Thread: My 1955 86" rebuild.

As always, nice n sunny when at work, wet n miserable when on days off , but this morning before the rain returned (it's piddling down now)
I grit blasted the windscreen frame out in the backyard, just using sand, it cleaned up nicely

I use this cheap and effective grit gun that I bought some years ago from the SCA store, it does work really well

all these items were grit blasted in the cabinet

they are now down @ Hunter Galvanisers @ Tomago, I suppose I will get them back next week.
Some of the items in the last image, I had galvanized last time I went through this exercise, but one had been riveted to a 88" bonnet and the hinges to suit, anyway this hopefully will be my last visit to them, anyway cheers Dennis

Another busy day in the yard with the Poodle Patrol, now laugh if you must, but basically what your going to see + a few other items in the shed, has taken me the best part of the day.
I'm not sure what these were coated with (knob) it was very hard to move with the grit blaster

the first batch of paint mixed was Gloss Black and sprayed onto these items
+ a few nuts/washers/spring washer

Some of these items would have been galvanized back in the 50's, but I thought they might get lost in the centrifuge, so I decided to paint them Silver

the tailgate chain had a few spots of rust on it, and I couldn't buy a matching link like it, so I grit blasted them, that seemed to take forever, they have also been etch primed & painted Silver, along with the 2 swivel brackets that attach to the top rail of the windscreen frame for the 2 legs to clamp the screen down on the bonnet, anyway that's been my day, cheers Dennis

Today I played dodge the rain drops, damn nuisance , but it did eventually clear allowing me to get onto a few jobs.
This image shows yesterdays effort (along with workin for the SWMBO) LOL

after I had fitted the bulkhead steady I packed all other items in plastic bags and placed them in a box with hundreds of small parts just waiting to be refitted .
After the spotty rain did a runner, I set up the bonnet on 2 saw horses, fired up the compressor and grit blasted the dirt n crud off the galvanized frame,

yes you can see the medium that I used, dry beach sand which I vacuum back up and re-use. It does take some time holding the bonnet up in all different angles and tapping the frame with my wooden hammer, I'm 99.99999% certain that I have removed it, then set it up on 2 clean saw horses and sprayed it with etch primer

the etch primer does not take very long to flash off, then a quick rub with 600 grade wet n dry on the top side of the bonnet, etch prime it then apply a coat of Deep Bronze Green,

? why because hopefully I will have the spare mount back from the galvanisers and I can fit it with solid rivets and get on with painting the bonnet etc.
Sometime just after midday today I re-checked this item which had arrived by post on Thursday, it is 'Red-Kote' (dry powder) I had to buy Acetone and mix it, which I did yesterday and let it stand for 24hrs

by the directions I had to add more Acetone to keep the level at 38mm from the top of the container, I need to go back and check it again this evening.
My good wife asked me to do a few quick jobs with her chook's and this job of relieving the tiles around the tap, it needs a washer replacing as it's dripping++, so out with the 'Dremel' and a tungsten cutter, it made very short work of it, me-thinks I will be able to get a tube spanner down beside it now

anyway that's been my day, cheers Dennis

Hi Dennis
I just wanted to say that I have really enjoyed reading your thread (all 33 pages of it). I certainly apreciate your attention to detail and the quality workmanship you display. I also like how you do something pretty much everyday on the Landy, that's a rule I'm going to try and follow myself. I look forward to following the rest of the rebuild.
Cheers
Chris

Not a lot to show for today, nice n warm in the sun, so out with the fuel tank, make sure it's clean n dry, add the 'Red-Kote' to tank and swish it all around, trying not to whiff the fumes :, gee don't they make you pull your head back QUICK!!!, anyway the tank has been set aside now to allow the stuff to harden.
I did a few jobs for the wife, including fixing the tap , then late this afternoon I thought I had better try and fit the new windscreen gasket/seal strip

I had to cut off approx. 2" as it was too long, very easy to fit though, anyway cheers Dennis

I wanted to do something in preparation for being able to move this vehicle under it's own power, so I needed to put the gearshift back together, so I set it up in the bench vice BAD MOVE as I was to find out very soon

I had cleaned and painted the shaft, cleaned out the housing, of years of accumulated crud & dry grease etc, all nicely lubricated, circlip pliers in hand , and the circlip under load flew off the pliers into the void of the shed, I looked for ages before giving up on it,

luckily for me I had a spare set that I had dismantled and kept the parts in a clip-lok bag, but it will be staying dis-assembled until I get time over the week-end, and I will do the job outside this time, I hate losing parts, anyway cheers Dennis

Hi
lesson learnt
keeps blo..dy big thumb on deeeeer C clip
saves a lot of looking and bad language
been there and done it several times
just when you have it beaten
off it goes at warp speed into the dark void of the rubbish in the back of the shed never to be seen again
having rebuilt a series 2A Gear box and Trans in less than a day and a half, in
last 2 days, they are easier than series ones, no split rings on the lay sharft.
I have seen enough of C clips
cheers
Ian

Well after a quick overnight trip in the 110, this was my lunch/tea stop along the road, nice n quiet @ 1645hrs

to meet up with like minded people, share a few laughs and information and get to put faces to names
.
The time went so quick , I stopped along the road to ring my wife where I could get mobile phone coverage and spotted this on the floor under the clutch pedal

so I suppose tomorrow morning I will be removing the clutch master cylinder and being a long weekend it's gonna take longer LOL
quite a few times we were sidelined by loads like this moving along the road

all adding to my ongoing stress about using the clutch, LOL I was driving a 2 speed gearbox, taking off in 2nd then into 4th .
The day wasn't a complete disaster we went and collected these items from Hunter Galvanising, we took my wife's Astra, I had to sit in the back seat and hold the windscreen frame

most of the items are for the Series 1 but there are a couple of extra items that are excess and 2 items for ex-mil S2/2A (angle brackets for jerry can)
anyway that's been my past 24hrs, cheers Dennis