dmulally

Hi All, I'm struggling to find the VIN on my Commer Van. The engineer needs a pic of it for LVV cert. I can find it on carjam and I can find the chassis and body number but the VIN is eluding me thus far. If it turns out I can't find it, am I going to have to drag it down to VINZ? Lord help me...

Welding stuff on once powdercoated is a pain. I'd just go wire wheel and POR-15. Don't go out of your way to make the chassis super clean. POR stands for Paint Over Rust so it adheres better in my experience. On clean steel I have had it flake off. Even when keyed.

Sounds like it needed a bit of scuffing first.

I guess so but you'd be sanding for aaaages afterwards and then buffing

It is for my C20. I cant decide on a colour and it has far too many rattle can touch ups for my liking. You know the ones where they thought nobody would notice but just looks crap.

Hey, does anybody know what the legalities are in driving around a vehicle in bare metal/only a clear coat?

Not that I can recall. Even if it were sidedraft it would have some problems. I think if I pulled the carbs apart and had 1" straight tubes it would be ok. But I needed to angle the runners and that pushed them out a little. It is up and running now with the weber so I won't be looking at bike carbs again. They are in my ever increasing parts bin for shit I shouldn't have bought.

What do you need to know specifically? I used to have one in italy about 20 years ago.

I'd personally not bother but then I drive like a nanna both on and off the track. Providing you could weld some plates with captured nuts in the right areas, I'd make it bolt in. But if you're not circuit racing I wouldn't bother as it would be unlikely that you'd be T-boned.

I have not only a C20 vanette, but an SC12 and a commer van carb hat. All can be had for rip off high prices.

Are the mounts on the front of the engine or middle? I have a sunbeam rapier engine in my commer van with a lexus 6 speed. If doing it again I would look at a nissan vanette diesel with 5 speed as it has a cable shifter. I have one if you want one. Either that or enlarge the dog box and use a holden red. A Daimler V8 will fit length wise but probably not width.

Looks similar to a holden grey or red motor 3 speed box. If doing again Id go holden red with an auto and just change the diff.

Sorry Flash. Just saw this. It is a four on the floor setup. The shifter sits in a cup that is attached to a long shaft that curves round the engine and makes a cable shifter feel precise. Even with the Lexus 6 speed you kind of throw it in the general area and it will find gear.

All of the parts have landed from the UK and naturally the only part Im awaiting is a brake line from the local Pitstop. I handed my reat one in to plumb in a rear balance valve. I also put in a new brake master. Hoping that fixes the sagging brake pedal. The other two god awful jobs I have completed were bashing the inner lip of the rear guard and putting in a bronze bush to sort the gear change. I have no idea what the original bush was made of as the housing was empty. I assume fag paper or bread knowing Rootes Group.

Im pretty much waiting on parts at the moment and with not much else on and a relunctance to start a new project, I got the lister up and running again. I forgot how quiet it is.

Welded up a carb cover for the twin choke weber. Ill have to bolt it all in properly and open and close it 50 times for it to fit smoothly but it should work ok.

Fitted a towbar today. Just doing odd jobs whilst waiting for brake drums to be machined and parts to fly in from England to help with gearchanging and brakes.

I also have a dicky seat for the engine lid but doubt I will fit it.

I might use those plates to hold in some C channel to be able to drag a bike up in there.

So took it for a decent test drive today and I dont think I'll be looking at booking in the cert inspecion yet. Even with a decent bleed the pedal goes to the floor. A miss match in wheel cyls front to rear is probably the culprit. I might look at a split circuit or put the commer ones in the chev backing plate. Also, I can get reverse now but not easily. It is too hit and miss so will have to clean that up. Both very fiddly and time consuming jobs but I want it to be perfect.

A shame I couldnt weld in a cross member to bolt the safety loop to. This thing is going to snag on every bloody thing in the cargo space. But like most safety things it is a massige PITA to install but once done I feel better knowing it is there. Considering it had one from factory (albeit non compliant) the roots engineers knew more than I'll ever know.

What a crap day today was. I had to install the tail shaft safety loop. Seeing as I didnt have a crossmember handy I had to fab a doubler plate. I didnt have any 3mm plate so had to use 10mm. Holy crap what a balls job. The steel was from a leaf spring of a WW2 truck so just wanted to eat my drill bits and cutting discs. Bleh. Ill get the bolts in the morning to fit it. I can see why I put this job off so long!

Yusssss. Finally found reverse. I'm not sure if I have lost 5th and 6th yet but I'll deal with that later. Should be ok. After hours under the car with spacers and all sorts of shit I just straightened the kink in the gearstick. I also welded a washer to the exhaust manifold so the throttle return spring can sit at a 45 degree angle to snap it back.

Not much to report today. Just finished making a tool wall and went out shopping in the standard. Generic old bloke number 637 came up to speak about owning one back in the day. Love having a chat.