Re: 71 Ex-Danbury, the home straight.

[Toad]

hi there, enjoying this thread.
I see that you decided to fit earlier style rear arches. Was that just cos you prefer the look of them?

Thanks.
it was more that they had been badly replaced by a previous owner (half a panel chopped out,m another one weded over it and the ends entirely made from filler)
and i just replaced like for like, its one of the first jobs i did before i had become quite such a geek (iv managed to get Ems spotting earlies in the rear view mirror and still be able to tell if its a Xover :roll: )


sometimes i look at it and wonder if i should change them but i like them as they are.

Hi Antione, Thanks for the reply.
I have a J reg bay too, and was thinking of changing it to have the earlier rear arches like you have (I do think they look nicer too) but Its just that thought that I should try to keep it as original looking as possible (by replacing flared rear arches with flared rear arches). I need to think about what way to go lol

 

[antoine]

yeah, i work on the principal of its my van, ill do what i want. so the purists get to choose which finger they want to dance on. :lol: resale wise, i'll never get back what iv put into it, not that i want to think about that atm, but i can understand people who want to keep things original, the main thing that swings those kind of decisions for me is that there is so little left original now, i.e colour, roof, interior, soon to be suspension, gearbox and engine that i may as well make it completely mine.


to sum it up;
http://youtu.be/uMimqfJVedE" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[ZedBed]

Arches look great and go with the rear lights - I wouldn't even consider changing them.

 

[antoine]

why is it when you stay in all day waiting for a delivery it doesnt turn up until its that time when you just have to go out before everything shuts and you miss it?



was looking forward to an evening of playing with some shiny new carbs.
:roll:

 

[antoine]

although for entertainment value not much beats watching George trying to shag Emmalene's slippers.


whoever started the rumour that tortoises were slow was a liar.



and before anyone asks, yes ross noble was on radio4's just a minute, and i have no idea what that camp 'cough' was all about.

 

[dubscum]

proper fast ! :shock:

 

[antoine]

proper fast ! :shock:

tell me about it, he is charging about the place this evening. somethings got him a bit randy :lol:

 

[Toad]

Arches look great and go with the rear lights - I wouldn't even consider changing them.

But so do flared rear arches on a 71! lol

(But I must agree that early style arches do look nicer!! )

 

[antoine]

well, second parcel turned up at work today, so i may not have done anything productive all day.



seeing as last time my engine broke i spent 3 and a half years stripping and rebuilding the van i think this is a comparatively tame reaction to a minor electrical problem.

:lol:

 

[antoine]

ok, despite having a few free days i still havent got my engine out, it snowed, and it wastoo cold, and then it was too wet, and thenit was too windy, and then it was too much like hard work. i really need to make myself do it today.
:lol:

 

[antoine]

well i made a start,

then i rang my spare pair of hands, and got an ETA.
and got everything set up and had a fag

but i get bored easily and sitting around isnt something i can do easily, so this happened.

then this

then the spare hands arrived and we got the engine into my workshop

it was a great way to find out my engine was only attached with 3 of its bolts...
and that so much of it was bodged together its amazing it ran at all, but hey ho.


its out now, and since it was on ramps on my beautifully level drive heres my incentive to get this finished and move onto the lowz

 

[moler]

Loving the workshop

 

[antoine]

Loving the workshop

its a bit small, and doesnt have any powerpoints, but at least its mobile and has plenty of windows. lol

 

[antoine]

slow and steady and all that, had a bit more to do in todays lovely weather, my new old radio turned up this morning so i spent a while running the ariel and wiring it all in, then tuned it to radio 4, but since i have no engine i didnt keep it on long, i cant be bothered to recharge my battery if i dont have to.
then i carried on stripping down the engine, its mostly down to a long block now, just a couple of stubborn nuts and bolts getting an overnight soak in time for tomorows fun.



no pictures today though since my batteries were too low and i couldnt be arsed to walk upstairs to charge them.

 

[antoine]

so after laughing at george trying to rape a slipper...

:lol:


i went and checked my radio was still all working

looks much better than a big hole.


then i fitted my bra.

the mighty Seamus G should be along in an hour or so to give me a hand with more engine bits, and help loosen my very tight nuts :msn4:

 

[antoine]

mostly stripped down, but i need to get the bottom pulley off toget at the rest, so we got onto some steam cleaning.

my pallet got a bit dirty.

 

[antoine]

well iv decided to get some new heads since i have a small crack in my spare and my good one needs a bit of tweaking, at least with new heads i'll have more guarantee that they should be right.
Then im going to spend the next few weeks once they turn up doing some old fashioned tuning.
i plan to stick to 1600 and build a decent reliable engine, with a little extra grunt. so some porting and polishing to go with the new rockers and carbs should give me a couple of extra ponies without forking out too much more than a few hours of my life.

 

[antoine]

:msn4:

 

[antoine]

this weekends project has been the new workshop...

rocco is in for service tomorow so might get more done. just need to make a shutter for the window and toughen up the doors then i can think about putting my bits and pieces in here rather than stacking everything in the van.

 

[antoine]

this week i have mostly been sorting shit out :lol:


workshop done.

swapped the heads and rockers over

got my heat exchangers back from the blasters and given them a quick coat of paint.

then got the welder out to modify the control arms, since theyre from a beetle.

also decided to get rid of the heat risers on the exhaust (twin carbs to go on), bit messy but its only to tide me over until i get a SS zorst. :msn4: