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Thanks Rob, will grab the verniers and a tape measure and get back to you with what I find.

Cheers

Craig,

I've never seen the steel rings before.   In factory springs at the closed-coil end, the spring wire changes in profile from round to rectangular, which tapers.  The part number is stamped into the rectangular-profile section.  I can't see the closed-coil ends clearly in the photo, but you may have original-equipment front springs.

In aftermarket springs (thinks Lovells or Selbys) the spring wire at the closed-coil end is round in profile.

OK.  It could be that your springs are wound from larger-diameter wire and they don't seat properly into the crossmember tower.  Maybe not.  It could be that the steel rings are a home-made "country pack" which gives an extra 1/2 ride height.  Beats me.

I have a loose pair of FE-FC ute/van/wagon front springs.  Please hold.

---------------------------------------/---------------------------------

7410727.  7-1/4 active turns of 0.540" diameter spring wire.
FE-FC sedan front springs are 7408860 and both mine have a coil broken off the bottom end.  Shop manual says 0.530" diameter spring wire.

Master parts catalog says -

FB, EK, EJ, EH wagon/ute/van and all HD king-pin front springs are 7419138. 0.560" diameter wire.
FB, EJ, EH sedan front springs are 7412465.  0.560" diameter wire.
EK sedan front springs are 7419137.  0.560" diameter wire.  Don't know why EK sedan front springs are "sui generis".

Rob

Hi Team,

I pulled the tank out of the ute the other day and put it aside while I worked on the suspension/steering. I looked to be in great shape so I left a little fuel in it and rotated it aroudn the edges to ensure it is sealed at the joins.

With the suspension restos well under way I went back to the tank to check for pinholes and prep it for a POR 15 liner. I found a small weephole at the seam on the opposite side of the filler. This should be an easy repair. I'm not too concerned at I plan to line it with POR anyway.

l then went to remove the fuel sender unit to test it and toinspect the interior of the tank. I grabbed a screwdriver to remove the crud from around the unit only to find that the crud is what I assume to be JB Weld or similar (It is too hard to be bog).

My assumption is that there was a leak/rust around the sender unit and an owner somewhere in its history has decided to seal it all up and carry a jerry in the back.

If I remember correctly the sender unit sits in recess so I doubt that I will be able to grind it all out. Does anyone have advice on how to go about removing the JB Weld?

I guess the alternative is to cut it out and find an old tank that is good around the sender unit so I can take a cut and weld it in place - probably the easier option.

Thoughts?

If you have an rust old tank kicking about that I could take a cut from let me know!

Cheers n Beers
Jolls

Expensive Bits (earlybitz) has a replacement kit that includes springs and clips etc on eBay for $89.99

If you have the pins I would imagine that any of the later model clips would fit. I don't have any handy for reference but Rares stocks them for HT-WB for $29.95.

Rares and Resto/Kingswood Country also have the Handbrake Cable Rear (FE FC FB EK Manual) - 7409623 $114.95

I have that one and the front cable on my list to purchase.

Started on the front end this morning

Ripped off the drums - no shoes and the brake shoe link pin bolt was missing on the driver's side. So another part to chase. The drums need to be machined, I trust that there is enough meat left in them to be of some use.

One of the mounting bolts snapped off in the driver's side brake cyclnder when I wqs removing it from the backing plate, so I will need to drill it out. Both wheel cylinders are seized so still a bit of work to do there.

Checked the king pins for play - driver's side was worse that the passengers but both need to be done. I have already purchased a kit from Rares so it will be off the the machine shop to get that job done.

Another bolt snapped off undoing the passenger shock absorber mounting plate - so I will have to grind it out and weld in a replacement.

As the crossmember is out of the ute I used a tie down strap to hold the spring under tension while I removed the upper and lower steering knuckle pins to removed the steering knuckles and stub axle from each side. Once I had the sterring knuckle removed I released the tie down to and removed the springs. Very easy solution to the problem of doing this out of the vehicle. The springs had a separate ring in addtion to the insulating spacer and shim on the driver's side. Not sure what the go is there so I posted a question in the technical thread.



The upper and lower control arms were checked for play and were fine. I removed them though as the rubbers were perished and it provided an opportunity to clean off the dirt and road grime.

So all ready to go back together once I get the kingpins replaced. Ineed to wade through the rubber kit that was provided to see if I have all of the compnents I need to put it back together. If not Speeds Spares in Canberra is not too far and they are a Rare's distributor.

While I was in the shed I painted the rear spring leaves - in Rustoleum Orange (had it on the shelf from another project).  I'm a wests tigers supported so with the bottom of the car black and orange springs I'll be doing my bit to support them. 

Hi Team,

Stumped with this one. Stripped out the front end this morning and found this:



The insulator is still in the spring tower on both sides and the flat one is the shim on the drivers side to level out the ride. What is the extra round metal coil on either side. Everything is tied together loosely with copper wire and as they pictured is how they were pulled out of the ute.

It may all be correct - just that I haven't seen it before and is is not shown that way in the manual.

Thanks for sharing your wisdom.

Where is best place to buy , or has any one got new , front brake shoe retention springs , I need a pair for standard FC drum brakes ..Also same request for FC sedan hand brake cable , rear section drums to pivot point ..

The guards are a different story, both have been repaired and again the repair has been done behind the panel. I suspect that the hole in the panel has then been filled with bog. I will need to get in there and have a good look at what has ben done to determine if I do some rework or seal the back of the repairs and let them be.

The rest of the body looks to be pretty much rust free or it has had a previous rust repairs. The unfortunatley they chose to weld repair sections in behind the rust as opposed to removing the rust so I will need to cut out some sections of the old material to save them from becoming the next problem I have to deal with. Better to do it right once than do it twice.

There are also some pin holes in the welds that I should be able to touch up with the MIG to seal it all up.





I expect I will find some more repairs to do when I go over the body inch by inch but pretty happy with what we have to work with so far.

Got to work on the fuel tank and surrounds today. Tank still had a bit of fuel in it despite it being drained from the bottom of the tank. Interior and exterior look OK - I haven't removed the fuel sender unit yet to see if it is working - next on the agenda to do.

While everything looked pretty good rust wise it didn't take much work with the wire brush to reveal some gremlins at the front of the tank.




The rear looks and feels solid. Some of the holes aren't rust - looks like they have been punched with a nail or something similarr to get water out. Fortunatley both corners appear solid so I think I can cut out the rusted lips and make up a replacements with a bit of work with a hammer and anvil. The small sections around the lip I will cut out one at a time.