April update-
This month I've been busy getting the seat and 'bonnet' area sorted. I carried on fabricating the raised extension.
I added a bit more to the flange that will bolt down to the body.
Then done the exact same for the drivers side.
With the main removable section tacked up I moved on to the radiator tunnel, I needed to raise that 85mm aswell to match the rest of the body. I marked out with my pencil where to cut.
And used the grinder to cut the top off. I done a few measurements and cut out the extension piece to raise it. Then bent it around a piece of round bar I had lying around. I had to do it in 2 pieces to save metal.
Then I tacked that to the body.
I put the remaining pieces in place to mock up the final look
Next up was to work out a way to get the opposite side of the seat rail raised up to allow the seats to bolt in place. I found a piece of 100mm x 50mm box section which I could use.
Unfortunately it was 15mm too tall so I had to cut it down its length and tack it back together.
I wanted it to have a bit of shape to it so I cut a piece of tubing in half and tacked that to the end.
Then I plated the top of the half tubing and rounded it off to match the profile of the box. Perfect height for the seat now.
I was really happy with how it was looking so I decided to weld it all up. I used the Tig to minimise dressing and distortion on the removable section.
Then I mig'd the radiator tunnel as there was a few larger gaps to fill.
And cleaned it all back up. I also marked out where I wanted the bolts to go that will hold it in place.
I was going to use Dzus fasteners but after realising they were about £4.50 each and I needed about 20 I passed on that and used some nice Stainless domed socket cap nuts and bolts. The nuts will be welded in place so I will only need an Allen key to remove the large section. Oh, also the seat belt latch is the old one and isn't the one being used, I just never got round to removing it yet.
Then I attached the seat rails.
And put the seat in place, all done for this side.
I made up a seat rail bracket for the other side and done the bolts aswell. This seat looks like it has seen better days.
A view from the rear.
I was so happy I decided to christen the van and have my first picnic in it. McDonald's, yum!
Now, if you remember the last time I wrote I had just sold a car and had a bit of extra cash for parts. I got on with ordering a bunch of stuff for the van. I bought a full re-bush kit for the front suspension and steering, along with 2 brand new shock absorbers. I also had to buy new hubs and stub axles but I will explain why in a moment.
I also got the radiator re-cored. The guy done a fantastic job and it was a semi-reasonable £168. ( I say semi-reasonable because I was quoted £130 at first)
Now for the best thing I bought. I wanted a decent set of brakes upfront and ( boring history lesson coming up now) the easiest thing I could have done was get a set of solid discs with hubs and 2 pot callipers from a mk2/3 Zephyr or Zodiac as they would be a direct swap for the van hubs. I don't have any real knowledge of how powerful this set up is but I thought it would be cool to have something bigger and better. I have been emailing the owner of the 400e Thames club (Sandy Glen) and his knowledge of these vans is so vast its mind numbing. He suggested fitting mk2/3 transit solid discs and 2 pot callipers as he had done so before and according to him its a 30% improvement over the Zephyr or Zodiac brakes.
I liked the idea of this and he sent me a few photos of how its done and an email with tips and advice about how to do it. I was quite set on this but I still wanted to try something a little different, so I can say I had my part on how the brakes were done. I found out that the long wheel base Transits came with 4 pot callipers and vented discs. Yep, this is what I wanted. Not only would it be and even bigger improvement over the 2 pots but they look pretty cool to boot. I found a polish website that breaks Transits and found a pair of 4 pot calliper for £105 including P&P, so I bought them. Then on another website I bought discs, pads and 2 calliper refurbishment seal kits.
They look awesome eh.
Now that I had the brakes I was trying to mock up how they would fit inside the wheels. When I came across a problem that took me forever to figure out.
Sandy told me they should fit inside the standard Thames wheels as the transit also used 15 inch wheels but when I tried it seemed really tight, too tight infact. I spent about a week thinking the best way to overcome my problem.
Actually, I better tell you what needs modified to make these brakes fit first then explain my woe. What you do is use the standard Thames hub. Knock off the old brake drum and then get the rear of the hub machined flat for the disc to sit flat on the back of the hub. The brake discs themselves are attached by 5 counter sunk bolts so you then need to drill 5 holes into The Thames hub at 5x100 PCD, the disc centre also needs enlarged slightly to sit on the back of the hub. Then the original wheel studs need knocked out and countersunk to fit countersunk wheel studs. This is one of the picture Sandy sent me to make it sound a bit clearer.
Back to my problem, the only solution I could come up with was to use a spacer to push the wheel away from the calliper. I worked out I needed atleast a 25mm spacer to make it work. I used 5 M10 bolts to work out my spacer size.
I was quite against that idea as it would put a lot of strain on the outer wheel bearing. I know I could just change the steel wheels but I want it to look as standard as possible (with the exception of being banded) from the outside.
My brain started whirring into action and I realised something, That's it, the wheels! The wheels are wrong! That's why there not fitting! You know when something is staring you right in the face you don't see it anymore
, well That's what happened to me. I got to the garage as soon as I could and checked the wheels out. 14 inch rims, yep, at some point over time someone changed the rims to 14 inch.
These wheels were only ever fitted to mk4 Zephyr/Zodiac over about 2 years so it was abit strange but Sandy gave me a good reason for it. It was quite popular to do that as 14inch commercial tyres were a lot cheaper than 15 inch ones.
Lucky for me there's a guy close to me who is also restoring a Thames and had a spare 15 Inch rim for me to borrow to double check
I placed the disc and calliper in and it fitted a lot better. I think I may still need a spacer, but only about 5mm or so. This is because the 4 pot callipers are slightly podgier then the 2 pots.
The reason I had to buy different hubs though was because I noticed mine were a lot thinner than the ones Sandy had shown me on his. If I were to do the same modifications then the part of the hub that gets machined down to accept the disc would only be down to about 6mm in thickness, not as strong as id hope for. I emailed Sandy about this and he told me about the 3 different generation of hubs that relate to the Thames (another history lesson coming up, copy/paste form the email Sandy sent me) :-
"when the 400E was introduced in November 1957, the inside diameter of the inner or back) front wheel bearing was 1.0625 inches. This very soon proved to be a weakness, and from July 1958 a new stub axle was introduced using 1.125 inch inside diameter bearing. Ford also requested their dealers to upgrade all the earlier vehicles to the new parts, free of charge. Replacement parts to the first specification were also discontinued by Ford. A later service bulletin that Ford issued, is very insistent on this being done, sounding a bit panicky. This is before the formal recall system now in place. This too, proved to be not quite man enough, but not a major issue, and in March 1960 another new stub axle was introduced, with the inside diameter of the inner bearing now 1.25 inches. There was no campaign to replace the 1.125 inch bearings."
My old hubs are on the left and the newer ones on the right, notice the thickness differences.
Quite a lot of machine work I'm going to need done. Wish I had a lathe and 3 years spare to learn how to use one properly but I guess this is one of the things I will need to get someone else to do.
Another thing that needs modified will be the shock absorber mounts. The new shocks I got are slightly shorter but much better quality than the reproduction ones you get now, plus they are adjustable so will be able to make them suit the extra weight over the front than stock. I just need to get a piece of tubing and lower the mounting point.
I now need to get my plan worked out, I feel a bit like a head less chicken right now as I'm jumping from one thing to the other, trying to think everything out. In the mean time though I have started stripping the front suspension into its component parts ready to get cleaned up and painted with the new chassis paint I ordered from Rust busters.
Im also measuring and making a list of all the nuts and bolts that I'm taking off to replace with new ones.
Anyway, I better get back to it, cheers!
