Driveshafts all built up tonight with fresh GKN Lobro CV joints and boots. What a messy job! Finally got some proper circlip pliers as I was getting nowhere fitting the circlips with a normal pair and a screwdriver.
Posts
A few more bits painted and reattached to the van over the last few days.
Handbrake cable bar reassembled:
And back on the van (apologies for the awful picture).
Brake calipers all cleaned up. Unfortunately one of the pistons refused to budge under air pressure as it had completely seized so I’ve ordered a new one to replace it.
The other one looked fine when I took it apart so I’ve replaced the seals and primed it.
Gave a few random bits a coat of anthracite to neaten them up before I bolt them back on. Starter motor:
CV joints:
Steering box drop arm. I’ve got a new dust cover for this, it’s not leaking from any of the seals so I’m able to put it straight back in as is.
And making a start on reassembling the drive shafts. What a messy job!
Luggage rack all cleaned up and carnauba waxed. Cab roof given a wipe over and luggage roof pop riveted back into place.
Making a start on cleaning up the starter motor.
Just a few hours on the van this morning so painted the outsides of the cv joints with some black epoxy mastic I had left.
Stripped down the brake calipers ready for rebuilding (I’m not splitting them as I don’t think they need that).
And started cleaning up the luggage rack.
Got a few bits bolted on over the last few days.
Added a sheet of silent coat to the engine bay roof to add a bit of sound dampening:
reinstated the original insulation and riveted the panels back in place:
The original horsehair padding on the fuel tank straps and under the tank were pretty much non-existent so I’ve replaced them with 2mm neoprene sheeting and tape. You can also just about see where I’ve drenched the area above the wheel tubs with dynax S50:
Fuel tank back in with fresh hoses connecting up all the breather pipes, a new fill neck and the fuel tank sender all wired up:
I found a pic of this area when I stripped the van down 3 years ago looking slightly worn and tired!
I opted to spray some Dynax UC in the fuel tank area to offer some protection whilst keeping it looking pretty clean (I’ll be using this on the wheel arches too):
Added some more 2mm neoprene tape around the firewall:
And all bolted in!
The chickens are back seeking out the warmth of my spotlamps again too!
Starting to feel like autumn down here with the track to the workshop covered in orange leaves now. Still relatively warm in the unit though.
What’ve I been up to this week?!
Main cab loom repairs finished and installed loosely back in the van. I’ve temporarily cable tied the cable groupings and will neaten it all up when everything else is attached:
Rear gearbox mount back in. I kept the original rubber cotton reel mounts which were in good nick:
A few bits ready to be blasted:
And most of the above primed:
Firewall, engine bay panels, fuel tank and cold air flaps into anthracite:
Starting to clean up the steering box. There’s no leaks so I’m just fitting a new dust seal and giving it a clean up:
And in a bid to tidy up the unit a bit, a guy from work gave me a load of shelving so I’ve started putting some of it up. Just need some scrap wood to put across it now:
Picked up the fuel tank, firewall and engine bay panels fresh from the blasters today so straight on with a few coats of epoxy:
I’ll finish these in Anthracite grey then I can get them in the van and out the way.
I’ve also fitted the brake pedal lever (no pics). I’d forgot the lever is a very tight fit, needing a club hammer to get it back in, so I’m going to have to repaint some of it!
Should get the rest of the cab loom back in this week as I’ve just about finished cleaning it up.
Today’s activities.
Instrument cluster reassembled with newly painted bezels. No-one will notice them but looks tidier than when I took it out of the van:
Re-assembled and fitted the gear shift rod with all new nylon guides, rubber boots and new rear cage rubbers:
I re-used the old rear cage and centre pin, as while the new cage was good quality, the centre pin looked like it had been made by a 5 year old compared with the original (Jim’s top tip: don’t paint the pin as it won’t fit back in; I ended up sanding it down):
Regreased and fitted the clutch pedal arm (apologies for the blurry pic):
Some further rebuild work over the last week or so.
These bits are off to the blasters this week for a clean-up, so should be back on the van soon:
Blasted, zinc primed, epoxied and top coated the engine hangers, rear bumper irons and gear shift rod:
And the same treatment for the driveshafts, clutch and brake pedal arms, gearbox mounts and shift cage, instrument panel bezels and steering box mount:
In between all this I’ve started to get the wiring back into the van. I repaired the main loom a while back and it’s been sitting in the garage for a while all labelled up ready to go back in.
I’ve run the main loom under the van. I didn’t weld in a new guide tube for this between the cross members, instead opting to run it through some convoluted tubing clipped to the chassis rails. Conveniently there were two perfectly sized holes in the rails to bolt it to:
And reconnected to the cleaned up fuse box:
I’m now sorting out the front loom, which on the whole is in good condition, but has a few dodgy repairs which I’m addressing before re-attaching.
With all of the above bits painted I can finish rebuilding the majority of the running gear over the next few weeks.
LPG tank fitted to the van tonight to get it off the workshop floor.
