Austin 101 Restoration

New Year's Resolution 2012

2012-01-01T14:04:00.002Z

Ok, I am scared of promising something that just isn't possible, but my resolution this year, emboldened by the success I had in meeting last year's goal (nothing at all to do with the van, predictably), is to at very least get the chassis rolling and engine and gear box in this year!

The bit that stops me promising myself I will finish the van is the metalwork.....but recent success with that makes even that do-able

But dammit, that's it, I am determined to turn this project around this year!

Happy New Year, Everyone!

I am back in the saddle!

2011-12-04T18:14:00.004Z

I spent the majority of the afternoon fabricating a patch for the offside wheelarch but, fraustratingly, I forgot to photo it. It was quite a nice insert with a number of angles. Then I used some metallised filler, which I am trying out for the first time. I am not a huge fan of filler because it smacks of bodging, but I am determined to make a quality job of it, and quite honestly my welding wasn't brilliant. Welding virgin steel is easy, but welding 60 year old rusty crap is challenging. Anyway, it needs more sanding and some refilling, but it is going to be sound.

Lastly I drilled holes in the top of the quarterlight so that I can spot weld from the outside before welding a line on the inside. But that is one for later.

So, that is satisfying progress for this weekend. I am definitely back into the swing of the project and need to concentrate all energy on getting the cab scuttle sorted first. I was pleased to note how much of the scuttle is metalwork done by me. It is amazing how little there was of it when I started out and how close it is, now, to being complete.

2011-12-04T13:30:00.004Z

Today I have finished fabricating the top of the quarterlight, though the proof will be in the welding of the rather thin, corroded steel.

Now, before I weld, I am fabricating a patch for the wheel-arch. I'll then weld both repairs together.

Quarterlight repair

2011-12-03T21:34:00.010Z

Several years ago, I made a repair here, which as you can see, just would not take. The steel was very thin and I couldn't get the temperature right...and just kept blowing holes in it. So today I decided to try to put it right. This is at the top of the off-side quarterlight.

I started by cutting out the offending part.

Then inserted cardboard to mark the radius.

The replacement part needed two bends, one of them an offset, for which I used the edge of a spanner.
Putting a radius in the part requires shrinking and stretching, which will make the part brittle along the edges, so I made the stretched edge quite wide (far as possible from the bend), but this leads to distortion of the bend, which needed regular re-hammering.

You can buy the stretcher and the shrinker jaws and insert them separately in this lever tool, but as I knew this would be a faff, especially as many jobs need both stretching and shrinking alternately, I bought two of the lever bodies. It was well worth the investment of a couple of hundred pounds.

To be continued tomorrow.

Let's get this show on the road!

2011-12-03T12:12:00.004Z

June 2010 was the last time I did anything on the van....that is, wait for it..... 17 months! And before that I think it had been another two years! Flying has taken over my life...that and my career....and thoughts had turned to selling the project and letting someone more enthusiastic finish it.

But a couple of nights ago John phoned and, when I said I had lost the drive, he managed to convince me that it would be a terrible shame, after everything I have done over all these years, to let someone else steal my thunder, when really I have turned it from a scrap-heap into a viable Meccano set, which just needs assembling.

So I am going to start the tank re-lining today. Then I need to do a proper critical path analysis...planning exactly what needs to happen, when, in order to get the whole thing bolted together.

Syncronicity

2011-08-18T12:25:00.005+01:00

Ok, syncronicity is a load of twaddle, but sometimes things just work out very tidily. I have just put an order in with Frost Restorations for some metallised filler and for a tank lining kit. Total bill £84. I had decided I was going to pay for that lot anyway, but only yesterday I was bemoaning the necessity of that outlay.

Today a nice chap called Roger, who had won one of my auctions and bought a trolley jack for a painfully low amount, came to collect it. The fact that he is a fellow enthusiast and is adding it to an extensive collection, and that he bought another jack yesterday for less than he is paying me for mine, made me feel a lot happier about it. It is good to know it will be appreciated where it is going.

But here's the syncronicity bit. I took him down to my workshop to see if there was any other automobilia, of which there is loads taking up shelf space, which he might fancy. And he left with a box full of old lights etc, which he gave me £90 for. He will doubtless make a few quid on them at Beaulieu (I asked him not to tell me how much!) and I gained some valuable space...

....and readies enough to cover today's purchases. Thanks Roger.

Now, what can I sell to cover the cost of the tyres?

tyres and tank - ouch

2011-08-17T13:48:00.008+01:00

It is just as well I haven't kept accounts! No way would I have set out on this project if I had realised the real costs involved!

On Roly's advice I have been talking to Longstone Tyres (who supply classic tyres) - to Dougal, to be precise. Dougal really knows his stuff and appreciated right away my issue about wheel size and J type scale, when he looked at Morris JBs and Austin 101s on Google images. He says that there was a tendency towards the end of the 1950s to fit 15" wheels rather than 16"s, which is why some late model vans and cars have wheels which look odd in their over-sized wheel arches.

He understood when I said I wanted as high a walled tyre as possible.He said that my best bet is Avon Super Safety 640-15 cross-plys, which come in at £129 + VAT each. With tubes etc I am looking at a bill of £870!

WOW!

Also, it took my mechanic contact well over a year to get round to doing the metalwork on my fuel tank, and when it came back he said it still needs to be lined. I feel a bit mis-led on that because I thought that would be included, but quite honestly, I just got sick of waiting for it, so I cut my losses and got it back.

He had farmed it out to someone else who owed him and it has had a substantial lump of lead used to patch it up - I hope to goodness it doesn't fall out, first bump. So, I need to order a tank lining kit from Frost, who are still waiting for the Metal Ready to come in, as they are short of stock. That's another £60 to find, but it will be satisfying if I can have tyres on wheels and tank lined before the end of the school holiday.

I figure it shouldn't be long, then, before I have the wheels on the chassis and should be in a position to lift the restored engine in and start the Meccano exercise....bolting panels on etc.

an online owners' club has evolved naturally

2010-11-19T11:13:00.004Z

Just recently I have been contacted by several fellow restorers, including Tim, here, and from his very interesting new blog you can see that there is an impressive number of resto blogs under way now. There was a time when it was just Truman and me.

Now that I am sort of back in action, I really must find time to read about everyone's progress and get out and meet folk, including Andy, who lives very near to me.

The great thing about blogging is that it creates a community of knowledge. Despite the best efforts of the owners' club's chairman, Harvey Pitcher, it was always a struggle to get people to write articles for the club magazine, so that increasingly it felt a bit of a one-man effort and my membership lapsed. But I suppose the immediacy of a blog and the feeling of pride you can have in your own creative space has meant that a new kind of club has evolved. I like the way we all help each other out with info and parts.

Good luck with your projects, everyone!

You meet them all in restoring...

2010-11-05T16:47:00.006Z

Colin Smith - a Good Man

My B Series engine is coming home next week, fully restored by my local Austin Morris guru - good man! Rang him this morning, and despite having stored the engine for nearly three years, since finishing work on it, he was adamant that he wouldn't accept a penny more.

You meet some great people in restoring; but you meet the rogues too. A few years ago an old chap asked if I would let him have a rare roofrack for his prized restoration and Truman and I generously donated it to this "fellow restorer", only for the rarity to end up on ebay with a starting price of £50 . Remember? When challenged he denied vehemently that this was the same one but eventually said he'd rather cut it up than give it back. Sour grapes at being caught out.

Well, as it turned out, that roofrack ended up being thrown in to a deal when this rogue later sold his van to Truman, who is letting me have it back.

The roofrack which Trumans and I took off a van which I had found on the basis of a pub tip-off.
Read about "The Goat-Lady's van" here (sorry about the formating, which won't behave)

2010-08-03T11:21:00.004+01:00

A great image of a J Type chassis

Tinworm is tinworking again - after TWO YEARS!!!

2010-06-03T21:48:00.013+01:00

I got back to work on the van today - for the first time in TWO YEARS!!!

Progress was made in August last year - but by someone else.) The last time I did anything on it myself was way back in July 2008.

I fabricated the tops of the windscreen, as planned and welded them in on both sides. At present it may look a bit rough, but I will do the fine finish at the painting stage. I will use por-patch to fill holes and to seal the the joins between old and new metal. For now, the entire windscreen surround is solid!

The scuttle now rings instead of rattles

Top of windscreen surgery

2010-04-04T15:13:00.002+01:00

I have been out in the garage today considering how I will repair the top of the windscreen, where it really needs comprehensive surgery, but where the metal is frighteningly thin. I had thought of reinforcing the area with fillets of plywood inside the frame and fibreglass....but fibreglass and metal is considered a bad compromise as they don't stick very well and are thought to eventually separate.
So Now I am thinking of putting in a steel support and heat-sink.

I think this may be the solution. Rather than remove lots of metal, insert a 2-piece fabricated part from inside the roof. Then drill two lines of holes -along the eyebrow and along the inside edge (see dwg) and spot weld it with mig (not my spot welder, which only works well with virgin steel).

Great to be back at it at last.

Royal Mail J spotted on M25

2009-09-28T18:34:00.001+01:00

Hey, I spotted a red Royal Mail J Type heading south on the M25 towards the Dartford tunnel yesterday! I think in all the time I have been an enthusiast (nearly ten years) I have never seen one on the road which wasn't going to or from a show that I was attending, or that I hadn't arranged to see with a friend.

engine-bearing cross members

2009-09-08T16:49:00.004+01:00

Click images to see large

I have been contacted by Charlie in Canada, who is restoring a J Type which someone has converted into a minibus, by the looks of it....but I am pretty sure from his photos that it was originally a van.

Charlie asked if I could provide details of the cross members which support the engine, as his van's engine had been replaced with something entirely different. Having taken dimensions, done rough sketches and photos, I thought I would post them so that anyone can see and use them.

As I told Charlie, these are for guidance only and before anyone goes and loads an engine on to anything they have fabricated, they must satisfy themselves that what they have built will take the load.

This link is to the work I did to replace my missing outriggers, which are the ends of one the missing cross members Charlie is interested in.

Gone to a good home

2009-08-27T21:10:00.008+01:00

This evening Dez (in the cap, above) fitted his A-frame to Lily using chains from my hoist and, with his mate Damian taking up the rear, towed her away. He has definitely been earning her with the work he has done on my leafsprings, axles and brakes.

He is back after the Bank Holiday to finish off the rear wheels and take away my fuel tank for renovation, along with various spares for Lily, which I hasten to add is not my J Type but a Ford Prefect.

It was sad to see Lily go but she is going to be looked after far better by Dez and I have had my money's worth out of her.

Also, the neighbour whose garage I rent (see pics) is taking my Lamb Chop (just visible in some of the shots) off my hands for the cost of 60 weeks' rent, so there is progress there too.

.

Quid pro quo for Uxor

2009-08-27T10:41:00.004+01:00

I am selling Lily and the chap buying her, Dez Stringer (a mechanic and restorer of predominantly American classics and rods), is exchanging expertise and a few days' hands-on effort (plus a Schwinn cycle and the renovation of my J Type fuel tank) for her.

It is a great deal......mainly because I haven't done anything on this project for well over a year -mostly because I spent a year getting my flying licence, but also because of a loss of confidence. The amazing thing is that Dez can accomplish in an afternoon what it might take me weeks of research, planning and worry to get done; months, if you include prevarication.

Moving the parts needed to Paul's (neighbour's) garage cleared space for me to work on the cab in my own workshop, which had become cluttered. It is so nice to have a clear space to work in. I assembled all the sourced parts (finding them took months of research) and Dez pronounced confidence that we had everything needed to assemble a rolling chassis (wheels, brakes, springs etc).

Yesterday Dez fitted my leaf springs and mounted the front and back axles, treated the back plates for rust (which I primed and painted last night) and took away a few other bits to clean up in his workshop. Today he is going to assemble the brakes. He has even promised to sort out some of my less penetrative welding and given me advice on where to get dampers, which he said are the same as those on VW Beetles.

Fantastic progress at last.

(must remember to use proper digi-cam instead of phone)

.

Progress?

2009-02-28T17:51:00.003Z

Having provided a link to this site from facebook, I am so very conscious of not having done anything on the 101 for months and months. The email address is still current if people want to get in touch, and as soon as I have my flying licence, which ought to be in a the next month, if weather holds, I will get back down to the workshop and make progress.

One job which is lined up and for which all parts are ready, thanks to my mate John's machining skills, is the hanging of the new leaf-springs with hang-bolts which he has made beautifully.

Where's Tinworm?

2008-08-11T13:46:00.006+01:00

For anyone who doesn't know and is wondering why there has been no progress on the 101, I have been learning to fly at Sywell, staying up there and variously camping on the airfield or sleeping in the hangar.

Sorry if you haven't received responses to email. tinworm@hotmail.co.uk is the best way to keep in touch but I don't get online as often as usual.

see my flying blog: http://tinworm-wings.blogspot.com/

Normal service will be resumed in September.

Dash it!

2008-07-13T19:43:00.006+01:00

Finally, after a month of inactivity on the van and having handed the Magpie blog over to Magpie himself, I got down to the workshop yesterday and removed all the instruments from the dash. I struggled with one pull-push switch, which just would not come out. I got it off today, by brute force, unfortunately; there was really no alternative. I had first established from the manual that it was not an original fitting.

Today I cleaned up the dash, removed sticky binding from the stearing wheel and red-oxided the metalwork on the outside and hammerited the internal surfaces.

I am going to do it in a black crinkle finish, as Truman did so beautifully. I don't know if that is done over red oxide. I just took a gamble.

Wythall - 60th Anniversary of the J Type

2008-06-16T11:13:00.022+01:00

I came home from Wythall last night buzzing with ideas. The highlight of the day had been seeing Dennis Bradley's inspiring JB tipper truck, sweetly finished in red and grey. It is an absolutely superb bit of work. I took loads of pictures (incl. detail shots) and a few short films....though, idiotically, I hadn't realised that I was taking the latter side-on, as I took them on my new phone! Dur!

Another highlight was meeting Bjorn and Mona Stensson, who had brought their JB Planner van from Sweden to the show. Bjorn's modifications are not quite my thing, but he has done them all elegantly, turning his van into a camper with insulation and an efficient Volvo heating system running off the Morris Oxford 1622cc engine. He is a clever chap. The ceiling of his van was even timbered!

Harvey Pitcher's van was beautifully finished with the livery of his wife's balloon company, Huff Puff and Away - clever name! A nice touch was helium filled balloons bobbing in the cab.

The only 101, that I am aware of, was Peter Page's fine looking, crested van. Peter, charming and bow-tied, told me about his trip to St Petersburg at a speed never higher than 40mph!

Here we see my mate John standing in front of Iain McKenzie's Meccano van. It was good to see it again. I first saw it at his workshop when I went to spend those few days with him, picking up some tricks of the trade and helping him make me some parts. This is one of my favourite J Types and I do hope that if he ever gets the chance to spend some time on her, he does it sympathetically because the tired look suits her. I appreciate that it isn't an original livery, but this is one where concours finish would ruin her authenticity.

Actually, I did think that about a number of vans there. Sadly, too many vans are used as business advertising and are therefore done in brand-spankingly new liveries and the slickness just feels wrong. People forget, these were working commercials. So, it was nice to see some of the less flashy vans, brush painted - the more human touch.

And speaking of the human touch, it was great to finally meet people who either got in touch via this blog or who introduced themselves as readers. I was pleased to meet Ken and Jill White and their grown-up kids. The Whites are new to J Types and restoring a planner van. (Incidentally, Ken, did you notice Bjorn's wings? I think they are fibreglass.) Steve and partner Teresa were taking research photos when I bumped into them....they were obviously doing serious under-the-floorboards research, so we quickly realised who we were and introduced ourselves Also I met Alex, whose JB is currently based at Iain McKenzie's, where it is about to go under the knife. Alex was anxious about her condition, but actually his JB has loads of potential, even though its rear cross member collapsed when it was being transported and had to be quickly shored up with a sheet of chipboard as a cross-sectional stiffener. Alex is an interesting chap. He drives freight trains, which seems to be a lucrative business - it is one I considered giving up teaching for last year. We will have to talk more about that, Alex!

On the subject of the humanely done van, it was sad not to see Magpie at the show, though of course I knew in advance that he wouldn't be there. A show doesn't feel complete without OBL. Also, I had hoped that Truman would be there; we had talked of it some time ago. Truman disappeared off the scope a few months ago and I am frankly a bit worried, him being in the Fire Brigade. I have just written by snailmail to see if I can raise him.

A real highlight was the official photographer throwing his toys out of his pram about me going up a bus maintenance gantry to take some photos, while the organisers were setting up an aerial shot of the show. In a squealy voice which belied his gruff, beardy appearance he yelled, "Hey, has anyone told him that only I am allowed up that gantry!" Woooooooooooo! LOL Silly man.

Though I know I wasn't exhibiting, I was a bit disappointed not to be invited to join in any of the photos, when all J Typers gathered under the gantry in front of the vans, but Mrs Pitcher stopped me to take my photo at one point, saying she was running a competition for best T-shirt at the show and would be doing a feature. Beth will be pleased!

Under the clock, carrying a rolled up copy of The Times, wearing a carnation

2008-06-14T09:10:00.009+01:00

For those who don't know me but who have said they'll meet me on Sunday, I'll be wearing the bright green shirt my sister had made for me for Christmas this year.......with a J Type on the front. I may even have a yellow satchel type bag with a van on it (stuffed with camera, sandwiches and a notebook). Come and say hi.

Really looking forward to meeting everyone.

Cheers John!

2008-05-30T17:59:00.006+01:00

John, seen here, has been round today getting me motivated and helping me put the leafsprings on the chassis. We cleaned up some of the anchor bolts, but John machined the one below and is doing some of the simpler ones too.

Cheers John. I owe you, big time!

Photos from Carl Jones - Leafspring process

2008-05-19T21:48:00.005+01:00

Carl Jones very kindly took these pictures of my leafsprings being made.

See the finished products here

Greased anchor bolt- thank goodness for John

2008-05-11T11:54:00.004+01:00

John's a good man! Not only does he have the knowledge, but he is very generous with it. He made this anchor bolt in his precious spare time in school; and goodness knows, we get very little time to ourselves in school these day.

I am feeling enormously relieved now that I can just continue on the project in my own time, rather than the depressing rush and pressure I felt under to have a vehicle ready for June. My friend B says that I will enjoy the show more now because I won't be tied to my own van and will be able to get round more and see everyone else's. I will also be saving a few hundred pounds on getting the van there....which can be spent on the restoration.

Farting about and problem solving

2008-05-05T22:23:00.004+01:00

Today, I rewarded myself for spending several hours marking assessments by spending several more farting around in the workshop - restoration takes quite a bit of farting about, and when not farting, standing round musing. John came round and took away two springs and some shagged anchor bolts, promising to return in a week or so with machined replacements. We have agreed that widening the holes in the mounting castings and widening the front anchor bolts on the rear springs will deal with the bush ID problem.

In the meantime I am refurbishing the rear shackles for the front springs. Today I spent about an hour cleaning up the threads and getting the worst of the rust off. The rubber bushes, surprisingly, weren't too bad. But I shall replace them anyway.

I let myself off the hook today, too. I may not put myself under stress to get a rolling chassis to the June event. It is a lot of expense and stress. I may just go along and enjoy the event and continue the project at a more natural pace......and save the money for the restoration. After all, the work is getting its public airing here.

Leafsprings, by Jones Springs Ltd

2008-05-02T17:14:00.007+01:00

I just collected my leafsprings from NTG and the Jones brothers have done a bloody nice job on them. I was pleasantly surprised by the clamps which had been done as per the drawings and not in the compromise style I had seen on other springs at NTG. I appreciate the trouble Jones' have gone to in order to make the springs look original.

I checked, and the trouble they took with finishing the heads of the central bots was well worth it because, as can be seen in the picture above, they fit nicely into their seatings on the axles.

I am, however, a little anxious about the slack in the inside diameter of the rear spring bush. Carl had said he had difficulty with bushes and I'd imagined he meant with the OD. Looks like I will have to make some kind of shim to take up the slack.

I can't just make the bolt larger....unless I gingerly widen the holes in the castings which hold them on the chassis. This is one to discuss with my mate John. John is currently working on making me up 2 anchors with grease nipples.While I was at NTG's, Paul put some rubber bushes on my account. You can see them in the top picture.

adjusted radiator stand

2008-04-26T22:00:00.004+01:00

Well, as I said, I needed to take about 4mm off the near-side upright on the rad stand, which took a couple of hours of cutting, fitting, welding and drilling....but it is now done and the rad fits with room for packing, which I think is designed to deal with vibration. I am rather proud of it. The photo of it is rather dodgy, but it's something to be going on with.

The leafsprings are due back any day now; they were due back yesterday. I haven't done much else as I have had old and dear friends from America staying for a week.

Radiator's done!

2008-04-21T16:47:00.012+01:00

More about this later because Sheldrake and Wells have done me some photos which are on the way, but for now, am chuffed to bits to have the radiator done. I am told that it is going to be the most efficient it can be; about 30% more than it was. And Andy, who did the work, advised strongly against getting one of those additional fans which can be put on the front to boost it. Apparently this is a two row Q pattern core.

As you can see, it looks great. Now that it is assembled, it is fractionally too tight for the stand which I made, but some simple modification should take care of it. I have done some measurements, and apparently the bending of the steel caused some loss of distance across the span....amounting to about 4mm in the worst places, so I have just removed a section of the near-side upright and bent an insert to weld in place some millimetres over. It should be fine. I shall finish that tomorrow evening.

I think I shall get some copper hydraulics pipe and replace the overflow pipe, as that is what was on it originally and it'll look a lot more in keeping. I really like the way Andy fitted the clips to my fabricated sides to hold the pipe. He also went to the trouble of removing the brass Morris plate and replacing it after painting the rad.

Thanks Andy.

"B" channel reproduction with quarterlight surround

2008-04-13T01:20:00.006+01:00

Got to get up in just a few hours for a 250 mile round trip on the motorbike ...."The Chip Shop Run", so I will keep this short for now. I spent a few hours this afternoon replicating a section of "B" channel which had rusted away completely. I am fortunate in having a section of it (top), which I salvaged from the Goat Lady's van, to use as reference. I was pleased with progress.

Spend! Spend! Spend!

2008-04-08T22:17:00.005+01:00

This is going to be a week of big spending - the biggest yet in this project. Re-coring the radiator will cost over £200 and the leafsprings (incl silentblocs) are going to cost £611...but I am very excited about both orders because both are being done by top people.

I talked to Mark at Sheldrake and Wells yesterday and he showed me a slighly different core, which will be about 30% more efficient than the original. I will do a piece on this specially, but essentially, they remove the top and bottom, clean them out and solder in a brand new core, fit the sides, then paint the entire job. Mark has taken a couple of before shots and will take one in the process of being transformed. I shall let you all have details of the core later.

After work today I rushed over to NTG as they have very kindly agreed to let me send my leafsprings to Jones Ltd using their courier account, which ought to save me some cash - cheaper than Parcelforce etc. It also gives me greater confidence because NTG have a relationship with Jones, who are very highly recommended by them. NTG have done it on account, which is very decent of them.

When these bits are back, I will be making very real progress. By then the axles will be ready to go back on. Am still waiting to hear back from a friend about the size of shocks needed; anyone know?

Progress - The wisdom of a friend

2008-04-04T15:24:00.011+01:00

I cannot believe how long this job has taken! Incredibly frustrating. I keep telling a supportive girlfriend I am making no progress and how I feel I have wasted my holiday, but she wisely pointed out that if I have been persevering with the job, which goodness knows I have been, then I have been making steady progress on a job which was just always going to take a long time. Some jobs do just take a lot longer than others.

Not sure if Sheldrake and Wells are open on Saturdays, but if not I shall take the rad into them on Monday afternoon, after school, to be recored.

Saturday morning update. Went to Sheldrake and Wells. Just caught them as they were locking up. The boss wasn't there. Left rad and sides. Talked to chap there who said that they will measure it up and order the core from somewhere else which has a 24 hr turnaround. They then do all the soldering on site. I shall not be working Monday afternoon, so I shall go in to see the boss. Apparently, you can choose a variety of cores, some of which give more efficient cooling....I think he called it SP2, which sounds just the job. Forgot to get a receipt, but never mind. Hoping to arrange to do some photographing; shame I didn't get this far this week. Working next week means not being able to see mine actually worked on, I reckon.

Time-consuming metalwork

2008-04-04T09:43:00.006+01:00

I can't believe how long it has taken to make these radiator sides. I probably over-engineered them again....having to scrap a day's work because it just didn't work right. Incredibly frustrating. Anyway, today I am poitioning, drilling and welding-in captive nuts...made tricky by the fact that fixing holes in the cab are on two parts of the bodywork which I can't put together at the moment. Ah, well....any adjustments will have to be done to the bodywork later. Pleased with how well teh rad will fit my fabricated rad stand, if a little tighter than the original.

Carbs and Leafsprings

2008-04-01T00:27:00.003+01:00

I talked to Colin (my engine guru) about him sorting out my carburettor, which he has agreed to do. I am taking two to him Tuesday night. One, the original, has an obviously broken bit, which can be replaced from a second one salvaged from the Goat Lady's van. Between the two it should be possible to make a good one which works, and as Colin still has my engine (click to see it running) I hope he will be able to set it up for me.

I also talked to Chris from Brost Forge today about quoting me for leafsprings, which he anticipates being able to do for about £120 per spring, but as he is not online, I have sent him drawings from the manual and a copy of this page showing the dimensions and the Jones Ltd quote, as he may be able to better it.

2008-04-01T00:17:00.003+01:00

God, the metalwork seems interminable!

Today, as well as working on the radiator sides, which need loads of adjusting, I trimmed away some rusty sections of windscreen surround and formed and inserted some virgin steel, having removed surface rust from the inner surround. I think I shall MIG drill-spot weld the strip in place. It is larger than what can be seen here. Welding a tab, cut for the purpose, inside will lever it into place....but a tricky bit of welding may be needed along the fringe of fillet....though I am reluctant to do this partly because the material is likely to blow through and secondly because grinding it back afterwards will be tricky in a concave.

I shall then treat the rusty fillet and squeeze POR15 paste into the fillet to cure and strengthen it.

Bespoke J Type Leafsprings

2008-03-28T15:00:00.006Z

I just talked to Kev Jones at Jones Springs Ltd and may well be getting leafsprings (incl bushes)from them. It isn't cheap: works out at £120 per front spring / £140 per rear = 520 + VAT = £611 total OUCH!

That's a lot of money, but when you think what you are getting for it in terms of skill, ride assurance and saved time, I guess it is value for money. I think I really need to bite the bullet on this.

But to be sure, I ought to shop around just a little bit.

( The front springs have 11 leaves and back have 10. The width of each is 44.45mm and the thickness of material is about 6.76mm (though these dimensions may be affected by corrosion, obviously).

fabricating sides

2008-03-27T17:34:00.010Z

Having made the shoulder pieces, one of which I adjusted and adjusted and finally scrapped (!) ,

I made the sides, one with a particularly nice bottom.

Some of the bends caused mild distortions which needed adjusting with stretcher and shrinker

The bottom of the "side" formed around the tap

Lots of welding and trimming needed but the essential shape is there.

Tomorrow I need to finish the other side, then I need to position and weld in captive nuts - for setting the radiator securely in the radiator stand.

Radiator sides - shoulder pieces

2008-03-26T20:30:00.006Z

Haven't spent long in the Bat-Cave today, but managed to get a couple of hours of metal bashing in. Am making radiator sides from scratch. Had planned on just modifying another set of sides from a different vehicle but found that they'd need so much adjustment it just wouldn't be worth the hassle. Anyway, the J type rad is rather special and the sides are far more elegant than on this other car.

I am pleased with the shoulders. Tomorrow I shall make the sides and bottom bits. Welding will have to wait until Sealeys replenish their gas stock. I hope to get the radiator plus sides to Sheldrake and Wells on Monday at the latest. They promised that I can take pictures of the process for the blog.

Friends Reunited - J-Type style (+ fabrication)

2008-03-25T23:31:00.012Z

Great day today (about which, more later)...but in short, finally got hold of Truman after ages (thought he might have died), exchanged emails with Magpie (for whom I have promised to start a blog, as he is a terrific restorer and a very funny writer) and exchanged email with Andy Joyce who is selling his van on ebay....this is the one he built in incredibly quick time from two wrecks. Nice guy. I first talked to him when I was going for my 101 on ebay, when I begged him not to bid against me, and he very kindly backed off! What a generous, decent bloke. Sadly, he is under pressure from family to get rid of his van, but I may have persuaded him to abort the auction and feature the van in the forthcoming June meet. Hope so. He said he couldn't go without his van, he'd be too sad. I hope I have persuaded him - he'd kick himself if he didn't take the van...and the credit.

Been working in the shed today fabricating radiator sides from scratch (mine are almost completely gone) ...and once re-cored, my rad will fix into my fabricated radiator stand. I have also cut and shaped some windscreen surround and surgically removed some of the rusty parts it will replace. Fitting it will be tricky...a combination of drilled-spot welds and POR-15.

Thinking of producing a coloured schematic showing just how much of the vehicle I have had to fabricate. Looking back, I am pretty proud, considering I'd never worked in metal before. Hopefully the schematic will go some way to explaining why the project has taken me so long.

Fabrication examples- click on each: replacing the A pillar ; inner arches ; inner wing ; panel interior ; dash panel with captive nuts ; outriggers ; radiator frame: dash repair; rad blanking plate; cab floor support etc

Am waiting to hear back from Carl Jones with a quote for leafsprings, having sent him manual drawings and dimensions. Also waiting for Sealeys to get more CO2 in....as I ran out ages ago. Very frustrating being unable to weld.

Bat-Cave Manoeuvres

2008-03-24T00:24:00.006Z

Today I reorganised the workshop and tested out my new concrete ramp between the upper and lower room...and tested the motorcycle dolly/ turntable. I then pulled out and adjusted the cab skuttle jig and put my new shot blast cabinet in its place, as I want to start work on the upper windscreen surround this week.

Leafsprings

2008-03-14T17:02:00.007Z

I have moved the Mechanic's Gate project postings to the Car-B-Que blog.

I went to see Paul at NTG today, with a view to sourcing bushes, leafspring clamps, shackles, etc and came away convinced that instead of restoring the old springs, I need to bite the very expensive bullet and get new ones.

When I talked to Truman about this a year or so ago, he told me he'd had his made at £300 per pair! Someone at Rossendale Road Springs said they'd be about £450. I just emailed an outfit in Birmingham recommended by Paul, called Jones Springs Ltd and am hoping their price will be more competitive.

In order to save cash, I had dismantled my old springs and cleaned up every leaf, but it seems, based on Paul's extensive knowledge, that they are pretty far gone. He says that if I plan on running the van once restored, I really ought to bite the bullet on this one, and I think he is right, sadly.

The elusive gas regulator tap

2008-03-07T12:32:00.008Z

Bloody hell, you know that regulator tap that I couldn't find anywhere...and which I have been looking out for for two months? Well I found it today, in the most unlikely place!

My back is feeling sore today after a heavy week in school, which included an observation (which went very well indeed, but which was stressful), so I thought I would clear up the house, which I have neglected while prepping for school and otherwise doing stuff in the garage. I started by sorting out school notes and the box of school detritis from Xmas, which I'd shoved in a corner at the end of last term.....miscellaneous xmas tree balls, cards, a tangerine, etc....and came across my pencil box, where I put pencils picked up off the floor in school...to give to kids who never seem to have one...and opened it to put some left-handed scissors in it...and there was my regulator tap.

It must have been when I was working on the trailer post, welded it up, left the welder in the front room/hall...and later hurriedly tidied the floor (which is a dumping ground after school) and tidied away the regulator tap.

Damn, I might never have found it!

The moral? Looking in illogical places makes sense.

Cooking with gas - Sealey Ltd make my day

2008-02-24T13:01:00.006Z

Sealey Ltd have really turned things round for me. I now have a machine which really does the business...I have been in the workshop the last two nights cooking steel; excellent!

Regular readers will know of my problems with my Sealey welder and of my trouble getting it repaired (all problems around the distributor wrongly advising me about Sealey's repair policy), which left me feeling misled and out of pocket.

The frustration was compounded when the welder developed faults which hadn't been there before I sent it away - the welding tip arc-ed when brought into contact with earthed metal, even though I hadn't pulled the trigger, which scared the heck out of me because I wasn't wearing my eye-shield or gloves. I wiggled the trigger but it wouldn't swtitch off. This was odd because the liner had been changed by Sealeys, so there couldn't be anything wrong with the trigger. When I welded, the tip over-heated and the gas shield melted...and then the feed stopped feeding - which was the original problem. I began to fear that it would be cheaper to scrap the machine and lay out a load of dosh for a new one. But Sealey saved the day.

They put Colin Chiddington, their head of the technical department, on to the case, he arranged for the welder to be collected, promised to keep me posted on progress and saw to it that the machine was fully examined and put right.

It turned out that the problem was related to the PCB - a relay problem that hadn't been spotted before. Anyway, the relay was changed, the liner was replaced again as a precaution, the gas shield was changed...and the machine returned quickly....and here is the great bit, Colin said that there would be no charge, that he and all the people at Sealey were pleased to be able to do the work as a gesture of good will.

I'd like to say here that I am particularly grateful that Colin in particular was put on the case because he made sure I knew what was going on every step of the way, giving me feedback on the points I had raised and explaining what they thought had gone wrong. Once repaired they confirmed that the machine is now working to spec, which could mean it is even better than when I sent it away! They sent me some test welds, and I do have to say, they looked excellent; wish I got results that good.

Cheers Colin. Thank you Sealey Ltd. I have spent the last two nights welding with no problems.

**********************************************************

Endnote: Given the level of satisfaction a customer like me can feel with a company tracking down a fault and fixing it, and all the time keeping me posted about what it involved and what it'll cost to fix it, why does Sealey have a policy of just replacing parts to a certain % of the value of the welder? I'd have thought they might want to reconsider that. Repairs and servicing are different things and it doesn't seem cost effective to risk having to do the job all over again.

Night-Owl

2008-02-03T02:13:00.000Z

It has just come to me why it is that I make slow progress: I am a night owl in a world which expects quiet at night. And I am a considerate neighbour. I have always worked best at night....worked right through until about 5am. when I was at university, for instance .....but because the resto involves power tools, banging, etc., I haven't done the same for this project

This afternoon I felt guilty because I couldn't get motivated....and finally the rush of energy came at about 11pm. So I got togged up against the cold, went down to the shed and beavered away, getting the wheel backplates off the rear axle, then came indoors, spread newspaper over the box-room floor, opened window and front door for ventilation and sprayed (front axle) backplates and all four brake drums with high temperature paint. This may be over-kill, but as the drums are going to get hot, it just seemed sensible.

The picture shows the second coat. As you can see, it is cloudy matt in appearance, but bear in mind that it won't be visible: wheels are mounted on the drums and the backplates are going to be beneath the horizon and in-board. Incidentally, thinners were used to de-grease the parts before the primer coat was layed down (no primer needed) and the studs were taped to stop paint gunking up the threads.

All for want of a horse-shoe nail

2008-01-22T17:23:00.000Z

Fantastic news: after months of searching and disillusionment, I have got springs for my brakes. Where I got them from was a hot tip from Magpie (aka Tardis), who recommended NTG Motor Services in Ipswich. Now, infuriatingly, I realise I read a review of these good people some time back in the club magazine of the Cambridge-Oxford Owners' Club, but it hadn't occurred to me to try them.

NTG's Paul Banyard is a very useful chap to know. He supplies parts principally for old MGs, many parts of which, of course, are compatible with the J Type and the Austin 101. The springs turn out to be MG TD compatible. They weren't cheap, it does have to be said: with discounts, before VAT the pull-offs are £4.30 a piece, and six are needed. The punier tensioning springs are £5.25 before VAT! The latter don't look exactly the same as the ones I took off the van, but are the TD pull-off's natural pair. Total bill just over £42. But I paid it happily - partly because having them has solved so many hassles - and is a relief - and partly because I am realistic about limited run manufacture being expensive.

We need people like NTG to continue in business, so we need to support them. I know they will be seeing a fair bit more of me.

Incidentally, they carry the rubber mounts for both the engine and the gearbox at, all told, £39 incl.

Call Paul on 01473 406031 or see them online at http://www.ntgservices.co.uk/

I can't mount the restored engine in the chassis until it is free-standing, which means that the wheels and axles have to be fitted back on with restored leafsprings and new shocks, and none of that can happen until the wheels have been reassembled, before which brakes have to be done....and that has been held up for want of a spring (or 8). All those other bits aren't 100% ready either, but it has felt like most prgress has been held up by the springs. Things should now start going together rather quickly and progress will be more tangible.

This was the boost I've needed for a while. So watch this space.

Brake assembly

2008-01-06T22:03:00.000Z

After collecting and cleaning my lamb chop today, I spent most of my time in that endlessly infuriating task - searching for something you always put in the same place....except that last time you put it down, you put it down somewhere else and knew you'd remember; but actually forgot - bugger! I have lost the tap for my welding gas regulator. I searched EVERYWHERE - including the completely illogical places, like my pockets.

Then, to make myself feel like I had achieved something, I took the brake assembly off the rear axle (circled in blue) and cleaned up the part circled in red, which centres the cables. Interestingly, as I removed the bound cable from its running tubes it was apparent that it had some kind of rubber bush (about the size of a pasta tube) to stop the cable getting chafed. I wonder if these can be replaced easily? Anyone know? Magpie?

Critical Path Analysis

2007-12-29T09:28:00.000Z

Just before I went away for Christmas I heard from Magpie who said, essentially, you HAVE made some progress, haven't you...and won't believe that actually I have done sweet F-A in quite a while. He is amazing, and will write to say he has had a dry spell and only had time to strip the differential, replace all the brake hosing, etc.

Anyway, now that Christmas is out of the way I am going to put CPA into practice, years after I learnt it at engineers' school; not that I was an engineer. I was on the dole and they let me on the course to make up the numbers.

Basically it is about planning a process, taking into account those conditions which will have to be met in order for the process to begin, or progress to the next stage. It helps you to anticipate order delays etc. It is common sense really, but putting the process down on paper helps a lot. It also helps you decide what the most efficient use of time, in the event of a delay, will be.

For instance, I am mounting the finished engine on the chassis before completing the wheel arches because I need some critical dimensions which I won't have until the wheels are on. I need the front scuttle on for this...but as I say, the engine must go in first, and before that, the chassis must be on wheels and suspension. Before the wheels can go on, the brakes must be done..and that process is awaiting the pull-off springs. This is an "all for want of a horseshoe nail" situation. So: pull-off springs ----brakes ---wheels----suspension----engine----scuttle----wheel arches -----rear of cab. First I need to find or make those damned springs, and while I am wating for them to arrive, what would be my best use of time? Differential clean-up, I think.

When I get home, it'll be all systems go.

I Finished my Trailer Lock today

2007-12-02T17:38:00.000Z

Click here to see some of the designing and making process. One of the most satisfying things, apart from having made it myself, is that it is made entirely with reclaimed steel, scavenged from an engineering workshop skip (with their permission, of course). The red knob on the locking pin is a snooker ball that I dug up in the garden.

Warmer in the shed than in my house!

2007-12-02T12:33:00.000Z

A mate of John's has a container of stuff he didn't take to the Philippines with him, and which he has been trying to unload, so I have very fortunately acquired a two length ladder, a collection of matchbooks, some old books and an oil-filled radiator, and it is that last item that has me down in the workshop more than up in the house after work now.

I have stretched some old carpet out on the concrete floor and have been busily removing brake cables etc from the rear axle (bloody hard to do. All the fittings are rusted solid. I don't want to grind them off because I want to restore the threads). Also I've been doing rust removal, which I decided to do myself and not get P&P to shot blast this time.

On the trailer hitch front, I borrowed a second welder and finished the cheek-plate, and have since Hammerited the post and its now concreted-in base, and while I did that noticed patches of rust on the trailer, which have been nagging me...so did them too...and while I was down there, I noticed other bits and soon enough, the whole bloomin' trailer was silver!

My welder has gone to Sealey's for them to suss out what's up with it and give me a repair quote. It is a good service: Bennetts take it to Sealey's and bring it back, no charge, and there is no fee to pay if I decide not to accept the repair quote. Hopefully it'll just be a relay problem...and cheap. I feel lost without it. The borrowed one is 100amps to my 130 and does a crappy, spattery weld....but I can't look a gift-horse in the mouth.

When the rain goes and the sun comes back out I'll fit the post and get a picture for you.

It doesn't rain, but it pours!

2007-11-22T16:45:00.000Z

First it is the welder, then it is my car battery, which has suddenly flattened itself, so that when I leapt in the car to pop over to Bennets to get a part for the welder, it wa-ah-aha-aha-ahed but wouldn't start. Damn. So, took the battery out today and have it on charge. May have to walk to school tomorrow.

Mate, John, always good with technical problems, came round and we took the main switch apart (diode not lighting), having found that the motor can be made to work off a 12V charger and that the fuse was ok. So we don't know what's up now because, using a bulb on the switch tabs we found that apart from the diode not lighting, all the other tabs would light a 12V car bulb. I did wonder if the entire circuit is being fused by the diode, of course, but it doesn't seem likely....being so inaccessible. So, we are a bit stumped and that is bloody annoying because the welding jobs are piling up and I can't afford to get someone to mend it.

May ask friendly electrician, Karl, up the road if he will run a multimeter over it and isolate the problem. Damn, wish it had simply been the toggle switch....cheap and easy to fix.

P&P Blasting told me the rear axle could be done for £50 ish, so I reckon I shall make myself happier and save a few bob by starting that manually tonight. I brought it inside today and put it back on blocks. I am afraid that leaving it our these last few years, albeit covered, hasn't done it any good.

Read here about Sealey and Bennett's, how the welder was repaired but how I felt ripped off

progress yesterday; frustrations today

2007-11-19T18:50:00.000Z

Another of those frustrating days, today, where just about everything that could go wrong, did. Worst of all, the wire feed motor on welder stopped working and I still haven't worked out why; gas release servo works, as does hand switch, relay fuse seems ok, but tried bridging it and that didn't....not that it is a fair test because I am not 100% sure that the bridging was a good contact anyway (I'd only know that if it had worked) so I am no closer.

On the positive side, the foundation unit for the trailer hitch is concreted in now and the chassis is now in place in my neighbour, Paul's garage. The point about this garage is that it faces the road and has a double door and drive....so access is no longer a worry. I shall work on bits in my workshop, then carry them across Greta's garden, through the makeshift gate I made yesterday and into the garage to be assembled. The other great thing is that I no longer need to rent Greta's garden (though I have access) and the garage is costing me the same, so there is no net loss....and road access is gained - plus lots of room to move..in the dry in the garage.

Strain Stops Play

2007-11-11T11:30:00.001Z

Bugger, I have strained my back again....and at a time when I have two days free in a row for van stuff. Utterly infuriating. Looks like I shall be catching up on my reading.

Trailer locking post

2007-11-01T17:29:00.000Z

In the last week or so I have been making this security post for my trailer. The trailer will be locked on to the ball hitch and the post will be locked upright, blocking the trailer in on my hard stand. The post will be welded into an anchor frame which will be set in the first layer of concrete, and the second layer of concrete will then fill up its sides to pavement level (over the cross bar which will anchor it further).

When folded down, the post will cross the pavement, allowing the trailer out over it and on to the road. I have yet to make the hitch lock, but otherwise it is all close to being done (and has only been delayed by my running out of Mig wire last night).

Half Term

2007-10-20T16:35:00.000+01:00

Trailer

I am off to Bristol tomorrow with John to collect a trailer which my Dad's girlfriend is giving me, very generously, to give herself room in the garage (I must find her a suitable pot plant). We are coming back Monday, trailer in tow - on new tyres, very kindly provided by dad. John's going to help me rig up a tow-bar on my car. I have already taken the front wall down to accommodate the trailer, but am buggered if I am going to be pushed by circumstances into getting a drop kerb. My neighbours naively suppose that it gives them parking rights on the road, but it just doesn't.

Life will be a lot easier with a trailer, no question about it. Eventually I hope to build a de-mountable teardrop caravan like this one on what is now just a trailer frame.

Leaf springs

This half term I am going to go in to John's school to use the hearth to heat up some clamps I am making for my leaf springs so that they can be formed without stressing the metal. Last night I was looking at the three springs that are ready and I am really pleased with the results. Separating them and dealing with the layers of rust which had built up between them has meant that they clamp back up nicely. Removing the rust has dealt with the apparent splaying. (the fourth spring is in parts, the bushes removed and now the leaves need cleaning and rivets need removing. This will take a day's effort, no more.)

Other priorities

I also need to arrange with Paul, my neighbour, to tidy up what will be my side of his garage, then tidy the bottom of Greta's garden and have a bloody great bonfire to burn up the stock of scrap wood and cuttings....ready for handing the garden back to her. If there is time, I'll also sink a gate post between Greta's and Paul's.

The sketch dates from the operation to get the van into Greta's; the reversal will apply at the start of November, though I anticipate doing it unassembled, especially if my brake springs don't turn up soon.

Wheels look great!

2007-10-19T12:51:00.000+01:00

Well, what do you think?

Look great, don't they!

Not bad for £20 each: shot blasted twice, 2 coats of primer and two coats of 900 two-pack.

To be fair, there was only so much that would have been achieved anyway with wheels as badly rusted and pitted as these were, so I am really pretty pleased with the result from:

P&P Blasting Services, Ipswich

These were done by professionals and in the right conditions, so its pretty impressive that I couldn't have done them more cheaply if I'd done them myself; and I would definitely not have got the result. That's impressive!. I'll be using Paul's and Phil's services again. Paul says they need seven days of curing time (from Tuesday, but I'll make it at least from today - and they are staying indoors for it!).

Cheers guys!

I can't stop bringing up my blog so that I can have a look at those wheels!

Just imagine them with new tyres and shiny new hubcaps!

Really dead chuffed.

Magpie's Progress (..........and mine)

2007-10-11T17:32:00.000+01:00

Have recently had regular contact with Magpie, who signs himself " Mr magpie, workaday vehicles. ( no water based paints here)" or " magpie, who is not making a museum standard vehicle. That's for the next owner !!!!" or " Mr magpie, brush and roller rule! "....

:)

and he usually says something like, only had a half hour on ROD today so didn't get much done...and then lists a load of work it would have taken me a week to do!

Damn, I wish I could get more done on mine. I have enough time, but I am going through another crisis of confidence and, to be quite candid, cleaning rust off leafsprings, leaf by leaf, is just plain boring. Bit of a lonely old business, restoring. Wish it was over. But there is still such a heck of a lot to do.

Incidentally, after doing what was possible bashing the rims of the wheels (very resistent to hammers, though not to pavements), I delivered the wheels to Phil for blasting, priming and painting on Monday. Collect them sometime end of next week.

A tricky problem solved - leafspring mount

2007-10-06T20:22:00.001+01:00

It had been impossible to remove the hanger bolt from the mount when removing the springs from the chassis, so I had been forced to grind off the rivets and remove the casting with the spring attached. It was soon pretty clear that I was going to need to use the hydraulic press to force the bolt out, but this was not an easy business because the casting had to be packed with pieces of scrap steel to stop it shattering under pressure if there was no movement from the bolt.

Fortunately the bolt eventually came out. What my picture of the press does not show, however, was a large board of 10mm ply which I stood behind when operating the press....because extension pieces flew out of it with a terrifying rifle report.

Above, some of the nuts, bolts and ratchet sockets used to force the axis bolt out....with evidence of having burst sideways to escape the 12 ton force. Just as well I hid behind a shield when operating the press!

Because I hadn't been able to shift the tube in the eye of the spring, I'd assumed it was an interference fit, but searching through a parts manual, it now seems that the tube was a metal sheath on the bush. The line inside the eye (Note) makes it clear that the tube is not in the eye. Part 3 is a sandwich with rubber in the middle. I shall now have to find out where replacements can be bought, though I believe that these days nylon is used more commonly.

B & M Car Body Centre

2007-10-06T13:20:00.000+01:00

I just had Brian from B& M Car Body Centre round to have a look at the project and to advise me on painting the cab, and he has left me feeling a lot more confident about doing it myself, funnily enough; and this is due to his generosity in recommending products and processes which will most likely do him out of my business.

He is being practical here. His problem is that if I go to him wanting two-pack he will have to get a licence to handle the stuff because of the new regulations requiring the use of water based paints, except for historical vehicles. The cost of licencing would be a significant factor in the pricing of the job - prohibitively so, he suggests, because jobs like mine at his workshop will be rare.

Brian told me that when he was an apprentice he routinely painted horse boxes with a roller, meaning that paint could be applied in a single coat, unthinned, and a satisfactory result could be achieved. Granted it wouldn't give anything like the result of spraying, but what he appreciates and what I have come to grasp is just how basic a commerial vehicle's paint-job of the era could be. Magpie's painting philosophy and the vans I saw at shows this year come to mind.

The trick to getting a really decent finish is in the priming stage; in spending the time getting the surface "flatted" so that the pits and grooves are brought up level with the rest of the material and a surface levelled off above this. I am looking forward to the feeling of satisfaction that I know I should get from this process. Brian says that Finnegans 1, a Hammerite product, will be good for this. He believes it has a red oxide content. I will check this and whether it will go on over POR-15. The POR people say anything will go on over their stuff, but I think I should ask Hammerite.

I will also test the products together. I showed Brian the radiator stand I made earlier this summer because it has virgin steel and welds on it, and of course welded metal is particularly susceptible to rusting. I am going to treat it with POR-15, in part to test it later with the Finnegans primer, but also because Brian (who says POR looks a lot like a Hammerite product he knows) suggested that I might POR-15 the whole scuttle, as he thinks it would (if tests prove it works) provide good protection on wider expanses of steel. I did think of this and had asked POR who didn't think it was normally the done thing, but then they hadn't seen anything like my van! As I have only used the product in small, localised areas, I want to see how it fares when spread over a wider surface (and how it works on virgin rather than rusted metal).

In the next few days I shall start the POR-15 process on the radiator stand and then I'll see if I can get a small pot of Finnegans and try it out.

Brian is a very useful chap to know. His outfit is based at Unit 3, Seven Acres, Waldringfield, Martlesham Heath, Suffolk, IP12 4PS. He can be phoned on 01473 811877 or his mobile 07773977349.

Thanks Brian!

Latest in the wheel saga

2007-09-26T17:36:00.000+01:00

Went to collect wheels a day later than planned and there was already some evidence of corrosion (black patches). Mea Culpa; should have got them to prime them after all. Phil explained the necessity of primer for protection, within half an hour of blasting. The situation was saved by the fact that some of the wheels still had unremoved crud on them, which had been overlooked and Phil said he'd re-do them.

Then we started talking about paint and got on to how he has spray facilities there. He showed me some work they are spraying now: benches, etc., and he'd previously showed me the finish he'd got priming wheels and the finished surface of a gantry. All pretty good stuff.

I explained that the reason I had wanted to do priming and painting myself was not money saving, but because they are going to need some hammering around the rims, where they are dented. So he suggested I take them away, do the hammering and, when happy, bring them back and he will blast them again, prime them and paint them for me for £20 a wheel. It isn't two pack (but it'll be £100 cheaper. £30/wheel to two-pack would have been possible if I'd first blasted them: that's £40/wheel x 5= 200, as against £100). They won't be concours, but I reckon he will get a pretty good result and save me some hassle, as long as he does a proper job of getting the rest of the crud off.

They will be semi-gloss black....ready for tyres. I reckon that is a result.

Right, I need to get on with rim bashing.

Wheels

2007-09-24T18:42:00.000+01:00

Delivered the wheels to P&P and asked them to just blast them. I'll prime and paint them myself. Warned off Hammerite and advised to use spray-on etch primer.

He showed me some wheels which they had finished. They looked excellent but of course I have no idea what they looked like before they were done.

The wheels will be ready tomorrow afternoon, same time. Fast turn-around.

Decided about wheels

2007-09-23T13:51:00.000+01:00

Right, been thinking about wheels and decided to paint them myself and save the £150-200 that a professional job would have cost me towards the tyres. As a friend said, I am not aiming for concours condition here. Also, if they do get a bit chipped when tyres go on, touching up will be no big deal. I might get P&P to not prime the brake side of the wheel, and I'll hammerite it instead, as that side gets lots of crud and wet thrown up from the road.

Shotblasted Wheels

2007-09-21T17:31:00.000+01:00

Blimey! No more buggering around with abrasives, dust, frustration....and not quite getting the results I want either! I just talked to the guy at P&P Services and they will blast each wheel for £10 and prime for £5....total for 5 wheels = £75. And they will turn them round in about three days. I'll take them up on Monday.

Then I need to decide whether to get Brian to two-pack them for £150-200 or spray them myself, a la Practical Classics. There's a lot to be said for the professional job, but right now I need to slow down on the money-spending, especially as I now need to get a new sender unit; and tank repair kit, which will set me back £45 plus postage.

Fuel tank next to exhaust

2007-09-21T09:51:00.000+01:00

Last night I started stripping the fuel tank I got from Magpie (because mine had horrible holes in it) and the paint and crud is coming off nicely. I got to thinking about where it is positioned on the van. Friends say I am overly safety conscious, but does nobody else think that positioning the opening of the exhaust right under the extension tube to the fuel tank filler tube was asking for trouble?

In practice, vans had extension tubes which cleared the van sides, so that rather than pouring exhaust under the chassis, it came out the nearside, slightly to the rear of the filler, but all the same, right near any fuel drips.

Valance

2007-09-20T17:18:00.000+01:00

I answered the door early this morning, bleary-eyed, to see an exciting package on the doorstep: my valance! I've been looking forward to this. I ordered it a few weeks ago from my metal guru, Iain Mckenzie and he has done a grand job of it, as you can see.

The valance at the top is the original, bent beyond sensible repair and hardly worth the effort (take it from someone who's tried) when you can have a beautiful replacement like mine for £45 - with curves in all the right places and made from virgin metal! It came with a top panel (£8) which is the part on which the horn is mounted.

Thanks Iain!

Wheels and Tyres

2007-09-20T16:30:00.000+01:00

Here is a very poor quality film (from my phone) of the old tyres being removed from the wheels at X-Spurt Tyres in Hervey Street, Ipswich. The guy said it was ok to put him on my blog because he is online in several different places, which boggles the mind. He was helpful on the subject of wheel painting. He says that with their technology, there is no reason why the rims should get chipped, as I feared, when the tyres are put on. His mate also said that they'd clean up the rims for free when they put tyres on, so I reckon I'll be going back

That said, I also went over to see Brian at B&M Car Body Centre to sound him out on the cost of 2-packing the wheels and he reckons if I can get them prepped he may be able to get the price down to thirty quid a wheel. For prepping, X-Spurt recommended a bead blaster and Brian mentioned a guy whose opeation is at Sheep Drift farm: P&P Blasting Services. I went along but they were not in. I did wonder if I'd be too small fish for him , as some of the plant standing in his yard was huge (what looked like a classic crane and a sewerage pipe....all cleaned up nicely).

I might not need X-Spurt to do the rims, but they removed tyres from all five wheels for a tenner.

So thanks, guys. I hope to be coming back to get tyres when the wheels are ready

I started cleaning the wheels up last week and without a shot blaster they take a heck of a long time and the result isn't fantastic. I read an article in Practical Classics about doing the wheels yourself with primer and spray paint, but I bet they didn't start out with wheels like these. If I get them blasted and if that costs a lot, I might possibly go for the DIY option on painting.

A visit to Magpie's

2007-09-15T01:15:00.001+01:00

On Tuesday, on a journey back from visiting my dad, I stopped in on Magpie to collect a fuel tank and some wheels....and to see his vans and compare notes.

Magpie and ROD 525

I was particularly pleased to see ROD 525, the tradesman's J Type truck, which Truman and I had hoped to buy together earlier this year. Seeing it brought home to me just how utilitarian some J Specials were; designed for the job but with no frills. It was inelegantly put together and roughly patched throughout its working life. This in turn makes Magpie's restoration philosophy fit so well. Some, he says, criticise the way he will hand-paint his cabs with brushes or rollers, and the way he will use pattern or even just compatible parts to get his vans mobile again...rather than being a purist.

Truman and I have talked about this before...and I have written about it. I like any classic vehicle to look authentic....to look as it did when it was working, rather than when it left the factory; and I especially dislike a vehicle which is claimed to be "concours" condition, or worse still, "better than when it was manufactured". So I have a lot of time for Magpie's attitude.

People may criticise the restorer who "bodges" (Magpie's word, not mine), uses non-original parts or paints his vans with a hand-roller, but what Magpie does is rescues rare vehicles from barns and rust-piles and gets them working and running again quickly, which has to be what it is all about. And if they look a little worse for wear, well, didn't they always? These were workaday vehicles, which is precisely why they are so rare today; nobody thought to preserve them....they were too ordinary.

Magpie was very generous (coming home from work to see me) providing me with parts, contacts and tips and even a set of photos which he took when his van was used in the Dr Who episode, "The Idiot Lantern". I had no idea the Tardis was a flat-pack, did you?

Let me know if you fancy a set of 50 behind-the-scenes pictures of the making of the episode featuring the van. I think Magpie is asking £10. He is also doing Code 3 models (based on Corgi J) of the van, which will be a rare limited run. (I'll forward any enquiries).

I took some photos, especially of ROD's roof. I think I shall be using that technique - wood frame. Other points of interest were the fact that ROD had a small running-board, so that the step area could be boxed in, and she had an abbreviated passenger seat, necessary when you have an off-set engine in the cab.

Looking at the photo below, It has just occurred to me that, as well as boxing in the step area, the last user moved the near-side seat over to the left of the cab so that it sat above the step (rather than to the right of it). This will have helped greatly with the problem of space for a passenger within a cab accommodating an engine. I don't think I'd want to lose the step, or have a running-board, but I wouldn't mind having an off-set seat, and that might be possible if I made it one which folded down from the space behind the door.

Thanks for the hospitality, Magpie!

Wheel Sizes and Tyres that fit them

2007-09-06T00:48:00.000+01:00

(left click on images to enlarge them)

I am hoping to visit Magpie next week to see his collection and collect a fuel tank I bought from him on ebay and a couple of wheels which he is all but donating to the project. Measuring the wheels that I have revealed a misunderstanding on my part about how tyres are sized...and when you think about it it is painfully, embarrassingly obvious, but in case anyone else is unsure, here's how Magpie explained it:

".....a common error. A 16" tyre won't be
fitted to a 16" rim; it would fall off. The wheel rim
is bigger as the tyre edge sits inside the rim of the
wheel. Tyres are measured by the diameter of their
hole, so a J Type RIM measured diagonally will be
larger than the tyre size that fits it."

DOH!

Outrigger Brackets

2007-09-02T22:19:00.001+01:00

I may have slightly over-engineered this, but as these brackets had rotted to the point where I had lost my outriggers altogether, I decided to produce new ones which will still be with us in another 50 years. Rather than using pressed steel, as was originally the case, I made it in three parts (from thicker material), welded together and to the outrigger. The weld is not pretty but it is very solid. Before welding, I drilled holes for bolting the backplate onto the chassis, and drilled the left side to allow me to spot weld it along the outrigger side, as you can see in the picture above.

The use of bolts will not make the outrigger bracket removeable but means that I won't have to weld to the chassis. I can't tell you why, but I feel I should avoid welds on the chassis itself, if at all possible. When the bolts (which also hold the reinforcement plates) go in finally, I'll secure them with a bit of weld so that they won't undo.

I shall do the other side tomorrow.

How to cook a twerp

2007-09-02T22:09:00.001+01:00

Here's a hot tip: if you are grinding metal and your hip is in the line of the sparks flying off, and you feel your hip getting rather hot, don't brazen it out thinking to yourself that you can take it because you are a "real man",

because you could be on fire!!.

Bloody Hell.....not just my overalls, but even my T-shirt was on fire, which means I was less than a second from becoming steak -or as one correspondent put it Car-B-Qued myself - as flames leapt at my hip! I instinctively whacked them out and straight off knew I'd had a very close shave.

Note to self: ....try not to stand in the line of fire. They aren't just harmful sparks.....they are tiny particles of very hot metal.

Progress this summer

2007-08-30T21:43:00.001+01:00

I have achieved quite a lot this summer (schools back next week), but not as much as I'd have liked; everything takes so much longer than you expect. August in the blog archive contains 20 articles, but to summarise, this month's achievements break into four sections: the sourcing of parts, the making of others, the restoring of the engine and negotiations with neighbours.

Parts

I have bought wheel cylinders, wheel bearings, a fuel tank, VHT paint, found two wheels (one of mine was wrong and I didn't have a spare) and hard-to-get domed cold rivets for the leaf-springs. Magpie has also provided info on windscreen rubber profiles and how to fit them, wheel sizing, etc (will do a piece on this); Truman has told me that I can get an exhaust made up fo £75 - and he will collect it for me! I have found someone to do a thoroughly good job of recoring my radiator, after I have modified the frames from one provided by Colin to replace the completely rusted away ones on the radiator Truman very kindly gave me earlier this year. I had hydraulic brake pipes made up (ready flared and with threaded fittings), using dimensions from the original parts manual.

I shall be making up a parts source list in a column on the right of the blog in due course. In the meantime, Truman's blog is a useful place to look for ideas.

Fabrication

I made up the radiator support, the driver's side panel, the radiator baffle, cleaned up the front leaf springs, made chassis reinforcing plates and outriggers, did some experiments with the doors using a template, made a trolley for the cab front and reorganised the workshop to work on the chassis - ready to reassemble the parts on it.

Engine

The highlight of the summer - Colin got the engine finished! Marvellous. I probably should have done it myself, for the complete experience, but I am on a tight schedule and anyway am doing lots of processes other J Type owners are never forced to tackle. This way I have had an expert on the job and have been spared the irritation and frustration of having to research every stage and try to find parts I don't know the names of. And I haven't needed to work out how much wear on old parts I can allow, etc. No, Colin was by far the very best solution.

Negotiations

I'm glad to say that I have got convenient storage and workshop space for the van once my next door neighbour gets her garden back at the start of November, and she has even agreed (in return for me replacing her fence) for me to have a gate through to her neighbour's garage, which is where my van will be. At last I won't be land-locked! I have until then to get both sets of leafsprings sorted out, the axles back on the chassis, the brakes reassembled, the steering reassembled...and the wheels on...so that I can steer-roll the lot through the gardens in two months' time. It all begins to feel possible now.

It WILL be done for the 60th Anniversary of the J Type in June '08! Brilliant! That means that next summer I can do something else.....for a change!

Replacing the outriggers

2007-08-30T21:05:00.000+01:00

The outriggers on the 101 had all but rusted away, so I removed what was left of the stubs and filleting-brackets, removed side rivets and generally cleaned up the area. I then cut along the length of a rather heavy duty, welded seam,square section channel to make a length of [ shape (squared U) shape channel for the outriggers. This was wider than the original, so I had to insert a packing piece, but rather than this being a compromise, it actually adds strength (being a splint) and made it easier to clamp the material square.

After a bit of experimenting, the easiest way to line things up and level it was to turn the chassis over, with a friend's help, and clamp a length of shelf-slotting upright (to provide a level) across the main rails, and then clamp the outriggers to this to do the welding.

The outriggers are actually pretty solid - I find I can lift the chassis off its trolley with them - but I don't want to try standing on them until I have fitted the filleting brackets, which I am going to make tomorrow. Below is what's left of the old one.

Typically, I am going to slightly over-engineer these brackets because they support the step and the cab...and because my sheet steel is slightly too thin and otherwise I just have 4 mil plate, which I got at a scrappy and might as well use. I am not going to try to bend it, but will make it in 4 parts welded together. To give additional support and to reinforce the repair by drawing the old and new parts of outrigger together (in addition to the weld), I'm providing the bracket with the part drawn in orange, which will be drilled on the side opposite the suspension casting's domed rivets. (a belt and braces solution). This is the part of my van which suffered most from rust, so I am determined that the repair will be REALLY solid.

Chassis reinforcing plates

2007-08-25T21:43:00.000+01:00

I turned the chassis over and removed the severely rusted remains of outriggers and their supports to discover that the chassis beneath had suffered quite badly from corrosion, so I bought some 4mm plate from a convenient local scrap merchant (along with some angle iron to repair the outriggers) and cut and fitted it as snugly-fitting reinforcing plate inside the chassis rails.

On the advice of a friend, I won't be welding them in place, but will be bolting them with high tensile bolts through existing holes (the bolts visible here are only temporary). I'll treat them against rust, then fix them in place when I bolt on those things for which the holes were designed. I chain-drilled holes to accomodate the domes of those rivets which I am not removing. But I have removed the rivets which held the outrigger supports and will bolt the replacements in place.

Fantastic - 1st Start-up (for me, anyway)

2007-08-23T19:44:00.000+01:00

http://s54.photobucket.com/albums/g102/rivet_101/engine/?action=view&current=engine.flv

Fresh from my phone.....completely unedited, jumpy, poorly defined etc.....but none of that matters because this is it - we get to see my engine actually running again.

When Colin took it away it was a great big, seized, greasy lump of rust.

She Goes!

2007-08-23T12:42:00.001+01:00

Colin tells me the engine is going! I am off to see it tonight. Excellent.

I'll see if I can't film the start-up.

Mr Magpie and Billie Piper

2007-08-23T12:13:00.000+01:00

I have been exchanging emails the last few days with "Mr Magpie", owner of the van featured in the Dr Who episode where an alien takes the form of the Watch with Mother presenter (Maureen Lipman) and sucks people's life-force out of them through their TV Sets, which have been supplied to them by Mr Magpie.

I first met Magpie at Gaydon a few years ago when he was then displaying 3891 EV (the Austin 101 truck in my "Correct 101 Face" section on the right). It was he who bought the blue builder's truck that Truman and I had hoped to buy together, and is making great progress with its repainting; rather unusually, using housepaint.

We made contact again when I bought a fuel tank from him on ebay for about a quid, which I am due to collect shortly, along with a pair of 16" wheels, which he has very kindly supplied for a song....thereby restoring my faith in the kindness of J type enthusiasts (after the Brian Squirrell fiasco).

Getting back to Dr Who, Magpie tells me he met Billie Piper, who admired his van. Lucky beggar. He ought to get one of those blue and white plaques you see outside notable buildings, testifying to the fact. Sigh, I'd have been admiring Billie.

.

An Austin 101 in 00 model railway scale

2007-08-22T13:13:00.000+01:00

I was having an idle search on ebay on Sunday and spotted three J Types in 00 scale (1:76)! Fantastic!

They are Classix, by Pocketbond. Diecast with nicely proportioned wheels (unlike the Corgi ones, by the way), there is a green fruit and veg van, a British Railways one (of course!) and the 101 is a Home Dairies Ltd van with a Milk logo on the side.

I ordered all three from Les (known on ebay as toy444). But what really delighted me about the 101, when it arrived, is that it isn't just a J Type van which has been painted to look the part, but actually has the correct front grille.

Superb!

Logistics, Logistics, Logistics (or, why everything takes SO long)

2007-08-19T21:42:00.000+01:00

As I explained earlier, I do not have a conventional garage. For one thing it is landlocked; I don't have road access. For another, I am doing a complete restoration (every single bit dismantled) in a workshop no longer than chassis itself. So the whole project has been a logistical nightmare.

Last night I made a new trolley to manoeuvre the cab scuttle around, and today my good friend, John, came round and helped me get the scuttle on to it. Then we moved everything out of the rear workshop into the front and I then created space for the scuttle by moving a shelf, and we put the chassis onto my main trolley, which means that I'll be able to move it about in my tight space.

Here's a rather fuzzy picture of the shelving, showing the way the scuttle has been parked on its very nimble trolley, under the top shelf.

Next, I need to repair the outriggers, then start work on suspension, hydraulics, etc. The project will start stepping up apace now. I will move the project to the neighbour's once I have a rolling chassis....And I'll complete it there.

Other good news is that my next door neighbour today agreed my timetable for taking the van out through her garden and into her neighbour's garage...and has agreed to let me put a gate from her garden into his, to give me easy access to the garage (without having to disturb him or his family).

Even if it isn't finished in time, I will definitely be taking my project to the J Type 60th anniversary in 2008, as I will be able to get it onto the road from the garage, even if only onto a trailer.

Rusty bolts

2007-08-17T19:53:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I removed the rear leaf springs. They'd obviously been firmly in place for the last fifty years and I was beginning to think I'd have to grind the bolts off when I suddenly remembered that I'd been given a tank of Rost Off by a friendly mechanic, so splashed some on and went for a cuppa, to give it time to work.

Quite a bit of walloping with a hammer was still needed to crack the rust, but all nuts very soon released and, once under way, the spanner could be yanked around without doing me an injury.

No nuts were damaged and the threads aren't that bad.
Good stuff! I wish I'd known about it when I started dismantling the van.

Engine Guru

2007-08-15T23:14:00.000+01:00

I have just got back from Little Blakenham, where I went to see Colin Smith, my engine guru, who is doing a marvellous rebuild of my engine. It is currently on his mobile test-bed, ready to be fired up next week, after he has finished doing the distributor. I was originally put in touch with Colin by the Cambridge-Oxford Owners Club after I met them at Ally Pally (see second half of this entry) early last year and enquired about B series engines, as their marque has them too.

Colin is enormously experienced with B series engines, though his cars generally have the larger 16 and 1800cc versions. His workshop is chocka-block with tools and spares, your old proverbial Aladdin's cave. I must post a picture sometime because words really cannot convey just how much good stuff he has. I'll also post some pictures of his cars, which look splendid.

It hasn't been easy. The original cylinder head was cracked and the replacement Colin found was also cracked. I then hoped that the engine Truman gave me would provide the head, but Colin told me that he had finally found an uncracked one and put it on.

Seeing how far the engine has come was the boost I've needed recently. This all seems much more possible now.

a silly distraction

2007-08-15T15:55:00.000+01:00

Last night, having earlier discovered that there was a gap between the door and the rear of the cab...and decided that keeping the two sections on the jig was pointless, as the measurements did not need to be preserved, I removed the back and stored it. This has given me more room to move...but it meant that I am more likely to trip over the outriggers of my wheelie-jig....so I spent half an hour highlighting them with red oxide and yellow housepaint. I was only going to do the outriggers, but got carried away.

perhaps the hardest part of restoring

2007-08-15T15:27:00.000+01:00

Perhaps the most difficult thing about restoring a J Type is that the club does not have a technical branch or a spares list. This means that any restorer is forced to do a hell of a lot of research to source parts...and it is a very long winded process. Thank goodness for the internet!

The problem is not helped by the fact that none of the parts numbers are now relevant...or recognised by anyone. So reassembling anything on the van involves tracking down parts, one at a time, from disparate suppliers...and then waiting and waiting for them to arrive (which, this week, has involved a lot of stress).

I took my shopping list to the autojumble with its mythical 35 stalls (yeah, right!) and came away with nothing, except that I bumped into Martin who gave me the hot tip that the oil seals I was looking for could be bought in Ipswich from East Anglia Bearings, so that solved one problem at least.

Yesterday I went with a mate, John (himself a knowledgeable technology bod), to Suffolk Fasteners and the chap there was absolutely incredible; we were both very impressed. He can just look at any nut or bolt and before he has even reached for gauge, tell you with some certainty what size it is, what its pitch is, etc. He took the mick a bit about odd-bod amateurs like myself who only want one or two bolts at a time, when most of his clients want large orders, but he was patient and attentive, all the same. He has photos around the shop of various amateur projects: racing cars, tractors, vintage cars etc....and reminded me as I left to bring in one of my project.

I most heartily recommend this company, especially the branch we visited in Ipswich. He supplied me with some cold rivets for putting my leafsprings back together.....and helped me identify several tricky threads. It was from them that I bought the allen bolts for fixing the panels in place in the cab a few weeks ago. I shall definitely be going back.

Today I leapt out of bed, possibly straining my back again, to receive a parcel from MG Services, Heathrow, containing 4 wheel cylinders for the front axle, which I purchased on ebay for about £100. They look the business.....John will be irked; he and I spent a lot of time getting the pistons out of the old ones in the belief that we had no alternative but to restore them. It is such a relief having new parts. You can get pretty sick of endlessly dealing with ropey, rusty, seized and worn old parts, thinking you have no alternative.

I am planning on doing a list of suppliers on the right, rather as Truman has done on his blog.

Autojumble shopping list

2007-08-11T18:38:00.000+01:00

Still feeling a bit over-awed by the months ahead; such a lot to do, but have been down in the workshop this afternoon and bagging up some parts to take with me to an autojumble tomorrow. It is something that has struck me whenever I have gone to a show, that I should have come with a shopping list. I also printed off some pages from the manual, so as to identify parts.

I washed some parts in paraffin and having studied the drawings, now feel more confident with the front axle assembly, at least. Among other parts, I need some oil seals...the ones with the tiny curtain-wire style of spring in them.

I also fitted my nearside mirror to my Ford Prefect today.

Got to feel like every day I am making at least SOME progress.

hassle and discouragement

2007-08-11T12:35:00.000+01:00

Feeling a bit discouraged. Had a few recent hold-ups. The radiator can't be re-cored until next week because I need to get some side frames by cannibalising a mate's rad, the wheel cylinders for my front axle have been delayed by a problem with Paypal and the cab is out of alignment. The other problems will be fine but the last one is going to be trickier.

I had hoped to reconstruct the cab entirely on my wheelie-jig, but it is clear that I will have to complete the arches, back and roof on the chassis. I discovered this when I made up a wooden door template to try to work out how much adjustment would have to be done to the door height to line the door lights (windows) up with the quarterlights. I cut the wood with slack at the top for making markings (and incidentally, I adjusted the width so that it does not include the overlaps...so that it is the actual width of the doorway).

When I offered it up, there was a considerable gap from front to back. I used a plumb bob and spirit level to right the uprights, but there was still a significant gap. I think I will have caused this in the course of changing jigs etc.

So, anyway, I am now going to concentrate on running parts and leave the cab adjustment for when the scuttle is mounted back on the chassis, and once the engine is back in the van.

To give me room to move in the workshop, I think I will mount the scuttle on the chassis as soon as the chassis is ready to roll, but leave the arches and rear of cab until the whole thing is in its new garage home two doors down the road.

God almighty, it's an involved business...especially when you have very little room to move. Next time I'll stick to motorbikes!

I don't know if I shall be finished in time for the 2008, 60th anniversary, but at least then I shall be able to get it out of my neighbour's garage and onto a trailer and tow the project there. Right now it is land-locked.

wow - that's fast! Wheel Bearings

2007-08-08T12:32:00.000+01:00

My bearings arrived today. They said allow two days but I got next day delivery! They look the business. They arrive with rubber seals and I am not sure whether to leave these on. Will keep you posted, but in the meantime I can highly recommend Arc Euro (see their link below).

sourcing parts

2007-08-07T21:21:00.000+01:00

I learnt a valuable lesson today, which is that if you source parts from a classic car parts supplier you will pay top dollar for something which may be available elsewhere as something more mundane.

I initially contacted a well known classic car part supplier and was quoted a wopping £25 per ball race to go in my front wheels....that's £100 worth! He said he didn't actually have an kits for J Types, but that the bearings are common to other vehicles, and suggested one. He suggested I checked the numbers on the originals and get back to him.

I did check the numbers and I Googled them and found a source, Arc Euro Trade Ltd....rang them to check the details...and ordered all four races (inner and outer x2) for £25, including postage! They normally do stuff for model engineering, which put me off, but the part numbers are right and the dimensions seem to work...so we will see.

That is a useful saving because I then talked to a radiator recoring company and the price for that is about £80 more than I anticipated. I shall be blogging the re-coring process; they say I can watch it and photograph it!

The bearings should be here in the next two days and I shall then finish the front axle.

Leaf Springs

2007-08-07T01:47:00.000+01:00

I try to make at least some progress on the 101 every day, even if it doesn't seem a hell of a lot. I started out by putting a line of weld around the patch on the inner R/H panel and then I finished cleaning up the individual leaves of my two front leaf springs. As they are £300 a pair for replacements I thought I'd see what I could do to just clean these up. I have no idea if they will be springy enough.

I had to remove the cold rivets by first grinding off the dome heads then removing the studs using the 12 ton press, which made a hell of an alarming noise each time when it gave - so that I had to keep reassuring myself that the leaf had not broken.

I next need to find out where to get cold rivets and the correct procedure for making shackles like these, presumably by applying heat to the metal before bending it. I also wonder about the tube around the bolts. Anyone know?

Plate - top - blanking radiator (Part # AMK5053)

2007-08-03T22:30:00.000+01:00

After making adjustments to the radiator frame I made this upper panel. As I am not quite sure of the purpose of the slots, I have marked but haven't cut them. This is because the shrinkage caused by my bending may have slightly moved them and I think it might be best to cut them when fitting the panel to the van later.

This reminds me of the development of the Bensen autogyro. Bensen acquired the plans for the Hafner rotochute, a one man aerial assault rotor glider designed by the man who was the subject of my dissertation for my degree, Raoul Hafner, later the designer of Britain's first helicopter, the Bristol Sycamore. Hafner designed the rotochute during the war with a hook affair under its main chassis longeron. Unsure what this was for Bensen retained it in his design, which he marketed as a civilian gyro-glider. It was later revealed that the redundant mechanism had been intended as a means of carrying a Bren gun under the aircraft.

I don't think my panel slots are redundant, but until I am sure what they are for I won't cut them.

Tomorrow I shall make the Panel- interior - front R/H, using the original as a pattern, then go back to working on my front leaf springs, which are dismantled and half de-rusted, but which need finishing before I work out how to make the shackles and get hold of cold rivets.

bending - an exercise in problem solving

2007-08-02T22:25:00.000+01:00

Today I cut out the net, bent it into shape and welded it up. The whole exercise was a problem solving one because all sorts of packing and forming was needed to create the right bends. It isn't finished just yet, as some finishing grinding is needed in some places and a tiny bit of welding is needed, but on the whole it came out very well.

When I popped up to the house for a break I checked the Tinworm mailbox and was pleased to hear from a man in Australia.... in Victoria, which is where my sister lives. He complimented Truman and me on the trouble we are going to to do proper restorations of our J Types. He is restoring one over there. Thanks mate. Keep in touch.

When I have finished the radiator frame tomorrow, I think I should do the inner panel R/H and then the upper radiator panel. Really chuffed with progress.

radiator frame

2007-08-02T00:55:00.000+01:00

This afternoon (1st August) I clipped up a scan/print-out from my Parts Manual (15 on Plate CA) showing the radiator framework and studied the real thing, made measurements and marked out the net on some cold rolled 1.2mm sheet steel, cut out the basic shape with an angle grinder and fine cut some of it with my roller guillotine. I didn't use engineer's blue this time, but permanent marker, even though there will be a degree of error as the nib is quite large; but then again, much slack will be taken up by bending. I'll cut, bend and weld it up tomorrow.

Above you can see the radiator bay of the Goat Lady's van, which ironically, considering it had been abandoned in a field for 40 years or so, is in better condition than mine was when I got it; in fact my van had lost its radiator altogether. I am pointing to panel 20 [in drawing, top. Click on image to increase size] and most of the lower panel has gone, though you can see some of it to the right of the tap. I rescued the panel I am pointing to. I was excited because my van had lost this. It will be a pattern for a replacement to be made in the next few days.

Panel- interior - front top L/H part # ANK2604

2007-08-01T17:43:00.001+01:00

Today I made a replacement inner panel, the one the Parts Manual calls the Panel - interior - front L/H, from virgin heavy gauge cold rolled steel, which is the first bit of unrecycled steel I have used in years, now. I made it using the old, rusted panel as a pattern.

A mate (and his trailer) and I went to a stockholder a few days ago and I bought two sheets of 1.2mm (2x1m). I think I ought to have got a slightly lighter gauge (as the original material was thinner) but I am delighted with the strength of the panel I made today so I think the cab can only benefit by my decision.

I am so inspired by the result that it would seem churlish and a compromise to the finish not to replace the inner right hand panel as well. That is the job for tomorrow.

Incidentally, I was chuffed to bits to be told by Iain Mckenzie that I had done a good repair along the inside beneath the windscreen. He also tells me that he has my valence on his desk and will be sending it. Anyone who has not seen his work, which incidentally is excellent value for money, should take a look.

POR-15

2007-07-23T00:50:00.000+01:00

Tonight - in the middle of the night - (why, oh why, especially before a big day, am I up in the middle of the night!) I am applying POR-15, a several-stage process, which starts with Marine Clean (degreasing), drying, Metal Ready (keeping wet for 30 mins) rinse with water, allow to dry, as dry as a bone.

Metal ready is a rust remover that leaves a zinc phosphate coating on base metal, the perfect pre-primer for POR-15.

When the surface was bone dry (achieved with a halogen lamp), I applied a coat of silver POR-15, recommended because it has tiny metal filler particles which fill pitting better than the black or clear versions....and worked liberal amounts into the back of the drip rail, where rust has created a rusted gulley which will need filling with POR-patch in 24hrs.

POR-Patch is a "pudding" version of the same substance and is used as a filler. I shall work a radius of it right along the front of the cab.

When it has had time to dry (2-6 hrs) to the touch, with slight finger drag, I'll give it its second coat and then leave it overnight....and for the next 24 hrs, after which I shall apply the pudding.....which is the bit I have put lots of faith in. It is meant to be the ultimate filler: hardens like steel but flexible, so won't chip or crack, will be waterproof and non-porous, will be moisture barrier, will be impervious to all fuels.

It says in the blurb that in lab tests it was applied to a metal box used as a raw sewage filter and put into action within hours of being treeated. The welds were checked after 6 months and no visible rusting had occurred. Mind you, they don't say what had occurred on the non-weld areas of the box, LOL.

If it is as strong as they say, as I hope, it will strengthen the compromised front at the bottom of the sub-windscreen channel, though I have filleted it with welds inside the channel anway.

The big day tomorrow, by the way, is the collection from Truman's store in London, of a Gold Seal B series engine with my mate with his trailer. That said, I talked to my B series mechanic today and he told me that he'd found a cylinder head and fitted it for me, so the engine will be a fall-back position.

4 a.m. before eyes closed!

new scuttle support rig

2007-07-22T20:20:00.000+01:00

http://s54.photobucket.com/albums/g102/rivet_101/?action=view&current=2e40d9d3.flv

This is a poor quality film taken on my phone (under a halogen lamp used for drying some POR15 Metal-ready) showing a rig I built this afternoon to support the cab scuttle while I work on the wheel arches. I need to bolt the wings up so as to be able to reference the back half of each wheel arch.....and weld the parts (made by Iain Mackenzie) in place.

a major job finished

2007-07-20T13:25:00.001+01:00

It may not be apparent from what follows just how important this job is...and just how difficult it has been, or how much problem solving has been involved. You might like to follow some of the links to see what I mean. The job will need cleaning up, but it is essentially finished - it works - and I am ready to move on.

I am absolutely chuffed that this bit is finished.

The welding inside the channel, providing fillet reinforcement to the ropey front, had been completed and the right hand panel completed, so the channel was ready for its interior surface with its captive nuts. - You will recall that the originals had been rusted to buggery. The circular holes will accommodate the captive nuts.

I had made this dash-panel up in two parts, welded together in the middle. You can see from the shadow that it is bowed (like a kid's drawing of a bird in the distance); and it is made of two subtle arcs. I drilled the fixing holes by using the original panels as patterns; same for the vertical slots, which had to be chain drilled and chiseled out.

The steel came from the roof of a 1958 Ford Popular, incidentally, which was suitable because it is good, solid 18 gauge stuff, which was coated in thick rust-proofing etc. It needed a fair amount of preparation to get it down to a weldable, workable surface. I have used a lot of this reclaimed steel for patching...and it feels rather special it coming from a car of the same era.

Then I bolted the panels (the Right one can be saved; the left will be a pattern for a replacement) to the dash-panel using specially purchased 6mm button domed hex bolts, which are tightened with an Allen key.

Above you can see the dash panel before I welded the nuts "captive". Captive nuts (which will be inaccessible inside the solid channel) mean that it will be possible to bolt-on and unbolt panels from inside the cab (without holding the nut).

Incidentally, the painted labels date from when I was dismantling the van. I also photographed, bagged-up and labelled smaller bits. Photo reference is essential for putting stuff back together again a year or more after dismantling!

Above, the panels were then bolted to runners on the cab (separate from the workpiece, so as to ensure correct alignment) and the top edge was cramped to the channel and tack welded, care being taken to tack the dash-panel, but not the cab panels, which were then removed.

This is what we call pigeon-shit! It is weld done in blobs (after having tacked it every inch or so - kind of dot to dot welding), rather than one steady, professional stream. Not pretty, but once cleaned up it does the job.

And here you can see the panels bolted to the cab for the first time - without the assistance of cramps.

Next I think I shall tackle the POR-15 treatment, especially the radiusing of paste along the front of the windscreen surround.

I also need to go to a steel stockholder and get some steel to make up a new left hand cab panel - as the Ford Popular stuff is all used up! Incidentally, if you want to know what happened to the rest of the Ford, have a look.

here's a hot tip

2007-06-23T23:17:00.000+01:00

Do not use a bench grinder without gloves!

I thought to myself, as I placed a small bit of metal up against a wheel, "what kind of gumbie does this?" and then I found out! The piece went flying and dragged my finger and thumb up against the wheel taking a good millimetre off each! Jeeeezus!

Blood everywhere....but quickly abated. Damn sore now though.

Lesson learnt. A colleague who teaches technology told me that a friend of his was doing a safety demo in front of a class of kids, showing how not to do it and in the process chopped the top of his thumb off! So, anyone can do it. Trouble is, you can get complacent.

But, as I say, lesson learnt.

(Annoyingly, that was my only usable welding tip that went flying. Took workshop apart looking for it, but no joy. Next time a tip gets blobbed up, I'll hand file it clean.)

Cutting the top rails and door runners

2007-06-23T12:29:00.000+01:00

For a slideshow of what I did yesterday: http://s54.photobucket.com/albums/g102/rivet_101/rigs%20for%20cab/?action=view&current=0c6738f4.pbw

I rigged up supports for the front and back of the cab so that I could remove the door runners and longitudinal rails supporting the cab roof. See this short film with sound on. http://s54.photobucket.com/albums/g102/rivet_101/rigs%20for%20cab/?action=view&current=MOV00003.flv

Dash structural repair

2007-05-15T22:05:00.000+01:00

I came home from school at lunchtime today, after a 3.5 teaching Reception, got changed into roughs, had a quick lunch and got straight down to the workshop. Talk about the work-life balance!

I cleaned up the replacement panel for the right side of the dash and marked and cut the slot, drilled the neighbouring hole, then file-fit it ready for welding.

I made and welded an insert piece to the right hand inside of the part, then slotted this inside the right of the gap to provide leverage and reinforce the fit. It worked well. I welded the lot in and ground it flush.

The radius, incidentally, is correct and was achieved using my shrinker and stretcher. The part looked like an oblong but there is a subtle arc.

It really is so much easier welding fresh metal. The weld for the insert hissed sweetly; it sputtered more when joining the replacement part to the old metal. I say new metal, but of course it is actually taken from the roof of a scrapped Ford Prefect with layers of paint and rustproofing removed. It is nice, thick clean stuff....from when cars were built to last.

Welding the "A" pillar replacement

2007-05-14T01:49:00.000+01:00

The corner piece/section of "A" pillar was taken from the remains of the Goat Lady's van which, ironically, was in better condition, in places, than mine.

I marked and cut my windscreen surround, having braced it (as I explained earlier) and filed it to fit in several different places, which was very tricky indeed. What my picture below does not show is that, in order to give structural support and to provide a little bit of a heat sink behind the butt joint, I inserted a couple of small pieces cut from the same donor piece, welding one into the lower part of the screen surround and the other into the bottom of the piece to be welded in.

(above) shows the front of the cab; (below) shows the same piece from within the cab. Fitting was tricky with the heat sink parts added.

Positioned, then tacked in place before being welded properly.

Red oxide paint to protect bare metal from rust. This can be rubbed back if needs be later. The front has needed a fair amount of finishing and will need a little more to get surfaces completely flush, but so far so good. There are pin-prick holes on the red side which will need dealing with, and some POR15 paste will take care of imperfections on the front surface.

Not a bad day's work!

A-pillar replacement - preparation

2007-05-11T00:49:00.000+01:00

(Above) I have welded in (but not dressed) the surface of this corner bracket (taken from the Goat Lady's van). It isn't perfect but it is a heck of a lot better than it was. It was tricky because it needed 3-d adjustments and had to be right on 4 mating surfaces. Considering how awkward this was, I don't think I've done badly.

(above) I braced the windscreen so that the gap did not widen and the frame sag, when cut. Then I carefully cut away the rusted section of the A-pillar. Then (below) I inserted the replacement section. What you have to imagine, though, is that the replacement part includes the upper left internal corner, mirroring the right hand one you can see at the top of the page. Filing it so that it fit in 4 places was tricky and accounts for the discrepancies at the front.

I will need to clean the rusted surfaces at the front before I can weld the part in place. I may put a small over-lapping insert piece in to brace it....but fitting the part once the insert is fixed in it will be difficult.

I am quite pleased with how this is going because when this is done, all of my structural rust problems around the scuttle will have been solved.

Roof rack ransom

2007-05-01T16:36:00.000+01:00

Just got off the phone to Brian Squirrell in Pulham St Mary, Suffolk (roof rack man) who made a whole palaver of this not being the roofrack on ebay, when it so blinking obviously was (and interesting because I didn't mention ebay this time!) and then said that if we want it back we have to pay him his expenses.

What expenses?
The cost of taking my roof-rack from where I had it (before I gave it to him for his project) to his place + the money he paid the landowner for it! I owned it.....he didn't need to pay the landowner a penny, but presumably did so to assert ownership, even though it actually belonged to me then.

This really irritated me, to say the least, and I said something like, "Look here, you want me to pay you for a roof rack I gave you completely free and which we gave you as a fellow J type restorer? !"

Then he said "actually, I'd rather cut it up".....and he hung up on me.

What a completely unprincipled bastard.

Well, some would say it serves me right for writing all that naive nonsense about restoring bringing the best out in people and how we are like a co-operative and it is not a money grubbing business. I suppose I can say goodbye to those springs of mine in his garage too; I expect they will be added to his ebay list.

Make a note of the guy's name. He's not the sort of character you want to do business with.

There's a moral, which is to make clear to someone you give something to, that it is for their project and must not be sold for profit; that if they decide not to use it, it must be returned to the giver....and put this in writing. If they can't agree to that, then they must pay the going rate for it.

I feel really hurt by Brian's attitude because I feel we were very generous and he has completely slapped us in the face.

Horace the Morris

2007-04-30T16:43:00.000+01:00

http://www.ledbury.plus.com/vans.htm

to see Horace the Morris

Just found this while doing an idle Google search

Profiting from another's generosity

2007-04-28T09:29:00.000+01:00

Last night Truman and I exchanged a flurry of disappointed emails after I discovered that a part we had given to a "friend" to use on his van just a couple of weeks ago was on eBay at a starting price of £50.

It is the roof-rack of a GPO van, the one we rescued from the Goat Lady's van. Here's me with it before Truman took it off the van.
and here it is in its ebay picture.

First I called the couple whose land it had been on and asked if the collection of the part had gone ok. The lady of the house answered and was lovely. She had been charmed by the "friend", such a nice man and his son, she said, and I felt then how wrong it was that my "friend" has abused their trust as well as mine, because this old couple gave me free rein with the van and Truman and I had made a point of not letting money change hands on any of its parts.

Then I called the "friend" and gave him several opportunities to open up. I asked how the collection had gone, asked about the restoration and then he did say that he had reservations about putting fixing holes in his van's roof but that he hadn't had time to do anything on the van because he'd been concentrating on another project. I said I quite understood and that if he didn't want the part after all, we'd want it back and he said yes....but still he said nothing about the sale.

So I said that, funnily enough, he'd been brought to mind because I'd just seen an ebay auction for a rack just like this one, but even then he did not own up. At this stage I didn't want to challenge him because I wanted Truman's opinion about whether this was the same rack...and since "friend" had not owned up, challenging him would be calling him a liar and could be very unpleasant. There was also the matter of some parts Truman gave me, which "friend" had brought up from London for me on his last visit to Truman...and I wanted these back before the fit hits the shan. So I have arranged to go next week to get those.

Then, after agreeing wording with Truman, I wrote to the seller suggesting that he might be acting for "friend" and urging him, if this was the case, to stop the sale while the issue of disputed ownership was clarified, as the "friend" had promised we would have the part back if it wasn't used.

This is all very upsetting. It isn't the money, it's the principle. Parts for classics are often rare and this particular item is very rare indeed. We gave it in good faith and for no money because it was to be used by a member of our fraternity...that small breed of J type restorers, because it was the right thing to do. He needed it and we had it.

Selling it, especially within days of acquiring it is a gross abuse of our good faith. And it has only just occurred to me that maybe we were being duped from day one; I do hope not. I do hope he just didn't need it after all and didn't think to give it back.

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