Flash's 1965 Ford Thames

[Flash]

I've been off the Thames for 10 days in order to build a new fence down our driveway. I've gotta say it was good being back on the van today.

The last big remaining bit of the puzzle is the steering column and column gearshift mechanism and that was today's focus.

First thing I did was blow the dust of the loose plan that I have so far.

So just to recap, I plan to use the standard Thames outer and inner steering column together with the original column shift. The outer column has been decoupled from the integrated steering box and needs a lower chassis mounting plate fabricated. The inner column needs the worm gear removed and replaced with a universal joint that will bolt up to the Express angled steering gear box. Pictures of the parts that I am referring to:

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So first order of the day was to "source" a universal joint from my personal Pick A Part. I grabbed a few spanners and moseyed on over to the Express and in double quick time I managed to wrestle this puppy out: 

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I cut the last bit of the shaft including the UJ off the Express column. I'm going to need direction from my Certifier on the approved way to mate the two columns. I've got a call in to him to drop by for a "look see", but in the mean time I can continue mocking up the lower mount.

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There's nothing like a bit of plywood aided design to prove a concept.

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I'll need to attach this bit that I cut off the end of the Starwagon gear shift column to the end of the Thames gear shift column, but I won't do that until the Certifier is happy and I've fabricated my lower bracket in steel.

Thanks for reading.

[Flash]

I'm in a holding pattern on the Thames until the Certifier drops by so I thought I'd get a head start on the next phase of the project.

Spent a few hours spannering on my complete donor HiAce and ended up with these on the floor which I will start cleaning up over the next few days.

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Spent a bit of time bonding with my donor engine today and learnt a few interesting facts.

When I bought the donor van I was told by the seller that this engine had been reconditioned, but took this info with a pinch of salt. At the time it looked more like a rattle can reco to me.

Anyway, now that its out of the van, today was the first opportunity that I have had to give it a closer inspection.

Thought I would start off by pulling off the water pump to check the condition of the interior water jackets. The pump looks surprisingly new and the water jackets that I have easy access too look pretty clean. Thermostat is brand new too and the sealant and gasket used on the pump looked pretty fresh to me.  So maybe I shouldn't be so skeptical.

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Pics:

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Cleaned some of the crappy red paint off so that I could reveal the engine number and got my next surprise. This engine is actually a 3Y not a 4Y. Shouldn't make a difference to any of my fabrication thus far as the 3Y shares the same stroke as the 4Y that I have used for the mock up.

Does mean that I am down 200cc as the 3Y is a 2 litre engine. I'm not unhappy with the difference as the 3Y is a square engine having the same bore and stroke dimensions and are reputedly the sturdier of the two engines.

Thanks for reading.

[Flash]

The earliest that the Certifier can make it is Monday, so I'm still at a bit of a loose end. Woke up today and decided to tackle the gearshift as I have been putting this off for a while.

Played around with the gearbox arms and confirmed that the bottom arm selects the gate. Pushing the arm towards the back of the van gets the gate for 1st and 2nd gears. The floating position is the gate from 3rd and 4th  and pulling the arm towards the front of the van gets the gate for 5th and reverse. Then crawled under the Thames to play with the mock up gearbox. First order of business was to "massage" the lower arm so that it would clear the chassis leg.

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I then dug the Starwagon gate selector cable out and gave it the once over. It has this fitting at the gearbox end.

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Before chucking in the cable I figured the first thing to do would be to make a bracket to secure the outer cable. Then I remembered that the Starwagon cable has a nifty little bracket at the column end. Thought it was worth a try.

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Pulled the cir-clip and offered the bracket up. Took a few measurements of the cable travel required for the forward and backward movements and low and behold one of the mounting bolts for my strut rod base plate is in the perfect spot. I'll just need to drill another hole for the second bolt, but I'll only do that once everything else is working in case I'm wrong.

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I then offered up the cable. I had to make a temporary bracket that I clamped in place to prevent the mounting bracket from rotating. Looked a bit rough, but it did the trick.

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I put the cable through its paces by pulling the other end by hand. It works, but I'm not 100% happy with the action. When pushing the lever towards the back of the van it happily springs back to the "neutral" position as this is spring assisted inside the gearbox, but when you pull the lever forward it relies on gravity to drop back to "neutral". It works fine without the cable, but with the cable in place the gravity motion is a bit hit and miss. I suspect the cable is snagging up.

Anyway, I think I know what's wrong and its to do with the way the current cable terminates. The shackle type joint is more suited for a linear motion. The way the Toyota selector lever works is more of a rotating motion. So instead of the shackle terminator, I think a ball joint terminator would provide a smoother movement and prevent the cable from snagging up.

It just so happens that one of the cables from the Mitsi Express donor van has a ball joint terminator, so I'll give this alternative a go and see if it improves things.

Thanks for reading.

[Flash]

After doing some garden work yesterday, I got rewarded with some more quality time under the Thames this morning.

With the gearbox end of the gate selector cable largely sorted I thought I'd start off by looking at the column shift end of the same cable. In order to push on this cable it would need to enter the pivot arm from the right. I temporarily clamped the cable into position and a problem was immediately apparent. The underside of the driver's side foot well doesn't have enough space to facilitate a lazy bend on the outer sheath resulting in a very stiff cable movement. So this option isn't going to fly. 

The only other option is to mount the cable so it enters from the left. Whilst this will allow sufficient space for the cable to make a lazy bend, it has two knock on effects. First challenge is that by running the cable this way it will be pushing when it should be pulling and vice versa. The second challenge is that the cable will be on the opposite side of the gearbox to the selector arms. I lay on my back thinking about my options for a while and then I had a light bulb moment.

With the lazy bend the cable sits next to the left hand chassis rail and moves freely, so it's obviously happy in this position. So if I were to run the cable along the left hand chassis rail and then took another lazy loop crossing the gearbox just aft of its tail, not only will I then end up on the correct side of the gearbox, but I will also be pulling from behind when previously the cable should have been pushing from the front. Win and win ... I think.

I'll just need to fabricate a different holding bracket for the cable at the gearbox end and will also need to factor in the additional cable length required when I get the cables made up.  With a  bit of luck I'm hoping to attach the new bracket to the gearbox housing somehow which would make me happier too.

I tried to upload a picture of the failed option, but the upload failed for some reason so I'll try to share the picture later.

Thanks for reading.

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Here's the pic that I couldn't post yesterday. It shows the tight bend in the outer cable that is just too close to the pivot point to allow smooth operation.

[Flash]

Another exciting day was had here at Rough & Ready Restos.

First off the Certification Engineer paid a visit and we spent a good hour going through the mocked up modifications. He is  happy with what I have done thus far. There are a few bolts that need upgraded from M8 to meatier M10s, some extra locking washers needed here and there and a few extra gussets that need to go in when the final welding is done. But overall a good result.

He has also ticked off the proposed steering column modification as long as I get the welding crack tested. He was also able to provide me with good advice and guidance on a few other bits and pieces, so I am very chuffed.

One item that I will need to revisit is the size of the sway bar which he reckons is over sized for the vehicle and is likely to make for a very stiff ride, so I'll put some more thought into that.

At least I can now violently execute my steering related fabrication with relative peace of mind that I am moving in the right direction.

After he headed off I figured I would spend the rest of my morning puzzling out a cunning plan for the second of my gear selector cables.

So what I need to do is connect a cable to the eyelet at the end of this arm :

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So I dug out one of the gear selector cables from the Mitsi Express donor van and it has a cable end that looks perfect for the job:

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I rummaged around in my box of spare bolts and found a really neat bolt that will work perfectly. It's an old seat belt bolt and the smooth portion of the shaft is the ideal length. Chucked a flat washer into the mix and all I'll need to buy is a nyloc nut so I can leave it a bit slack to aid rotation. Bolted it all together and I'll take the win for now.