Just a quick update of loose ends, so the car can go back together a little more.
Fire extinguisher fitted on rivnuts, so I don't have to remove the seat to get to the floor panel Made a battery hold down bracket 3D printed a "label" for the buss bar, which also seals it up a little. Stuck a little bit of sound insulation on the holes in the cab floor - I am not allowing any more project creep at the moment
Then hooked up a lead so I can connect my battery charger, again without removing the seat. That'll tuck up nicely between the B-pillar and the seat box when not it use.
...and now the seat base is back in - importantly one less thing to trip over in the garage.
Quiet here at the moment, so I'll chip in with some of the wiring I've been doing.
I've got two of these Deutsche DT 12-way plugs on the firewall, so the cab can be removed from the chassis. But the wires are visible from the back of the connector. None of the commercial glands etc suited my needs. So I designed and printed some in a flexible rubber ones with something known as TPU.
These were designed to take glue-lined heatshrink to form the rest of the loom.
All the rest of the engine bay wiring was covered in the same heatshrink. The 1mm thinwall cables are tiny, and the heatshrink adds a lot of protection. If splitting a loom, grabbing the Y with a pair of needle nose pliers gives a good effect - just hold them in place for 20sec or so as the glue dries.
Whilst none of this is period correct, it can hardly be seen when it all back together. More importantly, not a scotchlock, crimp terminal or any tatty electrical tape to be seen.
The 12-way connector is tucked behind the coil, to draw the eye away from it.
Hopefully the volts stay in and there is no smoke.
But I'm very happy with that.
I've also got the plywood floor back in. This time using the factory spec of 7 x 1/4" UNC fittings, as opposed to just gravity.
I've tested all that wiring, before looming it up in heatshrink, and I've had the gauges working etc, and the engine turning over and producing a spark.
But it won't start as the electric pump isn't pulling fuel from the tank. It is pumping air, just not fuel. There is 1/4 tank according to the gauge, and I put an extra gallon in to be sure, to no avail.
I had problems like that on day 1, when I bought it, but that was before an electric pump. There must be an issue with the pickup pipe - I'll investigate.
It is 4:1 ratio, so it goes really small. The glue lining is great, when it sets, it keeps its shape on the cable runs, that means you can remelt a section to tweak it as needed, to run it tidily.
Plus it is plain, there are no specs etc printed on it, so it nice'n'subtle.
It is amazing the knots you can get into when re-wiring a vehicle !! On this Ford, the headlamp switch is effectively on the steering box, controlled through a rod through the steering column. That setup is never going to work when I go to power steering. So, remove it and add a more conventional switch.....
The rod is so long !!
I ended up unscrewing the surround from the back window, and removing the glass to get it out. I was hoping to get it out in 1 piece to help a restorer, but it still got bent. It would have been so much easier to cut it.
The screws on the window surround are so fiddly. I ended up making a spanner to hold them in place.
A previous owner combination of missing screws, UNF and UNC threads didn't make this job very easy. So much so, it has taken me almost 3 months of deliberation before putting the frame back together !!
But back together it is.
Another few things less to trip over
The trim in this vehicle with its screws and leathercloth isn't original or sophisticated but will do for now.
Take a piece of angle iron, drill it, and weld on some spacers in appropriate locations. Then paint it grey - because there are alternatives to black paint.
Crack out the air-tools, because there is no space to get anything else in here.
That piece of angle iron picks up on two factory holes in the cab corners. Alas nothing in the middle - hence the drilling, but it all for a good cause.
And now I have lap-belts, a requirement for the Pendine Sands Beach Race in the summer. Not a bad thing to have the rest of the time either.
and as a bonus, nice to have the seat fully back in place.
I've finished the rear loom, and there are multiplugs to the lights and fuel pump, so I can do maintenance in the future without chopping/removing the loom. But it is incredibly un-photogenic. Lights, fuel tank sender and pump all worked first time
Now I'm changing tack - after a lot of research and blind alleys I've found someone to straighten my chassis. Just 2 miles from my house !! So it is going there in 2-3 weeks for a tug on the chassis rails.
In order to get access, and to ensure they aren't damaged, the front body panels need to come off. Bonnet was super awkward single handed - but it is off safe. Then the headlamp bar. Hmmm - I guess the paint job wasn't done with care and attention to detail that grumpynorthener gives to a Jowett.
Slightly disappointed with the lack of prep there - but I guess it is better than filler and a 1000 bodged repairs - yes I'm talking about you Morris Oxford Traveller
Wings, rad shell and possibly running boards to come off next.
An added bonus of stripping off the front panels, is I now had great access to the front end wiring. I've got a 4-way multiplug for the lights, and a 2nd 3-way for the horns/indicators. A factory hole in the front crossmemeber has made a good earth point for all of that. The plugs will allow me to strip/assemble the front end without disturbing too much wiring.
With the rad shell back on, the wiring is pretty well hidden.
Same deal on the offside, but a bit more of it, as there a spare 2-pin plug for anything needed in the future. Also a 2nd 2-pin plug for an electric rad fan, again if that is needed.
Again pretty well hidden by the rad shell.
Although the front lights/horns aren't fitted at the moment, I managed a mock-up/test. All working, and the dashboard lights up like a Christmas tree The new indicator stalk even gives me hazard flashers, which is great in an old vehicle like this with a propensity for breaking down.
Still got a problem with the fuel feed from the tank, so engine isn't running yet - but soon.
Still got a problem with the fuel feed from the tank, so engine isn't running yet - but soon.
Found some grot in the pump, it was enough that the pump was working, but not powerful enough to pull fuel from the tank.
I've blown the lines through again, but I'm not sure the pump is at full health.
But the engine runs again after the full rewire
Ignition light goes out - tick Tachometer seems to work - tick Voltmeter shows a charging voltage - tick
Super happy about all of that.
I'll replace the fuel lines, and put on a fresh pump as they are less than £10, but this time with a filter on the inlet to protect it from grot in the tank.
Things will go quiet now for a week or two as work is about to kick off.
Been spending a bit time measuring the old girl, as a booking has been made for giving the chassis a tweak. People always quote diagonals, as being the best source of truth. So, I 3D printed some brackets that would clip onto various chassis features, and allow a plumb bob line to be gauged.
The rear
The front has these holes on both sides, so I made up a fitting to suit
and dropped a line from that.
I put tacks into the drive, and marked the exact position of the pointer on them. But the chassis is so narrow, 1-2mm on the diagonals is enough to make a decent difference.
Results were showing a bend to the offside, like all my other measurements, but this time only 5-7mm other methods have said up to 13mm
So we are going to ignore all that, and use the bonnet gaps as a datum. Much easier to measure, and they seem to accurately represent the deformation, and getting the bonnet to fit accurately will be great.
I'm kind of limited to what I can do, as I have to keep the car mobile, ready for Thursday. So it is odd job time.
1. Mirrors
The originals had broken bracket, and the previous owner had put screws through the hinges to hold them on. There was going to be no repeat of that. The mirrors go through the hinge pins.
But they fit very close the hinge, and had to linish a little material off to allow them to swing into place. I need to put a dot of weld into those old screwholes at some point
Fitting them this way, allow me to push them forward, when working on the car in the garage, as otherwise, I'm constantly bumping into them.
These always needs a good slam, and the springs inside were weak. But I bought new springs from the US. After a good fight the mechanism was out and on the bench.
Hmmmm, someone has been here before, there is an inelegant weld holding the two sections together, and the lock is a repro.
The spring is held in place with a horseshoe shaped clip, that you bend to release, and then peen over to secure. The new springs didn't fit, and after a couple of attempts, that clip was pretty mangled. So, turn it over and weld it up.
I'll have to save up, as they are >$500 a pair for some decent reproduction mechanisms. But at least that gives a lock on both doors. Currently I have to deal with only the passenger door locking externally. Madness, but they are all like that Sir!
A bit of a clean up, greasing and minor adjustments has made it better, but there is still room for improvement.
Last one for this weekend, the passenger door checkstrap was missing. It didn't matter previously as the spare wheel mounted on the fender stopped it going too far. But as the spare wheel was off - time to do something about it. The brackets in the A-pillar were long gone....
Drill out the spotwelds, and generally make a bit of a mess getting out the remains of the brackets.
Make a couple of L-shaped brackets out of some 2mm stainless I had in the scrap bin, and tack them into place. Luckily I'd found the spare check-strap floating around the bottom of the drivers door !!
Fully welded into place.
A quick bit of primer, and a UNF bolt makes it functional.
I've got quite a bit of cream paint to touch up, but that can wait for better weather.
Post by grumpynorthener on Mar 11, 2024 8:22:57 GMT
That particular check strap is a common find on a lot of pre / post war vehicles (Fitted to the both the Javelin & Jupiter) - Its available from Paul Beck Vintage Supplies & the rubber restrainer buffer is also available separately - links below
One thing I noticed since fitting clear fuel lines and a fuel pressure gauge, the mechanical fuel pump isn't all that. So, I ordered up a rebuild kit. The fuel pump is driven off a pushrod, I presume from the cam.
Removing and pulling apart on the bench was straightforward but messy.
I was expecting dodgy seals and grit to be the issue, but no, seems the pivot hole is ovalised, which will make it hopeless.
Rebuild of the top half of the pump was easy enough, the non-return valves levered out and new ones were easily pressed intp place. The only filter is a gauze.
Putting the springs and levers together was fiddly, but after that was done, I found it easier to reassemble in two part.
I've not had chance to check the pressure with it running, but took it for a drive yesterday, and it seems to work.
Yesterday was a day off work, to try and tweak the chassis straight.
Old school wrecker, with a mahoosive winch, with a couple of old school hot-rod guys.
Concensus of opinion was, it wasn't far off of factory at anywhere between 5 & 13mm depending on how it was measured. But it was worth a pull to see if it would come back without any further dismantling.
Anchored to a heavily loaded Transit, we put quite a bit of pull on it. The tension on the winch and rigging was begining to get a little worrying. So we stopped, after moving it exactly 0.00mm !!
In order to do more, it would be a complete strip down with engine out, portapowers etc. Again the concensus was not worth it, that runout could be adjusted with careful panel fit, and building a little adjustability into the suspension (which I planned anyway).
But experienced eyes spotted a major problem with my steering..... The angle of the drag link was quite extreme, which would give a lot of bumpsteer. I don't have any great pictures, but here you can just see the angle from the pitman arm.
There was a quick fix for this. Turn the steering arm upside down, so the tapered trackrod feeds in from the bottom. Reducing the angle.
The drive home was so much nicer, a night'n'day improvement. Amazing what a wise and experienced pair of eyes can spot and fix.
With a bit of slop adjusted from the steering box, and another few degrees of castor dialled in, it might actually be good enough......
One of the things that is a constant battle, is screws and bolts. For many years this vehicle was worth nothing, and was serviced on a farm no doubt with whatever was lying around.
For example I identified the screws to hold the bonnet hinges on as 1/4 UNC semi-raised countersink - slotted.
The screws going back in are the replacements on the left. On the right are a pair of mis-matched nonsense that I took out, I think one is metric.
The corect stainless fittings aren't that easy to find or cheap, which was why it was done back it the day, but it keeps me amused and poor to replace them when I find them.