Thread: Bundalenes '51 Restoration

Spring material no longer available in such thin thickness. Spring works can make a whole new spring pack but will not look the same, probably end up with parabolic arrangement as the new material thickness is 1/4 inch from memory.

Thank you for that, I have had a talk with a local spring man and I think to make one or 2 leaves out of a thicker material will look a bit odd.

The only leaf I need is the one which steps down in width and then wraps around what I call the main leaf. I have 4 sets of these narrow thin rear springs, 3 of which are still on vehicles and all are quite worn, the best of which I have in a molasses tank at present. Strangely enough I have not seen this leaf broken, usually the main or one further down the pack.

My nephew buys a lot of steel out of 2 different mills in China and I will do some research in the New Year and see if there is a suitable product available, even if I have to buy a sheet, I am sure there would be others interested.




Erich

I am not a metallurgist so take this with a grain of ungoogled salt, what about getting the thicker leaf spring, heating it and rolling it out to the desired thickness. I think with the correct heat treatment the spring properties could be reinstated.

A man of your talents could rig up an English wheel sort of thing on a shop press and with a heat source you could get the rolling happening. The spring works would be able to supply the original material and they may be able to reinstate the spring properties once you have rolled it.

I think you are quite correct Sluggie - a set of rolls could easily be made to reduce the thickness and a charcoal forge made to heat the springs. In fact I have made forges in the past, which were used for softening spring steel to make knives.

Re-hardening and tempering is done by quality spring works such as Westralia Springworks.

Top idea cobber!

Cheers Charlie

I was actually thinking of using my milling machine and reducing the thickness as a last resort, then taking it back to the spring man. The machine bed is more than long enough as long as I can clamp the material suitable.


I had a yarn with my nephew over a few drinks yesterday, and he feels there is suitable material available, but it will be a towards the end of Jan until he is back from hols. Until then I will work with what I have.





Erich

Originally Posted by mfc

After the " bundalene's daughters 130 thread" I have high hopes of you're rebuild Not that I know much but the front of that hard top looks like my 1955 86 " with a chunk chopped out to fit it to an 80 ...

That was some build, the 2 of us spent a whole month, 12hrs per day on that, but it worked out great, still going strong, considering it was 5 years since it saw a tar road, very much a bush hunting / fishing and local run about vehicle. That is a new set of BFG muddies, they don't make 40k kms in those conditions, but nothing else comes close.

This 80inch build will take quite a while, it is a very steep learning curve and there are all sorts of non mainstream bits which have to be sourced.

As for the roof on the 80inch, that is off an 86inch with a bit choped out to allow the windscreen to fold down.


Pic taken when we were in Gapuwiyak earlier this year





Erich

Some progress, cleaning heaps of parts which have been in the molasses bath. Some parts are usable and some aren't. Most of these are from a spares pile we bought at auction. just going through things and sorting them.










Also shortened a spring shackle bushes to suit the various areas on the vehicle. I bought standard length bushes and parted them off in the lathe.







I have to sort out my press to be able to remove the bearings off the rear axles. I have used an Enerpac hand pump in the past and had larger parts pressed elsewhere, but managed to score a power unit the other day, which should work nicely. All I need now is a control valve and a few hoses. I should have that sorted in a week or so.








Oh then there are the BSF taps and dies (must be HSS), I have every other known set but not those. I missed some on Ebay a few weeks ago.



Erich

Originally Posted by Bundalene

------ Oh then there are the BSF taps and dies (must be HSS), I have every other known set but not those. I missed some on Ebay a few weeks ago.

Hi Erich

Sorry mate it sounds like I was the culprit!

I have just acquired a set of BSF taps and die's --- off eBay, a few weeks ago, then chased around for the missing 9/16" tap and die to complete the set to cover all eventuality's.

Now I have brought a set of die nuts as well, there are some of those I need to fill the gaps with as well, again the 9/16" isn't there.
9 16" 16 TPI BSF HEX DIE NUT | eBay


Another recent acquisition is a Oxy - Acetylene welding and cutting set, should be very handy for those little problem events.
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