Tinworm is tinworking again - after TWO YEARS!!!

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

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

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

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

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.



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Quid pro quo for Uxor

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)

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Progress?

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.