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Post by valhalla on Aug 9, 2022 23:09:46 GMT 1
Extracted it from the old garage on Sunday - virtually had to dig it out, the place was so wet!
The biggest issue was that the 90-year-old garage had a 90-year-old pit built into the floor, so with all the leaks from above the loadbed then running through and under the truck, the pit-covering was rotten. I had to play it very carefully getting the back wheels back onto the the rear axle, as I needed to support the axle directly over the pit to control the roll of the back of the truck.
Anyway, it came out, and rolled so easily it was unbelievable - this turned-out to be because the previous owner had removed all the brake shoes when it was parked-up! All it took was Mrs. V to sit in the cab and steer, then two of us to push the truck straight up onto the plant-trailer (which it fits very nicely);
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Post by valhalla on Aug 9, 2022 23:20:26 GMT 1
We got it up on the ramps as soon as it was home - just to dry it out in the workshop - and this lunchtime we got it in the air for photography and assessment.
In general, it's all there (somewhere) but nothing can be trusted. As mentioned before, the brakes are missing within the drums, but more importantly, things are disconnected all over the place. The biggest problem, which didn't strike on Sunday, was that the coupling for the base of the steering column was now slack to the pinion input stub today, so we got away with that (just) - and that is symptomatic of the mess that awaits - lots of little problems that make it a danger to drive!
The plan is still to do a full strip and rebuild. The observant will notice that it's sitting a bit low at the front, and that is because the rubber cone suspension is no longer as robust as it once was was;
The cab is a death-trap, and more importantly, the throttle pedal is so small, I can barely operate it with my booted-foot!
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Post by rhyds on Aug 10, 2022 9:41:16 GMT 1
Given where you found it that front end looks remarkably solid. I take it there was standard BMC/BL engine applied rustproofing helping?
As for the suspension, I take it Minis had the same "dry" cones no matter what the load rating was? I'd imagine they're not too difficult to source
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Post by sorted on Aug 10, 2022 16:05:24 GMT 1
Yes they only made the one version of the rubber cones.
There was an episode of Wheeler Dealers where Ed had some bespoke tapered coil springs made up to replace the rubber cones on a Mini Moke to give it a softer ride. Even the classic Mini was rather bouncy on rubber cones unless heavily laden so dread to think what a lighter body would do to it.
The throttle pedal looks like standard Mini but they did have a bit more room in the footwell to use it!
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Post by valhalla on Aug 10, 2022 23:51:19 GMT 1
The Jiffy body itself is a glass-fibre lay-up, and I have to say that it is remarkably good - very little damage or even crazing in the gel-coat. One issue strikes me at the moment; there is a slight tear around the base of the steering column just forward of where it passes down through the floor, so I reckon that someone has been a bit rough with the steering in the past.
The chassis is in remarkable condition, all the same. It's a simple but heavy-duty sort of ladderframe. The sort of things that let the Mini down are eliminated on this truck, with the exception of the subframe, which in this case is in good condition anyway. I have two spare subframes with the spare-parts, and both seem quite good.
I haven't priced-up some rubber cones yet, but thanks for the helpful information above sorted
I did manage to pin-down the engine that is under the (missing) bonnet at the moment; it wears a 99H791 prefix, which I believe makes it a post-1974 dished-piston 1000cc standard engine. That will probably do for us around here, as I don't intend that Mrs. V is going to go far in this. Probably as far as the first hill......
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Post by valhalla on Jan 14, 2023 0:32:37 GMT 1
I made a bit of progress with the powertrain this week. Well, "learning" more than progress......
The 1000cc engine has no oil pressure on cranking, and this is partly due to the oil pickup not sealing well at all - the whole system up to the front of the block/oil-pump is dry, and the filter housing will not vacuum oil up from the sump (just air) if you try. This is the engine actually in the car at the moment, so it's likely that some student or another has tinkered.... More's the point, the oil pressure switch is not reliable, so my thinking is that this engine is likely to have run dry near the end of its use.
So......my mate (up for week) and myself then turned to the 2 spare engines. One is an 850cc (likely the original Morris unit from the donor car that went into this Jiffy) which is just awful, full of water in the sump, just fit for the scrap-bin. The other is a "fruity" 1275cc unit of some "mixed heritage", which does seem to be very good, with good oil-pressure on cranking, good integrity on the head, pistons, and bores, and looks to have been rebuilt as-found. No doubt this is a "tuned" engine, as the head is definitely not very standard (sintered rockers, for a start).
So.... we found a 1_1/4" carb (we believe that this belonged to this engine), did some checks and repairs, and fitted this onto the 1275 with new manifolds and gasket, new distributor,coil, and plugs/leads), then fed some fuel into it.....and it fired 3rd turn. As it was running dry, we knocked it on the head after 20secs, but ran it several times (cooling for 30mins inbetween) to assess it - and decided that this was the powertrain to use in the Jiffy.
The problem is now......the gearchange is not great, in-fact, it's sticking somewhere in the final-drive housing, and is currently stuck in 4th (after my mate's help with the selector-shaft.....), and despite me getting the cooling-system rigged and filled today, to allow a longer run of the engine (to warm the sump/gearbox oil), it resolutely will not come out of gear. I think the final drive housing is going to have to come off the sump, so I can assess what is happening with the detents and possibly any shift-interlock, but more likely slipped selector fork/s, and then determine the course of action. The only thing I can do before then is to fabricate a better way of operating the selector shaft, to permit better control of both planes simultaneously, without burning myself on the spangly tubular exhaust manifold that adorns the back of the engine.
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Post by Roverman on Jan 14, 2023 11:52:41 GMT 1
Good luck with your new project Valhalla just the thing I would love to be doing in my retirement bringing an old vehicle back to life, although I am enjoying getting my 66 year old P4 90 back to original condition, carry on the good work.
All the best roverman
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Post by sorted on Feb 13, 2023 13:39:39 GMT 1
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Post by valhalla on Feb 14, 2023 0:53:48 GMT 1
If I can convince the supplier for just the front cones (or replacements thereof) - these could be quite interesting. I may well contact them and see, although they don't seem to be "Highlands friendly" with the deliveries........
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Post by valhalla on May 2, 2023 21:59:41 GMT 1
A tiny bit of movement with this one. In order to get my main workshop clear of all extraneous parts and materials, Mrs. V.'s Jiffy rear load-deck framework has had to be shifted. To be frank, it has been in my way for months and months now, occupying the 4-post ramps on one side.....to the detriment of my transmission-jobs that normally happen on these ramps.
Anyway, I need the 4-posters to roll the Defender chassis and running-gear during work, so the Jiffy framework had to go....
I got the frame lifted forward over the 2-post ramp-arms, and spent a few very-noisy hours doing a total needle-gun clean of the whole lot. And there's a lot of it, with hidden voids between tubular frame pieces and the angle-steel that is used to support the outside edges of the load-deck plywood.
I did a few "belt-and-braces" weld-stitches between the frames and the angles, as the quality of the originals was not good, but all-in-all, the result was not too bad to look-at.
The frame has now been moved up to the "Jiffy workshop" and put onto cardboard packing on the back of it, so that it can be Jenolite'd and then painted later this week (all a job for Mrs. V. ; I just provide the tools and consumables, and the project-management)
Once we have got the painting started, I'll get a picture or two. Mrs. V. is very happy with the Jenolit'ing today, but had to stop early to get dog # 1 to the vet this evening. What I set her up with was a specialized trigger-spray bottle and runny Jenolite solution, and she has been able to keep the whole surface wet whilst going around the frame a few times, which has meant that the Jenolite can do its job very effectively - easier than doing this with a paintbrush.
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Post by valhalla on May 4, 2023 23:49:56 GMT 1
Mrs. V. managed to get the last coat of Jenolite onto the frame this afternoon;
After wiping it all over, and drying-off, the frame is now suspended at a good working-height, by its cleats, and she has got the first coat of enamel paint on this evening. She has even got some of it onto the frame....
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Post by valhalla on May 10, 2023 22:04:39 GMT 1
The load-deck framework on the Jiffy has had 3-coats of paint (Vandyke Brown, according to the tin....), the last of which was applied on Monday afternoon.
So we are letting this all set now for 2weeks (it's a slow-drying enamel) before we get the frame unsuspended and stored-away for the while;
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remmington
Apprentice
Owns Spark Eroder
Posts: 4,971
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Post by remmington on May 10, 2023 22:33:29 GMT 1
The load-deck framework on the Jiffy has had 3-coats of paint (Vandyke Brown, according to the tin....), the last of which was applied on Monday afternoon. So we are letting this all set now for 2weeks (it's a slow-drying enamel) before we get the frame unsuspended and stored-away for the while; valhalla - this will make you laugh! Projects give an old man too much work to do - I got enough work to do at my age @ Peter Remmington...
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Post by valhalla on May 10, 2023 22:42:55 GMT 1
The load-deck framework on the Jiffy has had 3-coats of paint (Vandyke Brown, according to the tin....), the last of which was applied on Monday afternoon. So we are letting this all set now for 2weeks (it's a slow-drying enamel) before we get the frame unsuspended and stored-away for the while; valhalla - this will make you laugh! Projects give an old man too much work to do - I got enough work to do at my age @ Peter Remmington... I used to be able to whip-through these sorts of projects, but that was when I was in full-time employment !!
The problems start when you run your own business/es, and then you have no time, or possibly no inclination, to take anything else on.
This is Mrs. V.'s project really, but I have the luxury of being able to chivvy this along at the same time as I deal with my Defender. I have had to re-time my workshop "outage", and you can well-imagine the whinging and gum-beating that is going-on right now. Customers are selfish; they only care about their own cars, and their own conveniences. It has been very hard for me to fit this lot in, and I do actually have "real work" going-on in-parallel right now, except that those jobs can mostly only be done as-and-when, and in the dry weather outside on my concrete spread. So there are one or two vehicles lying-around outside right now, but that was their decision to leave them with me. I guess they thought I was joking, when I said, "End of April, it's all stopping until early-July".
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Post by Joepublic on May 31, 2023 14:01:17 GMT 1
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