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

[Graham L]

Hi George
Great to hear you've still got Roxy, long time no see

 

[sparkywig]

Hello George

 

[gninnam]

Glad to see you back - 3 years - soon flies by...
I hope you manage to get the wedding in this year as a bummer if you have to reschedule everything.

Poor Roxy but you can now spend time sorting it out now
Shame about the beetle but if it was just rotting away then for the best.

Hope your health is good and stay safe

 

[gvee]

Well there was a minor update yesterday as I have loaned the van out to a friend in need during the COVID crisis as she needs to isolate away from her partner.

I love the fact that Roxy starts after been sat completely unmoved for a couple of months without issue. Just prime the fuel pump and she runs!

Gave it a deep clean inside and gave the outside a quick scrub.

The bodywork has suffered more than I realised/remember. Serious TLC needed when I get her back. If the wedding gets postponed then that might free up a little capital to get some work done by someone else. If not - I'll have quite a few panels to order and some serious welding to do :S

 

[gninnam]

Any news George??

 

[gvee]

Got the van back a short while ago actually.

It's lost its indoor space as I'm currently using the garage as my woodshop and I have a few more things to get done in the house before I can release that space back to Roxy.

In other news: my wedding was supposed to be 2 weeks ago.

One silver lining is that I didn't have to drop a bunch of savings on suppliers and whatnot for the big day so am going to spend some of that getting someone to do the body work. Have rung around a few local garages to enquire and have hopefully found one about 20 miles away.

Ideally I'd like to take my bus further afield but due to the current climate I won't be taking public transport so I am relying on pedal power to get me back home, hence the limited radius.

P.S. wedding rearranged for summer 2021 8)

 

[gninnam]

Sounds like fun and games and glad you have managed to rearrange the wedding day.

 

[Graham L]

Ideally I'd like to take my bus further afield but due to the current climate I won't be taking public transport so I am relying on pedal power to get me back home, hence the limited radius.

Just so you are aware George if its of any interest we now offer a delivery/collection service with our own truck

 

[gvee]

I really should remember to take photos of things. For now you'll just have to take my word for it

Been busy the last few evenings after work.

Dropped the engine out, gave it a service and fitted some new heat exchangers as the existing ones were pretty shot (note to self: remember to cable tie them open again so you actually get heat in the cab).
New battery in, too, because the old one was goosed.

Engine back in and running but still sounds a bit tappety on the side of 3&4. Not sure what to do as I literally just [re-]set the gaps... :?

Replaced the manky carpet in the back with some lino, new tailgate seal, jailbars fitted, dash tidy sorted, and probably a few other little bits I can't recall right now.

Tonight I will be replacing the accelerator linkage (massive shout out to Si @ ButtysBits for being legendary as always! 8) ) and taking it for a very quick spin just to get it up to temperature.

 

[gvee]

No pics again today... because I'm a muppet and forgot.

Linkage sorted. The new ButtysBits design is a really big improvement on the older iterations! Feels lovely underfoot.

Didn't go for a cruise as I was interrupted by an incident at work which meant I didn't finish fettling the linkage until 10 minutes ago.

Looking forward to razzing around after work tomorrow!

 

[ozziedog]

No pics again today... because I'm a muppet and forgot.

Linkage sorted. The new ButtysBits design is a really big improvement on the older iterations! Feels lovely underfoot.

Didn't go for a cruise as I was interrupted by an incident at work which meant I didn't finish fettling the linkage until 10 minutes ago.

Looking forward to razzing around after work tomorrow!

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,good! :mrgreen:

 

[gvee]

Decided to get away for a wee break. This was from our first morning at a free stopover down Oxford way 8)

A shade over 500 miles travelled so far. I serviced the engine before we left and it hasn't missed a beat!

Struggled up a couple of big, coastal hills, but we are completely fully loaded, so I'll put it down to that for now. Happy as owt on the motorways doing 65 all the way.

 

[ozziedog]

Looks real good. Oh and slow down a bit you crazy crazy fool

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,life’s for livin :mrgreen:

 

[gninnam]

Glad the motor is running sweet (remember when 3 cylinders was the way to go....)

 

[gvee]

Sorry Oz... 65 on the speedo is only 56mph or so on satnav. Rolling on smaller tyres than stock!

Glad I have all 4 cylinders rocking. She has struggled with a couple of the mega hills that seem to make up the entirety of this part of the world so I might have a wee campsite tinker today (not sure I am getting full throttle since replacing the linkage and dropping the engine).

 

[gvee]

Weather today was overcast, so we went for a drive about in the van. This photo was after a wrong-but-oh-so-right turn down a narrow single track lane which opened up right along the coast

Sadly, not long after this, we lost a battle in a car park. Pot holes and a centre ridge whilst reversing in to a space. Side step of bumper got caught, pulled and caused some damage to the wheel arch step. It needs replacing anyway, but still annoying

 

[gninnam]

Whoops about the damage
Nice picture tho

 

[matty74]

Great pic ... looks like the kind of road I usually do a wrong turn down, then need to do a 27 point turn at the end [emoji1787]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[gvee]

Few days off between Christmas and New Year gave me enough time to strip Roxy back to her undies ready for some long overdue welding.

I really need to remember to take photos before and during. But it was freezing (-1°C) so I was just cracking on!

P.S. mechanics gloves on top of nitrile gloves are an absolute godsend.

So as I said... no real before pictures of the interior, but it was basic and perfect for our needs. So here are the only interior pics I can find on my phone

And then it was gone...

I knew it was insulated under the interior panels and just hoped it had been done well.

Put this job off long enough, so after a deep breath I crossed my fingers and pulled off the vapour barrier.

Passenger's side was okay! You can see the previous repairs from when this panel had windows cut in, and previously filled back in.

Oh dear...

Fuck.

This is what I was scared of.

A heavily absorbant insulation, air gap, ill-painted bodywork all lead to condensation rotting it from the inside out.

EDIT: there's a hole in the outer-skin of the window repair that's the source/cause of the moisture that's rotted this bit out, not the insulation set up.

But hey, better to find it late than never, I suppose.

So there. She's basically empty inside. Just gotta strip the last bits of the cab, but at this point it was getting dark and I needed to warm up and have a bite to eat.

 

[gvee]

Oh, and today's job was to get the fuel tank out. Same excuse about photos as the other day, but I did at least get one of the engine being dropped out... again

Both batteries also removed, additional fuse box in the rear somewhat decapitated (I want to redo it, so this forces it at least!).