NickJ

Wof fail, boo On the bright side, thats quite possibly the best ever brake balance result for this car! But fail on 4 simple things, some engine bay wiring was taking the piss on lack of restraint, exhaust hanger bolt loose, brake hardlines needing grommets where they pass through the body and front wheel alignment. All 4 were about 30min after work to sort out, wheel alignment was just with stringlines for now, I initially set it up as it came apart but was excessively toe in, that with the mud tyres made quite a noise on the wof station floor! I do need to machine up some shims in preparation for caster and camber, it can't be too far off as so far handles as I remember. On the list to fully assess, stay tuned as they say. With all that down a return to the testing station yielded that small sticker of dopamine Warm fuzzy feels, darn cool to have the old thing back on the road! No rest and straight to work, trailer of greenwaste to the dump and back via the hardware store, good laugh at the rally mudflaps, wasn't sure where to trim them so put them on straight out of the pack, with a bootload of supplies they were dragging a bit too much. Must trim before the first offroad trip... The cold weather is making starting a bit of a challenge, either need to sort out a choke linkage or wait a few weeks, a good chance here to prove the value of procrastination. Another current issue is a bit rough running at 50-60kph cruise, likely an air leak on the carbs so set up the CNC to cut out some new gaskets with a drag knike and will investigate when I next get some shed time.

Yeah, the welds offer quite a range of integrity! What sticks out most to me is the load path from the link on the left would put the rod end on the diff in bending, using standard design logic this is really bad news although can be allowable in rare cases. In this situation, its not a fun time to imagine the reaction of the car to that link failing.

This popped up today, the kind of geometry and load paths that remind me certs are a good thing.

And it goes on and on and on, seems every weekend in recent memory can be summed up in the one photo While contemplating life choices, Doggo #2 said it looked stupid as without a front bumper and knowing not to argue with a big rotty, I guess I should refit it? Pulled out from storage it wasn't in good condition, the steel bracket that holds the rubber trim strip was corroding badly, not helped at all by the bumper being Aluminium. After a good scrub and water blast it was pretty clear that to stop the galvanic corrosion the bracket needed to be zinc plated but I wanted it done now. Pondering various fixes I came to the thought, why did they not make the bracket from aluminium in the first place? (Yes, the bumper could have been steel, but that would have doubled the weight of the car) That thought then went to why not remake it from Aluminium? The original bracket profile measured up pretty darn close to 65mm wide with a 1/4" bead down each side, didn't take long to feed a few strips through the bead roller and jobs a goodun' Couple of rivnuts later and there we go. Deceivingly easy. Fitted, happy As brake imbalance has been almost a given at every wof, I put some new style self adjusting rear cylinders into an order and fitted those along with new pads and rotors way back, I really hope they take away the pain of getting the pass grade. Preliminary testing hasn't been too conclusive other than to reaffirm my lack of sanity to the neighbours, trying desperately to make up speed in our short road before stopping hard in an attempt to bed the new brakes has been comical entertainment i'm told. It makes much more noise than speed doesn't it? and the painful, Oh, thats a Lada? Thats the car everyone jokes about! Next up, mental asylum or wof? Place bets!

Finally, to do list time! I avoid making lists on big projects as it tends to be more demoralising than helful, instead focusing on chunks at a time to shield my fragile self esteem from reality. This would probably be why i've been saying just one more weekend for the last 6! Anywho, the time came to scribble up a pre wof list and it wasn't really that big: Oil catch can Rear shock nuts tighten Spanner check all suspension nuts Drop arm nut (Can't torque it easily off the car) Steering wheel alignment and trim Dash secure Radio trim Refit heater controls Fusebox clean and confirm correct fuse values Refit exhaust Spanner check seatbelts Refit firewall rubber bungs Floor mats and trims Drivetrain grease Transfer case alignment check Engine mounts spanner check Engine bay hose clamps check Wiring harness secure check Mudflaps and wheel flares fit Refit front bumper Fit new cambelt Tail light nuts check Tidy up fuel hose lengths Fit number plates speedo drive oil leak Fit new service parts on carbs Fit inner guards Check wheel alignment And all the other usual stuff found along the way I haven't listed. Guess its worth adding I made a new exhaust, 1-3/4 tube from the header back, joined up with V-bands so if it sounds shit, I can re do it. Muffler acquired from a pile of damaged Nissans in a paddock, perfect size and low profile enough to not be the lowest part of the undersides. Floor mats i've done the same as the Datsun, 7mm treated ply wrapped with garage carpet. This time I got the 3d scanner out so the CNC can do the chopping. Was it quicker than beerbox templates? probably not, but I did minimise the amount of time spent out in the cold so thats that. Check the fit Spray some contact adhesive everywhere and away we go Time will tell how well it holds up in a car that often goes swimming, if needed i'll recut them swapping the ply for Ali sheet.

Spicy(ish) noodle time! Its easy right? Just install one fuse at a time and clear each circuit one by one... Except it aint, I got the engine running but as soon as I looked at the light switch its all over with multiple fuses poping, some times. When things started to go better the new front indicator/parklight buckets had no light, no worries, I bet they cheaped out and ship with no bulbs, install bulbs and still the same but the fuses now aren't blowing, eh wot? so open up the new buckets to find not only did they ship with no bulbs, no one bothered to connect the wires either! Yeah that'll do it. So easy job just hooking up and going for it right? 3 wires, park light, indicator and ground, except the new buckets needed two ground wires, eh wot? Original left, new right. In original form, the aluminium housing only needs the one ground connector. So new plan, polish up original units and combine them with new rubbers and lenses. Goodness, driving must be getting close now!

Please make XL1/9

My fiat did this when I didn't know to clean the threads before refitting the head, it still has the same squished head gasket, now squished more. Just add 50% to the bolt torque and send it?

Congrats on the new job! Spare room at ours if you need somewhere short term in the city, could also offer the same for the race car and trailer in a pinch.

ooooh, this is a pretty painful operation that SW needs to address, i've found fusion to be easier so my complicated scan workflows happens there. Like pog mentioned, shrink them as much as possible in Bambu before getting into SW if you have to use it My usual go to in SW is import the mesh, use the mesh tools to set up some planes to then build around the mesh as a handrail. surfacing or directly editing a mesh sounds like all sorts of not fun with SW.

I actually don't know for sure, 2121 but then there are a few codes after that too that I don't understand Spent the day sorting wiring, too many backwards 4/upside down cat and other such symbols to further my general electrical confusion

No doubt, but imagine what life will be like when it finally does becomes scrap in 3326!

So, about that pile of windscreens. The original or windscreen #1, last seen intact about the time it came back from the sandblasters, (who took a considerable amount of care to keep protected from blasting) met its end at my fumbling hands when I decided to remove it to be sure a rust patch wasn't creeping into something larger. This really stressed me out as I assumed finding new one may end up being a high dollar import. In a stroke of luck, the local auto glazer got me a new one for what could be considered pocket change compare for what I was bracing myself to pay. Feeling relieved but also cautious, that was installed with new seals and trim. Unfortunately...... while excitedly trying to seat the trim which did not like seating fully in the new rubber I pushed just a bit too hard cracking it in almost the same spot as #1 but from the other direction. #2 seen in the naughty pile over the back got a whole lot worse due my very lack of fucks to give removing it. Queue a very embarrassing phone call to the glass man to ask for another, but yes, they did have another I could pick up, write that down as stupid tax I guess. This made me much more cautious and observant the second time around, what I think happened is the new rubber wasn't shaped to the bottom of the frame like the old was that I had removed a number of times, this meant the screen was pushing hard against the top and in a position it didn't want to be in all made worse by me trying to push a seal into a grove it couldn't fit in. Second time round, noticing this and taking care to seat the screen down, everything went together just like in the youtube videos. Stupid rushed mistakes make for good learning? I did get to enjoy one moment from this episode, windscreens make a wicked noise when tossed into the concrete pit at the dump.

Fun afternoon in the shed sorting out the Homer Simpson spice rack spec battery tray, was a last minute abortion addition back when the twincam went in that I didn't really want returning and new technology makes it much easier to sort. 3d scanned the left side of the engine bay, engine and carbs on top, firewall to the right, inner guard bottom with the front diff and engine mount on the left. Mounting points to pick up are the two studs in the firewall and one bolt hole on the engine mount which is not at all square to anything. Not to mention its bit of a tight fit in there between the engine mount, intake manifold and top wishbone mount. Throw the mesh into CAD and draw up something that misses all the important stuff. Send the pattern over to the CNC router and let a 2mm end mill chomp out a shape. Quick diversion to the bead roller on the way over to the folder, a quick weld on the MIG, fire on some rattle can and there we go Picked up the battery and a selection of oils this afternoon, can't be far off starting up eh?

I treat it as a curious intern, available 24/7 to help break stalled thought processes. Not to be relied on but awesome to explore when i’ve run out of ideas. I’ll happily pay that coffee, an experienced human still beats when they are available