Valiant

I thought that camp site looked like Balmoral, awesome spot We go with the kids pretty often. A++ For motor bike adventures.

About 18 months ago I picked this up to make into a wood elevator. Thinking it would need a bit of a tidy up and it wold be good to go. I brought a gas set home from work and started to trim off all the shitty bits. Problem being, the only bits left were the main chain and sprocket as all the rest was shitty. Fast forward to today. Ready to lift some wood!

Wow. 5 years later and what a ball ache that turned out to be. It turns out that the closest engine reconditioned isn't always best choice.There were numerous issues with the above engine which only became apparent over time. The most obvious issue was that it wouldn't rev past 4900rpm. After much mucking around, buying parts, getting shagged around by Australian parts suppliers, booking dyno time, and sitting in workshops around Christchurch I discovered that my oil pump drive gear was slipping on its shaft as the load came on, causing a drop in oil pressure, not enough to bring the oil light on and too briefly to make the gauge drop This caused the lifters to bleed down and stop the engine until the gear gripped on the shaft and things went OK again. So the upshot of all this? A re, rebuilt engine, this is where the lid came off the tin of worms. Anyway. got it going all seems OK. After all the wasted time and money, as well as a couple of other factors this thing has been parked up since Hanmer last year. I've just got it back from 6 months to life to be served in a workshop in rural Canterbury. I haven't been able to decide what to do with it or the AP5, I thought about selling them but soon changed my mind, I've thought about parking them up and ignoring them for a decade or two. Neither option made me happy. Nats 2019 made me realize how much I miss having one or both of them running so now I'm back and have the VG home. It's time to make The VG awesome to again! I have a list of things to do. As you can see, some of those things are already done! I gave it a good wash and polish, now it looks much better. I think I need to add "Replace boot rubber" to the list.

BW78 swaps for a tight lsd and a decent gear ratio sound like a logical idea, I'm yet to see a factory jap lsd that has any bite. Buy a 9 inch and be done with it. There is a huge amount of aftermarket parts, they are a tried and true option. I don't like the c clip axles on 8.8, it always seems like a bad idea to run the axle bearing on the axle surface. My two cents. Edit. Dana 60.

I came across a couple of full lengths of used 1 1/2 water pipe in the course of my working week. Old mate and I had been discussing ways to keep our fire wood pile dry. This is what we came up with today. It's 4m wide, 2m high, and 4.9m long. We'll cover it in used sheets of 5.1m roofing iron salvaged from a burnt shed. Total cost so far is about 20 arc rods and a cut off disc.

Quick bulldozer shit post. I went to use it a few months ago and the oil light was flickering, turns out the fuel pump had split it's diaphragm and emptied the fuel tank into the sump. No biggie. I wanted to make an oil filler that didn't require taking the body work off to fit more engine oil. The fuel pump mount proved to be ideal and a trade me electric fuel pump now pumps the fuel. Worked out good so I tidied up the drive to celebrate.

I covered ours in ACM sheet that buildings are clad it, it's made the ramp very fast and smooth.

Rolled splines only for you Bart, @johnny.race I'll take a pic of my Val rear end if I get a chance in the weekend.

I'm not sure how the brakes fit tbh, I have a US 9" with EB brakes on it. I didn't do the swap but it looks to be pretty straight forward. @johnny.race, you probably already know but I'll tell you again, BW78 diffs have 28 spline axles the same as 9" I have seen 9" centers with BW axle tubes and brakes on them to make a Murica/Straya highbrid.

A couple of pics of an old bike I found on Trade Me recently. Crappy old Roadster with flat tyres? Nope! BSA Track Bike from the teens or 20s, with an awesome BSA Adjustable stem and original paint! Pine!

I restored this Hotwheels D Type for one of my boys. It turned out so well we made a "custom" display stand for it and all.

Something from a van with a van box sounds like a good idea. 4y A15 12a Drill port.

I dare you to jump this. Off here. You have to do it Because I dared you to!

Finished. I had a go too. The smaller one is 2.4m long and weighs 6.7Kg. Larger one is 3.0m long and 9.4 Kg. The kids rated them at 11/10, and A++ respectively.

Operators aren't born like that mate. Plus. I have it on good authority that the guys at Barnsys love a good sharn, and all their small plant is Briggs and Stratton powered.

I'm glad to see someone else out there is looking for a means of frugal motoring. Very interested to see how you get on, I went on a course a year or so ago about hybrids which made me feel like one wasn't for me, issues with the batteries etc. Hopefully that won't be the case here. I'm looking forward to Prius and Leaf hop ups being available from Ali Express, imagine a brave new world of high capacity batteries and hot rod brushless motors.

Small one is nearly finished. Larger one on the slipway. Bonus pic of 1986 Valiant at the beach, in canoe V1. Bad phone pic of a bad Instamatic camera pic.

@RUNAMUCK

My Dad made me one of these 35 or so years ago, it was awesome! Now Grandad and I are making my kids two of them. Yes, It's cable tied together. It will get covered over with fiber glass tape soon.

Get a longer speedo cable made up and route it with no kinks?

Use your pre existing skills to make a carb spacer out of custom wood.

You must know M series head torque and tappet settings off by heart. What a pain in the ass.

No problems!.

Don't. Problem solved.

Rusty!