31 July 2009 - The chassis has arrived !!

After the best part of 3 months waiting for the large and the most important part of the project to arrive from Richards - it is now here. I did have a bit of a panic the day before when Kathyrn at Richard's called to say the delivery had been delayed...from a sparrow's f**t time of 6am to a more sociable 3-4pm - in the end it was here at 1430 ;)

So here it is as Terry dropped it off along with his oppo...and boy is it heavy. Original estimates put a 109 chassis at 100kg but a military 1 tonne style lump with the associated additional rail depth and material thickness it weighs just a bit more than that. It now needs to be moved from here and into the courtyard so I need to rope in a team to do that!

Only small problem is the lack of a steering damper bracket. It was on the order but hasn't appeared. A quick call to Richards and they admitted it was their oversight. It is a bolt on component so they are sticking one in the post next week. I also noticed the the rear front spring outriggers are different. The new ones have two holes compared to the old ones one. Someone had fitted std rear outriggers at some point on the old chassis? So now with new parabolics and 2" lift with the new mounting position this will make it tall at the back end!



Bren the JRT checks it out!



Later in the afternoon Rob (Minivin) rolled over with the engine hoist so we quickly put that to good use and lifted out the old gearbox and 2 1/4 petrol lump and managed to stick them on a pallet by the garage. The whole task was not helped by the fact that 99% of the drive is gravel. The only concrete patch is in front of the garage so we had the position the hoist over both that and a few lumps of chipboard under the outriggers.









It wasn't helped by the hoist seal leaking so much we got through at least 1/2 litre of ATF just lifting the block out.



Now the chassis is almost empty of the necessaries I need to remove the last remaining bits before we can pull the axles and chop it up for weighing in.



Evening came around and before sundown I couldn't wait - so out came a rag with a bit of cellulose thinners and a gallon of 'T-wash'. 1 hour later the whole chassis was prepped with the etch acid solution and hosed down. Also rain was due that night to neutralise and de-activate any remaining acid etch.

Here it is as I found it this morning and at least no-one ran off with it?

26th July - Still painting the bulkhead

Well the steering relay has still not been reassembled. Ideally I need to borrow the correct LR tool or a makeshift equivalent for an hour or so. It is really a PITA without it. I could knock one up but this 2 week vacation has been taken up with decorating and a ton of other necessaries so the LR bits are having to take a back seat.

The big plus is the bulkhead has had it's last coat of Paddocks bronze green and has had a few days to harden off. Now comparing the final colour to the original it is a lot lighter. I have to expect some degradation of the paint finish and colour after 45 years or so but it would be good to know it is correct?

Pics below with a comparison of the old and crumbly b\h finish.




So to find some more info I have placed a few enquiries with both the guys on EMLRA and HVMF ;)

http://www.hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/showthread.php?p=151793#post151793
http://forum.emlra.org/viewtopic.php?t=5854

21st July - Richards ARE still in business

Well it seems Richard's are still in business after both an inquiry on the S2 forum .....and then an email from Richards I recieved on my Co. mail yesterday.

http://www.series2club.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=29321.0

A bit worrying for a while though and I still cannot see why on earth they didn't have someone manning the pumps so to speak even while they were at Billing et al?

Todays further challenge was to try and get the steering relay re-assembled. I have always heard the stories that the spring will 'take your head off!' and similar but to be honest when I split it apart a few weeks back sticking an old sock over the end and tapping the shaft assy through worked fine - for stripping down.

NOTE - Once sock is used then wash and give to the puppy to gnaw on ;)

So my issue now is how to compress the spring in such a way so the spring split collets can then be fitted and the whole shaft assy fitted into the relay body?

http://www.series2club.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=29321.new#new

17th July - Richard's Chassis still in business?!

Now I received a mail from Richards three weeks ago to confirm the chassis was now on the jig and I could expect a call the following week to arrange/confirm delivery.

The next week came and went without a call. We are now one week after that so I sent an email Monday and followed it up again Wednesday as I didn't rx a reply to the previous mail - nothing heard from Wednesday's either. So phoned them yesterday afternoon, then this morning at 0930 (should be up and about by then?) and again at 1100. Phone at their end rang 10 times then the cell cut me off.

This is not looking good. Richards have always reponded by mail within a day whenever I have hassled them before?

In order to get some info I posted a thread on the Series2 forum. At least one guy on there knows them personally so we will see what that can rustle up?

http://www.series2club.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=29321.0

12th July 2009 - Damp paint!

Well the rain last night was extreme and after my first look into the garage this morning I found the newly painted b/h rather wet from leaks through the concrete (gge is underground). Paint had blistered in a few spots where water had lain on thickly painted surfaces and every other spot was now wet.

Luckily the damage is minimal, but as all the nooks and crannies are now damp the final coat of bronze green will have to wait until next weekend. I also have two weeks off the - superb!

After two coats of Rust Bullet/one red oxide/one grey primer/one bronze green tractor enamel... plus rain!



Rocky Mountains new springs have also been unwrapped to check the order. They look very tarty!



Now roll on my two week vacation starting next wknd and also roll on Richards phoning me to confirm delivery of my chassis!?

11th July 2009 - Bulkhead gets it's first coat of green

Two sad things happened today. Firstly we lost Mrs B the half Persian cat that had lived here for the past 2 years of her 16 year life. I had known her for her last few years and she had had a happy time down alongside the River Avon. Not much mouse chasing these days but she kept far more active than her age would suggest.

Mrs B - Sorry to see you go :(



The second, and not so bad, was the abortive visit to Yeovilton to see the flying Vulcan - it didn't! Age caught up with it after 50 years and it suffered a hydraulic brake fault. Safety understandably comes before making the crowds happy after all.

Also cloud base dropped to <500ft. so a lot of the displays either were cut short or didn't go up at all. We missed the Euro Typhoon and a whole bunch of other stuff. Traffic getting there and out of the parking lot later was also beyond a farce.

By the time I arrived back it only left enough light to get one coat of bronze green on the bulkhead. But at least one is now on to be followed by another tomorrow - hopefully? Oh, and weather and time meant I used a brush and small gloss rollers over spray. It was pissisting down!

10th July 2009

Back to the painty bit etc.

Now weather looks iffy and time limited a bit this weeked due to a) Yeovilton air day on Saturday and b) hopefully helping to move Rob (Minivin's) LR 101 on Sunday morning. Looking forward to Sat and seeing the XH558 Vulcan actually flying for my first time in around 25 years! ---> http://www.vulcantothesky.org

Anyway, painting should start Saturday evening if all goes well and I will also see if the electric spray gun is either capable or man enough to spray thinned LR enamel. The other issue is it safe to use it like this! Doubtful! But I'll give it a go ;) So by end of play Saturday I may have one fine coat of LR Bronze Green on the b/h if the weather holds, or I can rig something up in the garage (that'll mean evacuating the bike and loads of other assorted stuff for the night).

July 4th - Independence from America day?

Just had a call from Martin at Rocky Mountain Spares to say that the long awaited springs have landed from Canada!

Delivery to me around mid next week, but to be honest there is no rush. Nothing to fit them to anyway at the moment ;)

http://www.rockymountainspares.co.uk/



Returned home to find LR Series have delivered the parts to rebuild the steering relay. All looks good but muggins got a bit over enthusiastic and fitted the seals to the upper and lower flanges...the wrong way round. So next order I will need to get another pair in. Ho hum?

Sanded down the outside and more visible part of the b/h after the Rust Bullet fiasco. Applied seam sealer all around the panel joints on the engine side of the b/h. Pity that to remove enough rust bullet to erradicate the brush marks I had to go back to metal in places :(

Repainted the engine side of the b/h with red oxide primer; sanded down the next day then applied a roller coat of grey primer. Now to leave that all hanging in the garage for a week to dry thoroughly.

Next weekend is Bronze Green time!