Bat-Cave Manoeuvres

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.

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Leafsprings

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

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

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.

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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

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

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

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?