Pretty much to the day, 1 year ago, Woody looked like this.
How do I know? Well it is the reason why this weeks progress report is a little...lacklustre. Think the excuse is pretty strong however as it is #1 sons birthday.
Having said that I did manage to get an hour in the garage, he is not a particularly early riser, in-between household chores and birthday shenanigans.
What did I actually get done then? Well last week I had managed to get the brace in place with the help of #3 son and this week we actually centred it isn the chassis, tightened it into place and fitted the engine and suspension crossmember.
Pictorial proof for your viewing pleasure
I think 1mm variation side to side is pretty central....
The process of getting it to this [s]lucky conclusion[/s] high degree of accuracy was a combination of bolting the brace to the chassis C sections and then using a ratchet strap and a large wooden mallet to "persuade' it into place. The creaking and groaning was akin to an ancient ship tacking into the wind but boy! what a difference it has made.
I have noticed one mistake after carefully bolting the engine/suspension crossmember into place is that I didn't put washers under the bolt heads, easy remedy but slightly annoying as it is a bit of a ball ache as spanner access is limited.
Put the trailing arms in place but really not happy with the old paint finish or the state of the bushes so they will be coming out again, will be blasted and painted with more Steel-It, and new bushes fitted.
On the fence on whether to go for Poly or rubber. Seems to be two schools of thought with regards to the Poly bushes causing the axle to bind but, at the same time, those that have gone Poly bush are happy. Decision might be made by what is in stock...
In other news Mark (@riverstory) from the this very forum shipped a 66 steering core to the guys and girls over at RedHead to get it refurbished for the cost of shipping, was more than happy to top this up to cover a few beers for his trouble, this has now arrived and work has commenced so that is another thing to cross off my list.
The next issue is this damn Steel-It paint. I 'thought' I had purchased enough to finish off the chassis and suspension with a few cans to spare but I was very wrong. So now waiting for another 6 cans to be shipped which means that not a whole lot will be achieved over the long weekend.
Dropping down to see my friend Mark at Hydrahose tomorrow to pick up the olives so I can complete the fuel return but other than that think it is going to be more cleaning and breaking out the sandblaster again to get the from suspension and trailing arms ready for when the paint comes in.
Anyway. Progress is progress so, until the next time...ONWARDS!!!
P.
