Jump to content

It's here! (Bedford RL)


Recommended Posts

And, continuing on from the previous post...

 

In slightly better news...

While deciding to go primer the strange square patch on the front of the truck where all the paint had peeled, I started scraping, and uncovered something. Spotted a patch of paint that looked a little too red to be primer, and then spotted some blue while I was in mid-scrape...

 

lCkWWOH.jpg

 

It's the remnants of a flash. Red over blue would be Royal Artillery, which matches nicely with the "field artillery" fixtures and fittings that are there. But there's also some other little bits that look like remnants from perhaps an earlier marking; though there was so little there, it's hard to say what came first and what's over-painted with what.

 

GJsRryA.jpg

Bottom of a torch, perhaps?

 

 

It would have been nice if it were in better condition, then I might be able to see more of it; but as it was, most of it was falling away in a stiff breeze, it'd curled and flaked off that badly. And, in the interests of avoiding it rusting again, I've painted as much of the bare metal as I can.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looking at some of your pictures, a replacement cab might not be a bad idea if you can find one. Same size holes in my tanker, but at least no one has stuffed them full of newspaper and P38, and a Militant is mainly straight panels so easily made.

 

You mention "joggling" as part of your cutting and sticking routine. What do you use for this? For years I've never bothered putting an edge on my welds, just butt up then grind off the surplus and a smear of filler.

 

Thinking I was being smart the other week I bought a Joggler Tool from a certain auction site, but frankly it doesn't do what it said on the tin. Does do a reasonable hole for a spot weld, but that's about it. Have I just bought some cheap junk and a better quality one would be better, or is 1.2mm plate too thick?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

a replacement cab might not be a bad idea if you can find one.

 

Well, hopefully it doesn't get to that point. It's mostly good, but the bits that are bad are on their way to being properly bad. I remain, so far, optimistic that I can fix the holes. And, if not, at least I learn something along the way. Even if that's "How far can I throw my hammer when the whole cab disintegrates before my eyes."

 

You mention "joggling" as part of your cutting and sticking routine. What do you use for this? For years I've never bothered putting an edge on my welds, just butt up then grind off the surplus and a smear of filler.

 

Well, I might get away with not joggling some of the parts; I've usually done just that, butted them up together, very carefully tack-tack-tack'd at the edges, and then ground it 'smooth' again. But I figure that joggling the edge might give me a bit of an edge (ha!) in the battle, particularly where it might be getting a bit thin. There'll be a bit more thermal mass there, so a bit more of a fighting chance rather than chasing the gap around adding metal one side and blowing it away on the other, which is my usual experience in dealing with rusty sheet metal.

 

What might help this time around, is that the metal on the old cab is also a bit thicker than the more modern stuff I'm used to poking the wire through. :D (Work's welders are a bit overpowered for sheet metal. They do a treat for sticking tipper bodies together, though.)

 

I have a method in mind, so far; but want to try it before opening my big mouth and making more of a fool of myself than I already have. (And, if that method doesn't work, I have a potential backup method to try.)

 

Thinking I was being smart the other week I bought a Joggler Tool from a certain auction site, but frankly it doesn't do what it said on the tin. Does do a reasonable hole for a spot weld, but that's about it. Have I just bought some cheap junk and a better quality one would be better, or is 1.2mm plate too thick?

 

Oo-er. Yeah, 1.2mm might be a bit thick for most of the hand-held joggler tools. 1.0mm is right at the upper end of their capabilities, as far as I can tell. At least if it does a nice neat hole for plug welding, then it's not a total loss.

 

We'll see how well the process goes when I start getting stuck into it. Improvisation and adaptation are the biggest parts of the game plan, such as there is one.

 

I've got it easy compared to the people who start with a spring, a wheel, and a bit of twisted plate; and build a tank outwards from there. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You ever have one of those days where you step back and say to yourself "What the hell have I done?!"

 

YUgKuTC.jpg

Today was one of those days.

 

Let's rewind a little bit, and start from the beginning.

* Wibbly wobbly rewinding effect *

 

Got myself a new toy; cordless grinder. This did not bode well for the truck. :cool2:

 

Today was meant to mostly be a recon mission; figure out where the rotten bits are, and work out a plan of attack. So on went the wire wheel, and I started whizzing off all the filler.

 

Some bits turned out not to be so bad under all the filler.

9qtF55y.jpg

 

And some of the bits that were bad, didn't appear so bad after all.

ifr0QFJ.jpg

(Remember that remark. We'll be back here later.)

 

However, there are definite signs of advanced rot at the back edges of the cab.

icopDj1.jpg

 

Signs of previous repairs, too. (It's a bit hard to see, but it becomes a lot more obvious later on.)

s9EvE0K.jpg

 

And, of course, the rotten cab floor.

zIQchmw.jpg

 

Naturally, I exposed the full rotten-ness of the driver's door while stripping all the body-filler; of which there was a not-inconsiderable amount. This all had to be chopped out.

5qh8qng.jpg

 

I've seen teabags with fewer holes!

LDIHIG5.jpg

 

Some tin-bashing later...

n5qgNpO.jpg

 

5setEjp.jpg

 

I should note, my hand-held joggler tool will just about move that 1mm, but not by enough; so that's all been joggled by hand. It's not the prettiest job, but it'll do. I don't think it's too bad for someone who has never done sheet metal work before. :D

 

(I have an NVQ2 in fabrication & welding... platework, that is!)

 

 

SjPco6h.jpg

Some fettling required.

 

Now, as I didn't have a long enough lead to reach all the way across the car-park to run my welder, I've given that patch panel a quick blast of primer, and left it with the other panel I have (for the roof) to deal with later; when I can either throw an extension lead over into the next unit, or tow the truck over to the workshop to do the welding.

 

So! Onward and, er, downwards, really.

 

Remember that bit I said didn't seem too bad, earlier? Yeah, well...

g4IStVo.jpg

AAAAAAAAA...

 

j0HLndG.jpg

...AAAAAAA...

 

Ka94p8r.jpg

...AAAAAAA...

 

UgiIg4g.jpg

...RGH!

 

And that's when that whole corner fell off. :-D

 

All of that fuzzy bit looks to be a repair to the structure of the cab; there's a bit of box-section, and then a patch over the top of it. None of which was painted prior to becoming sealed away, so it's all instantly rotted again. The inside of the box section feels to be full of flakes; and I'm still deciding how much more I need to chop at.

 

My plan of attack for the box section, at the moment, is to wire wheel the snot out of it until I can figure out where everything's joined together and how much I'll need to remove. I'm also thinking of taking a small hole-saw to the box section to allow me to clean it out, inspect how bad it is on the inside, and also apply Waxoyl to the inside of it. (I have a pressure-can with a spray hose for reaching in and splattering the sludge everywhere...)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The real entertainent is in the subtitles, you have to watch it a couple of times to make sure you read them right.

 

Dearie me, the auto-generated subtitles really have struggled a little bit, haven't they? :D

I'll have to see if I can fix that, if it's a problem for anyone?

 

EDIT: Subtitles added and sorted.

Edited by Tamber
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Bit of a brain-dump to start with...

Not had much in the way of motivation to work on the truck recently, aside from some fiddling about with the replacement fuse-box. Changed my mind on some implementation details, which is making some things a little harder before they get easier; but no matter, it's only money and time. :undecided:

 

On an only-mildly interesting note, I've been doing a little fiddling around with the brake servo.

Some prodding and poking has ascertained that the valve that allows air into the booster cylinder is a bit stuck; which makes sense... seeing as that end of the servo is the most corroded.

 

I've tried gently -- and not so gently -- to see if I can drive the pin out of all those arms at that end, and get some better access; but it doesn't look like it's going to be coming out with any measure of reasonable force.

 

Next step involved pulling the circlip, washer, little plastic plug, and spring that holds the valve closed while at rest. Or, rather, pulling the circlip, trying to lift the washer; and having the rest of it undergo RUD right past my ear. I've got all but one of the bits, at least.

 

Interestingly, the plunger of the valve appears to be hollow right through. I'll have to do a little more exploring and try to figure out what's supposed to be going on there.

 

Now, for the interesting part...

 

While trying to find out some more info about the servo, I stumbled across a post on this very board from 2013, whereupon someone was trying to sell a very familiar-looking type of servo, apparently for a TK/MJ.

 

Bedford TK/MJ brake servo for sale

 

So this has me wondering whether the reason that it doesn't look like diagrams given in the RL service manual, is because it was -- at some point in the truck's life -- swapped out for a later model servo for some reason.

(Had it on the shelf, perhaps? :-D )

 

I've also ordered a rebuild/reseal kit that's supposedly for the master cylinder I have; and I'll tear into that when the kit arrives. Hoping that it doesn't have any corrosion in the bore, or -- if it does -- that it'll clean up with a very gentle honing.

 

Other news

 

Water pump: is still at the machine shop. I'm getting a little bit grumpy about not having it; but they're trying to fit it in around their other jobs, it's understandably a low priority, not helped by it being an awkward size shaft in the rebuild kit, and thus involves boring out to dimension rather than drilling and reaming.

 

Such is life. Half considering making a blanking plate with the appropriate fittings to fit an electric water pump; but that then results in needing an electric fan, etc. All doable, but I'd rather not, at this point; it adds yet more complexity and points of failure. Still, it's a back-up plan in case the mechanical pump still leaks after I did the rebuild... :-D

 

Fuel tank: surprisingly clean inside. Looks to have been galvanised from the factory, and there are only a few very small patches that look even slightly iffy; I have had to shake some lumps of lead out of it, which I suspect are from a past repair that I can see evidence of on the outside.

 

Planning to strip the outside down with a wire wheel, and repaint it, because it looks a bit tatty. No major problem, really. Biggest issue -- and it's only a little one, at that -- is likely to be sorting out the filler cap. I suspect I should be able to just (there's that magic word again) get it re-keyed, and reassemble the filler in the reverse order of removal.

 

(I'll also need to re-make the tank straps, but that shouldn't be a major problem. Just a chain of minor ones, knowing how these things go. :-D)

 

Fuse panel:

 

vZTuZaL.jpg

There are a few more wires in there, I think, than the last time I showed it.

 

fOXn4Tn.jpg

So many more, that I had to change my plan on how I was going to route them.

 

p0KT6ol.jpg

Still needs a little untangling, but getting more managable.

 

LlRBc95.jpg

Of course, I didn't really want to splice a great big bundle of wires going into the fuse/relay box; so a connector was needed. I'm rather partial to TE's products; since I use a lot of them at work.

 

These are 18-position connectors out of the MCP 1.5 series; each terminal pin is rated up to 24 amps (supposedly!), so should be ample, as everything's fused at 15A in my fuse-box, aside from a couple of 5A fuses.

 

fSqyebJ.jpg

Ta-da! Only a couple more wires (that I know are missing) need to go into that, the ones that connect to the indicators. I also have two extra spare positions just in case I need to run anything else that I forgot about. Any more than that, and I'll use the other set of connectors. (Needed 1, so bought 2; just in case!)

 

I also decided to mount it all in a waterproof enclosure; which does fit, just about. Might have to relocate it all to the back wall of the cab, where it's more accessible for when fuses blow. On the bright side, I've not actually started the permanent wiring for everything; everything's all still flexible. (*cough* bodged *cough*)

 

"When you're flying by the seat of your pants, nothing sounds more official than a Plan B"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Water-pump's back together again! Surprisingly, it didn't gush water out of it as fast as I poured it in. In fact, it seems to be holding water very well, a couple of loose hose-clamps aside.

 

(Already had some slight complaints about my burble being somewhat incomprehensible, I'll add captioning at some point. Probably after work tomorrow.)

 

So, I decided to trundle it on over to the machine-shop that re-made the flange I broke. :)

 

 

Getting it back over and parked up was an exercise in frustration; which (un)fortunately, I didn't manage to capture because I forgot to turn the camera back on. It took me about as long to shuffle the truck sideways in shallow S turns, as it did to drive to the machine-shop. Combined with a very VERY warm cab -- no engine cover fitted, it's next to my work-bench, awaiting rust-treatment -- it was a trying experience.

 


Not prodded and poked at the brake servo since my last post, since I was out all 'weekend' (the Weds/Thurs); I'll have another look at it and see if I can figure out what bits I'm missing.

I think I'm actually missing the plunger of the assist valve completely, though; so that'll be interesting to deal with. :undecided:

 

One of my next steps may well be to get the fuel tank cleaned and painted, ready to go back on. Not convinced that the level sender is working as it should; doesn't appear to be a smooth resistance curve from full to empty... jumps around a lot, going open-circuit at a couple of spots up the rheostat. May just be corrosion/deposits that might clean off.

 

Long shot: Does anyone have a rough idea of what resistance I should be seeing between the sender output, and its earth, at the limits of its travel? (The WSM doesn't seem to list it, unless I've missed it.) If not, I'll just have to figure out what it should be, by the "lots of error" method. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Long shot: Does anyone have a rough idea of what resistance I should be seeing between the sender output, and its earth, at the limits of its travel? (The WSM doesn't seem to list it, unless I've missed it.) If not, I'll just have to figure out what it should be, by the "lots of error" method. :D

 

To find what the values are you could attach a variable resistance (Volume pot from some bit of scrap electronics) across the sender wires and twiddle it to see the guage move. When the needle lines up with Empty or Full measure the resistance with your multimeter.

 

I measured the sender from a Cortina some time ago and the values are:

Empty 80 Ohms

Full 10 Ohms

 

Good Luck

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To find what the values are you could attach a variable resistance (Volume pot from some bit of scrap electronics) across the sender wires and twiddle it to see the guage move.

 

Yeah, that's the "lots of error" method; I was just hoping that maybe someone had a mental note stashed away somewhere. If not, then I'll figure it out, then make note of it here; who knows, maybe it'll help someone in the future.

 

A Wild Update Appears

 

Some tin-abuse and welding was done. Not the prettiest, by far; but it is what it is.

 

TVvXlUL.jpg

 

And the "stand back and squint" version:

I7wqX5c.jpg

 

And the "in painful, hideous detail; warts and all" version:

0Hzh4ri.jpg

 

It's still only welded on the outside, at the moment; I need to do a little more work on the inside of the door to provide some solid structure to affix it to, before I worry about making it pretty. I also need to fix up the hole where the mirror support was ripped out, and mount the mirror arm again.

 

Having mirrors would be nice. It's ... interesting, trying to park up against a fence, with cars parked behind you... when you can only just about see backwards through the window in the back of the cab. No major events have occurred yet, though.

 

The replacement fuse-box was carried on a bit further, too; though I managed to blow some of the labels off with the air-gun while I was blowing all the grinding dust out.

2xXxo6V.jpg

 

Looks relatively neat on the top, but the underside is an abomination unto Nuggan:

lc7UUoT.jpg

 

This is mostly because the plan evolved as I was making it. If I were to do another, I'd start off by putting the bus-bars on the underside, and make slots underneath the relays/fuse holders rather than just single holes.

A large-ish change in the plan was to build it into an enclosure; which is what I should've done from the start, but hey ho. If I knew what I was doing, it wouldn't be nearly as fun.

 

Using the enclosure gives me a nice enough option for mounting the plugs, though; drill one rectangular hole in the side of the box, and stuff the plug through it.

iJDOJQ2.jpg

 

Make a tab, shaped like so:

O9Wi8GH.jpg

 

And then the connector can be retained, thusly:

vUKPIng.jpg

 

Finally, bung a screw through the whole lot (with a nut on the back) just to ensure the tab doesn't work loose.

ZhEzYus.jpg

 

The astute amongst you may notice that there are two connectors in the box, now... One (labelled "Power") is the outputs from the relays and fuses to the various lights; the other (labelled "Switches"), runs to the instrument panel, etc.

 

Using those plugs, I aim to get the fuse/relay box completed entirely outside of the truck; rather than fitting it to the back wall of the cab -- behind the passenger's seat, as there's enough room there, just -- and then having to try terminate all those wires in a neat manner while folded into unpleasant shapes.

 

There will still be plenty of contortionism required, but this should reduce the amount of it required, with any luck; and the connectors will just plug right on... I'll just have to run the large fused power, and a matching ground, cable into the box via some glands.

 

 

I do like these connectors; and they're pretty well-proven in an automotive environment, too. DAF use variants of them pretty heavily down the chassis of their trucks. (It should be noted, I've not bothered with the little rubber sealing bungs and whatnot in my plug; because I don't expect the environment to be invading that high up into the truck interior. Worst case, I plug the back of the, er, plug with silicon. :D)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I've managed to clean up the rheostat on the level sender such that it's reading fairly smoothly now, and I have some values! It's pretty linear, ranging at 0 ohms with the tank empty to 40 ohms with tank full.

 

In other news…

 

A fuse-box has found itself attached to the back of the cab.

E5IGHnl.jpg

 

Mhit9FJ.jpg

 

It just clears the back of the seat.

w9oeDMe.jpg

 

So, with that in place, I could start shoving wire into places.

UzRqFHA.jpg

 

And routing it around roughly where the old wires used to run.

Fijh3at.jpg

 

All the bodge-wires behind the dash were then surplus to requirements, so out they came; which was a bit of a step, since they've been running the truck since about the time I first had it running.

CCQnm8B.jpg

 

Not that it looks much less bodged, yet.

 

With that all at a nice stopping point, the next step was clearly the brake system; after all, I'd had that rebuild kit for a week or two now, so I might as well unearth the master cylinder again.

 

A little exploratory poking, podging, and delicate prying managed to extract the pistons and springs, one by one...

C8Q5kwU.jpg

 

Mmm, crusty!

faKX7HK.jpg

 

The other piston's seals didn't look too bad, though.

nyWPbwS.jpg

 

The bore seemed to clean up very nicely, and wasn't looking totally terrible to start with.

6hWZPNB.jpg

 

A little more cleaning out and a dunk in the parts washer got rid of the remaining iffy spots in there.

CKZ9Muz.jpg

 

I'll be headed out to HTS on Wednesday to see about getting replacement seals, or something like. Further news on that front as it progresses. And, with another jump-cut...

 

We end up at the fuel level sender (again!). I managed to snap two of the three little retaining 'hooks' that held the cover on, so I had to fabricate a spring clip out of some steel strapping. This was after the cleaning & measuring to figure out whether or not it was still even usable.

c71BEoR.jpg

 

Then, to the tank, which cleaned up very nicely and shows no signs of leaks -- though I'm sure something'll turn up once it's all painted, reassembled, fitted, etc. :rolleyes: -- so I started to paint it. Two coats of primer around it, so far; and I cleaned the uppermost end-part after this picture was taken.

 

I'm sure it won't be quite as good as the old red lead that the chassis was originally primed in, but I'll make do with what I have. (Much to the chagrin of the DBG crowd, I'm sure, this will be going gloss black eventually. :-D)

w8iWoDs.jpg

 

Now, with the electrical work I've done resulting in all the bodge-wires disappearing, the fuel pump didn't have anything to connect to any more; so I took that as my cue to move it to it's proper place -- or at least nearer to it -- as it's been connected about where the fuel filter should have been. This meant I needed to fit the fuel filter, so I could connect the two bits of pipe.

 

36rgkKm.jpg

I wouldn't recommend this fuel filter, with hindsight. I got it because it had the two 8mm fittings on top, and it's quite a large filter; but I hadn't realised it also has a strange feature on top that is meant to take a special fitting that I believe is a return/bleed from the pressure regulator in its original application.

 

But, it's what I have, so it's what I'll use. I tried to plug the hole for the odd fitting, since it turned out to be about the perfect size to tap for 1/4 BSP; but I didn't manage to seal it quite tight enough, because there's a very gentle bubbling from it when the fuel pump is running. It's not to the point of actually dripping, but there's very definitely a lack of sealing.

 

Since I'd decided to use it -- after all, I'd paid for the damn thing -- I needed to make a bracket to mount it to the truck. Some bashing, prying, and welding ensued...

VNTIor0.jpg

 

"A grinder and paint [...]"

bnlDlC7.jpg

(No, I shan't be awarding prizes for guessing where that nicely-profiled bit came from. :) )

 

Some holes were drilled, spatter removed, edges cleaned up, and some paint thrown at it; and I bolted it to the truck. Though I haven't yet gotten a picture of it fitted, because I was too busy getting the truck to fire up on the new electrical system for the first time. It's nice to be able to start the truck with a key and a starter button; rather than twisting wires, etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Filter in place!

AywdG2B.jpg

 

Yes, I need to do a lot of cleaning and tidying up behind there. :wow: So much stuff to do, so little time.

I still have to run quite a few cables back down the chassis, but I've just left those bundled up for now, so I can deal with them later. (That's the wire for beacons at the rear, power for the rear view camera, and power for the fuel pump.)

 

Onwards and upwards, however. Or, rather, backwards and downwards...

 

wTbziwa.jpg

The results of a thorough wire-brushing, and an application of Kurust.

 

myRJN7S.jpg

New threaded bit, and a couple of coats of primer...

 

Then my tin of black paint turned up, so I decided to paint the tank. As you do.

QcTmHCu.jpg

Mmmm, glossy.

 

The camera does a wonderful job of picking up every little imperfection, naturally. It doesn't look this bad in person; and seems like it should smooth out no problem with a bit of elbow-grease and high-grit sandpaper.

61W9MNM.jpg

 

Painted one of the tank-brackets, then went on to the other. And y'know those days when you'd rather the bolt just snapped, because it'd be quicker than fighting the nut off it? Yeah, it was one of those days. Still, it's unbolted from the truck.

 

Makes a pretty nice comparison between the freshly painted one, and the one fresh off the truck, though.

sKvgUv9.jpg

 

So, once again for the second time; lots of wire-brushing, paint with rust-killer, come back when that's dried, 2 coats of primer, then when that's dried, slather black paint on. (Though this bracket will have another little bit of plate welded on to mount the fuel pump to; since it's got to go somewhere near the tank.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fuel tank is on, fuel pump is mounted, and all works as it should; except for that damn hole in the top of the fuel filter for whatever valve is meant to go in there in its original application. Trying a new method of sealing it, hopefully it'll stop the seep of fuel.

 

Tank was a minor faff to get re-fitted. The forward bracket didn't want to line up with the holes I took it out of. (Bloody hole fairies again.), so I had to drill a new hole.

Then the studding I put on the tank-straps turned out not to be long enough, so I had to make up some extensions on the poverty-lathe. And then I broke off the pipe from the pickup in the tank; leaving me with only a stub to attach a section of rubber hose to.

 

However...

 

:cheesy:

 

What an exhausting, frustrating, but successful day. Some more detail pictures will follow later.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some more detail pictures will follow later.

 

And so!

 

Then the studding I put on the tank-straps turned out not to be long enough, so I had to make up some extensions on the poverty-lathe.

ERxF1dz.jpg

 

Nut (non-nyloc) welded to the head of a bolt; the bolt chucked up in the drill, and the whole mess spun while carefully applying a flap-wheel on a grinder to make it round and neat.

 

Then, stand back and admire your progress.

mZv0UM6.jpg

 

The straps are a tiny bit loose, because of where the extensions stop them tightening any further; but I'm going to get some rubber strips to add as padding between the tank and the tank straps, which will take up the slack.

 

Cut off a section of the old hard-line to use as a hose-barb, then proceed to tighten it onto the fitting out of the fuel pickup so tightly that the line twists off. Curse profusely.

ediqNdx.jpg

 

The miracle-wire with a spade terminal on it, is the level sender connection. The original terminal had near enough infinite resistance, and I didn't want to destroy everything trying to undo the corroded lump at the top in the vain hope of fixing it. So I drilled a hole in the brass strip, soldered a wire in, and stuck that through a tight-fitting hole that I drilled in the lid; I've also added a ground wire because there's no other way that it'll all ground through the freshly painted tank and brackets, it runs down to the pump, where it joins a 6mm² ground-wire that runs up to the bolt through the freshly-drilled hole holding the tank bracket on.

 

Recovery from destroying the pipe: Cut the twisted bits off, leaving just enough that a hose will push on and a hose-clamp screwed down really tightly holds well.

F3V3DYB.jpg

 

Then, the moment of truth:

iHRSQcz.jpg

 

My funnel wasn't long enough to reach the filler neck without being nearly horizontal, and I left my little transfer pump (the bulb type) at home. Thankfully, I don't ever throw anything away, and this redex bottle turned out to be pretty much perfect for turning into an extension funnel.

 

Then I needed a temporary filler cap, while I sort out the 'original' one. :-D

uAxnKPl.jpg

 

Turns out, if you cut the threads off a Scania locking fuel cap, and file it smooth, it wedges in there quite nicely.

(No, I didn't sacrifice it for that purpose; it was already scrap. Someone left it screwed into the aluminium filler neck while they plasma'd it from the tank. Turns out, aluminium is really good at conducting heat; and those plastic threads don't like heat very much. :n00b: )

 

EDIT: Oh! I forgot to mention; I also sorted the leak in the fuel filter. Couldn't get the threaded fitting to seal with ptfe tape (it just dissolved); couldn't get an O-ring to stay put under it without a washer, but a washer meant the threads wouldn't engage any more because of the taper; so I stuck the O-ring on with the silicon gasket-maker, then gooped the hell out of the threads with the same silicon. Tried it this afternoon while on my dinner-break, and it seems to be holding very nicely.

 

Considering the pressure behind it, I'm going to call it good. (When I pulled the little black & blue pipe cap from the stub pipe last time, to unscrew the fitting and make another attempt at sealing it, there was enough residual pressure in there that petrol spurted up higher than the level of the truck roof.)

Edited by Tamber
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Love the idea of the "poverty lathe"

 

The sketch-factor is up there, with some bits, but it does just about work. I do a similar thing with screws I need to reduce the heads on; against the bench-mounted grinding wheel. Gets 'em mostly round, rather than trying to do it manually.

 

In other news, headlights! In the process of swapping these over, I've discovered that one of the light holders is heavily corroded, down to paper thickness in some places; but it holds the light firmly regardless, so it's low on the list of priorities at the moment.

 

The Old...

XgcUjpb.jpg

 

One of these still works. The other work worked briefly, but obviously had leaked a little air into it, because it quickly filled with rolling white smoke and went out. They are nice to look at, though.

 

The New...

rNmwIAy.jpg

 

These are Lucas LUB328, straight drop-in replacement for the 7" sealed beams that take a H4 bulb, which has great availability. Admittedly, not terribly convenient to change the bulbs on, if you just swap them straight in; as you still have to go through all the faff of pulling all the front off, etc. just as if it were a sealed beam. (Simple enough modification to make it easier to change bulbs, though, if desired.)

 

And, with a little wiring and fettling later...

tAZpzEz.jpg

 

The bulbs currently fitted are nothing special; fairly standard 100/80W H4 halogens. Nice and bright even in daylight, though.

 

Feels like progress! Now I have to get the wire for the rest of the lights, etc. (Why, no, I'm not putting off tackling the rotten cab, not in the slightest. I did have some bits planned for Sunday evening, but work interfered, and I was in no mood to tackle rust after a day that long.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tamber, I hate to rain on your parade given you're making such great progress, but if this is the 'after' photo that master cylinder looks unserviceable and probably beyond recovery, except perhaps by sleeving.

 

Ah, but what are parades if not for being rained on? :-D And it just wouldn't be a project without potential horrible problems, y'know?

 

HTS (Who I really should phone at some point for an update...) have taken the master cylinder in to send it off to a specialist rebuilder of some description; so I'll have to see what news has occurred on that front, but it didn't seem all that bad, the condition of the rubbery bits aside.

 

Though it's nigh impossible to tell from the picture, the black spots on the walls seemed to be just grunge that rubbed off with the end of a pencil (Hence why it's got 'scratches' in that patch on the left.); but I'll admit that hydraulic bits aren't my specialty (Turns out, spool valves aren't supposed to require a mallet to fit back into the valve block; who knew!) so it could still turn out to be U/S.

 

I suppose we'll see; I'm bracing myself for the worst while hoping for the best.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's not so much the black spots, it's the corroded areas around the mouth of the bore and the ports halfway down.

 

From the photo, the areas around the mouth of the bore look like two rings of pits corresponding to the rest positions of the piston end and rear seal. The area in the centre of the bore next to the ports looks like heavy pitting and damage to the cylinder bore corresponding to the rest position of the centre seals. This is really common in old Bedford master cylinders particularly if they've sat for some time due to moisture and contamination sitting around the seals.

 

You need the seals to provide a good seal against the bore wall at rest around their whole circumference and for the whole of their travel, so the bores should be pretty much smooth and free from pitting or scratches; otherwise the fluid can just bypass the seals either at rest or when you apply the brakes, and rough edges to the pits will tear up the new seals.

 

The good news is that it shouldn't be too hard to sort out; it's likely someone like Bernie Smith will have a master cylinder or that someone like Past Parts might be able to sleeve it, if HTS's people can't do anything for it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Right you are on that front, Sean. (Someday, I'll learn to listen to people first time. :n00b: )

 

I've heard back from HTS. It is going to need boring and sleeving to be usable; but the rebuilder (whoever HTS has sent it to, I don't know.) might have one on the shelf somewhere, so I'll hear back next week on whether or not they have one already ready to go.

 

If not, then at least I know how much it's going to sting to have the old one sleeved and rebuilt. (I managed to get to the end of the phone call and they hung up before I went "aaaa!", so there's that.)

 

Wouldn't be a project if there wasn't something horrible and expensive just around the corner, right?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...