228 replies to this topic

[M44K TS]

Cheers James, the videos will be in that exact order too!

[M44K TS]

Engine bay has now been flattened back and will have it's top coat tomorrow along with the other bits, as soon as it's cured enough, it'll be flattened one last time, polished and finished.  Si reckons I should have it back either late tomorrow night or Tuesday night.  That means I can get it back, get the carpet in ready for the engine to go in by the end of the week with a bit of luck.  I know I'll miss my 8th May Metro Centre meet deadline, but I really don't mind, I'd rather use the truck a bit to get the engine settled in with a few miles on it before taking it out properly.  I'm going to take a week off work and dedicate it to running the engine in properly.

 

[steven]

looks great !

[M44K TS]

Cheers, there's been another busy day!

 

In the paint booth masked up ready to go

 

And engine bay painted

 

Underside of the bonnet painted.  It could probably do with being flattened and polished as it's picked up some dust in the top coat, but to be honest, you'll never see it with it being the underside, you don't really notice much of it really

 

Radiator cowl all polished up nice

 

And how it will look fitted.

 

Just need to let the paint harden a bit now so won't touch the engine bay for a few days, I can start to remove the seats and measure up for the carpet over the next few days then hopefully by the weekend, the engine should be good to go in.

[jamesmpi]

Looks lovely. Almost makes the rest of it look a little sorry for itself. But the natural look to rest of the paint looks much better

[M44K TS]

That's the way I want it, patina outside, plus/classy inside

[M44K TS]

Not a huge update, got the seats, brake pedal assembly, accelerator pedal and the steering column out tonight to trial fit the carpet.  It needs the edges bound and a few small areas tidied up but the hard work is done.

 

 

Also had the brake pedal straightened, the pedal used to kick upwards meaning the pedal itself was too high too use comfortably, took the 45 degree bend out so it should be a bit more comfortable to use.

 

I'll crack on with the carpet again tomorrow night and try and get the kick panels done.

[Andy_]

THis is beautiful!! Love it! 

[M44K TS]

Thanks!

 

 

Another few jobs off the list, the carpet is ready to have the edges bound did the final few adjustments that it needed, one of our customers is an upholsterer so I'll call in on Monday when he's in to see if he can do it.  As for the rest of the carpet, I have the kick panels trimmed.  I did buy some kick panel trims from the U.S. but they turned out to just be patterned cardboard which isn't really the look I'm going for.  So, wrestled with the drivers side due to the gauge & fan controller modules being at the top of the kick panel.  I had planned on making a small wooden frame and having a separate section of carpet on with velcro, but that would be far too fiddly.  What I did do was mould the carpet round the module into a nice smooth shape then I'll use a few of the push fit panel clips to hold it in place.  That way, I can pop the clips out and pull the carpet back if I even need to be at the modules.

 

 

Passenger side was straight forward.

 

The main carpet will overlap the kick panels hence why I didn't need to have it 100% neat and tidy.

 

Elsewhere on the truck, This bolt was loose, hence the massive clunk on braking and the stupid amount of play in the passenger wheel.  Nipped it back up but may double nut it just in case it's working its way loose.

 

Cleaned up the channel round the cowl vent then fitted the gasket.

 

And finally, whilst the servo and master cylinder are out, I took the opportunity to clean it all up.

 

Tomorrows job will be to get the engine bay cleaned up to get rid of all the crap that was left over from when it was flattened back with wet & dry.  Once I get the carpet bound, I can start putting the pedals, steering column and rest of the dash together, then it'll be time to get the engine ready to go in!!!

[M44K TS]

Truck was pushed outside this afternoon to clean the 'bay down so that's nice and clean again.

 

I also decided to change the gearbox filter and fit the new chrome sump

 

I think I need bigger axle stands, the front's barely off the ground due to the chassis being up so high under the truck.  Would it be safe to stand the axle stands on some breeze blocks to get a bit extra height?

 

Rear is no problem

 

The new sump, gaskets and filter

 

New filter in position

 

And new sump on

 

Desperately need to clean the chassis back to bare metal and paint it up along with the floor of the cab too.

[MrBounce]

Coming along nicely

[M44K TS]

Cheers.

 

I was going to go home after swapping the sump, but as I already had the truck up in the air, I gave the chassis a quick clean down and paint with some black hammerite.  I'll go over it again with some waxy type chassis paint I bought months ago to really protect it.

 

 

As can be seen, the rest of the floor needs a good going over.

[M44K TS]

Got the new engine out of the crate to fit the ancillaries.

 

Fuel pump, oil filter adapter and filter, starter motor and flexplate are not fitted.  I have a feeling the starter will need to come back off to fit the engine which is no major problem as it's only 2 bolts.  The flexplate will need torquing down properly as I forgot to bring my torque wrench down to the unit.

 

I've also bought some 1/2" NPT plugs for the heater take off and some barbed hose fittings for when I eventually come to fit the heater.  Ignore the old fittings, they were there to just check fitment.

 

Flex plate bolts state that they need loctite on before torquing them up, I'll have to buy some.

 

That's all really for now, I'll take the engine round on the crane to Chris' garage to get the harmonic balancer fitted with his windy gun as my little 50l compressor and gun probably aren't up to the job.  Once that's done, I'll just go ahead and fit the engine in, I was going to wait until the carpet was in then put the servo, pedals and steering column in as I need access to the lower part of the bulkhead to get to the steering column floor mount but after being under the truck yesterday, I can reach them by the looks of it.

[RobWill116]

This project is amazing, looks in great condition and you're making a mega job on it. Look forward to more updates! How long you reckon til engine in and running?

[M44K TS]

Thanks.  I'm hoping to have it running within the next couple of weeks.