Progressing again

Managed to make it up and spend sometime this weekend.

The rear brakes are done now, which means we're done from a running gear point of view. I managed to get a coat of paint onto the engine side valances, so about all we have left is fit the engine, gearbox, driveshaft and radiator.

Progress!

No photos unfortunately as i managed to run out of battery, in saying that not much to see really.  But this does mean I really need to find a decent painter .... like seriously :D


On a bad note, it seems like some of the coverage on the chassis paint was a bit thin, so i'll be regrinding some of the edges and repainting it.

I thought the last time was a long time :)

Well i never said this was going to happen quickly.....


Last update was about 2 years ago, and not much has happened since then. I decided to get a bit more serious about this and at least start working on the bits that dont need panel work.

As far as i see it, we have to assemble the rear brakes, paint and fit the engine side valance panel things, fit the radiator, fit the engine gearbox and driveshaft.

I had some issues last time with the brake adjusters being basically frozen solid, but a year or so of being soaked in a combo of WD40 and diesel has freed them up well.

So the "plan" is to start with those jobs and work my way through them, by the time i'm done hopefully i should have a metalworker lined up to put on the new door skins and do the repairs to the bonnet, from there its just paint and interior.

I started with the radiator as i knew that was going to need a rebuild. Took it to the local shop and was informed that i was looking at around NZ$460 to get it rebuilt on the cheap or well over NZ$600 to get the core replaced with OE tubular core. That was a bit of a surprise, After looking around i found i could get a complete replacement from Canley including shipping for a little over NZ$300, a bit of googling also led me to some Chinese made all aluminum radiators for around NZ$350. The reviews seemed mostly pretty good, so i decided to go the all aluminum route. Sometime in the next 30 or so days i'll find out if that was a good decision or not.

So next time I'm in Foxton I'm hoping to get the rear brakes rebuilt. refit the front brake shoes and tighten up all the lines.  If time permits I'll install the engine and gearbox, otherwise that will have to wait till when the radiator arrives.


Anyways... i'm not dead... yet

Been a while without an update :)

I needed to get the car moved over as the area to the right of where its being worked on is the place my parents store their hay for the winter.  Easiest way seemed to be put the wheels back on and roll it.

After many delays with the axles i finally got them back. Ended up having to do most of the assembly myself as they got busy. Had issues with axle shafts being chewed, bearing housings being damaged. but finally i have two good axles on the car.


Getting that spring on was a nightmare.

Temporary :)

Went and picked up the front bulkhead and the rear tub from rust repairs. :)

Had to sit the bulkhead on the front just to remind myself it was a car i'm working on :D

Front suspension is done, rear is completed as much as i can without the actual axles. should have those at the end of the week.

Next job is to clean and prep the bonnet and roof ready for priming.

More parts arrive

Ultra quick update

The rimmer order finally turned up. i now have the missing brake part along with the tierod ends.

The axles have arrived in Los Angeles ready for me to collect on my way home.

So theoretically i now have all the bits i need to put the suspension and brakes back on. I'm hopefully going to get a chance to do it when i get back

The good，the bad, and the ugly

Quick update, first the good news

Yes we have shocks and springs Unfortunately the tie rods didn't turn up yet, but other than that the front suspension is done.

Which is good news, went down to see Charlie (the mechanic at south foxton motors) who put them together. Which is where the bad news comes in.

what you are looking at is one of the rear axles for the car. the technical term for what you're looking at is fucked. Its repairable, but this is the shot of the one thats already been repaired not that long ago. The needle bearing has basically chewed a groove in the axle shaft(the dull patch in the middle of the photo). So as a result i've ordered new axles :( not something i wanted to have to do. Lucky for me i'm going to the US next week so have organised to pickup a set while im there and save myself a truck load of money on shipping.

Sigh! More delays

Wheel bearings and other such stuff

So some updated photos,

Different angle

Not all this work was done this week, the steering rack, wishbones, sway bar were all done last week. This week the uprights were attached, brake lines fitted. new wheel bearing fitted to the front. Found out i had a set of the kits that had the absolutely rubbish grease seals in them, the metal casing is too big and the felt is about 12mm wide, if you try and fit them nothing lines up at all. I removed the casing and reused the old one. took the felt out and cut them to about 1/2 thickness fitted them and they all look ok. I got them from Rimmer Bros, so I'll have to drop them a line tomorrow to see what they have to say.

Fitted in the diff, put the read shocks and vertical links in to visualise where i needed to run the brake lines. The two tone paint job is due to using two pots of paint, the first (the lighter one) was the one i managed to spill half of.

I looked at the rear axles but i ran out of time to actually start the rebuild, and i'm kind of nervous about doing them so they're off to the shop with the shocks and springs to be rebuilt.

I'm about a weekends work from starting to put the body back on. exciting. Unfortunately it looks like i wont be able to actually do that until the first weekend in Nov. I'm working next weekend then off to the states for a little over a week (25th Oct - 4th Nov) so that means at best i'll be able to get up there next around the 7th of November. Bummer