iain42
Part of things
Posts: 107
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Jan 30, 2019 22:23:09 GMT
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There was a car I had been looking for, a mini GTS, never heard of them ? I'm not surprised, its what our 1275GT should have turned into, only made in South Africa, just over 4200 made between '73 and '80. more reading here if youre interested - classicregister.com/id-guides/how-identify-1973-1980-leyland-mini-gtsWe found one, in amazingly original condition (they've usually been messed with) so over it came, Next time - where are we going to put them all ?
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Last Edit: Jan 30, 2019 22:24:55 GMT by iain42
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Yup......
My dad always kept a Mini, to run alongside his bigger daily.
He had one of these as well.
Also had pickups, convertible and Clubmans.
That one looks very good.
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(apologies in advance to the South African contingent), ' its been South Africaned ' is something I've been saying quite alot recently, particularly when it comes to wiring, take this fine example of auto electrical goodness, take the original loom, cut a chunk out, ad in a connector from something else and of course make sure all the connections are perfect (there was tape around some of the joins) cant find the picture now, there was one wire, about 5 feet long, made up of 4 pieces of wire, all with the same twisted and taped joins. I had to re-wire it all - hey ho. while I'm moaning about fine craftsmanship, heres one that I just don't get, 6 bolts holding the front locking hub, this is exactly as they came off Seems the South Africans learned from the Brits. Just that they improved the process. British repairs........ South African correction. White markers are 5 cut ends that were sealed up. BUT....... I LOVE ALL OF YOUR TOYS, YOU WIN.
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Last Edit: Jan 31, 2019 8:35:14 GMT by grizz
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And for you amusement....
Directly from SA.
It came in for a silencer repair.
See if you can see anything else wrong.
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iain42
Part of things
Posts: 107
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Jan 31, 2019 21:09:14 GMT
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British repairs........ Saw your wiring in your thread, I did think that looked like a quality English bodge
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iain42
Part of things
Posts: 107
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Jan 31, 2019 21:22:10 GMT
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Storage - it was getting to a point where we were struggling, I was starting to think there may be a way we could bring a few cars over, enjoy them for a while and move them on, but - storage. We had looked at few places, either rubbish and cheap-ish, or very expensive when out of the blue one of my customers rang, wanting a bathroom re-fit, I went straight round because she owns a farm, bathroom blah blah. storage to rent - well there is the grain store, it'll be empty until harvest, and theres the old tractor shed . . . . The old tractor shed is enclosed on 3 sides, so not ideal, but as we would be renting an open space that made it cheap - and could I modify it a little ? maybe seal and paint the floor ? and of course make it secure
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jules
Part of things
Posts: 75
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Jan 31, 2019 21:50:12 GMT
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Perfect space. Very well adapted.
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iain42
Part of things
Posts: 107
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Jan 31, 2019 21:50:52 GMT
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While this was happening little and large had a holiday in the grain store It was a bit of a rush in the end as this was due to arrive first off, a 1964 built Morris Traveller (although now registered as a countryman as thats how it was registered in SA) amazingly solid, never welded and doesnt need any picture after a bit of a clean then one of Oliver's brothers - 1963 with an interesting history file. The owner was travelling home from work, for some reason (typical SA ??) he was shot and killed, his friends restored his car in his memory. Everything in the car, including his last wages and even an empty condom packet were laminated and kept, it all came with the car, I even found what I presume was his ring tied up underneath the dashboard. lastly, a 1966 Renault Caravelle
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iain42
Part of things
Posts: 107
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Jan 31, 2019 22:10:45 GMT
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It meant work slowed on my Willys while I checked through the new arrivals, the engine was troubling me, it came with one I was never going to keep, just as well because I guess it hadnt seen antifreeze for some time so the head had corroded until the waterways were just joining the cylinders. I wanted to be able to keep it 4x4, so spent ages looking at what would work, Merc om617 was an option, adapted to a Toyota 4x4 box, but they have got silly expensive, next thought was a Lexus V8, I was pretty much set on this so was looking for the right age gearbox so the adapter would work - then something popped up on Ebay, only about 10 miles away which would do nicely, a deal was done and this happened which gave me a 3.0 V6 with not many miles and its gearbox, which also happens to be right for adapting to a Lexus V8 one day not forgetting that moment when you got the gearbox onto a trolley a realised it wouldnt slide out from under the car - of course I risk assessed this first gave me a kit of most that I needed
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Hey hey
i must say u are acquiring a lot of nice cars
funny part is most of them are from SA
I'm from SA.
Its sad seeing our cars leave our country , but i guess if u can preserve them and there heritage as it was and should be then its all good
This is not the first cars to leave our country.
Mini's , ford escorts, capri's,cortina's. our SA built 333i e30's but since there were only 204 ever built only 2 is in the uk( If i am correct. our SA built 325is(2.7Alphina spec road race cars build for racing).
Then there is Australia also buying some of our cars american/ austrailian spec. like the Ford farimonts.and many more.
Great cars there look well afterthem.
cheers
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iain42
Part of things
Posts: 107
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Hey hey i must say u are acquiring a lot of nice cars funny part is most of them are from SA I'm from SA. Its sad seeing our cars leave our country , but i guess if u can preserve them and there heritage as it was and should be then its all good This is not the first cars to leave our country. Mini's , ford escorts, capri's,cortina's. our SA built 333i e30's but since there were only 204 ever built only 2 is in the uk( If i am correct. our SA built 325is(2.7Alphina spec road race cars build for racing). Then there is Australia also buying some of our cars american/ austrailian spec. like the Ford farimonts.and many more. Great cars there look well afterthem. cheers Yes South Africa is my hunting ground, sorry. So many great cars there, some less usual stuff, best of all being your climate. I'm afraid its becoming a bit addictive
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iain42
Part of things
Posts: 107
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Forgot about brakes - nothing very exciting, the front was all simple enough, nothing too annoying except the chiseled lock nut New cylinders, new shoes. Rear was a bit more involved, the hub nuts should be somewhere between 'omg thats tight' and 'who the hell did these up', they weren't, so I knew someone had been in there recently. Different bore wheel cylinders each side, so they were replaced, one of they keys had been replaced with something far too small original on the left, the 'something' in the middle and the new one I made on the right The bearings looked and felt like new - damn fine, so just had to shim the half shaft end float yes, should be using a dti but I don't have one, it was surprisingly repeatable with the verniers and I got them to the lower end of the tolerance. new gaskets In one way I was glad the nuts hadnt bee torqued properly - it meant I didnt need a puller to take the drums off, that was until some pillock put a spacer after the drum instead of before, and didnt notice until the nuts were torqued so I needed a puller to get them off again - buy one ? - nah looking a whole lot better apart from the missing spring at the bottom - pah
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iain42
Part of things
Posts: 107
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Feb 12, 2019 21:27:56 GMT
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goodbye old engine then get the gearbox roughly where I want it so I can make a new cross member (with the 4 runner original) which fits more or less like this )said there would be more curse word pics) as much as I could appreciate the craftsmanship that had gone into the previous engine mounts, I took the tough decision to cut them off, so I could get the engine hanging in its new home loving the access with the wings removed
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iain42
Part of things
Posts: 107
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Feb 12, 2019 21:37:34 GMT
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New mounts next, patterns made first and transferred to something a bit strongerer back in place, tacked, removed and glued together before being finally fitted really bad pics so I'm skipping them. then it was everything out, degreasing session, new timing belt, water pump and all that jazz - pics when I find them
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Feb 12, 2019 22:17:15 GMT
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really nice work going on...no fear, eh?
JP
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I know its spelled Norman Luxury Yacht, but its pronounced Throat Wobbler Mangrove!
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iain42
Part of things
Posts: 107
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Feb 19, 2019 21:30:13 GMT
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really nice work going on...no fear, eh? JP thanks, really enjoying it. fear ? - what can possibly go wrong
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iain42
Part of things
Posts: 107
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Feb 19, 2019 21:48:21 GMT
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getting towards the end of the fun mechanical bits, bit of head scratching to try and find a home for the air filter wasnt looking very promising, so with a bit of a bracket I could take the AFM off the huge ugly box and mount it separately then with another plate / air hose adapter I mounted the coil pack above that and getting more bits back together we look something like this thats where the fun stops for now, because its time to tackle this little lot (removed from the 4 runner) which was adjusted to look something like this then a couple of days doing this leaving this little lot to find homes for
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iain42
Part of things
Posts: 107
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Feb 25, 2019 22:17:24 GMT
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Good news - after a false start it fired up - so bloody happy (think it might be too loud - if thats possible) bad news - have an oil leak, wont know for sure until I remove the timing belt cover, but I think its one of the new cam seals - so bloody annoyed. The balance of life In other exciting news - Santa came today, new goodies due to the size of this (oops) could only get 2 in the container the other - anyone (except the South Africans) know what this pretty little thing is ??
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iain42
Part of things
Posts: 107
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Apr 22, 2019 20:13:20 GMT
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Bit of an update, the Kadett, bit of a saga with the wheels (see the 'John Brown Wheels' thread in the question section), I had to find alternatives, which I did, set of Opel Manta Rostyle cant find the as purchased picture, but after blasting and powder coating then some frustrating masking and a little black trim rings and fitted they also came with a lovely bonus of some Opel emblems A little more on my current love, my El Camino (which is actually a Holden, hence being RHD), apart from wanting something a bit mad, and V8 I bought it because the engine and gearbox had been re-built A holden 308 mated to a Trimatic gearbox I've had to drive it a few hundred miles to finish running it in, was tough but I got through it - even keeping the revs down its massively addictive, so effortless and super comfortable Oil and filters next - then its burn out time
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iain42
Part of things
Posts: 107
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Decided to have a push to get my Willys on the road. bit of axle adjustment to get the rear pinion angle right and the caster at the front, insured (thank you Classicline) and road test. Engine fine, gearbox fine, hit a bump above 30mph - death wobble - ! All the steering joints feel tight (ordered replacements anyway), checked the toe in (which I had set as factory) no change. I had pretty much decided I would have to change all the joints, if only to rule them out. Slept on it and thought I may as well have a play with the toe in, complete finger in the air stuff, I reduced it by half a turn - went for a drive, got to the dizzy heights of 60mph and zero wobble - one happy chap. Still improvements to make, I would certainly like to improve the steering, best described right now as 'approximate'
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