416 replies to this topic

[IronmanG]

I have a pick up. A baffled tank instead of a swirl pot?

Edited by IronmanG, 13 April 2020 - 04:38 PM.

[KTS]

not a great deal of progress made on the pickup recently as the Management decided it was high time the patio was given a makeover, and i'm waiting for a few bits and pieces to come through before i can finish up the back end and get it re-assembled

 

anyway, in the meantime, more drilling and folding of stainless plate produces another bracket

 

 

..and front-rear brake line fitted - a real pain in the proverbials to fit the bulkhead section, but done now 

 

 

Also found that the tailgate was fouling on the rear bumpers so they had to come off and after some gentle persuasion managed to get them to sit low enough for the tailgate to fully open without fouling.  unfortunately they now face down, so need to get that sorted

 

 

..and then figure out how to adjust the tailgate hangers so they support the tailgate evenly.  at the moment with the nearside fully extended, the offside isn't providing any support.

Edited by KTS, 03 May 2020 - 06:34 PM.

[Van13]

At shows seen a few with the bumpers in that position

[KTS]

At shows seen a few with the bumpers in that position

 

that's interesting, and kind of reassuring to know you're not the only one coming across this type of thing.  cheers 

[KTS]

an unexpected surprise today - the engineering shop i'd asked to knock up some bits are back up and running and rang to let me know they were ready 

 

 

[wingnut]

Oh,what are they for?

[KTS]

Oh,what are they for?

 

spreader plates for load bay tie-downs and a couple of blanking plates for the pedal box cut outs - it'll make sense i promise 

[KTS]

spent a bit more time fettling the tail gate and rear bumpers, and they're all sitting a bit more square now - much better. 

 

 

paint arrived friday which meant i could finish finish off the sections on the rear valance that needed touching up

 

 

..and fit the load bed lockdowns

 

 

and after a liberal dousing of Dintrol ML followed by 3125 into the rear valance, the fuel tank could go back in - hopefully that won't need to come out again now

 

 

..followed by the rear subframe and a trial fit of the fuel pump and pipework.

 

[KTS]

back to electrics again today as i had a change of heart on the dash layout which meant some re-work of the cabling

 

the original plan was to re-use the rokee wooden dash and centre binnacle i'd modified to take an extra couple of gauges, but having extracted it from the loft it's in far worse condition than i remember and will need completely refinishing to be usable, so i'll go back to a standard 3 clock centre with a pod for the additional gauges on the drivers side.  i've also ditched the padded lower rail and treated myself to a DSN switch panel

 

 

whilst re-routing cables for the dash layout i also re-did the front-to-rear loom connections; the first attempt wasn't particularly neat and in an attempt to avoid cutting cables too short had left so much extra in place i couldn't get the loom to sit neatly.  second attempt is much neater - connectors still need heat shrink which will add some bulk, but overall a much better fit 

 

 

then re-fitted the steering rack and refitted the front subframe

 

[KTS]

..back to the electrics again, and time to wrap the cabin portion of the front loom as all the cables are now in place

 

pulled it out..

 

 

..wrapped the main runs, and put it back in again..

 

 

need to come up with a better solution than plastic wedges 

 

 

having got it all back in, then realised i'd forgotten to add the link to the white/brown wire on the centre binnacle connector plug that'll be used to disable the fuel pump when there's no oil pressure....

 

Bugger 

[KTS]

a case of one step forward and two back this time..

the step forward was finally coming up with a solution to replace the standard heater valve with a diverter type valve to allow a continuous flow of water through the cylinder head take-off when cabin heat isn't selected

started life as a saab9-5 heater bypass valve which is normally vacuum operated, but converted to cable operation



one outlet will go to the heater matrix, the other will tee into the water pump return along with the heater return. just have to figure out a suitable mounting for it once the motor is in.

in terms of steps backward : after re-fitting the front subframe i'd noticed the seals around the suspension arms weren't seating properly, and after failing to massage them back into place in-situ decided it would be easier to drop the subframes, pull the arms and re-install




so..pulled the hubs off and dropped the subframe. again.



pulled the top arms out to check them over - this one needs a bit of adjustment



whilst i had the hubs off i thought i'd give them a once over - wasn't expecting to need the big-boy puller to get the hubs off though....



here's the problem - full of paint.



so looks like a full strip down and clean up of the front hubs is on my to-do list..

Edited by KTS, 15 June 2020 - 09:38 PM.

[KTS]

when i pulled the pivot shafts on the front suspension arms the other day they needed hammering out, and were, unsurprisingly, pretty badly scored in the process. fairly alarming seeing as they were new items along with the bearings etc

 

from this picture so can see where the needle rollers have embedded themselves into the shaft, which apart from anything else makes me wonder whether just effective the heat treatment they received was....  shaft diameter i believe should 19.05mm and they're both under that, so looks like the problem is more likely with the bearings

 

 

bit the bullet and bought a decent internal bearing extractor and counterstay - not cheap, but makes getting the bearings out a doddle, and because my radius arms have roller bearings at each end will get plenty of use over time

 

 

so having got the bearings out the most obvious issue is that with 3 out 4 of them, the needles rollers are locked solid, and the one that does have some movement is really rough.

 

i've already ordered replacement (branded) bearings, but will also need to find where i can get decent quality pivot shafts...

[domdee]

looks like someone is in the aircraft industry looking at that loom work and the bolts on the steering wheel...

[KTS]

looks like someone is in the aircraft industry looking at that loom work and the bolts on the steering wheel...

 

thanks for the compliment - i'm actually in IT, but have a background in Signals Engineering and a step-father who worked in civil aviation all his life

[sonscar]

I cannot think why the factory fitted roller bearings on the front arms as the rotation must be measured in single degrees concentrating the load in a small area,but then I am not an engineer.Nice work.Steve..