Mistral

Ahah !! so after 40 odd years the mystery has unfolded as to why my mini was kinda weird compared to all the other minis around... It had one other feature that was different but very cool, back in those days the gear lever on minis came from the junction of the firewall and the floorpan , my Aussie car had the gear lever back by the seats like a "normal" car ! I built a table that hitched under the dash and sat on the gear Knob for when I was away on camping trips

I had a Morris Mini Deluxe as my first car ! Was an Aussie import , lot of parts were different to the NZ cars, weird shit like radiator caps and window rubbers, fortunatly I had an uncle working in oz who used to post over bits and pieces

Jeepers  ! I've got a '52 MSC Bedford round the back of the workshop that I was thinking I should really at least make a start on !!  Does this chappie sell bits ?

Ditto, Ive got the R32 gts-t  m spec coupe tucked away for a rainy day. Thats why I put the post the other week on the best way to store these looong term keepers

Just back on the impact Wrenches , what is good on the big hard rusty stuff  ?

Yep , we kick ourselves for not grabbing some of  the cars that pass by us, and now suddenly I can tuck away  mabey 8 cars for a good few years at least,  the first thing I'm going to do is swoop on an R32 skyline and a Vauxhall Ventura  that are almost on borrowed time !  The sheds good corrugated Iron with a concrete floor ,but I will probably put a plastic vapour barrier down and a suspended tarp on some tube and clip scaffolding sounds sensible

OK, Got this awesome problem I'd like to hear you guys experience, comments, opinions on. Got a new family moved in to the property next door and he doesn't need the big shed that the previous guy used for his business . So said he's happy for me to store cars in exchange for a box of wine at Christmas !!  Now , the question is whats the best method of doing this...  Years ago my  uncle tucked away his XY Falcon under a tarp liberated from NZ Rail and when he came back to NZ a few years later  the tarp had sweated and the car had rusted quite badly. You also hear about pouring oil into bores and bottoms of doors, vasiline on window rubbers etc etc...

My son in law brought back a couple of aftermarket shocks for a VW Baja project from the states,  chating with the customs guy kidded that they were RPG rockets.... took him 3 days to leave  California.....

Had a rummage in the back of the workshop yesterday, theres a holden 202/3.3 blue motor we picked up down country some time back its complete with a dellow bell housing,  Clutch, W50 toyota g'box, driveshaft , speedo cable and a set of extractors, this may be of use or if any of you other fine fellows would be interested, let me know

That's really nice !! I'm actually quite jealous of guys that can work with wood, my grandfather was a craftsman cabinetmaker and he made some wonderful stuff

Just noticed this , $45 pm for 3" ss tube 304 is about double what it should be , try steel and tube  , they have a stainless division , we pay about $75 pm for 6" tube

Holy shit ! I didn't know these things existed, flyingbrick is absolutely right about carnage waiting to happen ...  Do they race them in NZ ?

A few thoughts on this, looking at your practise piece there is a bit of a  variation with the welds, some are spot on the middle, others to one side, some are small round globs etc, we mostly tig stainless and when Im training guys I reckon one of the key things is to make sure that you can SEE what you are doing, follow the previous advice about helmet, shade etc and also make sure the plastic covers in and out are clean, another thing that has helped is to get a pair of +1.5 cheap reading glasses from the 2dollar shop, they enable you to focus up closer. if you cant see the weld pool form welding can be a hit and miss affair, another thing that you can try is to drag the weld AWAY from the start point, its like writing, if you are right handed hold the torch as you would a pencil and run to the right then you are looking down on the pool as it forms, jeepers this is looking like an essay.... anyway hope this helps!

Awesome, Well done guys !!!!    ( I better pull finger and get the 75 finished....)

We did my son in laws midget a few years back with a  toyota 4AGE, Ill get some picks when I'm next down to see them

Yep me too,  the CF bedford  I plonked the 283 sb into was my favourite, sold that to buy the first house ... as you do !

Good example of a classic '70's  jacked rear end tho...

Most shiny bits out in the weather will corrode, we even see it with 304 stainless on the grills of the heatpumps we use,  there is an awesome surface protector that they use in the aircraft  industry its called Dinitrol  and comes in an aerosol can, I was given a can by an aircraft engineer, Ill see if I can find out where it comes from

Actually as Kiwiplymouth suggested, about 4 decades ago a guy down our street had an HB with a 245 valiant engine in it ,

back end was jacked right up as the fashion was in those days !! to carry the extra weight they had packed the front coils with chunks of cut tire ! used to do massive burnouts down in Beaumont street.....

That's  like that "Joseph and his coat of many colours " thing...

Awesome Gentlemen  !   cheers for that, I might give the citric acid a bash as we've got a Bin Inn up this way,  the hinges are off a '56 Plymouth so very solid, 8mm+   , not seized but quite rusty, what concentration of citric acid should I use ?

OK, On youtube there are various guys showing rust removal on small, and some Not so small, steel components. Basically you make up a solution of molasses and chuck the piece in to soak for a few days... Apparently the science is sound as the sugars in the molasses ferment and produce a weak acid which dissolves the rust, was thinking I'd try it on the door hinges for the mistral,  Has anybody tried it out ??

Awsome ! thanks guys, now just have to locate the existing plate I put away safely.....

Howdy, Hey I'm pulling together all the bits and pieces for the winter rebuild of the Mistral, which I'll do a thread on, but at present can only find one of the number plates, are these plates OK for for reg/WOF  purposes ? Cheers

While you've got the sump in bits run a loop or two of 3/8" refrigeration copper tube and link to the primary water , it works wonders for dragging the excess heat out of the oil, we did this in Grandads old '65  Hamilton J42 and it made a BIG !! difference