Pauls (many) jobs on the go.
Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2020 7:06 pm
I have a few jobs happening, and a few more in the pipeline.
Number one at the moment is converting a 1955 Bedford truck into an F100 type of ute. This is for a friend who wants an unusual and individual ute he can call his own. Have shortened chassis 4 feet, am fitting a series 1 Jaguar front end assembly, an FG Falcon turbo ute LSD diff, LS3 Chev V8 and 6 speed auto, along with lengthening the cab 6 inches, (he's a tall fella).!! That'll keep me busy for a while.
No two is my ride-on mower. It developed a fuel leak from the tank which is plastic. The fuel tank is the first thing fitted to the chassis, which means everything above it must come off to access it, the complete deck needs to be removed. The tank is over $100, and me being a cheapskate meant I attempted to fix it myself. It has 3 cracks in it, the major one at the front about 4 inches high, (the tank is about 5 inches high). Hot melt glue into the crack seemed fine, l leak tested it, it was good, so refitted everything, filled the tank and left overnight. Did you know petrol dissolves hot melt glue??
Everything off again, and I purchased a plastic welding kit for $55,(remember the price of a new tank?). Used that (after purging the tank of fumes by a method taught to me by a really old mechanic a long time ago) and now all is good, and I still have the use of the plastic weld kit for future projects.
Number 3 is my own buzzbox, a Mitsubishi Express van I have fitted a fuel injected VT Holden V8 and 4 spd auto to. It has had a 308 Holden V8 in it that I fitted about 8 years ago. I thought it would be a quick changeover to the later V8 as they were same brand and type. Wrong.!!! The only thing that fitted was the engine mounts. The gearbox was 4" longer, necessitating shortening the tailshaft, and making a new mount. The wiring was a nightmare, these V8's were only fitted to the early VT's, and (so far) I have found 3 different wiring diagrams , (none of which match the engine loom fitted to mine), so it has been a slow process working through the (approximate) 70 wires to get it and it's electronically controlled auto to co-operate together. It's all up and running now, just a few more little jobs before the engineer will sign it off.
Number 4 is my bike. I have decided to fit a sidecar to it. I bought a sidecar about 5 years ago off a mate that was moving to Alice Springs, and had no room to take it with him. It's a Highway Premier 1 and a half sidecar. I bought it originally to go on a 750 Honda I have stashed out the back, it was going to be my rally bike. But with Julia having sold her bike, and her telling me mine is uncomfortable to pillion on, I have decided to fit the 'chair' to the Bolt. I have mocked them up together, just waiting for the attachment parts to arrive. Julia has been asking a few people about chair riding, and is suitably impressed, (she is a bit concerned I will make it 'quick release' to get rid of her.!!
Then there is my postie bike toy, the afore mentioned 750 Honda, and an FT 500 Honda out the back. I should be busy for a while.!!
Number one at the moment is converting a 1955 Bedford truck into an F100 type of ute. This is for a friend who wants an unusual and individual ute he can call his own. Have shortened chassis 4 feet, am fitting a series 1 Jaguar front end assembly, an FG Falcon turbo ute LSD diff, LS3 Chev V8 and 6 speed auto, along with lengthening the cab 6 inches, (he's a tall fella).!! That'll keep me busy for a while.
No two is my ride-on mower. It developed a fuel leak from the tank which is plastic. The fuel tank is the first thing fitted to the chassis, which means everything above it must come off to access it, the complete deck needs to be removed. The tank is over $100, and me being a cheapskate meant I attempted to fix it myself. It has 3 cracks in it, the major one at the front about 4 inches high, (the tank is about 5 inches high). Hot melt glue into the crack seemed fine, l leak tested it, it was good, so refitted everything, filled the tank and left overnight. Did you know petrol dissolves hot melt glue??
Everything off again, and I purchased a plastic welding kit for $55,(remember the price of a new tank?). Used that (after purging the tank of fumes by a method taught to me by a really old mechanic a long time ago) and now all is good, and I still have the use of the plastic weld kit for future projects.
Number 3 is my own buzzbox, a Mitsubishi Express van I have fitted a fuel injected VT Holden V8 and 4 spd auto to. It has had a 308 Holden V8 in it that I fitted about 8 years ago. I thought it would be a quick changeover to the later V8 as they were same brand and type. Wrong.!!! The only thing that fitted was the engine mounts. The gearbox was 4" longer, necessitating shortening the tailshaft, and making a new mount. The wiring was a nightmare, these V8's were only fitted to the early VT's, and (so far) I have found 3 different wiring diagrams , (none of which match the engine loom fitted to mine), so it has been a slow process working through the (approximate) 70 wires to get it and it's electronically controlled auto to co-operate together. It's all up and running now, just a few more little jobs before the engineer will sign it off.
Number 4 is my bike. I have decided to fit a sidecar to it. I bought a sidecar about 5 years ago off a mate that was moving to Alice Springs, and had no room to take it with him. It's a Highway Premier 1 and a half sidecar. I bought it originally to go on a 750 Honda I have stashed out the back, it was going to be my rally bike. But with Julia having sold her bike, and her telling me mine is uncomfortable to pillion on, I have decided to fit the 'chair' to the Bolt. I have mocked them up together, just waiting for the attachment parts to arrive. Julia has been asking a few people about chair riding, and is suitably impressed, (she is a bit concerned I will make it 'quick release' to get rid of her.!!
Then there is my postie bike toy, the afore mentioned 750 Honda, and an FT 500 Honda out the back. I should be busy for a while.!!