Found Object

[59wagon]

Loving this thread Rob, it’s very ejumakashional.

Cheers, John


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[ardiesse]

I haven't been out with the camera in the past week, but -

The grille's reassembled.  I rust-convertered, primered and matt-blacked the underside of the lower grille bar, and gave the top side a quick coat of clear to preserve it.  I painted the bottom of the frame, and fish-oiled the rest of it.

The cowl vent's out.  I was expecting the usual struggle to get the control rod to unscrew from its fitting, but it only took gentle heating with a blowtorch, then multi-grips and an adjustable spanner.  And the drain around the vent is in pristine condition.  Y.F.B. . . .

(This is about as far as I got on my previous attempt at posting.  I leant the side of my left hand on the bottom left of the keyboard perhaps a little more than advisable, and all the text I typed vanished.  It was obviously a CTRL-something keystroke.)

The headlining's out.  It only took a couple of minutes' work to disabuse me of the notion that I might be able to re-use it.  It is so brittle I only had to look at it and it tore.  And previous experience told me to label the listing wires the moment I removed them.

The tar-paper sound deadener which was mostly sitting on the headlining instead of glued to the roof is now out.  It appears to have been stapled to the centre roof rail.  Big mud-wasp nest in the roof rail where the dome lamp went.

The C-pillars had been wadded full: of cotton waste on the left side and hessian/coconut fibre underlay on the right.  No idea what the purpose of that would have been.

And way back when, something heavy had been dropped on the roof about a foot in front of the rear window, then a really dodgy bog and spray putty repair was done.  With a sandbag on the roof and a dolly in hand, knocking the dent out was simple.

Rob

[Errol62]

Photos or it didn’t happen Rob.

My FB ute had latex foam stuffed in the B-pillars. Go figure.


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[ardiesse]

I'd better make it happen, then.
Tomorrow.
It'll be light outside.

[FireKraka]

I found foam in the B pillars of my EK Ute too Clay.
Neil

[ardiesse]

Because descriptions using words are passe -



Cowl with vent removed.  This is a major source of worry gone, as I don't have to repair anything here.

The rear bumper had been pushed into the body on the right hand side.  A little traction here and there . . .



For the safety-conscious, I should advise that I stood beside the rear quarter panel during this operation, so that if things went pear-shaped, I wouldn't be in the firing line.  It didn't take that much effort to pull the bumper back into position, all things considered.



And the rear bumper is now removed.  The body-to-bumper rubbers are complete, but perfectly rigid, so will need replacing.  RHR lower quarter is a mess.

I've now got the car on ramps, and I'm underneath with a MAP-gas torch on the subframe bolts and the exhaust pipe clamps.  Surprisingly, the nut for the left outer subframe bolt still has six sides.  That's a good thing.

Rob

[Errol62]

Thanks for the photos, we love photos. Your words are very good too of course.


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[ardiesse]

I spent the afternoon under the car, fighting with threaded fasteners that didn't want to let go.

The nuts for all four lower subframe bolts loosened and unscrewed.  A six-point 1/2"-drive 1/2" AF socket is a godsend.
The front half of the fuel pipe is out.  I'll most likely have to replace the fuel and brake pipes.  It'll make the blue-slip people a lot happier if I present the car with new pipes.
The tailpipe is out.  I persuaded it out of the muffler with a MAP gas torch and many words of encouragement, some even printable.
The rear spring shackle nuts have been removed.
The front stabilizer bar is out.  I'd never before seen a sway bar post made of an M8x200 coach bolt and old front crossmember spacer tubes.  I reached deep into the store of fricatives to disassemble that piece of engineering genius.
All four shock absorbers are out.  The rears were those bloody Superlift things, and they had seized up solid.  Is it any wonder that the top mounts had torn out?  And for the first time, I used a hacksaw to remove a front shock absorber.  I unscrewed the Nylock nut most of the way off the stud, when the top bit with the flats sheared off flush with the nut.  The lower mounting plates for the front shocks need some attention from Mister MIG.
And the rear springs' front spring eye bolts have defeated me.  A few medium-size blows with a sledgehammer, and they didn't budge.  I heated the inner flanges with the MAP gas torch, and went in harder with the b.f.h, and the bolts didn't budge.

Not in a good mood at the moment.

What's the secret for stubborn rear spring bolts?  More heat?  Bigger hammer?  All of the above, plus a big dolly on the inside hanger, the one where the bolt head fits?  I could slice through the bolts with an angle grinder, but that still leaves the problem of how to remove the bolt head from the hanger . . .

Should I mount the shell on the rotisserie with the rear axle still in place, and then resume operations against the spring eye bolts when I'm not flat on my back under the car?

Rob

[Errol62]

Biggest spade bit you can get in your hammer powered impact driver. Get it turning. Plenty of crc. Once turning put 18V or air gun on it with one hand and hammer the other end. They will come.


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[Errol62]

Leaving the rear axle in will make it difficult to set up as the arse end will be bottom heavy, and just heavy to manoeuvre in general. You can still get the axle off without removing the springs maybe an option.


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[my8thholden]

Hey Rob ..You really have been into it ,lying on your back also ,least its not raining ..You have brought to my attention with your last post ,the rear body to bumper rubbers ,none on my car when dismantled,no old evidence of fitment ..IE screw holes,were they on all versions of FC's ? ,could you post close up images and esp how they attach ,cant see them in Rares or Old Auto catalogues either ,if I make them I will make you a pair also ,if you wish to post on here that's OK or if you rather just send to my phone that's fine ..0405 703 413 ..Vern ..

[Errol62]

I’ll save you the trouble Rob
These are new ones supplied by Maco on here, recently fitted to my FB ute. They have an L profile, the end of which is crimped under the U section sheet tac welded around the base of the rear corners.


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[ardiesse]

New day.  Car higher off ground.  Using a second b.f.h. as a dolly, I got the right hand rear spring eye bolt moving with about the usual amount of effort: a few firm to heavy hits.

The left side still refuses to budge.

Rob

[ardiesse]

The heavy artillery came out.



I figured I needed more height so I could swing the hammer not lying down, more reaction mass behind the spring hanger, and an easier target to hit.

The reaction mass and height came as a package: an 850 mm length of rail, which weighs at a guess 40 kg.  The next fun bit (which took all morning) was lifting the car's rear up high enough to get the rail in place when upright.  I maneuvred the rail in and G-clamped it securely in place.  And I could swing the hammer from a seated position.

The easier target was going to be a length of 1" round bar with a 7/16" UNF nut welded to the end, so I didn't have to swing the hammer under the sill.

But I tried a few hits anyway.  And then when I was properly laying into it, the sound of the blows changed to a duller sound.  Aha.  That's the sound of success.

I'd better drive the bolt most of the way out.  And it'd be a shame not to waste all that access under the car's rear, so I'll disconnect the handbrake cable and the fuel line from the tank.  And I vaguely remember Dad telling me that you have to remove the brass fitting from the front of the tank, otherwise you can't lift the tank out.

Rob

[ardiesse]

Sod's Law of Immovable Objects:  Any bolt that refuses to budge will become a loose fit when a nut is mooshed tight on the thread.  I tried unscrewing the nut off the spring eye bolt, and the bolt, which only a few minutes before was stuck fast, turned in the spring hanger.  I moved the rail away, and drove the bolt back into place so I could unscrew the nut.  Heating the nut to dull red helped.  And then I could drive the bolt out again with a hammer of ordinary size.

The rear half of the fuel line is out.  The pipe union at the tank outlet is out (thought I was going to shear it off for a while, but it loosened).

The handbrake cable is free from its attachment points, and the gearbox crossmember is out.

And the car is back on its feet.

I plan to take the front springs out while the motor and gearbox are still in the car.  Removing the springs from a front suspension is no fun when there's no car attached.

Rob

[Errol62]

You going to re-use those spring eye nuts and bolts Rob?


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[ardiesse]

Clay,

The only way I can re-use the one from the left is if I weld it up and grind it down.
Damn.  You've tempted me now.

Rob

[my8thholden]

Rob...Maco TXT me the rubbers he had made , I didn't read about those he has on this forum ,I am weighing up putting them on now as the rear of the car is finished ,not real keen on disturbing the new paint ..and I see Clay has posted details on them ..thanks again fellas ...Vern 

[ardiesse]

Vern,

If you're missing the channel that the bumper-to-body rubber sits in, it shouldn't be that much effort to fold it up out of thin sheet and then pop-rivet it in place.  It'd be a shame to weld near fresh paint.

Or maybe you could use a narrow retaining strip and send self-tapping screws through the strip and rubber into the body.

Rob

[Errol62]

I wouldn’t bother if you have the bumper on Vern. Doubt you’ll miss them.


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