Popular Post sr2 Posted October 25, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted October 25, 2021 Putting the new frame aside I mocked up the original old, rusty frame with the rebuilt front end and a dummy motor & box and started taking measurements. Came to the conclusion that the old girl would look better a little lower in the front, and if I was going to do it now was the time. Options were to either kick the front rails up or lower the mounting pads on the HR cross member. As much as it cutting up something I’d already rebuilt goes against the grain Rigamortice and I decided on the latter. Time to start cutting. Wound up the amps and welded in a piece of 3mm angle to build a lower pad. Boxed it all in with gussets and then cleaned it up. Not the prettiest welding I’ve done but it was all about penetration and strength. Filled some holes (note the copper sheet) and notched the frame rails to clear the cross member, I’ll fill the holes in the side of the rails later. 16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sr2 Posted October 27, 2021 Author Share Posted October 27, 2021 Offered the cross member up to the “new” frame (i.e. 70 years old!) and was happy with the results. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post sr2 Posted October 27, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted October 27, 2021 Time to make some crush tubes for bolting the X-member to the chassis. Have to say that the original chassis managed hundreds of thousands of Km’s with some rough as guts strengthening plates welded to the top of the rails. After some 40 plus years I’m sure I can come up with something more eloquent. Found some 28mm mild steel round in the scrap bin and gave it a spin in the lathe. Drilled some holes. And did a little welding. And a lick with a flappy disc. 25 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sr2 Posted October 31, 2021 Author Share Posted October 31, 2021 Mocked the whole thing up again with the dummy mtr. /box and it was obvious we had a “fidn’t dit” scenario with the gearbox and the cross-member. My late 1970’s solution was a little rough to say the least. (Please be cognisant that this is some 40 plus years later). Quoting earlier in this thread … “I found a W40 Steel case 4 speed Celica box (very sexy in its day) and modified the Holden bell housing to accept it, problem was the main cross member sat where the new gearbox needed to be. I jacked the old girl up, put her on axel stands to keep the chassis straight, pulled the front seats out and cut the whole floor out from the B pillar to the fire wall to expose the chassis. I welded in a piece of 4” RHS to form a new cross member, cut a section out of the original cross member to accommodate the new box and extended the original inside chassis rails. A new floor made from 16 gauge Zintex was welded in and a pair of Triumph 2000 front seats were fitted" Yes it was butt ugly but hey, in its defence it did work. I know this is supposed to be a restoration but Rigamortice and I have decided a few tweaks are acceptable. Tack welded in some temporary stiffening braces…… … And fired up the angle grinder 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post sr2 Posted October 31, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted October 31, 2021 You may have noticed the bellhousing on my dummy mtr. /box setup. It’s an original Castlemaine Rod Shop Holden 6 to W50 Toyota that I found on Trademe last year. It looks like it’s never been on a car and the guy selling it didn’t have a clue what it was for. Best $30 I think I’ve ever spent! 25 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post sr2 Posted November 1, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted November 1, 2021 Decided I’d stick with the original concept (i.e. it worked) and put a 3mm 50 x 100 RHS cross member some 300mm or so to the rear of the tube I’d cut out. The external corner radius of some scrap RHS matched the internal radius of the chassis (sometimes you get lucky) so I thought I’d copy the original doubling plates More welding More grinding And a lick of paint. (I’ve found CRC Cold Galv paint makes a great weld through primer). Cleaned and primed the inside of the rails, Drilled some plug welding holes (the original doubling plates were spot welded). Stitched it all together and was happy with the results 21 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post sr2 Posted November 3, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted November 3, 2021 Discovered 100 x 30 cold rolled channel was unobtainable in level 3 lockdown so had to improvise with the grinder. Time for some measuring.. And some CAD, (cardboard aided design). Cut out some gusset plates, the reason for the curves is to reinforce & brace without creating stress points when the chassis flexes. 24 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post sr2 Posted November 4, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted November 4, 2021 Notched and plated the new cross member for additional gearbox clearance. Added some bracing. Welding into big V’s to retain strength when I clean up with the flappy disc. I know I’m pushing the flexibility barrow here but remember this is an early 1930’s effort to use a "revolutionary" semi-monocoque design. I’m welding 3mm to 3mm and do not need a bulky weld to create stress points although I do need penetration and structural integrity. Keeping the welding down-hand when I can. (I.e. because I’m old, unscrupulous, and blind!). Filling holes… More Gussets. Then a bit of heat…. And some flappy wheel. 22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post sr2 Posted November 7, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted November 7, 2021 Dummy engine and box back in to fab a gearbox cross member. Now for the moment of truth – did I keep things straight through all the cutting and welding. 0.1 degree woks for me! 25 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post sr2 Posted November 11, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted November 11, 2021 Time to make things look pretty and rustproof the chassis for its next 70 years. There was some surface rust on the rear of the chassis rails that needed to be put in its place. A couple of cups of washing soda crystals…. Add some water and connect a power supply….. Some hours later – rust soup! And no rust. 17 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post sr2 Posted November 12, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted November 12, 2021 After a noisy afternoon with a wire a wire buff and a flappy wheel Rigamortice’s chassis got a couple of coats of CRC rust converter. Followed by a coat of Wattyl etch primer; jeeze the fumes knock you over… And two coats of Wattyl Killrust epoxy enamel. 27 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post sr2 Posted November 15, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted November 15, 2021 It is with deep sadness and a heavy heart that I have to announce the untimely demise of “Mak” my favourite Makita angle grinder. Mak passed away (noisily) after a short illness, i.e. weird gearbox grinding noises and a hideously burnt and nauseatingly disgusting plastic smell (with smoke). Despite desperate attempts at resuscitation, Rigamortice and myself could not put the lost smoke back into him and Mak, succumbing to his afflictions has gone to join the Great Flying Spaghetti Monster in the sky. A more true and loyal friend no man (or car) could have, and despite having a somewhat “abrasive” personality Mak will be sorely missed by many. Overcome with inconsolable grief we sought condolence in the arms of retail therapy - and bought these. On a more philosophical note angle grinders are like guitars, a man can never have enough of them! 15 5 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sr2 Posted November 16, 2021 Author Share Posted November 16, 2021 Had a bit of a crawl around under the old girl. No issues with rust in the floor pan above the diff, good old Pommy “self-lubrication”! I did however spot some rust where the body is bolted to the chassis, the black shiny stuff is under seal from some years back. I can’t complain, this is the first time the body’s been off the chassis in 70 plus years. Looks like I’ll have to bite the bullet and flip the body on to its side. First job is to remove the gas tank…..lots of baked on crud. Couldn’t believe the gas tank was only held in with tech screws! I suppose in 1947 after WW2 all fittings and hardware were at a premium. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post sr2 Posted November 16, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted November 16, 2021 I have to jump in here with a little history; the Vauxhall factory in Luton simply had the living shit bombed out of it by the Luftwaffe on multiple occasions during the war. (From The BBC) On the 75th anniversary of the World War Two bombing of Luton's Vauxhall factory, a Norfolk man has told the BBC about watching the attack as a boy. Fred Morrad, 83, lived in Luton during the war, where his father was an aircraft inspector at the Percival Aircraft Company, based at the airport. On 30 August 1940 at 16:50 BST, 51 bombs fell on the Vauxhall factory in about one minute, killing 39 people.Mr Morrad recalled how a friend's father died in the attack. "My school friend Barry Pitkin lived about 300 yards along the road from me. His father worked at Vauxhall Motors which had been bombed. His father didn't come home," said Mr Morrad. "It was during the school holidays, so when we went back nobody mentioned Barry's father's death. Young children then grew up very quickly." Recalling the night of the attack, he said: "My mother and I, as we looked up, could see a formation of about 12 planes high in the sky. I suppose they were about two miles away, and 10,000ft or so up in the sky. I climbed on the coal bunker to watch. "The aeroplanes kept steadily on although I remember one plane coming down as there were some fighters around them. "When my father came across he told us he had been coming out of one of the hangars as a stick of bombs was dropped across the airfield close to him. He was blown back into the hangar by the blast." Vauxhall archivist Andrew Duerden said: "The victims were aged between 15 and 71, including one woman, and 50 more were injured. "The main area hit was the gasometer, which contained gas used in the heat treatment. Although the factory was back up and running in six days - the gasometer was out of action for weeks. "Although Vauxhall was secondary to the Luftwaffe, if anything it was the other way round - the factory was very important to the war effort, building Bedford trucks, Churchill tanks and also did some fairly high engineering including development work on Sir Frank Whittle's jet engines." Vauxhall Motors World War Two Production Statistics: Churchill A22 Infantry Tank - A portion 5,640 Churchill Tanks with 2,000 spare engines. After the loss of most its equipment at Dunkirk in May-June 1940, the British Army only had 100 tanks remaining. Vauxhall was given the task of designing and producing the A22 within a year. The pilot model was ready by November 1940, and the first fourteen production models came off the assembly line in June 1941. Production of the Churchill A22 was shared with Vauxhall by ten other companies. Vauxhall produced the majority of the parts which were then assembled by Vauxhall and the other companies under Vauxhall's guidance. It is unknown the number of actual A22s produced by Vauxhall or the other companies. Other: 5 million sheet metal sides for jerrycans, four million rocket venturi tubes, 6-pounder armor piercing shells, and 750,000 steel helmets. Vauxhall was instrumental in the building of the first 12 jet engines built in Britain. The Luton factory did 95% of the work on these first 12 engines. Vauxhall also designed inflatable decoy trucks and string and canvas decoy aircraft. It also made tooling for the Hercules aircraft engine, and assisted in the development of the Mosquito, Lancaster, and Halifax aircraft. The GM subsidiary on mines, torpedoes, radiolocation equipment and bombs. Bedford Subsidiary World War Two Production Statistics: (5,995) MW 1-1/2-ton 4x2 trucks, (52,247) QL 3-ton 4x4 lorries, 73,385 OY 3-ton 4x4 lorries, and 24,429 OX 3-ton 4x4 lorries Back to 2021-finally got the gas tank out after lots of prying, wriggling and the indiscriminate use of some rather vulgar language . The smell of the gas left in the tank is akin to the aromas emitted from a rope sandal worn by an Arab swineherd who has been roaming the desert for the last year or two! It doesn’t look too bad but any suggestions on how to clean and treat the inside would be much appreciated. https://oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/49843-sr2%E2%80%99s-1947-vauxhall-%E2%80%9Crigamortice%E2%80%9D-discussion-thread/ 10 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post sr2 Posted November 21, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted November 21, 2021 The seats came our easily, plan is to keep them looking scruffy and original. The leather is cracked and dry - any suggestions on how we should be treat it will be much appreciated by both Rigamortice and yours truly. Love the old leather, the kapok stuffing, the springs and the wooden frame – not a modern staple in sight. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post sr2 Posted December 3, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted December 3, 2021 Time to start pulling doors and boot lids off the old girl to lighten the shell for flipping her over. Love the way the doors use egg shaped brass balls for hinges. The boot floor made out or tongue and groove, can’t I.D. the timber but I’ll be using it again. Next problem was how to get the old tart over on her side. I didn’t have access to a rotisserie but I did have a pile of scrap that included some old, heavy scaffolding. Had a piece of pipe longer than the body & “guesstimated” the centre of gravity. Managed to hang the rear off the bumper mounts (they were real bumpers in those days). Tacked some tabs to the rear floor. (God I hate trying to weld galv!). Decided I could mount some temporary brackets to the front seat mounts so pulled out my much treasured collection of old imperial taps to clear out the threads. Have to point out how crazy it must have been with the shortage of fasteners after WW2. Look at the random collection of threads that holds the front seat down! Inside mounts finished. For the front of the body I used the bolt holes from where the chassis braces attached to the body and held things together with a scaffolding clamp. 20 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post sr2 Posted December 4, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted December 4, 2021 Next problem was how to support each end? It was then I started eying up my engine stand with evil intent….. Raided the scrap pile to make a new vertical upright. And the old girls big arse end was suddenly sitting pretty. I settled for using my engine crane to hold up the front of the body – a little sketchy but hey it was all I had. Time to get the old diff out, love those lever action shocks. With the rear end out everything felt a little top heavy and I was a little worried that the engine stand at the rear could tip over. Found a piece of RHS that slid into the frame… Welded it to a piece of heavy angle from the now rapidly depleting scrap heap…. Found a castor to attach to the end and … Voilà…. The old girl’s safely on her side. I knew there was a reason I’d kept those old fenders… Time to go fishing…….. 17 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post sr2 Posted December 9, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted December 9, 2021 Closer inspection confirmed that getting the car on its side was well worth the effort. 70 plus years of being covered with a chassis rail has left me with a few rust repairs to do. Strangely enough similar to the chassis the starboard side is far more corroded than port, is there a dark chapter in Rigamortice’s chequered history that I’m unaware of? At least the years of “splash lubrication” from the diff has kept the rear underneath relatively rust free! 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post sr2 Posted December 10, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted December 10, 2021 Time to get started. I bought a quarter sheet of 16 gauge (1.6 mm for all you millennials) zintec mild steel sheet – great stuff to work with. I figure this part of the project will be covered up for at least another 70 years so the emphasis needs to be on strength and getting all the rot out. Thought I’d tackle the worst part first. I was going to have to repair the inside of the rail first so gave everything a good wire brush clean up and checked the chassis mounting threads we in good condition. My philosophy with complex shapes is to keep the component’s small and where possible never cut rusty bits out until you have made the replacement part. Good old fashioned “meatball surgery”. Having the chassis mounting bolts made things a lot easier. A tickle with the angle grinder…. And I’m left with the right shaped capping to weld in when I’ve finished repairing the inside of the rail. 16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post sr2 Posted December 14, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted December 14, 2021 The inside looked somewhat daunting… Started cutting until I found good metal and then gave it a good coat of CRC Rustkill followed by galv primer.…. With the aid of more high-tech CAD (cardboard aided design) I started cutting out the replacement panel. I have to say a metal cutting band saw is my choice for freehand cutting of sheet metal; you get none of the distortion you get when using shears. The panel fitted well so we stitched it in. 17 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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