Al's Rusty Shite Emporium

Zody in the shed :)

2012-02-26T15:25:00.004-08:00

The120 was finished today so is off for MOT :)

Into the shed comes the Zodiac :)
Had the cabin floor cleaned by Petey then given a coat of red oxide. A couple of small patches need sorting but on the whole it is a damn good floor :)

Stripped the brake master cylinder down and managed to unseize it, honed the bore and now awaiting new seals. Front calipers currently seized and showing no signs of life :(
Clutch cylinders are free.
Wiper problem sorted but washer pump appears dead so an electric one will be used for now.
still no lights but shouldn't be hard to sort.
Found a key that fits the ignition.

moooore tin

2012-02-25T15:51:00.002-08:00

Finsished the passenger side of the 120 today

Looks really nice now :)

Made a start on the drivers side :/
Not so nice ..

Mooore Datsun.......

2012-02-23T14:28:00.004-08:00

Today another Datsun turned up showing signs of tin weevil :/

Passenger side first..
out with the power tools :)

clean steel :)

Pretty lights :)

New steel..

Off my ramp and on someone elses :)

2012-02-21T14:20:00.003-08:00

But the other person was the MOT tester :)
What did he say...
Well after things like cool, wow, nice and oi you lot come and see this.....

He said pass :)

So a couple of last piccies before I park it up ready for collection :)

It goes :)

2012-02-20T12:58:00.000-08:00

Tonight the ramp was lowered and the Datsfun was ejected :)

With the fuel leaks fixed I could drive it out under its own power :)

Still had one last job to sort, the brace was resting on the engine when fitted so I cut and rewelded the bracket and it now has just enough clearance :)

I drove it home tonight, just to make sure it was running ok, honest ;P
Made me smile :)

Arse end done :)

2012-02-19T12:54:00.001-08:00

Rear valence sorted today :)

A quick grizzle to tidy

and a coat ofzinc and sealer :)

Bolt it back up tomorrow and book the MOT :)

Datsun spares heading off

2012-02-18T14:11:00.000-08:00

The yellow datsun we broke has yeilded many spares and a load were collected today.

The little pick up is a Hyundai Pony and is fitted with a datsun motor which today proved somewhat troublesome :(
Eventual call to the AA got it fixed with a new condenser :)

Zodiac stopping power

2012-02-18T13:59:00.000-08:00

Brake pedal on the Zody is seized solid so a m/c rebuild or replace is on the cards but while we had the wheels off for the diff replacement Inoticed the wheel cylinders were seized too so we removed the cylinders off the other Zephyr and soaked them is diesel for a day and managed to strip them down. A good clean and a quick spray ..

Seal kits ordered along with a hone kit to clean the bores.
Thought you may like to see the diff we removed from the Zody :(

The Zody needs an exhaust manifold so as this zephyr one is broke and also spare I am going to use it as a base for making the Zody one. It will need blanking off at the ends and cutting in half :)

Sorting the arse end :)

2012-02-18T13:33:00.000-08:00

After repairing the fuel tank and refitting we chucked some fuel in and fired her up :)
Then started to strip the rear valence off and noticed a fuel smell, I thought some had been spilled but unfortunately it turned out to be a porus fuel line :/ Off to the shop and some new fuel hose is neatly fitted ..

So back on with rear valence removal.

Drilled spotwelds at both ends..

Then disc cut along just below the lip so i could get better access to drill the spots along the join.

Chopped into the boot to remove some rust holes above the valence and a little into the rear 1/4

And cleaned it all up

Zodiac

2012-02-14T14:26:00.000-08:00

On another note :)
The 2 zephyrs I recently bought have now been joined by a Zodiac after a phonecall from a freind saying this car is going over the bridge now!! buy it I said so he did :)
With help from a freind we went and collected it last weekend and have since had a little poke about to see what we had.

turns out to be a very solid car :)

Some surface rust from being stood for a few years in a barn

biggest immediate problem was the seized rear axle :(
Turns out the PO had repainted the axle off the car but never refilled the oil in the diff, after being stood for so long it rusted up and the nose bearing disintergrated. So out with the old diff and in with one from the other cars so we could get the old girl off the trailer :)
At least this old girl comes with a sound system :)
Got her running for a few second by filling the float bowl with juice, will need some attention to the fuel pump :)

The original battery wasn't holding much charge though :/

front done

2012-02-14T14:14:00.000-08:00

Bit forgetful on the camera front and when I do remember it the batteries die :/
but not everytime :)
Got the spanners out and replaced the steering idler bushes :)

All welds now painted and sealed ready for second coat

In replacing the front crossmember I lost the rad mount that was there as i couldn't get my drill in with the engine in situ :/
I decided it was easier to fab another bracket, a couple of pieces of the sills came in very handy :)
Front end reassembled now, fuel tank repaired and refitted so next attack plan is the rear valence and MOT :)

currently nearly naked :)

2012-02-01T13:47:00.000-08:00

Had to undo a few bolts to sort the front crossmember :/

Found this in the inner wing under the battery tray :(

Front end

2012-01-30T13:04:00.000-08:00

Sills now all welded, just a little trimming to do before paint and seal so took a look around for other problems.

Rear valence could do with replacement as it looks rough, not MOT item but it won't get better.

The front is a different matter. The front crossmember below the rad looked a little crusty so I had a dig and found lots of weevils :(
Didn't have my camera with me tonight so I brought a piece home :)

This is the underside of the crossmember where the suspension bolts too :(

And the inside was worse, the plate with the thread in is supposed to be right angle bracket for reinforcement!

After a bit of measuring I cut the back and bottom off so will start reassembly wednesday as I have a Scooby in tomorrow :)

Another toy

2012-01-28T13:16:00.000-08:00

I bought a 65 Zephyr a bit back and soon after went to look at another for spares, he wanted too much as it was incomplete so I left it.
Then out of the blue he contacted me, he had sold to another guy but the courier company arrived and refused to take it as the passenger side strut was not attached so they couldn't drag it on the trailer.
So still having it sometime later and knowing I had seen it and knew what to expect he offered it at a lower price, I offered less again which he accepted so plans made we set off with a lot of kit including a strut from mine :)

Safely loaded and now nestling in my care :)

Not all stripping this weekend

2012-01-22T12:32:00.001-08:00

Did manage a little welding to Datsfun :)

Inner sill drilled for plugs to outer sill..
Edge will be straightened after outer sill is in place.
Outer sill tacked in place with wide spaces getting closer until....

I could join em all up.
Outer sill is now in place with just the rear end lip to finish :)

strippers ahoy :)

2012-01-22T12:17:00.000-08:00

We spent some time on the yellow Datsun today and got it ready for the yard :)

Plasma cutter was invaluable..

Chopped out several useful panels as well as the mechanicals..

does my bum look big.. oh wait :/
Both inner wing tops were in fair condition so we kept them..

The roof was also wanted so off it came, we managed to keep the glass intact which surprised us. We chopped the B and C pillars and cut as far as we could through the A's then lifted the back of the roof to break the bonded seal at the base of the screen, when it was part way off we could get a knife in and finish it off then lift the roof clear :)

Now ready to go to the fraggers in the morning :/ might be enough to cover the diesel :)

2012-01-18T13:43:00.000-08:00

Due to singeing a door card :( we wanted some spares so with help from the owner we located and brought back another Violet, it was going to be fragged the next day so we were very lucky. We stuck an advert up and have ended up with a pretty much bare shell in a matter of days :)

The barn you see above is a car storage facility in Gloucestershire, £25 per month if you need dry storage :)

Back to the Datsfun...
Drivers rear floor sorted and seam welded ..

And a couple of hours tonight got the front sill closing panel sorted ..

Outer sill lines up sweet so rear closing panel tomorrow night and probable finish over the weekend.

end in sight

2012-01-16T14:51:00.000-08:00

Domestic work took over the weekend so back on the Datsfun this eve took us here...

Not quite as bad as the passenger side but still tricky.

Inner sill now finished, reinforcing plate sorted just the final floor plate to glue in.
I can then get on to the outer sill.

Rear sill area dissapears :/

2012-01-12T14:22:00.000-08:00

2 new bottles of gas arrived today so hopefully they should see this little job through to the end now :)

The drivers side rear sill closing panel, inner sill and floor was a lot worse than the passengers side :(
The flange at the bottom of the rear door shut had to be split to let the individual panels be separated..

So they could be removed..

Ready for new tin in the floor and inner sill ..

Then inner arch and middle sill..

And all rejoined at the door flange ..

Drivers side.......

2012-01-08T14:01:00.000-08:00

Passenger side refitted so strip out drivers side and start the grinder ..

And stick some slightly less rusty tin in...

Sliight lack of go pedal to sort out :)

Inner sill replacement

From underneath looks good too :)

sills :) big post :)

2012-01-07T11:29:00.001-08:00

Got the sills this morning :)

Bit better than the originals :)

Bitmore expensive than I hoped but less than the pattern alternatives we found and to be honest probably a better quality, zintec 1.2 mm :)

Not quite right on the closing panel so a quick modification needed..

Now sits nice all the way along..

Best get on with it then :)

Looks good..

I had to replace a small piece of door step, I left it till the sill was welded in place to keep the strength, finished pic above, this is how I did it :)

Managed to cut the drivers sill off, filler and rags :/

Got the interior sealed ready for passenger side refit tomorrow

Also dropped the fuel tank to find the leak, turns out it was some rather tired chemical metal

Which was covering some less than perfect welding

quiet day

2012-01-01T13:48:00.000-08:00

Today was a quiet day but I did make a profile pattern to take to my steel supplier on tuesday to get the sills folded:)

I also fitted 2 strengthening ribs in the sills to hold up the step until the outer sill is fitted.

Pete came round and was trying to steal the wheels for his Scooby while I was drilling holes in his wings for some mirrors :)

I got Sams manifold into the press and straightened it up, near as I can tell it now has only about 1/2 mil twist which should be taken up in flex when bolted up. The pic just about shows the amount of bend I had to put in to get it to stay straight :/

I was also pleased to get my Triumph wings delivered by Mark, bought these off ebay a while back and the RR pony express has come good :)

more complcated pieces :/

2011-12-31T13:12:00.000-08:00

Today was sill closing :)
What a pita it was too :)

It is difficult to show the complicated shape of the 3 seperate panels that make up the sill closing piece.

I also seam welded around the plates I did yesterday as it turn out to be a weak spot in the shell, might as well do it now while it is clean and in bits :)

Suspension strengthening :)

2011-12-30T13:22:00.000-08:00

Hours spent on the Datsfun today.
The rear floor was looking a bit tired so I knew underneath the layers would be worse, I was right.
Chopped out the floor layer and the front of the rear seat area to get to the reinforcing panel.
That was then removed to get to the rear chassis leg end. After I cleaned it up I had to replace the end of it.

The reinforcing plate was put back and the front of the rear seat area followed.

Then the floor was laid, the corner of this area was guess work as there is nothing original to work on :/.
I can now replace the last piece of inner sill and rebuild the front of the inner arch ready for the outer sill.

From underneath shows the plug weld penetration.

Doors!!

2011-12-29T09:28:00.000-08:00

I got the camera out today to show you the new doors :)

Now need to rebuild front wall to match :)

The Van of shite

2011-12-28T11:46:00.000-08:00

I needed to move some stuff around so a van was needed and a friend at work was having trouble selling his Scrote so a silly offer later I had a van with 12mnth MOT :)
Today I got round to laying some stickers on it :)
Need to get the phone numbers and web addy on and all will be good :)

Also fitted new doors to the workshop today, picture fail :(, and a bit more on the Datsfun again a picture fail :(

Tomorrow I will do better :)

2011-12-27T14:17:00.000-08:00

Today I got the front floor/inner arch, inner sill and outer sill behind wing sorted :)

Action shot :)

back again

2011-12-26T11:38:00.001-08:00

Had some time in the man cave today.

I did some more cutting and decided on first patch..

So I chopped out all the offending brown stuff...

And put some clean zintec in...

This is going to be a headache, behind this panel is the rear suspension mount, you can see the vertical spot welds. Three panels thick including the mount and access isn't good except from here.

Intro

2011-12-24T11:49:00.000-08:00

My name is Grunty and I am addicted to rusty things :)
I learnt to weld many years ago when my boss said " there's a rusty Transit in the yard and there's the welder" Oh I said and set to it, always up for a challenge :)
Very quickly I started on other peoples cars so bought my own welder and haven't looked back.
That was the start of a hobby that has allowed me to repair some lovely old cars and keep many out of the scrappy.

This is just a record from now as I want to build a portfolio of my work.

I am not a rivet counter and am not put off by a car that has been welded as long as it was done properly. There are welders that will weld a car and you won't know they have been there but unfortunately I don't have the patience for that. My welding is done to a high standard and I do not hide it unless it is exterior body work.

I also do fabrication of other stuff as well, tractor linkages, gates, security doors and even wooden structures too.

If you have a car that needs love you know where to come.

2011-10-26T12:41:00.000-07:00

warming up..

As my shed is getting cold I thought a source of warmth was in order.
I visited a local scrap yard and found an old gas bottle that he was stuck with so only to happy to lose :)

After carefully removing the valve and filling with water for a week I set about modifying it.

First job was cut a hole in the top to fit a flue stub, I fitted the stub with a flue damper so the chimock could be shut off.

I cut the bottom ring off the bottle and cut in into 4 sections, 2 large and 2 small. The large pieces were to make a stand, or legs, for the burner so I could stand it on any surface without worry. The base of a wood burner does not get too hot as the wood burns on a bed of ash which keeps the base insulated.
I then cut a hole in what was the base to make a door and the 2 small pieces of the base ring were then used as the hinge along with some m10 nuts and an m10 bolt.

This is where it is as of today.

Next time i need to fit a door catch and some method of sealing it. Also an air control so along with the chimney damper I can control the heat output.

2010-12-26T12:31:00.000-08:00

3 wheels on my wagon, sorry, trailer :)

On the way back from Lancashire we had a trailer wheel seize up so I had to remove the wheel to get home.

Today was the day to sort it out.
The problem turned out to be a seized bearing on the inner side of the hub.

I had to get a grinder and very carefully grind a flat on the inner race all the way through to the stub axle in order to remove the race as it had spun on the axle and welded itself on. The damage to the stub axle was only minor so after a bit of fettling the new race was fitted and all was ok.
While I was doing this I thought I may as well do the lot. The brake shoes were well past their sell by date, so much for the trailer being serviced just before I bought it!!

A good clean of all parts,

And the back plate

Then all was reassembled, adjusters and all nuts greased with copper slip, new bearings packed with fresh grease.
Brakes came with new shoes and all new springs so now adjusted and now all running free.

2009-12-26T12:34:00.000-08:00

GRP and pretty lights

Well we had fun this weekend!! ( that was sarcasm !)

I got an offer of a classic car shell to make some Fibreglass molds so I can make some new panels to hopefully sell on. The biggest problem was the 200+ miles between me and said shell!
The kids were away already so I grabbed the Mrs and off we went, that was after many phonecalls to try and find a BnB in Blackpool on a bank holiday weekend at short notice that would allow dogs!

We didn't leave till gone 3pm and after a steady trip up the M5 with the Landy temperature gauge hovering just under the red we got there about 8. As it was a bank holiday weekend we found parking difficult, ended up taking the trailer off and pushing that into a space with the landy parked across the back of it. A short wander around the sea front and a pizza for tea we headed back to the BnB for bed.
The following morning we could move the Landy and trailer into a better place while we walked the dog on the beach.

We left the carpark and immediately found a lack of clutch which turned out to be a lack of fluid due to a leak some where, found a garage a few miles down the road where I managed to find some fluid and all was well again.
I also noticed some squeeking noises coming from underneath the truck which on inspection was a blown UJ on the front propshaft, oh joy!!
We met the seller at the arranged place and then followed him to his yard. I checked the prop and the fluid while there and there was no change for the worse so I decided to carry on.
The shell was loaded onto the trailer, straps tightened and trailer lights checked, after a cup of coffee we were away. several hill starts to get of his estate did not do the prop UJ any favours but once we found the motorway it quietened down and we could sit at around 60/65 with out to much fuss. Temperature gauge was still hovering just below the red but showed no sign of climbing.
The UJ did let out a scream just after we left the M6 but after slowing down on the hard shoulder it went quiet again so I pulled back on to the carriageway and carried on.
Then as we just passed the entrance to a service station I happened to glance in the mirror to see a cloud of smoke coming from the off side of the trailor. I quickly pulled onto the hard shoulder to investigate. Nothing was obvious so I jumped back in the truck and slowly drove to the exit slip of the services so I could cross over to the inside hard shoulder were I could inspect the trailer in more safety. After a poke about it turned out to be a seized hub which stopped the wheel turning. I chose the easiest option which was to remove the road wheel from the offending hub and carry on with a 3 wheeled trailer.

The propshaft continued to make odd noises and vibrate occasionally but it held together and we arrived home around 8pm.
All in all an experience of a weekend :)

2009-11-26T12:36:00.000-08:00

Modified wheels

A place I work at have some large jigs for painting on, 3m long near 2m high + wide on 4 steel castors. They get filled with painted items and pushed in and out of the ovens. Doing this means they pick up paint on the wheels which breaks off randomly meaning square wheels that rattle the jigs and the items that were just painted can fall off
soooo
My idea is to make the wheels pointed in the middle so the paint can be pushed out sideways when hot and soft and the higher pressure on the centre ridge should break the paint off when cold and hard
First job was to mount the wheels in the lathe. I made a mandrel out of some steel bar, turned the end down so the wheel slide on but leaving it over hanging, a 12mm thread was put in the end, aftera 10mm stripped to easy as it wouldn't hold tight enough. The wheel was then put on and bolted up using suitable spacers.

2009-10-26T12:37:00.000-07:00

SAFEtey on the stairs

Can you give me a hand he said!!
I need to get a safe up a flight of steps into the office, 2 chaps lifted it into the back of a van so its' not that big he said...

Well not that big turned out out to be very big! also the flight of steps turned out to be 2 flights of stairs with a 180' landing half way.
After a quick look at the job we had some idea of what we needed so into the van and drove to a couple of places we know to pick up a bit of kit, a wheeled trolley and some ratchet straps is what we ended up with.
We manhandled the safe onto the trolley to get it along the side alley and into the front door of the building with a brief stop to remove the bottom plinth as it was full of rather smelly water.
We attached a ratchet strap round the safe then another strap led to the hand winch cable, the winch was attached to a 4x4 timber placed across the entrance to the loos.
With 2 planks on the stairs we started to winch. Slow but steady to the end of winch pull, wedge safe with 3rd timber plank while winch and strap were adjusted to get second bite then third.
At the top of the first flight was a narrow landing and straight ahead was a set of 3 step which we had to get the safe up so we could then stand it up to maneuver it along the landing to the second flight we had to climb. This was the most difficult part as we had no where to attach the winch so had to use a ratchet strap and pull a bit at a time.

After a struggle we got it stood up and were able to move it to the base of the second flight. Due to lack of space we rocked the safe onto a 4x4 timber then a second so we could get it onto the first step and have enough room to lie it down for the final winch. This pull was easier as we now knew what we were doing and we could also place the winch further back due to another room further back. In the picture you can make out some timbers with the jack in the middle, this was a method of transfering some of the strain from one stud wall to another to stop the walls from pulling off the floor.
After all that a well deserved cuppa, white and one please :)

2009-09-26T12:40:00.000-07:00

The Secret Garden

I was asked to make a stage set for a theater company in Cirencester for their production of The Secret garden. I had to build a platform that stood approx 6 feet high on which several people could dance and would be accessed by a flight of steps at each end.
I used 40mm box and 19mm ply and this is what I came up with..

The stage at the theater was built on a slope towards the front which meant I had to install some adjustable feet for the whole assembly.

For transport and storage the assembly was built in sections, 4 step flights, 2 square frames and the main frame flat packed.

When on stage we installed uprights on the steps and intermediate frames and this allowed us to fit a rope banister going up the steps and meeting the top rail both back and front.

This picture shows it on stage ready for action. I have to admit I was quite nervous as the top was filled with dancing actors and acrtresses :)