Side lights

I just got my side lights - Lucas 489s (52138) on ebay. These are remanufactured parts....with new rubber and bulb holders, rechromed bezels and original glass fronts.

more shocking news

Thanks to Mike in Redditch's advice, I just found a pair of KYB443020 shock absorbers for £45 new (incl postage)...and bought them. Am feeling rich only because my tyres cost half of what I budgeted for, so can afford to treat myself today.

Great start

Martin has done it again....found a new starter motor on ebay! I just bought it

Shocking tyre news :)

Mike (Redditch, UK) very kindly pointed me to a posting on his own restoration blog, where he has a solution for the rear shock absorber: they come from a Mk 1 Ford Escort.

And Simon at Longstone Tyres, once he understood that I wanted high wall tyres to compensate for the aesthetic loss due to having 15" rather than 16" wheels, suggested using  670x15 Camac 6 Plys, which, as it happens, are half the price of the Avons, and have a more commercial vehicle look about them. The Camac's diameter is 37mm greater. What's more, he is happy for me to put them on the vehicle and return and exchange them if they are not right!

What really impresses me about Simon's advice is that he wanted me to have the best tyre for my situation, regardless of the price. That is impressive! Going to ring back and order the tyres now.

Progress

Martin

Martin came round for a couple of hours today and made light work of spot welding my quarterlight repair piece. His welder is much better than mine, and he has very kindly lent it to me for the summer.

He has also taken away, cleaned up and painted my engine mounts and I bought front and rear mounting bushes from Earlpart Ltd on eBay, so once the shocks and tyres are sorted, we will be able to refit the engine and gearbox.

 

Me, with rather less hair, as evidence of how long this project has taken.

 

I am quite chuffed about a little bit of genius of my own, here. The made to measure J Type pipe was too short to pass over the chassis member, as it is meant to, because I have used non-original master cylinders (these are made for Morris Minors) which are cast slighly differently. I made it fit by passing the pipe up inside the chassis

see what I mean?

just received this from Martin. What did I tell you...he is great at research!

Hi Peter,

I feel like im getting somewhere

I found out the open/close length, for a j type shock, and its 15” open and 10” closed.

This into metric is 254mm closed, and 381mm open.

Looking through the internet, I found that beetles, and early camper vans have shocks which are Very close to this size.

Have a couple of links which I found.

This one should translate, it did for me.

http://www.paruzzi.com/webstore/?full=1&zoeknl=1&zoektrefwoord=1301

http://www.vwheritage.com/vw_spares_Front-Shock-T2-Genuine-short-385mm-250mm_act_shop.product_pID_209686_lang_EN_country_GB.htm?crumbStartPage=2&crumbStartRow=14

http://www.vwheritage.com/vw_spares_KYB-GR2-shock-front-rear-low-each_act_shop.product_pID_100671_lang_EN_country_GB.htm

a couple of options,

what do you think?

Kick-start

Roly (good to be in touch with him again) has asked me to update the blog, so here we go:

Martin, early twenties, foreman of a manufacturing plant and partner of a collegue, has read lots of this blog and become very enthusiastic about the project, and he has volunteered to come over after work and help really move it along. As I said, a good kick is what it needed.

One thing he is good at is online research. I always thought I was good at it too, but he has a real knack for it. For example, we have just ordered front and rear engine mounts, which are not listed for the J type specifically, but for other Austin/Morris motors, incl the J4. The front mounts arrived this morning and look right. I have also bought a set of track rod ends and Martin knows someone who will straighten out the track-rod, which has a kink in it.

We are looking for shock absorbers now. Roly says that I am looking for:
 

Part numbers for front shockers are Armstrong 62-0010, woodhead 03107, 03144, 03146, 08399 Girling 3991.Rear, Armstrong 62-0021, Woodhead 09274, Monroe 7014, Gabriel 17360.Nothing comes up with those numbers, so I would be interested in what alternative solutions others have found. Martin is looking into whether VW Camper springs will be suitable.

The other night we went into the garage and test fitted the clutch master cylinder, brake and clutch pedals and other bits, and we did a complete audit of parts....and boxed up the old bits which we won't be using; they will go on ebay as pattern/reference bits. The only bit I had which I can't find is the starter motor, but I daresay it will show up.

I am off school for the holiday, so the masterplan is to get the van on its wheels and put the engine and gearbox in, the rad on and hopefully the front scuttle. I still have some welding to do on the scuttle and wings.

My Godfather has recently died and left me enough to buy a set of tyres, which will seriously kickstart the project. 

So, there you have it. I wonder if anyone will read this.