dmulally

You had me at pedo! Sent you a flirty pm.

Lovely ute. I have a 66 C20 that I'm getting close to finishing off but I keep having drama after drama with the gearbox. Where did you get your rear deck cover from? I need one for mine and was going to have the tie down straps one but yours looks so much cleaner.

LVV had me reset my leaf springs in the rear which had it sitting high. So to get it down low I then had to change the tyre profile to rubber bands. Which then needed a diff ratio change to get it comfortable again. I still think it is too tall but good thing about the chev is that there are loads of ratios. My old commer van was V8 and 5 speed. Loved it. As an aside, I looked at the Nissan Vanette as it had cable linkages. Is your radiator in the dog box? If so youre welcome to ping me offline so I can tell you how I go with my various upgrades and scoops etc. If it is up front like the beddy then youre in luck!

Nice van! I've just finished certing my commer van with a lexus 6 speed, rapier engine and chev diff. Massive PITA now it is all said and done. If doing again I would go for a holden 6 and auto box and change the diff/ratio to something taller. The biggest pain was getting the linkages right for the lexus shifter. It took a LOT of fine tuning but now it is done, it can run off the clock. Only thing that needs work is the cooling system. Over 55mph it starts warming up as the air passes below it rather than up into the radiator in the dog box. Probably because I lowered it too much. I'll work on a scoop and aux radiator etc shortly. At 55mph it is sweet though. Good luck!

I put my DC EWP in the front of the Imp and it was fine. I routed the radiator coolant pipes through the body of the imp where the heater lines went rather than over the floor. To this day the worst job I have ever completed on any car. In regards to the lotus 7 overheating I had the same problem on my old 4age PRB. Through a combo of angling the front number plate to channel airflow up (bottom of which was at sump height so if I scraped on a speed bump I reversed out of there), changing to a SPAL fan from the repco cheapie electric fan, and redline water wetter I got it down from 110 degrees in traffic to around 90.

All good

That is what I thought but apparently I need a replacement one if I cannot find it. Which I cannot. Carjam says what it is here: https://www.carjam.co.nz/car/?plate=bbq488&fbclid=IwAR2q5IfEEX5J1-MyxtPaBPMoFgXY2lnr-erYAs4I6vSZzoNCDV82Vk3dnt4 And going to the NZTA site is as erotic as it is helpful and seems to be aimed at repairers who can access their system.

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.