Popular Post Nominal Posted January 3, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted January 3, 2017 Filled another hole today. Using the roll former.... And continuing the weld/grind cycle 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nominal Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 Went away camping for a couple of weeks after the last update. Came back the day before anniversary weekend with the objective of finished the rust repair by the end of the weekend. Just before we went away I'd noticed some rust at the back of the roof where the tail hatch hinges are. Not really sure why this area was rust, I guess a bit of water gets in around the hinge screws. Had to fix both sides. Got the channels welded around the lower edge of the tailgate, and filled the remaining gaps in the bottom. Painted inside the frame and the repaired outer skin. On the final test fit I realised the shape was a bit screwed up so had to cut and re-weld the frame somewhat, then re-prime it before plug-welding the two parts together. Took farking ages! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nominal Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 Filled the hole at the back of the guard. The shape is a little off but I was in a hurry and it is mostly behind the bumper. Before After (1/2 way anyway) Next up was the drivers side floor which had a few holes. New floor bit. Had to do this twice as I got the swage orientation all wrong the first time. Swage made on the Nibbler with some home-made dies. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nominal Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 The driver's side sill and underfloor structure wasn't as bad as the passenger side, despite the holes in the floor. Patch panel bent up. It was much easier to fit this side with the floor section removed. The outer panels were 'good enough' to weld back in (saved time too) Sprayed etch primer in all the repaired areas. So, all the welding was done by Monday night about 11:30 pm. I had to pick up some wheels from Island Bay on Tuesday and didn't get home until later. Had to reassemble the front (bumper and grille), rear (gas tank, fuel pump, bumper, upper and lower tailgate, and number plate light) and finish the brake lines before a WOF check on Thursday. Managed to get through all this by late Wednesday (got my son out of bed to help with the bumper bolts even). Bleeding the brakes was a pain as usual - I'd missed tightening one line fitting so ended up with a mess on the floor. Quick test run at about 11pm, then gave it a quick hose to allow testing the wipers and stuck it in the garage for the local mechanic to pick up on Thursday. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nominal Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 WOF man picked up the car on Wednesday, and had a few issues with the column change. I haven't driven it much yet but the plane change between 1-2 and 3-4 seems problematic, and seems to hang up somewhere. Anyway, failed on the following: - Windscreen washers non-op - Exhaust leak at manifold/exhaust pipe join (I knew about this but ran out of time to fix it) - Upper tailgate loose (needs washers under the bolts) - Leaf spring shackle bushing shagged - Fuel tank leaking - Full set of tires. Also it ran out of gas on the way home so the mechanic had to walk back to our house to get his car - oopsy. I had a look at the windscreen washers and I can't really see how they were set up originally. I though it would be a manual pump (that's what the owner manual suggests) but I can't see that there was ever one fitted. I have a pump tank hanging around, or I might remove the whole setup as they are not required on pre-1992. I had only noticed the tank leak when I put it back together this week, so pulled it out again. There must have been water sitting between the tank bottom and the inner floor as there were a few pinholes to address. Broke out the soldering gear. Haven't refilled it for a test yet, but should be OK. Also pulled the shackle from one side. Hopefully I can get some bushes from BNT today. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Nominal Posted February 7, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted February 7, 2017 OK, so I got this done. - Fixed petrol tank and slapped some paint on it before putting it back again - Installed an electric windscreen washer setup (first bit of hack wiring on the car, amazingly) - Redid exhaust to manifold joint - Put washers on the tailgate - New bushes on the shackles. Tires were a bit of a run-around. Got some used 175's for the back as a temporary measure. New 165's for the front as I had no time for anything else. Also adjusted the column shift linkage (one rod was 5mm short) which made it heaps better to drive. Put various bits of the interior back in to make it 'comfy' I picked up the front wheels and new tires on Tuesday evening (the garage owner fitted them after hours) then took it back for a WOF recheck early Wednesday (6:45am). Mechanic was a bit grumpy but did the required paperwork and issued a sticker. I nearly drove it to town but decided I shouldn't temp fate/the popo so just bought the rego during the day. 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Nominal Posted February 7, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted February 7, 2017 Thursday night was wagnats packing and jamming the CB radio and aerial on. The gas fridge took a lot of room in the back, and I contemplated putting the towbar on so I could take a trailer. Couldn't get the bolts to line up easily so I jacked that option in and just packed more carefully. My Mrs was coming camping too so that reduced the space available, and it was raining. Anyone with an old wagon knows about water leaks! Loaded for bear! Tagged onto the OS convoy in Te Horo and headed north. Prior to this I'd only driven the thing for about 5km in total. It went well though. Leaks as expected around the windscreen and rear side windows mostly. Some hesitation developed at higher throttle when getting near Hunterville. I suspected a blocked fuel filter due to the rusty tank, so picked up a new filter at the BP in Hunterville. Still got us to Vinegar Hill though. It's big enough for two to sleep in (so long as a few drinkies first) and did the job expected at Wagnats. I replaced the filter over the weekend and the old one (which was only little) was well clogged. Ran fine on the way home, even in the stop-go traffic coming in to Otaki. Might have been a bit smokey there, as reported on the CB. The cross-shaft in the gear linkage between the body and engine popped out when I was backing it into the garage so I lost gear selection. It was easy to lever back - looks like a new rubber bush is needed there. Still plenty to get done, but I'll leave the next steps until after British Car Day. ObPic of rusty metal removed: 19 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nominal Posted February 12, 2017 Share Posted February 12, 2017 Wowed the Oxford wagon foamers at British Car Day. Got a couple of contacts for parts, including one who has a Aussie 6-cyl Freeway wagon stashed away. Also walked pickapart for awhile to find some 185R70 tires for the back which should help the gearing/looks a bit. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Nominal Posted February 24, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted February 24, 2017 So, Guypie's pic shows the name on the back. In one of the older threads it was mentioned that the Trudgeon business (painting and decorating) still exists in Ashburton I got a reply from Greg Trudgeon that the car was owned by Mr Russell Johnson who used to work for the business, and that the sign writing was a bit of joke as he had been with them for 30 years (has died since). Based on the modern papers i have the car was sold by Mr Johnson in 1979. Cool story bro. 16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nominal Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 Plenty of room for important cargo. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nominal Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 Replaced the manky rubber spacer bush in the column shift cross-shaft linkage with a short piece of heater hose. Hopefully this will prevent it falling out again. Also got an original brochure from the UK ebay. Quality First - nice to know. Moore power! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nominal Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 Once this was up and running I wanted to use it for a bit before doing more work. Wellington OS Meet Wagon-camping @ Otaki Forks a couple of times. Beach, back when swimming was a thing. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nominal Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 Also OS Nats trip. I bought a roof rack from Seedy Al that didn't exactly fit either way, so I made it fit with a cut and shut. Drove to work in the rain. Made it to the top of the Rimukatas no worries. Needed an oil topup (hadn't checked it for a while, oops) Met a cousin. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nominal Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 I pulled a front spring right before Nats to see if a Makita drop would work, but no-go. The lower spring pan is a bolt-on so could possibly be lowered that way, but I was out of time. I've now removed the upper tailgate and glass (those little screws were holding the glass in place) The tailgate is from the previous model, so this lock isn't needed on this car It's a little rusty but way way better than the original one for the car. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Nominal Posted May 16, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted May 16, 2017 Have been getting some work done on the upper tailgate. Stripped most of the paint off with stripper, acetone, and wire brushes. Patched the rust holes with new steel. I drilled the spot welds and bent the seal channel out of the way so I could fix the rust under it. The other side wasn't as bad. The lower edges are fairly rusty inside, but I'm not going to dismantle the whole thing, will slosh some paint and cavity wax inside before it goes back on the car. I made the patches fit quite neatly and did some of the welding with the new TIG, then used the MIG to fill the holes I made (bah). TIG means less grinding, but I'm still getting used to it. Also welded up the holes used for the self-tappers that had been holding the glass in, and a few other pinholes. Back on the car for a test fit, it used to rub on one side and I wanted to check that out. It seems like there is enough adjustment to in the mounting holes to fit OK. I needed to tidy up the area where this hinge attaches the frame as it's been bent by a gorilla in the past. I'll also get some hex-socket screws to replace the big phillips head screw which hold the hinges as some have been replaced by hex head bolts in the past. 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Nominal Posted May 29, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted May 29, 2017 Got the tailgate painted (nothing special I must say) and the glass reinstalled with a new rubber and plenty of goo. Sore thumbs after that effort. Drove up to Ohakune for a weekend with the Morris Enthusiasts Club (yes there was a literal Barry in attendance). First stop on Saturday was Horopito. Last time I was there I didn't have this car, so wasn't looking for BMC Farina models. This time was different. Found a (shagged) wagon And others Grabbed a right rear door interior panel off this one, as I didn't have one at all. It's not quite a match, but better than nothing. We also visited the Chateau, and Te Porere Redoubt on that side of the mountain. Sunday we stopped at the Tangiwai memorial which has been upgraded quite a bit since last year. Turned off the main highway at the railway crossing near Tangiwai and headed down the Turakina Valley. Mostly dirt roads down this way. Stopped for a cup of tea, and then lunch on this route. Also at a waterfall. Exited the back roads at Hunterville and headed home via P North. Took quite a while to wash the mud out from under the car (first wash since Nats I think) Weather was actually quite good (especially compared to the forecast) so didn't get to test the water-tightness of the duct-taped front screen seal. That will be the next bit to be worked on I think. 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nominal Posted June 5, 2017 Share Posted June 5, 2017 A bit of long roof action... Last time we saw the roof, @Guypie had stripped it and coated with BlackGuard. The rust was coming back pretty much all over so... The coating was hard to remove, in the end I used paint stripper on it. 1/2 done. There were quite a few rusty lightly pitted areas. I had a go with phosphoric acid, but it wasn't having much effect. So I broke out the nasty muriatic acid. This is after a clean-up (it flash rusts very quickly), and working on the pitted areas with a wire brush. Cleaned that mess up with the phosphoric. As it sits tonight (with a bit of prepsol in some places) I'm going to etch prime tomorrow, then see about getting the windscreen out. I still need to do the back edge above the tailgate too. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nominal Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 Main part of roof primed over the weekend, so pulled out the windscreen tonight - came up easily after cutting the rubber on the inside. Only one little hole needing welding. Cowl vent looks OK from the top side. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nominal Posted July 2, 2017 Share Posted July 2, 2017 Only one 'little hole'? What lies. Filled up that chasm, a slightly smaller hole on the other side, and a few other bits and pieces. Some etch primer around the windscreen. Then, back to the back. This isn't too bad as I patched the worst of the rust prior to getting a WOF. There is quite a bit of pitting above the drain channel which I am filling with the MIG. Note the factory lead filling between the D-pillar and roof. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Nominal Posted July 2, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted July 2, 2017 Also, bought this: 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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