Timex and friends

[citsncycles]

After some more parts chasing this morning, I managed to start putting some bits back on today

Andy Weston found me a 2nd hand pipe to replace the one I had to cut, which after some clip swapping (the later cars don't have the support section that the pipe is attached to on the Mk1) went on, although I'm not convinced I've got the front end tightened enough yet. clearance is crap, so I may end up pulling the rad to get enough swing on the spanner.

Next was the silicone replacement hoses made up from a straight length bought from Forge Motorsport Engineering, with not too much kinking at the bend. The GS made quite an impression on the workshop staff there, who added one of their stickers to the collection in the rear quarter windows

After that the flexible coupling was swapped between racks, and the replacement rack bolted in, the feed pipes connected and the track rods fitted. For these, I removed each in turn from the old rack, counting the turns to get a rough adjustment on the new rack. One side had been changed by Ian so was reused, but the other was replaced with a new one bought at Stratford last weekend.

I the turned my attention to the PAS ram, which involved some ingenuity. The easy part was replacing the bushes - especially as one was slightly loose



the tricky part was sorting this out, as the damaged part was NFP



Rummaging through my mate John's oddment trays turned up a short length of brass tube with much the same ID as the outlet, a similarly short length of silicone tube of the same diameter and some 2 pack super glue. The brass tube was pushed through the damaged outlet until it was flush with the inner surface of the collar, then fixed in place with the glue. It was trimmed to slightly longer than the original rubber so that the silicone hose could be fitted like this:



Once fitted to the car, it looked like this:



Hopefully this will last until I either find the right part or come up with a better solution

[citsncycles]

Got bored with lying under the car getting covered in oil and LHM so decided to sort the brake bits on each front wheel, plate the inner wings then finish off underneath - that was the plan anyway

I started on the passenger side, replacing the well worn disc and the flexi, which was just starting to crack. It all went down hill after that, when I lifted the washer bottle to inspect the rust:



By the time I'd cut it out, it had spread downwards, and I'd removed the fuse box, it's mount and peeled back the bulkhead soundproofing to enable me to safely weld it



Welding it up again went in stages, not quite as original, and not necessarily my neatest work, but solid enough:





I then turned my attention to the holed sill, the front of which was very thin:



Again, by the time I'd trimmed it all back the hole was a bit bigger



I welded a new leading edge to the inner sill



Then I made up a new closing panel and welded it in




The eagle eyed reading this will have spotted a hole inboard of the sill. This has also been cut back and extends in about 2", down as far as the floor pan and through both layers of metal. No pics yet as the batteries in the camera died, but that's tomorrows job after the sill's finished. Guess I have to cancel Friday's MOT too

[Dollywobbler]

A shame about missing the MOT, but probably best to crack on with some of these jobs while the enthusiasm is high! It's absolutely fabulous to see the way you're cracking on with it - and you're so much better at recording it than I am!

[saintjamesy89]

You really are cracking on with it! Amazing progress, despite the creeping rust there seems to be - that would put me off majorly - but then I haven't the skills you have (yet )

[Defender110]

What gas are you using in your welder, all that white gas powder makes it look like your welding galvanised?

[citsncycles]

Not too much progress today, as the tablets were acting up this morning, but managed some.

Lower repair piece clamped in place - heavier gauge steel for this bit:



Then welded in:



I then made up the pieces to complete the sill and this repair and painted the areas that would be hidden once these areas were closed up. While waiting for the paint to dry, I started cleaning up the rest of the footwell, which lead to my removing the seat and some more carpet and trim because of this:



Yep, more holes, plus the front seat support has gone along the bottom, so that's some more repairs to add to the list. I then finished welding up the bulkhead repair:



On the completion of this, I turned off the welder and realised I was lucky to have completed this repair:



That'll be another reel of wire finished then - this one lasted just over a year which is quite good for me, the previous one was used up in about 4 months . This is my well used and abused Clarke 100 EN 'Gasless MIG', which must be about 17 years old now. Instead of gas it uses flux cored wire - it's expensive at over £50 for a big reel, but that's offset by no gas costs. There's both advantages and disadvantages to this system - it can (and has been) used in almost any weather conditions without adversely affecting the weld, but it's trickier to produce a neat weld, and leaves the powdery deposit commented on by Defender 110 that needs cleaning off before either painting or laying down another run. I suppose the best way of describing it is like a continuous feed arc welding system.

With welding off the agenda for the rest of the day, I fitted the disc and flexi on the drivers side:



I then pulled the other washer bottle and had a look at the repair needed on the drivers side inner wing - this is what I hoped the passenger side would be like:



Should be able to do this one without too much trouble

[mat_fenwick]

Ah, I wondered if you were using flux cored wire. In that case those welds are bloody neat - I never got anything like that result during my brief flirtation with gasless. I'll try and blame the welder a little, as it was a very cheap machine - my current Clarke is much better, but only able to deal with gas MIG unless I swap the polarity.

Looks like you might need to be soon welding the case of your welder though!

[Tim Leech]

Good on your Mike, your doing a great job!

[Paul296]

Good on your Mike, your doing a great job!

[Caffiend]

^ +2

Fascinating record, keep it coming and thanks for posting/photos

[citsncycles]

2 days for 1 today, as the forum died while I was on it last night (not me, honest )

Yesterday I finished off the sill



and the passenger footwell




Today was the turn of the drivers side - it looked like this after just a quick wire brush



And this is never a good sign



By the end of the day the drivers floor looked a bit more solid



Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the sill, which I spotted looked like this by the front wing



After a poke with a hammer it looked more like this



And it currently looks like this



Guess what I'm doing tomorrow

As well as this, I also managed to get the ignition lock working a bit better with the application of some oil to the barrell.

[citsncycles]

Welded up the drivers side inner wing and sill today, then sealed the underside of the repairs:







I then fitted the blanking plug and refitted the bottom hose before filling up the system with water to test it - after tightening a couple of joints it held, although I've not started the engine yet.

After that I finished connecting up the hydraulic lines for the steering and fitted the rack heat shield.



I'm shifting the Land Rover tomorrow, but need to get some more hoses etc. tomorrow - BOTH fuel lines are cracked, plus I have to replace some of the return lines from the back of the car after I got them a little warm with the welder

Once these are fitted and the welded repairs painted and undersealed I can test everything then drop the front, jack up the rear and start at that end.

[Defender110]

Excellent bit of tin bashing there.

[Kitch]

You're better at welding thin French cars than me!

[citsncycles]

I've had plenty of practice - It's rare when I buy a motor that isn't a project, and they all need welding sooner or later!