buy something else (a Defender) - I was pretty stubborn and told him that my love for Bertha is sentimental. I think he finally realized that I was going to try and keep my Rover anyway that I could and recommended a welding shop in the area. I felt a little foolish when he recommended this particular welding place because I frequent it quite often - taking broken down iron patio furniture there to have fixed, items I need powder coated, etc, and never once realized that they worked on vehicles. I must have had my blinders on because they apparently have chassis all over the yard but all I could see were the beautiful Woodard iron patio sets and old fashioned gliders sitting outside

So I ringy-dingyed them up around 2 weeks ago and asked if they could take a look at Bertha and give me a quote. They said that they were working 3-4 weeks out, I could have a tow truck drop her off and that they don't give quotes but they could give me a ball-park estimate of how much time it would take when they crawled underneath her. 'We charge $80 an hour'. Sounds good, I thought - looking forward to your call...

Fast forward two weeks to today. I was at work and received a message on my phone thru my laptop answering system. I was sitting in my colleague's office downloading data and saw the voicemail come thru on my laptop. Seeing as it was fairly quiet there and I was anxious to find out about the frame, I played the message out loud. 'Hi Christina, this is _____ from _____. Just wanted to let you know that your frame is fixed and your vehicle is ready for you to pick up'

I think I came close to having an anxiety attack at the desk because the room suddenly got smaller and I got a little woozy. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been able to stand up if asked Weak kneed girl here when you start talking dollar signs. Why didn't they call me and give me the ballpark estimate they had said they would?!?!? Before I could completely pass out she finished the call with 'The total cost is $350'.

That's when I accidentally swore, my colleague out in the lobby laughed and I did a happy dance I haven't had a chance to find out what kind of repair was done but I'm thrilled that it's road worthy for now and I can entertain other options in the future if needed. And I can't believe they fixed it for $350.

I'm so excited!!! Thanks for all of your suggestions and help you guys. I guess it's not really over until the fat lady sings

 

Totally awesome!

 

Awesome! Post pics when you get a chance