rampant rivet

Yaay !! back working on the truck after what seems ages have managed to put final coat of paint on chassis. Managed to get some colour on the bulkhead and bits n bobs. Have turned some insulators for the horn assembly as well now the paints sorted I can start fitting exhaust system , radiator , bulkhead and inst panel which should allow the engine to be run for the first time :drive:

Yep I had no passes for Jeep thing or my Norton but still got on the beach and drove to Arromanches and had lunch there on the 6th, most Police looked like they were on a jolly and were very friendly even when a few roads were closed for VIP's we still drove along all the British / Canadian beaches as long as you cut across country all was well. Police spent more time waving and taking pics of all of 200 + WD bikes when we made the record attempt on the eve of the 6th. My lasting memory of the whole tour was travelling back from Pegasus bridge on the 5th with six bikes on full chat and being overtaken by the BBMF Lancaster flying up the coast nr Battery Longues stunning !!. RR.

Thanks Bowser :-D most bits can be found or reproduced it just takes time, effort and a bit of luck plus help from mates and forums like this. As regards the bonnet it has a centre hinge running down the middle, the two lower panels hook onto the bonnet and are held in place with internal and external springs. RR.

Here's one of the Champ as I load it up this eve ready for the wkend It now has a working temp gauge, fuel gauge and new 24 fuel pump fitted when I had a complete new wiring loom fitted this will give it all a good test.

Nice to meet you too Richard :-D I still didn't get to measure the Mw up, I am hoping there will be one or two at Evesham on the weekend, my Dysentery symptoms are improving after losing over a stone in weight and I have been given permission to attend the show as long as I take it easy :nut:

Sorry not much posted lately what with the trip to Normandy and returning home very ill I've been laid low and am not sure at the mo if I'll make it to Evesham with the champ thing :rolleyes: A very ick Rivet

Just Got home Knackered, off to bed report to follow soon

Ah yes I remember now its on the way to Tilly just on the side of the road its been a while but will visit again this trip.

Is that where the youngest British soldier killed in Normandy lies ? , I visited there some years ago

Yes I will be laying two wreaths One for my great uncle Len who was killed on D Day and the other for the comrades that my Wife's grandfather lost nr hill 112 I will pause around 9pm on the 6th as that is when my uncles glider came in on drop zone N. close to Ranville where he now rests.

Jeep thing sorted at last as reported elsewhere new tyres will be fitted to the bike trailer Tues Norton's ok and we are good to go on the night sailing from Portsmouth on the 29th am looking forward to the trip did 84,94,2004 and 2009 but think this will be the last time I take a vehicle.

That's all part of the fun of owning old trucks :-D I broke down coming back from Normandy when my old van wouldn't start when I tried to get off the ferry, luckily a sensible lorry driver gave me bump start and off I went :-D

Good oh ! Wayne give me a shout when you get the piggy home and I'll call by a your new abode :-D

If by any chance your dodge fails to proceed as I said before there will be plenty of people willing to help out and fix it, that way you should go home with a better truck than you set out with, I remember taking my GPW over to France in 1994 after spending a year rebuilding it and I was lucky in that all I lost was the syncro on the gearbox :nut: if you get there and back with little trouble then you will have your trust restored in the old thing,. Ps if you don't want I'd have it, I've owned a 51 and a 62 and like them though god knows where I'd put it but I'm sure my wife would suggest somewhere sure enough :wow:

See Normandy or bust thread

Get the dodge there if you can If you have any probs there's loads of people who'll help you out :nut:

So do I :-D I said to my mate Bill we'll laugh about it over a glass of wine when we are in Normandy :laugh: thanks Richard

Well after the problems with the rough running jeep we are now back on track the Jeep is ok so now we can get back to sorting tents / gear etc, the two wreaths I have to lay on behalf of family members have arrived from the RBL even the gubbins needed to charge the mob phone has turned up :-D

OK have just got back from working on Bills Jeep and ..................... ITS FIXED :-D :banana::-D We took the manifold back off to check inlet for cracks etc then put it all back together being very careful how it went together and it seems to be ok which is a great relief :cheesy: still not sure exactly what the cause was but am just glad Bill can get his Jeep to France, Many Many thanks for all your good sound advice but as Richard said it all stemmed from replacing the exhaust manifold gasket now I can get back to getting all the gear ready for our trip the bike trailers sorted apart from it now needs two new tyres so that on the list for Sat :-D Cheers all RR.

Thanks again for advice I've had to take a night off this problem but will be back on it tomo eve, I think you're right it is probably a manifold problem I did think maybe it was the crankcase valve but that was cleaned and put back together without improving anything, I think the manifold will come back off to check for any cracks tomo, if we don't sort this soon I'll have to dig my GPW out of my parents garage and we'll have to take that instead :nut:

Hi Richard unit was machined as one as splitting risked a bolt shearing off , face of manifold was good and true when refitted with no cracks

Had a break from trying to sort my mates Jeep for France and gave the bulkhead a an undercoat to cheer me up Good news is that the pair of Robins now have chicks so will be glad to go to France and leave them in peace for a while :-D

new dizzy cap, leads and spark plug caps fitted made no difference

Hi Richard have been trying to think it through since replacing the gasket, when we checked the faces with a straight edge they were all over the place so had them milled nice and flat to help the gasket seal properly, it could be that the flap is in the wrong pos will have another look tomo I think you may be correct in that something has occurred during the gasket replacement, the new spring we tried to fit would not react when hot even when warmed a bit by a blow lamp so the original was put back on which sems to work ok.

Thanks Pete will check that out over the next few days