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29th November 2011.....There are four more pictures for you showing my new gearbox set-up. Excited! Click here last 4 pictures.
27th November 2011.....This was more like it, garage time. First I needed to look at the estate. She still has this petrol problem. Sometime she conks out due to fuel starvation or it floods. I've fitted a brand new service kit but still have the problem. I have now got another carb, a 150CD Stromberg but need to sort a cable out. So I cleaned everything out and put it back together and also cleaned the plugs and checked all the leads etc. Then she got something she hasn't had for some time...a wash, polish and then a wax. I drove her round the block and she was much smoother so it must have helped. (The carb clean not the body clean). I then turned my attention to SHW. I removed the top box section of the new pedal box set-up and now that I'm happy it fits, welded it together. With it in place I then drilled the holes and plug welded it in place. A small seam weld along the front edge then I tested it with the pedal box on. All okay. Before it was welded in the whole box moved if you put you foot on a pedal but now solid as a rock. A quick covering of primer finished off the day because the in-laws were round for an Indian as I was out Saturday night. I have received some pictures of my new gearbox linkage set-up from Tony who was doing it for me and it will be the best bit on the car. He's managed to move the stick at least four inches forward which will make life so much easier for me. He is brilliant and really I'm thinking of asking him to do the rest of the car, it would be done quicker and be a better job. Thank you so much Tony. Pictures here include Tony's handiwork.
26th November 2011.....Not much garage time today as Joanne held my arm right up my back until I agreed to go Christmas shopping with her. I told her she couldn't get my Christmas present it town, it would have to be ordered, a new engine hoist. I just got a frosty look and a chill went down my spine so I said no more. This took most of the morning and in the afternoon I cleaned her car and jet washed the drive down. I did manage to get back up the breakers yard to dangle two cars up and removed another mini pedal box to get the small plate which sits under the cylinder, as the one from last week was beyond repair. In the evening it was the Luton boys Christmas meal. 26 turned up and a good night was had by all. The meal was very good and it was our first time in the Anchor for a meal. It's our new meeting place since the Compasses changed hands.
20th November 2011.....I was up the garage slightly earlier than normal for a Sunday, (just before 8), as Paul said he was popping down. I offered to store some bits for him and he kindly bought me down his old wings which I may be able to use and his old crank which I'll need when I put the OHC engine in the estate. He arrived just after 9:00, had a cuppa and a chat and left before lunch. Made a nice change to talk Viva in the garage. I then carried on with getting the box section to fit into the hole correctly. Once I was happy with this I then offered up the pedal box to work out exactly where the holes needed to be drilled. Once this was done I could bolt up the servo unit and the clutch cylinder to test their position. In the engine bay all fitted nicely. The bonnet had plenty of clearance and the inner wing wouldn't need to be altered. The downside was inside the car. The pedals were a bit to high. If I want them lower it means cutting into the inner wing to sink the servo in and altering the bulkhead to inner wing section to lower the box itself. I could raise the floor slightly? I need to stand back and have a think. Pictures here.
19th November 2011.....No floods, no famine, no locusts, so I had time in the garage this weekend. It took me until 1:00 o'clock to put the garage straight after the last two weekends. This weekend I needed to get started on the pedal arrangement because I can't finish filling in the tunnel until they are in place. First I cut out the hole in the top of the bulkhead as the mini pedal system needs to sit lower. I then made a cardboard template up which sat nicely in the hole. I then transferred that to metal and cut it out. Bending took some time but by the end of the day it was just going in, a bit tight though. An Indian, wine and beer followed, so it was back to my old ways.
12th November 2011.....I thought I'd got the weekend in the garage until fate crapped on me again. As regular readers will know I've had a few heating problems in the house over the last couple of weekends which I finally cured last Sunday. Well I'd been putting off putting the airing cupboard back together over the week and decided to do it Friday night to keep the weekend clear...wrong! When I looked the bloody cylinder was leaking. There was water all over the place, only dripping but it was from a small split in the tank near the cold water intake pipe. I was so fed up I didn't bother even thinking about trying to repair the tank I just went a bought a new one...£205! So all weekend was spent installing the new tank and I had to change all the pipe work to make it fit. We had no heating again and this time no hot water for two days either. Still it will harden the women folk up a bit. I did however spend two blissful hours re-living my youth on Saturday afternoon. I had already arranged to go to the breakers yard to remove a mini pedal box, servo and hydraulic clutch assembly. It was just like the old days, balancing three cars up with spanners in pocket swaying gentle with the cars. Oh for the good old days.
6th November 2011.....Managed to get the heating working in the house yesterday so can have a day in the garage. I didn't want to start on the tunnel rebuild on the offside just yet as I'm bidding on a mini pedal box and I need it to determine just where the tunnel will be. Instead I started by cleaning up the nearside floorpan and welding up the nearside which was already in place. I had to knock the nearside floorpan flat first. I think it may have been jacked up at some time as it was dented quite a bit. I got it all back to bare metal with my wire brush on the grinder. This was on its last legs but I managed to get the whole section done, even up under where the seat would be. I hadn't finished getting the underseal off some parts so out came the hot air gun and scraper and I had an enjoyable day. David turned up late in the day and wanted some metal brackets made up for his new transit van. He carries loads of plastic and copper pipe which was rolling around the floor so we made three brackets up, then he gave it a jet wash before going home.
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