Roxy the '71 Panel - So That's What's Wrong With the Engine

[gvee]

Fallen out with the bus this weekend.

Since when did transport paint become an acceptable top coat? Wire brushing the inside of the rear corners for fresh paint but instead have a fresh hole.

Got almost all my wiring worked out for the engine bay and then the fat lead that goes from the starter motor solenoid to the battery came away from the starter and I can't for the life of me remove the nut where it was fixed.

Bus has been off the road for nearly 2 months. I miss driving it but still have a long road ahead to get it right but a shortening amount of time to do it in.

Needs to be good and ready and run in before Oktoberfest!

 

[Graham L]

Keep smiling George, it will be worth it in the end

 

[gninnam]

Sorry for your misfortune but like Graham says - keep smiling (at least yours is road worthy....)

 

[gvee]

:suicide:

 

[*Sam*]

Mate you really are having very little luck with it.

 

[sparkywig]

Keep going George, there's a space at Oktoberfest with your name on it.

 

[trebor]

I really know how you feel about holes, I've welded up 55 around my engine bay so far and still counting. Keep going.

 

[gvee]

Mate you really are having very little luck with it.

...yup :roll:

Keep going George, there's a space at Oktoberfest with your name on it.

Got my tickets last week, can't wait!

I really know how you feel about holes, I've welded up 55 around my engine bay so far and still counting. Keep going.

55? Damn!

Thank you all for the encouraging words. I find it hard to stay positive about the bus sometimes.



Took the engine to a fabricators near where I live and they're going to sort me out. Totally unphased about the material, be it ali or an alloy as "this is [their] bread and butter".

Gave them the a couple of pressure senders and the T-piece I was using today so the chap can make something up out of a "spare" block of aluminium which will screw in to the case as a bit of an extension piece and allow the pieces to still be fitted.

They're exceptionally busy at the moment but they're being proper awesome and the young lad is going to stay on after hours tomorrow to weld it all up.

Massive props to
<link removed>

Unfortunately my father is going away on Saturday so I'm going to be fitting the engine solo, or having to rope some unsuspecting fool in to helping me out.

...Martin, Andy, Adey... what are you up to on Saturday? :msn4: :lol:


Light at the end of the freakin' tunnel again 8)

 

[gninnam]

...Martin, Andy, Adey... what are you up to on Saturday? :msn4: :lol:

What time - need to look at a new daily for the wife sometime on Saturday so not sure when I will be available yet but if I can help I will !!

 

[68_early_bay]

:suicide:

bugger

 

[gvee]

What time - need to look at a new daily for the wife sometime on Saturday so not sure when I will be available yet but if I can help I will !!

Thanks for the offer Andy - wish I could have got in touch.
Unfortunately things didn't happen on Friday after all. Have been promised a time slot on Tuesday afternoon.



Tick-tock-tick-tock.

 

[gvee]

Was let down by the engineering company for a second time so following advice of a local spares place I have used QuickSteel for a not-so-pretty-buy-hopefully-effective fix.

I have also bonded the T-piece in to the case, which is probably overkill, but the last thing I want is to have to do this again.

Fingers crossed.

 

[gvee]

So once this had cured I set about finishing the rebuild.
Remaining jobs before install [tonight, hopefully]:

• Vac pipes for servo... the outlets on the manifolds are smaller than on the old engine, so not sure the pipe I have is good enough for the job
• Moustache bar
• Exhaust
• Screw down fusebox in engine bay (and install fuses). Just need a second set of hands for this 2 minute job

Think I will just block the vacs for now to get the f**ker in and deal with that later.

 

[gvee]

Massive thank you to Tintop for coming round last night and helping me out.

Here's a photo from when we finished at 22:40:

Was a bit of a faff and took a few hours, but it's in. It's not finished, but it's in! I should be able to manage the rest with just one pair of hands (I hope!).

 

[gninnam]

Nice one 8)

 

[trebor]

That takes me back to when I was a student living in Norwich, used to repair my Matchless 500 under a street light nothing like grope ing around in the dark looking for dropped nuts n bolts. Nice one !!

 

[gvee]

I'm pretty good at losing nuts and washers when working in those conditions :lol:

Spent a bit more time down there last night but was a bit too knackered to be under the vehicle finishing off the engine install so decided the sort out the holes on the engine deck and slap on some top-coat. Sadly the paint I'm using didn't go on as well as I would have liked as I was hoping to get away with a single coat. Will see what it is like once dry and decide then.

Also sorted out the replacement engine lid and started work on the replacement tailgate. Engine lid is pretty much there. Kept as much of the patina as possible. The tailgate, however, got hit with the end of a rattle can of primer which decided to spit and drip a bit too much so needs a fair bit more attention to get right. Not sure on what finish to go with because it is currently [neptune?] blue, which might clash a little too much even for my taste :lol:

Also did a little on my rear bumper but it seems that one of the square holes for the coach bolts has rounded out and I can't get the bloody iron and overrider off!

What does anyone recommend for fixing the hole?

 

[trebor]

Also did a little on my rear bumper but it seems that one of the square holes for the coach bolts has rounded out and I can't get the bloody iron and overrider off!

What does anyone recommend for fixing the hole?

If you've got a mig welder you could partly weld the hole edges, grind flat and small file to get square shape back.

 

[gvee]

A long, productive weekend yielded some nice results!

[youtube]efV-XuiUNGg[/youtube]
video

Run in the new engine but yet to road test.

Lots still left to do. It's going to be down to the wire for [R]Oktoberfest!

 

[woz]

Great result to get the engine running again