dmulally

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.

This is my beautiful 1912 lister and powers my house in winter when there isnt enough sun for the house batteries.

Took the day off to do bogan tetris. Finding engines I didnt remember I even had and moving it into storage. Oh if anyone wants a chev 250 inline 6 and 4 speed, shoot me a pm. Anyway, managed to find reverse with a pry bar under the van but not on the gearstick so Ill have to have a tickle. Feels good to have a clean shed.

It is from an IS200 and here is a pic of a similar setup. Realistically I didnt need it with the diff swap but I want this to be bulletproof and the commer gearbox is a leaky shitfight. I'm sure Ill be able to sort reverse. Im just not sure which side it is on so don't know where to look. The gearchange is very crisp and I haven't even tightened it up yet.

Bleh. Looks like finding reverse just jumped up the priority list.

Woo. So the test drive went well enough that I was able to drive home unassisted. I gave the brakes a quick bleed but they need plenty more work. When I can steal a body Ill do a proper bleed. One of the rear drums felt hot so it needs adjusting. Throttle return spring also isnt up to the job. What a difference a real diff makes. Going from 5.6:1 to 3.7 is amazing. I cant see myself needing 5th let alone 6th. Lowering it has made the handling waaaay better too. Plenty to go but good that it is driving.

Whilst the commer is off the road the daily driver duties are being carried out by the Standard 10. It was a barn find which didnt take much to get roadworthy. I have swapped the diff centre for a herald and it is much more user friendly. Took it from 4.5:1 to 4.1. It has been bulletproof so far and I love it. When I am done with the commer Ill tart the standard up. It sways on the road over 50mph and is gutless so Ill target that. It has a 946cc currently but I have a 1200 big block on the bench which is a bolt in swap.

So today I was able to tick a few things off the list. I fitted the rear lever arm shocks properly. I'll see how it goes with cert as I have copied the stock setup, but I wouldn't mind putting in some telescopic shocks. I also fitted the fuel tank and put in a new fuel line. Whilst I was under there I put in the rear brake like. I just need to add fluid and bleed and I can test drive. Next on the list will be a tailshaft loop. The hobbycar manual is too vague so Ill be flipping through the relevant bulletin for the mounting specs. I dont have a cross member there so I assume I'll have to weld some plates to the floor. My grinders ears are burning already.

Today's job was to take out the old fuel tank and put in the new one. Looks like I need an adapter hose for the filler pipe as the old one had a flange with screws. Not a big deal. The old tank was ok but I wanted a larger capacity for getting further from home before breaking down.

Hi All Let's rap. Link

Hi All I have a few months off work to be a lady of leisure and with a long list of stuff to do on the farm to ignore, Ill get some shed time in. I'm hoping making a thread will motivate me to get a bit done every day. First cab off the rank is finishing off my Commer van. I drove it for a year or so as a stocky but it was unreliable and had a top speed of about 3. I have a 5km stretch of highway to get to the shops and I was a mobile chicane. So I have since done some minor upgrades to make it more user friendly. I have dumped the awful 1725cc cast iron head lump and put in a 1725cc Sunbeam Rapier engine. I've ditched the awful 4 speed box for a Lexus 6 speed box. I've also binned the awful stock 5.6:1 ratio diff for a chevy 10 bolt. I've test driven it round the block and can get all 6 forward gears but struggled to get reverse. I'm currently doing the minor shitty jobs getting ready for certification so it's off the road for a while. For a relatively easy engine swap, nothing seems to fit. My old commer had a mid mounted V8 and that was boat loads easier. Here it is in all it's glory. Anyway, I look forward to crawling around taking pics in the next few days. If anybody sees any glaring errors please sing out. I'll start a discussion thread for insults shortly.

Hey bro Sure did and then when the air filter came it wouldnt fit. Nothing fkn fits in the van. So I have had to put in a 32/36 weber and modify the engine cover to fit it. Gutted.

The drag racing alternator is designed for super low rpms. As most of the time spent at the drags is slowly crawling back in the queue. Obviously can handle massives rpms if need be but isnt as efficient.

I thought about that but as the exhaust goes straight up to the roof it isnt feasible to have the venting reservoir up so high. But I'll come up with some crazy idea. Only at 2200rpms. Which is why I used the tractor one as they are made for low rpms. The lister only runs at 350rpm.

This 1912 Lister powers my off grid house in winter. I've since plumbed in a 10 meter exhaust to outside which means I only hear the rhythmic clanking of the valve train and flywheels. It runs a tractor/drag racing alternator then goes through a sterling 3 stage charge regulator to my house batteries. Runs on 850ml of fuel an hour and the longest I have had it run was 24 hours straight with zero dramas.

Primer is indeed porous. You could try using some phosphoric acid but you're better off to clean it all off with a DA sander. Look at doing the etch and surface primer pretty quickly. Then sand the next weekend and paint the weekend after. All the time inside. As for the bog get the easy sanding stuff rather than the fibreglass re-enforced stuff. It is a pain to sand. For paint go to a paint store and get some mixing cups and stirers at the same time. They'll have a colour chart book and just choose from that. Whichever paint you decide to get ask them to write the mixing ratios on the tin. Then you'll be able to see which part of the cup to use no worries. I use 2k paint because I'm lazy.

OK fair enough. One less thing to have to do. I'll make the manifold this weekend but need to source another boot (only have three) or some fuel resistance hoses. Also need a filter. Sadly the bolt on pipercross filters will set me back quite a bit.

Thanks buddy. I might see how hard it is to pull them apart and take the sliding choke plates out. I tried to find where to plug so they stay open but nothing obvious was glaring at me. Much appreciated.

Hi All, I have some bike carbs that I want to put on my 1725cc rapier engine for my commer. Basically they are the only thing I can fit under the seats of my commer. I wanted some DCOE's but it looks like too much of a pain to fit them. They are 34mm carbs from a Honda 600. They have a 1.5mm main jet. I'm about to make the manifold and have a question for those who are smarter than me. What angle should I set them at or it doesn't matter? I note on the bike they nearly point up. Also, what are the arrows pointing to in the picture? The big one top center seems to push the black choke things up when I blow on it. No idea what the two are next to it. I'm guessing the two lower ones are fuel lines. Of which I have the fuel pump from the bike. Any help is appreciated. Cheers Damo

Great to hear. Customs are odd here. I get some things through no dramas and occasionally they hold something to ransom until I send a testicle. Glad to hear it came through anyway. Score.

Howja go with customs?

Carbed or otherwise. Make sure you get the loom with any engine purchase! Learn from my mi$take.

Have a look at a Commodore IRS diff centre. Has that rubber coupling which would be relatively easy to mount to a sprocket as well as eat some of the vibrations. Tall ratios for days and indestructible for an R1. I forget your layout but it may need to be flipped so I'm assuming just the breather and filler to faff about with. This car is practically building itself!