nacnud

Possibly coming to a garage near me, when lockdown is finished 

Lambretta speed trap ( I may have added an extra 6) 

Making a start on the gearbox and transfer case. The gear box is called a LT95 and is a 4 speed manual box with integrated transfer case.

What is cool about the early boxes is they used a Salisbury limited slip differential on all Suffix A vehicles (easy to spot spotted as they were all painted red). In addition to the LSD function in the centre diff, the centre differential could also be locked via a vacuum actuator. But only around 300 vehicles were delivered with this LSD and sadly mine isn't equipped with it. After the first pre production and first year vehicles (1969-1970) they moved away from the limited slip feature with the differential as the gearbox had a serious amount of whine and felt pretty agricultural and stiff.  To stop this they removed the friction discs on the differential and replaced them with distance discs instead but still retained the Salisbury differential, only now not limited slip but still retains the locking centre differential. They also managed to retain the agricultural feeling and gearbox whine...

Shot of the early friction disc.

Shot of the later style with the distance discs.

This bit freaks me out a bit so I have a friend Glen giving me a hand on it. It is not his first rodeo with these boxes so I am in good hands! Gearbox and transfer case are now broken down into bits for a check up. Overall it is pretty good apart from a toasted needle bearing, worn intermediate shaft in transfer case and a bit of play in the mainshaft. All the gears are in good condition which is great as they get expensive to replace.

Most of the parts have now been plated and all new fasteners. Now waiting on seal and bearing kit as well as the main shaft from the UK. Looking forward to getting it back together and in the chassis. 

Calipers test fitted and looking great with that HPC coating. Now to fit the rest of the hard lines.

Small update - a whole post on brake calipers... My last set I ended up using on another Range Rover to get it on the road so I had to do the whole process all over again.

This time I had them HPC coated in their HiPerCoat, which should not be effected by brake fluid and all that and look great for a long time. The finish came out amazing! Shame I will never really see them..

Pushed it outside for some vitamin D. Still lots of bits missing and bits to torque up but at least it rolls! 

And some old sales material I came across. Early shot of the production line and a sweet exploded view of the side frame and panels.

Long time no update! Bathroom renovations and other life suff getting in the way of projects. 

Front axles and swivels all built up with new rotors, bearings seals etc. 

Refurbished Borge Self levelling unit fitted with new balljoints and gaiters.

Original Rostyle wheels got blasted, primed and 2k painted by Paul from Darth Vapour Blasting Service out West. Damn he did a good job. Much better than the factory would have ever! Fitted up a set of old tyres I had laying around so I can get it rolling, still need to nip a few bits up in the suspension department but I had to stick them on to feel some progress. I will need to replace the tyres with a nice set of Michelin's when I find a place in the UK will to send me a set.

Paul also went to town on my gearbox and engine. Can't believe how good they came out with a squirt of the vapour blaster. 

Before

After!

Rusty Rovers on Great Barrier

On 22/05/2019 at 14:03, nacnud said:

Hey Gang, not sure if this is the best place to post this but I will anyhow..

A buddies 1980 Mk2 Escort got stolen from his lock up on Gregory Rd in the Waitakere. This was John's first car so has a lot of meaning to him. Unfortunately they hadn't been to the lock up for a while so it could have happened a month or two ago and only noticed it last weekend. 

Plate number is: YLDWST

Any info please send me a PM. John Harvey is a legend of a dude and always willing to help anyone out. Hopefully we can get it back for him...

 

Pretty awesome update on this. John got the car back last Saturday night! Power of social media, someone came forward who had it and arranged its return... 

Got the front and rear axles installed! Starting to look a bit more complete...

Rear axle and hubs are all back together with new seals, bearings, gaskets, fasteners and discs. 

New ball joint for the rear A-Frame load leveller thing. Man this took a bit of pressure on a friends press to get in. Seated perfectly in the end.

Next up is rebuilding the front swivel housings. It took me a while to find a good set of original chrome swivels without any pitting. I then blasted and painted the swivel housings then proudly displayed them on the dinning room table... Waiting on some swivel shims and bearings and then I can get started on those.

Another load of fasteners for the next round, all nicely sorted by part number