Flash's 1965 Ford Thames

[Flash]

Now that our dog has a comfy wee seat, earlier today we headed out for our longest cruise in the Thames thus far. The dog absolutely loves her new spot. The cushion is a perfect height so she can look out of her own little side windows and the sliding glass in the front doors means she is in the sweet spot in terms of catching good air smells as we cruise about.

Talking about smells there is still a distinct fuel smell every now and again. At first I thought it was maybe because I'm still not running an air filter, but the other day @yoeddynz mentioned that he was experiencing a similar issue with a customer's HiAce that has had the same carby conversion done and he suspected it was due to a poorly adjusted float level. Well, Alex was bang on the money.

After pulling out my passenger seat and the side of the engine box, I was able to shine a torch down onto the little carby drip tray and there are definite signs of some leakage.

[Flash]

It's a bugger to work on the carby in situ as there is absolutely no space, so I whipped it off to make some adjustments.

Pulled the lid and sure enough the float level was way out. Adjusting it was easy enough and went off without a hitch, apart from me managing to lose the little circlip that holds the choke lever in place. Spent a good 15 minutes on my hands and knees with a magnet until I found the little bugger. It's amazing how many shavings my magnet picked up at the same time. Eventually found the circlip so all's well that ends well.

While I've got the carby off I'm going to complete my fibreglass snorkel hat. First step was to cut my creation in two and give it a test fit. It's still a bit too high, so I've sliced a good 15mm out of each side. Lunch stopped play, but tomorrow I'll mix up some resin and patch it all together again.

Oh, in other news while we were out on our cruise, I checked the speedo against our GPS. Turns out the speedo reads 10% higher than the GPS which is pretty lucky when you think I'm running a Toyota gearbox coupled to the original Thames speedo.

Thanks for looking.

[Flash]

A while ago when I was chasing down a replacement gearbox, I came across a Mitsi Express van at my local wreckers that was fitted with a manual steering rack. These are pretty thin on the ground as most of the vans were bought equipped with power steering. The wrecker didn't want big money for the rack, so I nabbed it and it has been languishing in the corner of the shed since then.

With summer rapidly approaching I thought it about time that I started planning out my a/c install. The first thing that I need to do is free up some real estate for a belt driven a/c compressor. My only option space wise is to do away with my belt driven power steering pump. Longer term I'd like to install an electric power steering pump out of a Holden Astra, but for now I thought I'd give the manual steering rack a go, just to see what manual steering would be like.

So, I started off the day by pulling out my radiator to get to the power rack, pump and associated pipework. Chucked the dirty old manual rack in as is for now. If it is going to be a permanent solution, I'll give it a clean and a rattle can reco at a later stage. It could do with a new set of dust boots too and one of the knuckles feels a bit loose, but let's see what happens first.

While I had the radiator out, I played around with an old a/c compressor that came off my Express donor van. It's well shagged but is perfect for mock up purposes. Offered it up to the space vacated by my p/s pump and the good news is that I reckon I can get it to fit with about 20mm clearance from the side of the engine box. My plan is to fabricate up a mounting bracket for the a/c compressor and test fit it to my mock up engine which will make things a lot easier.

Anyway, the manual rack is all bolted in, and I've re-fitted the radiator and dropped the van back on its wheels.

Lunch stopped play, but I'll take the van for a run tomorrow to check out the manual steering.

Stay tuned.

 

 

 

[Flash]

Took the van for a quick squirt around the neighbourhood to test the manual steering. As I turned into our driveway she suddenly died. Pulled a plug lead to check for spark ... nada.

Pulled the dizzy cap off to check spark at points. Turned the engine over and the rotor wasn't rotating .... WTF.

Pulled the dizzy apart and the shaft is broken. That will teach me for buying one off fleabay. 

I'm going to head into town on Monday to visit our local Toyota Parts Depot to see if I can source a reputable dizzy from them.

Oh......  and in other news manual steering is pants compared to my power steering, so guess what I am refitting tomorrow ?

https://youtu.be/l6S6nJY7t68

[Flash]

Last night I gave my distributor dilemma a bit more thought. Based on my latest experience I'm a bit gun shy when it comes to acquiring another aftermarket jobbie even if I do purchase it from a reputable source.

Then I remembered that I still have the crusty old Toyota one that I originally replaced. So, first thing this morning I scratched through my discarded parts bin and found it languishing near the bottom of the pile. Looks crusty as, but I figured I'd take a punt on getting it to work.

Spent a few minutes stripping the points, condenser, associated wiring and vacuum advancer over from the broken chinesium to ol' crusty, chucked it back on the mighty 3Y and she fired right up. Winner.

I definitely trust the old Toyota one more than another aftermarket job, so ol' crusty is going to stay. I might ditch the points in favour of one of those ignitor conversions, but let's give it a bit of time to make sure things are working as is.

Celebrated by refitting the power steering rack and associated kit and all is good in the world again.

[Flash]

Front stabiliser bar - Chapter 1

Up to now I've been running the van without a front stabiliser bar, and I am experiencing quite a bit of body roll under heavy cornering. So, it's time to do something about it.

Now way back in the "Proof of Concept phase" I played around with stabiliser bar options and at the time I managed to test fit the bar that I harvested from my Mitsi Express donor van. However, a lot has happened since then so I wasn't feeling too confident that it would still fit. It's been languishing in the corner of our back carport for a few years now, so has gained a bit of extra surface rust, but apart from that and some crusty rubbers it still looks servicable.

Dragged it under the Thames and wrestled it into position.

Yea, nah .....

I wasn't able to lift the cross bar up into its final chassis mounting points as it's fighting for position with the lower radiator tank and the radiator looks like it's going to win that battle. 

The curly bit on the driver's side is also dangerously close to the brake master cylinder and brake pipes. Whilst I may be able to reroute the brake pipes, I'd rather keep well away from my master cylinder if I can.

As a result, I've banished the Express bar to the naughty corner for now.

 

[Flash]

Front stabiliser bar - Chapter 2

The next bar that I tried is the one from the Starwagon donor van. As a result the ends of this bar bolt up perfectly to the mounts on my lower control arms, but alas the rest of the bar clashes with the forward-facing steering shaft.

So, it's a firm no from me.

[Flash]

Front stabiliser bar - Chapter 3

The next thing that I tried was to fit the Starwagon bar rearwards facing.

It fits nicely in the little hollow between the engine and gearbox, but clashes with the rear facing strut rods and would be an absolute nightmare to mount, so again it's a firm no from me.

[Flash]

Front stabiliser bar - Chapter 4

The next option that I tried is the original Thames stabiliser bar, but unfortunately it is a lot narrower than the new front suspension, so I immediately discounted it as an option.

The last bar that I have in my parts pile is one that I harvested from my HiAce donor van.

Wrestled that one into position and it's shape looks really promising.

I was able to mount it further forward on the chassis legs so it's well out of the way of my brake components and the radiator. There are some convenient holes already in the chassis legs so I was able to temporarily bolt it into position.

It tucks up onto the chassis rather nicely, but I'll need to move it slightly further forward as the vertical drop pieces are a bit too close for comfort to my steering rack ends. At first glance this shouldn't be an issue as all that will be required are longer mounting brackets for the lower control arms. These should be fairly straight forward to fabricate, so this option is looking pretty promising.

Lunch and other activities stopped play, but I'll carry on with this again tomorrow.

Thanks for looking.

 

[Flash]

Front stabiliser bar - Chapter 5

Spent the morning fine tuning the positioning of the HiAce stabiliser bar and it fought me every step of the way.

This bar came off a van that was equipped with torsion bar front suspension and as a result the stabiliser drop ends don't play that nicely with the bell-shaped coil spring/shock towers that my L300 front end is blessed with. Moving the bar forward enough to clear the towers through full suspension travel then caused the drop ends to clash with the steering rack ends. Finally, I moved the bar further forward so it's now in front of the steering rack ends.

Just when I thought that I was out of the woods, I then had a clash between the main bar and the mounting bracket for my clutch master cylinder. I managed to solve that issue by putting a 25mm spacer between my chassis legs and the stabiliser U clamps.

With the bar temporarily mounted on some blocks of wood to represent the spacers, I then spent a bit of time making sure that everything clears not only during full steering movement but also during full suspension travel. The good news is that there is ample clearance. The first photo below shows the gap between the drop end and my front wheel at full lock.

The final job for today was to create a little cardboard template for the lower control arm mounts. I've had to shape the mounting bracket in such a way that it clears the coil spring seat as well as the original stabiliser mounting brackets as I don't want to cut off the original mounts. Everything will be bolt in, so I don't have to perform any welding on my lower control arms.

The plan for tomorrow is to carve up a crusty looking piece of 6mm steel plate and a section of 25mm square tube to create the final components.

[Flash]

Front stabiliser bar - Chapter 6

After giving it some more thought last night there is a slight change of plan in terms of the stabiliser bar mounting brackets.

The bracket is a little more complicated than just a flat bit of plate as it has a little indented cup that the isolation rubbers sit in. So, I need to somehow recreate that cup. Also, I'm using two existing bolt holes on each lower control arm to fix the plates, but one of the holes already holds down the strut rod brace. My original plan was to fabricate a spacer for the other hole to keep my new bracket level, but then I realised that I could do something nifty that will allow me to create the cup and a spacer all in one.

My amended bracket will thus consist of three layers of steel plate. The centre layer will be cut out of 9mm steel. The lower plate will be 6mm plate with a bigger 26mm hole to create the lower cup and a cut at the other end to accommodate the strut rod brace. The upper plate will be 3mm thick with another 26mm hole to create the upper cup. I'll fizz all three plates together by running a weld around the outer edges. The result will be a lot stronger than my original design.

So with my new plan in place, I cracked straight into a bit of metal carving. Started off by creating the first 6mm plate as a template for the hole spacing and to double check the fit with something more ample than my cereal box template. The test fit went well so I then carved my first 9mm plate out of a chunky bit of angle iron that I had lying around. Poked a few more holes and then trimmed the end off the 6mm plate to clear the strut rod brace.

It's starting to take shape nicely. Next job is to drill out the end hole in the 6mm plate to 26mm to create the cup. 

More tomorrow.

[Flash]

Front stabiliser bar - Chapter 7

Spent the morning serenading the neighbours with the dulcet tones of my angle grinder and I now have the six main components of the stabiliser bar bracketry in various states of completion.

More holes to poke tomorrow and once that is done, I can then fizz them together.

[Flash]

Front stabiliser bar - Chapter 8

Started the morning off by poking the rest of the holes in my bracket wafers.

Next step is to bolt the wafers together in their correct order and then trim the edges of each wafer flush before welding them together.

However, I decided to give my long-suffering neighbours the day off from my grinder. It's the very least I can do on a Sunday.

More tomorrow when everyone else is back at work.

[Flash]

Front stabiliser bar - Chapter 9

Average looking welding in true Rough & Ready Resto style, but at least that is the first mounting bracket all glued together.

[Flash]

Front stabiliser bar - Chapter 10

And that's the rest of the fabrication work done on the front stabiliser bar. Tomorrow morning I'll drop it back onto its wheels and take it for a spin around my test track.

If all goes well, I'll strip it all out and give it a lick of paint. Some fresh rubbers wouldn't go amiss either.

Soz for the quality of the photos.

[Flash]

Front stabiliser bar - Chapter 11

Loaded Mrs Flash and our wee dog into the Thames for a blatt around our neighbourhood and I'm happy to declare that the excess body roll is now a thing of the past.

Flushed with success I proceeded to dismantle the setup, then gave everything the once over with the wire wheel of death followed by a light tickle with a flapper disc.

First coat of paint has been applied and I thought I'd post this update while I'm idling between coats.

Just remembered I've got to sort out some crush tubes for the hollow square body mounts, so best I crack into that.

[Flash]

And this is hopefully the last time that I will mention the front stabiliser bar as by now I'm sure that you are as sick of the subject as I am ..... LOL.

I'm looking forward to working on something else for a change.

[Flash]

Having a bit of a cruisy day today.

Earlier in the week I was giving my mate Grant a hand to fit a solar setup to his camper van and to say thanks he gave me a metal surround for the Cortina MK1 gearshift boot that he gifted me a while back. It was pretty crusty, but after spending three days in a vinegar bath it has come up pretty good. You can even make out the little "Enfo" factory stamp on the face.

Gave it a spritz of satin black and then bolted it up. I'm bloody chuffed as it finishes the surround off nicely.

I'm lucky to have such a generous mate.

 

[Flash]

I've finally given up on my fibreglass carby hat. With the limited headroom that I have, I just couldn't get a low enough profile on my creation. Sad, I know, but such is life sometimes.

Anyway, inspired by some photos that @yoeddynz shared of a carby hat that he fabricated for one of his customers, I thought I'd have a go at creating one out of metal.

I followed Alex's recipe by slicing up the original HiAce hat. Since I'm not blessed with the carby headroom that a HiAce has I've had to create my hat in two sections that I'm able to slide in on either side of the choke tubes.

Made some hoops out of flat plate which I then welded onto each half of a freshly fabricated base plate. Next step was to weld the remnants of the HiAce snorkle onto my creation. The HiAce steel is bloody thin and even with my cheapy welder on its lowest setting it was still blowing holes, so I had to resort to some dodgy spot welding. Not the prettiest thing you have ever seen, but it is strong and even if my flapper disk doesn't improve things I can live with it. At the end of the day most of it will remain hidden under the chrome top cover that I've pinched from the performance air filter.

More planned for tomorrow, but in the meantime, here are a few photos for your viewing pleasure.

[Flash]

So, the plan with the new carby hat was to use the original chrome cover that came in the kit I bought. I was going to use 4 small sections of threaded rod screwed in to the carby flange that normally takes 4 short bolts to hold the filter base down. First step was to poke 4 holes in the lid and it all worked out okay on the test bench, but when I tried to fit it to the Thames ... instant fail. There just wasn't enough headroom to get the lip on the lid past the sides on my newly fabricated housing. Just shows you how space poor I am.

I then thought about slicing off the lip on the short side in order to squeeze the top through the gap, but then realised that even if I did that there is no way that I was going to be able to get a hold down nut on the two threaded rods sitting under the floor. Bugger.

After a bit of head scratching I came up with an alternate plan for the lid. First step was to carve a flat lid with a little tab out of some flat plate and I then carved up an offcut to make a little hold down bracket that I spot welded to the side of the base. Looks like so:

The new lid slides between the sides of the base and the cab floor with about 7mm of gap. The two threaded rods closest to the rocker cover are well out of the way of the cab floor so I'm able to firmly bolt that end of the top down onto the rest of the housing.

Not the prettiest looking thing but it is functional.

Plan for tomorrow is to put a bit of lipstick on this pig, but for now here is a money shot of the thing actually in its final home: