September update
I got an email shortly after my last update saying the wheel studs i ordered were out of stock and wouldn't be in for a few weeks. This was about 4 days after i placed my order on eBay, uuugh, why sell something you don't actually have. Anyway, I thought before ordering of the net again I'd see if there was anywhere local i could get them. I found the trailer company "indespension" sold the ones i needed at the correct length. Went to my local depot and got a set. Nice one.
So with the new wheels studs in hand i set about pressing them in. I done a stupid thing and thought i could use the vice to press them in. Turns out they say not to use a vice as a press for a reason. I managed to break the vice. Its not even my vice, its the guy i share the garage with so i had to give him some money to replace it, thats me down another £60, bugger. I was going to wait and use my dads press at home but i looked at my hydraulic pipe bender and figured out a way to use that to press the studs in. Then bolted the wheel on. I set up a stand next to the wheel and spun it to make sure it was true, which it was, bonus!.
Good to see the van on the same wheels all round.
The wheels are centralized by the wheel studs but i will be getting some spigot rings machined up for the road to take the strain off the nuts later.
I wanted to get the watts linkage setup finished for the Scottish ford day show. I added some bags of sand to act as ballast to the back off the van. Somewhere close to what the weight will be when finished to get the parallel bars level. The axle already has the watts linkage bracket on the back. I decided to use the scimitar linkage bars aswell. I leveled the bars and took some measurements. Then i drew up and cut out some plates.
I wanted the brackets to look similar to the 4 link brackets so i took a few design cues from them. I then tacked it all up.
Then welded and cleaned.
I went back under the van and tacked them into place and connected the linkage bars up.
Looks good, i jumped up and down on the van and swayed it side to side. Axle stays in place and the bars move as expected, yey.
The next weekend was the big Ford day show. I was happy with the progress i had made for the show. I had a bit of planning to do before the show though. My dad managed to get a loan of the trailer again from his friend. Which meant i had to sort out the wiring for the towbar. I really should have done it earlier but ive been so busy. I done it on the Saturday morning and couldn't really test it before i left. everything worked with the multimeter but i couldn't do a proper test with a light board, oh well, fingers crossed.
In the afternoon, my dad, brother and I went on a little trip to collect the trailer. The guy that owns the trailer has his own haulage company and he showed us all around his toys. He is into pre war Humbers, he even owns one from 1908. I think he had about 10-12 classics in total. Anyway, we got the trailed hitched up, tested the lights, they worked! and went on our merry way. Took a little bit of extra care driving back with the trailer to the garage and prepared the Thames.
First time it has been wheeled outside in 3 years!
Testing the suspension ;) .
Then loaded up.
From there we drove to my brothers to put it on his drive for the night. Having the Lexus compared to the Punto as a tow vehicle was a completely different experience. I felt a lot more in control, especially when braking. I always felt like the trailer was pushing the Punto when braking.
On Sunday we got up early, went to my brothers then headed to the show. Nice drive up there but the wind was staring to pick up. Once there we got the van unloaded.
Pushing it into place.
Ta-daa!, i even brought my nephews trike as he was coming along aswell.
It was good meeting and chatting with the other guys there. The van got a few looks as-well. I had brought a big bucket of the old rusty pieces i had cut off but forgot to take them out the boot, doh. Later on my nephews turned up. Broden got a quick shot of the van.
And Ruaridh had fun on the trike, i also had fun on the trike.
There was a lot of cool looking cars there, heres a few of my favourite.
The wind started picking up in thew afternoon and knowing i had to take the van back to the garage then return the tailer we left around 3:30-4pm. I had a really enjoyable day with the van and my family.
Ok, so now that the axle is all tacked into place (not fully welding until the engine is in, just incase) I can begin on the engine swap. Unfortunately, i need to wait until i can buy another second hand car. So, whilst im saving up for that im going to keep myself busy with the doors and side skirts.
I went back to the garage yesterday and looked over the front doors. The passenger side i worse than the drivers so I'll start with the drivers and that will give me a good one to copy for the passengers.
Some of the worst areas.
I stripped all the paint off so i wouldn't get any more surprises later.
A nice easy bit to get me back into the swing of metalwork. This is the top hinge area a wee bit rusted out.
Patched and tacked.
Then tidied up.
Little area around the window frame.
The rear edge of the window frame was a bit worse. The channel was rusted out but i could also see the door itself was rusted underneath.
I knew i was going to cut the frame away so i braced it before hand to keep it in place.
Then i cut out the frame section.
Then the door section.
Using a bit of guesswork and measuring i fabbed up a repair section.
Tacked/welded it in.
The frame section has 5 folds in it to make up the profile. 3 of which are turned over into them selfs. A bit too tricky to make in one go so i done it in 2 sections. First is the outside section.
Then the inner.
I forgot to take a pic of it afterwards, oops. The only bits left to do to the door is the bottom edge. It is a bit deteriorated so i wanted to get the door on the van so i can visualize and draw a template for it. I also wanted to check the door gaps as i haven't fitted the door since doing the guttering or whole A-post.
Not bad, atleast it fits snugly.
Now i can measure up for the lower part. Looks like i wont need to be re-skinning a lot, mostly build up door edge and patch the skin.
I really enjoyed today. I like the mechanical stuff but i found myself really enjoying the metalwork again. Im going to keep going with the doors and sideskirts until i get another car. Then take a week off work and get the engine out the Lexus.
