Thread: Introducing Hedley

Just needing a bit of guidance, please, as my Green Bible doesn't seem to be of any help.

I am in the process of dismantling Hedley's front leaf springs so they can have a nice long molasses bath and a repaint.

I am baffled by the clamps which are not attached to the leaves with nuts and bolts in the same way as the rear spring clamps.



How are these clamps undone and repositioned?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Garry

Use an oxy-torch; about a number 10 tip; heat the bend only and prise it up with a screwdriver, then bend it to vertical with vise-grips and work quickly so as not to overheat the spring.

Best done with two people,

Cheers Charlie

Been a while since I have posted here. Progress has not ground completely to a halt; but it has slowed to a crawl for a couple of months.

I have been working on the chassis - cutting away rusted sections and previously repaired sections, and sanding/priming in preparation for painting and welding.

Some pics...

A PO had bodged up this repair to the rear X-member. I have a brand new replacement, so took to the dodgy one with the cutter and grinder.



Also removed the very sad fuel tank outrigger and the battery mount. I have a new outrigger and a replacement mount to weld on.



The steel cup brush on the grinder, assisted by some paint stripper, is my best friend at the moment. I'm almost tempted to clear coat the chassis rather than satin-black it, as I love the look of the bright cleaned metal. Nah. Black it is.



When I've finished the top and sides of the chassis, I'll remove the rolling gear and flip her on her back and sides for the remainder. Then comes the welding.



I rigged up this hose to the blower in a futile attempt to clear out some of 50 years of accumulated debris inside the chassis. Don't try this at home. Not terribly successful. The water blaster wasn't much better.

Looking good mate

I mean really good! Between you and Grey Ghost I certainly look like a shoddy fly by night cowboy.

Just a quick welding tip I worked out over the Xmas hols (building a frame for a bin cover promised to the boss) - using one or 2 jump leads to earth both sides of the weld makes for a much better initial spark and weld start.
They need to be decent jump leads, but the difference is amazing.

And welding in the slightest wind with a mig is a PITA

Oops almost forgot..

Using a drain cleaner attachment on a pressure cleaner seems to work quite well. Feed the hose all the way in and turn it on. Due to the backwards facing nozzles, as you pull it out it brings all the muck and grime with it.
I'm not saying you'll get it all but I got heaps of mess (and unfortunately rust chunks) out of mine.

Originally Posted by Ozdunc

Oops almost forgot..

Using a drain cleaner attachment on a pressure cleaner seems to work quite well. Feed the hose all the way in and turn it on. Due to the backwards facing nozzles, as you pull it out it brings all the muck and grime with it.
I'm not saying you'll get it all but I got heaps of mess (and unfortunately rust chunks) out of mine.

Yep, it works pretty well.

Making slow progress with Hedley's chassis refurb.

Just had a question to make absolutely sure I am good to go welding the new Britpart rear x-member in place.

You can see how a PO had applied ingenuity, skill, imagination and at least $2.50 to the task of replacing the cross member many moons ago. This meant that I had no reference point for building a jig to ensure that the new member would be placed precisely before welding.



To make up for this, I figured I could cut away all the bits and pieces of the bodged assembly, measure the width of the rails and check them for square, then plonk the tub back on, bolted to the front brackets, and use it as my jig. Seems to have worked out ok, after quite a bit of nipping and tucking, as you can see. Rear bolts seem to fit nicely through the aligned holes.





I take it this means I can go ahead and permanently attach the new cross member.

BUT, I can't figure out if I have done something wrong. When bolted front and rear, the tub sits about 1cm above the chassis. This can't be right can it? I have no memory of the set up prior to pulling the tub off, but it just doesn't seem right that it would not be sitting snugly on the chassis.





I don't think the new piece is sitting too high, as the three 'feet' under the tub are raised above the chassis at an even distance front and rear. Did the good people in Solihull intend this?

If not, any suggestions as to what I may have done wrong?

Many thanks,

Garry

I haven't fooled with any of my S2's, but when I took the body off my S1 there were rubber buffers sitting on top of the chassis where it sweeps up over the axle - they are about 10mm thick,

Cheers Charlie