33grinder
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Post by 33grinder on Feb 18, 2011 21:27:03 GMT
Yes, great report! You're really wizzing through this restoration Joe! I did notice the missing picture but after the YouTube incident I decided the blame the phone instead.
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Feb 18, 2011 21:53:23 GMT
Sorry guys - don't have the luxury of cut & pasting piccy urls using my own web space like you do with photopheckit and typing stuff like: [img]http://www.dafmobile.ournet.org.uk/pics/matilda/brakes/shoesStripped.jpg[/img] on the fly is just asking for the occasional typo edited to add: Pete, as an SD1 owner, how close in length would you say the brake flexis on them are to the Daf ones? Only, Rimmers has quite a nice clearance offer on them at the moment (apparently front and rear SD1 are the same as each other) and it could save quite a chunk on new ones for Matilda if they're the same or slightly longer!
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33grinder
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Post by 33grinder on Feb 18, 2011 22:05:19 GMT
Good question Joe. I'd happily look for you (did change the hoses and fluid not long after I bought her so can't remember off the top of my head), but this weekend is about a children's birthday party, Chinese takeaway and an impending visit by an in-law. No cars for a little while...
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Feb 19, 2011 9:00:21 GMT
To cut & paste from my own space I'd have to type the url into the browser anyway, and preview's not available from the quick reply box. It's only small savings but I tend to make every byte count on this connection, so post from there whenever possible Meanwhile, sitting twiddling thumbs here waiting for Steve Bidwell to arrive (hopefully in the next hour or so) for Matilda's identity check. That should be the last obstacle, apart from DVLA incompetence, to getting her re-registered
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Feb 19, 2011 12:35:03 GMT
Paperwork all good
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kenr
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Post by kenr on Feb 19, 2011 12:40:59 GMT
That sounds like a sweet engine Joe, although I am more familiar with the Triumph's sound. Superb progress mate. Thanks for a great update.
Ken
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33grinder
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Post by 33grinder on Feb 19, 2011 17:35:41 GMT
Excellent news Joe! I hope I have the same luck when Steve inspects Tigga the 32, although I suspect it will be a lot more involved knowing my luck at the moment... Have you thought of moving closer to Essex Joe? With all your good luck recently it'd be rude not to share some with your fellow DAFfers.
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Feb 19, 2011 18:48:54 GMT
As soon as the inlaws die so we can sell their house, or Farmer George donates a barn for conversion, we could be looking that way, Pete
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Feb 19, 2011 19:27:44 GMT
Headed back down this afternoon to do a little more on the brakes but before that I got distracted by a wheel bearing. Seeing as they'd need ordering in if required (I have fronts but no backs) I decided to pull the half-shaft and check. The grease was a little lumpy to say the least, but cleaned out well enough with some determined scrubbing in paraffin: With a little new grease packed in and worked through, it feels silky smooth and ready to roll again: Next was to remove the fuel tank so I could get better access to the two brake pipes that run in front of it. No piccies from this point on, I'm afraid because I got a little frustrated with her and was concentrating on just getting some progress. So how on earth could such a cute little car get me frustrated? Well, first of all the fuel pipe wouldn't unscrew from the tank. It started to turn and promptly fell apart on the rusty bit at the end. Luckily I had a few inches of 1/4 inch steel pipe so stressed my cheapo flaring tool almost to the limit flaring a stub pipe which can be connected up to the old one with a couple of inches of flexi. Given that there was about a gallon and a half of leaded ex-petrol in there (looked and smelt more like Cuprinol by now!) and that the outlet was completely plugged with varnish, the tank did have to come out and can be cleaned and painted before going back. So not all wasted effort! Then came the main front - rear brake pipe. What on earth were they thinking? ? Having got the vario covers off (top and bottom), bent all the clips out of the way, and struffled to undo the rusted connectors, it finally came out and promptly fell in half at a rusted bit. Lining the two bits up showed that the pipe is 9ft 2 inches long - in a car that only has a 5 ft wheelbase! Not only that, it was very obviously fitted in the factory before the vario primary and probably before the rear suspension. There is no way in the world you could get a replacement steel pipe into place where it bends round the vario without dismantling half the back end of the car. Luckily, I'm using copper so should be able to feed it through carefully and then bend in situ. The pipe is made up, just need to clean up the floor-pan where it runs before refitting. That just leaves 3 front pipes and 1 rear to do, plus the flexis. On the subject of flexis, Rimmers were nice enough to answer my email about their clearance SD1 pipes and they're 30cm with 3/8 unf fittings. The Daf ones are 28cm with 3/8 unf fittings and I'm sure I can clip an extra 3/4 inch of pipe out of the way. At £2.95 + VAT each that's more good news! Now where did I put my ticket to Essex? ;D
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33grinder
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Post by 33grinder on Feb 19, 2011 19:59:06 GMT
Superb stuff Joe! Those drive shafts look like new!
The petrol tank is a job I've done on Gavina as without it removed you just can't get to the unions. I found putting the tank back in, start by pushing down on the back edge (ie bumper end rather than cabin end) and use a trim clip remover (like a bent screw driver with a forked end) to run the rubber over the lip of the tank. Then you can keep applying the pressure at the sides and back. If you do it back to front, access gets a bit fiddly at the back of the tank.
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Feb 19, 2011 21:11:27 GMT
Thanks Pete And for the tip with the tank fitting. I didn't fancy the Autodata suggestion of fitting a draw cord - have you ever tried keeping one in place inside a seal?
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33grinder
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Post by 33grinder on Feb 19, 2011 21:21:47 GMT
Yes, it's a little bit fiddly but with patience you'll prevail. Tricky part is where the filler neck enters the tank as the access to the tank rubber there is tight - so get that bit out of the way first. I used my forked tool so the rubber passes over the first half of the fork and under the second half; that way you can pull it over the tank seam and push it down as you go along.
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Feb 19, 2011 23:46:43 GMT
Well, needed the tank out anyway to rinse it, so that makes life a little easier, but the vario is staying firmly where it is. I now have under 8 weeks left in my planned schedule for this to be on road so that Betty can go in for some much needed tlc. I also have Isabel parked outside at the moment for pre-MOT work (MOT due mid-March) which I know includes (at least) replacing the track-rods and repairs to the back end of both sills. And that's before I even inspect her! So removing varios without very good reason is not an option!
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Feb 20, 2011 18:39:40 GMT
Not much Daf action on Anglesey today, partly due to a lazy Sunday start and partly due to the need to do something about my angle grinder that had started tripping the mains every so often. It's a slightly over-used tool at the moment so needed to be working right (especially with all that underside to clean up!). Anyway, got it working again (broken spring on the switch which had migrated back to the mains lead connections) and found time to put it to a small test. Can you work out which side I used it on? From another angle: That's a single coat of Hammerite smooth, which is probably how I'll leave it seeing as I'm planning to wax the living daylights out of it once it's all cleaned up. I know that by rights I should be stripping every nut, bolt and bracket to clean and paint separately but she's not going to be a museum exhibit so protected is more important than perfect and the wax will creep into all the joints for protection. In fact, it probably gives better long term protection than a factory "paint only" finish in about 1/10th of the time!
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Post by Nick the man with a daf.... on Feb 20, 2011 21:12:23 GMT
has anyone run copper pipes long term on their cars?? I had heard from various places that copper goes hard if tis subject to vibration and could fail? hence why most people use Kunifer when replacing pipes??? i had copper on the first sceptre though and had no problems?? so maybe its internet scaremongering at work
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Feb 20, 2011 22:32:20 GMT
It's one of those things where there's an element of truth but it's blown out of all proportion by lots of people with a little bit of knowledge, Nick.
Copper does work harden quite severely so there is a theoretical risk of failure but by far the biggest risk is from bad handling while forming it or failing to support it properly. Both of those can also cause failure of Kunifer, or even steel, pipes but copper's more susceptible.
If you look at an original brake line run, even steel pipes are generally supported every 6 inches or so to prevent vibration causing chafing problems. As long as you support copper in the same way it's not going to vibrate enough to harden. In fact: if it did, it would be far more likely to wear through against something than harden enough to crack because as it hardens it becomes stiffer and vibrates less!
Pretty well any time someone's done something (like use copper pipe) and had a failure afterwards, it becomes the fault of the material rather than their poor fitting - even if they've fitted countless steel pipes before, they may not have been doing it "right" but the steel pipe is more forgiving of poor practice.
Bear in mind, if there was anything intrinsically bad about the pipe it wouldn't be allowed to be fitted - copper pipes would be an automatic MOT fail even if you could buy them in the first place!
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Feb 21, 2011 18:59:11 GMT
Took a break from brakes today to spend a couple of (very uncomfortable) hours cleaning up the underside where the new pipes will be fitted. This is probably my least favourite job, ever, on any car. Although I must admit that the general condition of her underside made it a lot less unpleasant than I'd been expecting. First job was to fit her out with some stilts. having lost one of my axle stands at some point, a couple of scrap wheels were pressed into service to give enough clearance round the front end: Which gave a fair view of what I was facing: Lots of flaky stuff and the odd patch of 30 year old dried mud but nothing really frightening there! So it was on with the goggles, on with the gloves, and crawl on my back like an (inverted) reptile to get at it. About 2 hours saw the passenger side floor brushed down and coated with rust converter, including the area round the rear suspension mount: And the boot floor: By this time, the main floor (the first bit done) seemed to be reacting quite nicely, despite the temperature being a little below the recommended 10 deg C. Although, given that this was about 2 hours after application, the claim on the pot of "overpaint in 15 minutes" seems a touch optimistic if you're not in the tropics! Before calling it a day due to aching arms and gritty eyes (was using goggles but they didn't keep it all out), the fuel tank was also attacked. Normally I'd be reluctant to use a power brush on a tank, just in case of fumes, but in this case (having seen and smelt what came out of it) the chance of anything volatile remaining seemed pretty minimal so a quick 10 minutes resulted in this: Should take about the same to do the other side, then I have to decide what to overcoat it with. I'm leaning towards nothing but wax on the basis that it's less likely to trap moisture if damaged and won't hide areas that might need re-treatment. After all, it's not like there are any nasties that might need under-seal to hide them from Mr MOT. Any thoughts?
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kenr
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Post by kenr on Feb 21, 2011 20:43:46 GMT
I tend to treat the underside of my vehicles to a bare metal strip, rust killer, then a couple of coats of red oxide, then a couple of coats of anti-stone chip spray on stuff from a can and then a couple of coats or ordinary primer then a couple of coats of body colour paint. It may be a touch OCD but it works for me! That includes floor pan and tank. Snowdrop will get the same treatment in due course.
Ken
Ken
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kenr
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Post by kenr on Feb 21, 2011 20:44:21 GMT
Oh and wheel arches too!
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Feb 21, 2011 21:19:06 GMT
Bare metal strip is out. The paint that's still on there is very firmly attached and I'm afraid I only have limited patience when it comes to lying on my back with about 2 inches nose clearance (and I do suffer slightly from claustrophobia) while being showered in grit / paint / bits of wire brush. Unfortunately the lift in the workshop is out of commission at the moment (being re-wired back to 3 phase) or I might be tempted Wheel arches seem to have good original stone-chip under the mud coating but I'll see what happens when they get the brush treatment.....
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33grinder
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Post by 33grinder on Feb 22, 2011 0:27:31 GMT
Well, from my experience of painting today I can thoroughly recommend Dulux Magic White - goes on pink when wet and dries white and is ideal when painting after dark. Of course, I wouldn't recommend it for Matilda! Gavina seems to have been dinitrolled sometime in her life (according to the little Dinitrol Viking windscreen sticker) and, fingers crossed, seems to have kept rust at bay all these years.
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Feb 22, 2011 20:04:32 GMT
Ok, a bit of a disaster down in the workshop today. I went down intending to clean up and treat the rest of the floor - including pulling the rear shock absorbers off for painting while I was at it. No problem with them (they actually still damp!) but then I started on the floor. First hint of trouble was this: A little investigation from the top confirmed the worst: So, that's it - game over As any '10 plate Focus driver would no doubt tell you, once the rust is in it's game over and the car's nothing but a death trap. Guess for the sake of all Focus drivers everywhere I'll have to weigh her in
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33grinder
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Post by 33grinder on Feb 22, 2011 20:48:37 GMT
Absolutely Joe! You're lucky you found that hole before you spent any more time and money on her. With a hole like that she's crumple like a tin can! Seriously though, that's remarkably good if it's all you find, plus you know you really did want to get your welder out! ;D Much as I wax lyrical ( ) about Gavina's dinitrolled chassis, I'm sure I could find some grot if I went looking... Keep up the good work!
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Post by Patrick on Feb 22, 2011 20:50:22 GMT
Not a "patch" on what I came across on ebay last night. Needs a bit of work A positive bargain!
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33grinder
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Post by 33grinder on Feb 22, 2011 20:53:41 GMT
There's a fine line between bravery and stupidity as they say. I'm stupid enough but no where near brave enough! ;D
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Feb 22, 2011 21:09:47 GMT
Absolutely Joe! You're lucky you found that hole before you spent any more time and money on her. With a hole like that she's crumple like a tin can! Seriously though, that's remarkably good if it's all you find, plus you know you really did want to get your welder out! ;D Funny you should say that, Pete, but no, I really didn't want to get my welder out at this point. I'll be having enough fun with that when it's time for the driver's door! Still, needs must, so, instead of coming away with a fully treated floor ready to put the brakes back together and start on the fronts, I had to spend the available time doing this: Then this: and this: And finally this: Not quite as invisible as I'd like but it was a pretty awkward curve to grind (especially on the inside) and I really didn't fancy putting the grinder through the new metal just for the sake of neatness
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Post by dafdaffer on Feb 22, 2011 23:40:26 GMT
Good effort SM but really should have weighed it in at that point i believe that the whole rigidity of the structure has gone and that if you place your foot too hard onto the brake pedal you may have the floor crumple from under your feet resulting in a bent fucass.
other than that good effort ;D
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33grinder
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Post by 33grinder on Feb 23, 2011 1:49:55 GMT
Tidy bit of fabrication and welding there - top notch effort sir!
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Feb 23, 2011 12:46:37 GMT
Ohhh, package turned up all the way from America today - with 2x matching side vent trims! Thank you, John - just what I needed to make me get my finger out and get her ready to fit them ;D ;D ;D
Also, just ordered 4x Rover SD1 30cm brake flexis for a total (inc post) of £18.19. They're about an inch too long and need double flares instead of bubble ones - but at that price they've gotta be a bargain and it's no problem to re-route them slightly!
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pauldaf44
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Post by pauldaf44 on Feb 23, 2011 12:50:49 GMT
Not a "patch" on what I came across on ebay last night. Needs a bit of work A positive bargain! A Positive Bargain....for a weigh-inI may be a brave restorer...but even I would not tackle THAT. John Who you trying to kid John its still vagualy car shaped youd do that in a week ;D
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