Engine Freshen Up to this ........

[Rod]

Decided to have a break from welding, grinding and stripping paint. Inspired by Clay and Brett over at FB / EK i have decided to clean the sterring box up. I was initially tempted to get a Rares kit to put through it but decided to hold off until I inspected the internals. I am glad I did. The pitman shaft lash adjuster was screwed all the way out. I read in a thread with a reply from Ken that this is a good sign, showing possibly little wear. I had fingers crossed. After removing the grease I couldn't believe how good the condition is of all moving parts. There was no sign of pitting or wear that I could find under a magnifying glass.

The only concern was the bush in the cover housing. It came out of the housing once I remover the cover. I hope this will be ok as this bush isn't included in the rares kit anyway. I have ordered a lower seal to replace the original from the local bearing place before reassembling.

Can anyone tell me what this part is?



It is made of rubber about 20mm in length with the same diameter as the shaft. I found it on the shaft at the bottom at the upper seal level. I have looked in the repair manual at it looks to be a steering shaft anti rattler. If this is it, where abouts should this be located?

The upper felt seal (at the botom of the tube) looks to be in very good condition. Would it be appropriate to soak this in oil to swell the seal to make a tigher fit for the selector shaft. I don't want dirt an grit to find its way in the box.

Have a ripper.

Cheers

Rod

[ardiesse]

Rod,

The mystery part is an anti-rattle.  It should be midway along the steering shaft.  If yours is loose, go to Jaycar and get some 3/4" diameter self-adhesive heatshrink tubing and put it on the steering shaft, with a hot-air gun.

The loose bush in the top cover is a concern.  It may be easier to find another top cover.  But if you want to use the same top cover, bushes are available from Statewide Bearings in Wetherill Park.  (But you'd need to get the bush shortened, and then it would need reaming to size.)

Don't soak the felt in oil.  It's a dust seal, and prevents dust getting up between the gearshift tube and the steering column jacket.  The steering box is sealed against grit entry by another seal which the gearshift tube runs in.

And finally, you'd be best off re-using the original sector shaft seal, if you haven't damaged it during removal.

Rob

[Errol62]

Good stuff Rod. Thanks for the update.
Cheers,
Clay


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[Rod]

Hi Rob,

Thanks as usual for your great insight. I did so some additional reading in the manual and I found reference to the anti rattle in that it is to be placed 21" below the top of the steering shaft. It is loose as you have hinted and definitely would not stay in that position. When you say use heatshrink are your referring to use it on the shaft and then place the anti rattle over it (ie: use it to take up the slack) or conversely place the anti rattle on first then the heatshrink over the top?

The seal I was referring to is the one that seperates the lower tube from the box (ie: the one the selector tube runs through). The tube is a little loose between the seal and I was worried dirt / dust or water may get past into the box hence my question about using oil to swell this a little.

I haven't taken the old sector shaft seal out yet. The mating surface on the shaft is like brand new - not pits or rust present. The seal may be ok.

I might try and get another top. It is murphy's law - I was looking at the bush tonight and pushed it into the recess and bugger me I can't get it out now. I was initially thinking of pushing this home with some loctite on the mating surfaces.

Thanks again for you time in passing on your knowledge.

Cheers

Rod

[ardiesse]

Rod,

So it's the lower seal on the gearshift tube.  In that case, some oil would be a good thing.

And I was thinking just to use one or two pieces of heatshrink on its own as the anti-rattle.

Rob

[Rod]

Steering column is now together. Just need to wait until I install it before making the final adjustments.

Today was spent stripping the firewall in preparation for paint. I need to clean up a couple of welds (pin holes) and should be ready to go. I have searched high and low through the forum threads (I am sure I have seen reference) in regards to the painting of the ID Plate. Should this be painted? It was painted prior to stripping but I suspect this was painted over when a respray was done. I found all the original paint under the top coat of the firewall but did not find any evidence on the id plate. This has me thinking that it wasn't painted originally. (My FC ute confuses me as the plate is painted).

I have the subframe to strip of paint. I am starting to think that getting it sandblasted will be the best option rather than spending hours doing it personally.

Have a ripper. Rod

[mcl1959]

In general, Adelaide and Melbourne plates were painted, Sydney plates were not. There are exceptions to this so it can be personal preference.
You have to be careful when deciding to paint because if the plate is given the full treatment of undercoats and top coats you can lose all the printing.

[Rod]

Thank you so much again Ken. Body is Adelaide built and subframe is Melbourne. With that in mind I have prepared the firewall for a full coat of paint including the id plate. I have taken on board your info about the coats of paint on the id plate and have done so sparingly to keep the lettering intact. Priming coats have been done and hopefully tomorrow Iwill get the chance to lay down the top coats.

Cheers Rod

[Rod]

Firewall and A Pillars now have paint. What a relief to see the end of rust. Yes there will be more if I go looking for it towards the rear end but at least I now can get the subframe blasted and painted and put the motor in to get moving. Still many hours (and money ahead).

Cheers Rod

[camxsmith]

Great work, that's looking so bloody good.  Paint does make a big differences

[Rod]

Thanks Cam. It sure is good to see the paint. Much better than what was there in the first place - leaking master cylinders damage etc... I am happy how it came out to be honest. I was going to cut and buff it but it there is a great shine as it is.

I have now turned my attention to the door hinges so I can get the doors back hanging. I have got the rares kit ready to go. I always like looking at anomolies like the current Maloo at auction. I also just watched a Shannon episode of a custom EH, one of a kind Caddy  Pink colour made for an American CEO. Anyway I have looked at my hinges and there is some wear on the arms of the top hinge where it engages with the springs. I had planned to weld / fill and grind back but thought I would go to a couple of spare hinges I have got and see how much wear they have (no noticable wear). When I picked them up I felt a difference in their weight and sure enough when I compared the cross sectional size of the arm there was a noticable difference as well.





I suspect that the larger ones are FB / EK as there are two entries in the Masters Parts Book. I then measured them and also took a measure on my FC ute as a comparison.

FE Sedan - 8.2 to 8.5mm.
Spare Hinges - (which I suspect were originally on the ute as I can remember the previous owner was going to change some out - colour also confirms) - Approximately 10mm
FC Utes - Approximately 10mm. (I measured all 4 hinges).

What I can ascertain is the following:
1. There is a difference in the size of the FE / FC hinges compared to the FB / EK. Maybe this was for greater strength for the later models (are their doors heavier?)
2. As my FC Ute is late in the production run possibly the factory had run out of FE / FC hinges and started using the FB / EK ones which by then would have been in production.

So where does this leave me. I think I am back to the original plan by is filling the wear section on the arms as I am am unsure in mixing different hinge types is goin to be a good ideal.

No doubt Ken may be able to shed some light on this.

Have a ripper weekend.

Cheers Rod

[mcl1959]

I have seen the different door hinges Rod, and although there is no specific reference anywhere that I’ve found, I think the hinges changed over during the FC run somewhere. When I had boxes of spare hinges there was usually about half / half in my stash. I think FB EK hinges have a different part number because where they bolt on is different.
However, try to use your original hinges if possible. The door gaps are adjusted in the factory by bending them so you may get some unintended results by swapping them.

Ken

[Rod]

Thanks so much Ken for the clarification.

I was looking at these as on the drivers side I have severe door sag. I adjusted many times over the years but could never get it anywhere close to being right. I succumbed and everytime I closed the door I would lift it in order for it to go into the striker. Once I removed, recently, to be honest I couldn't  see any noticable movement or wear in the the hinges. I am going to replace the bushes but are going to reuse the pins. I have decided to reuse the pins as they are approximately 0.1-0.2 mm larger in diameter than the rare pins.

Time will tell I hope if the sag is removed.

Cheers Rod

[Rod]

Subframe has been blasted, primed and coated. Was a little disappointed with the fine sand in the top coat in places. This was after spending a lot of time cleaning the rails etc....Grrrr.

Now is the time to put it back on. I went on loke a glove is and trial fit. Knowing how things turn out, I recon I will have trouble doing so.





While I am at it, I have found a little upgrade from the FE (mine) to the FC in the gear box expection plate. The FE had / has "Self Taper" type screws while the FC (my ute) has machined screws ie: Nuts welding onto the firewall. (I hope I have used correct terminology.) Has anyone retro fitted nuts to the firewall as I recon a few of my current screw holes are enlarged / stripped to a degree. This would be the reason for the change I suppose between the two models.

Have a ripper. Cheers Rod

[ardiesse]

Rod,

You could fit captive nuts, or weld nuts onto the firewall.  But you can't change transmission covers between models.  The one with self-tappers has eight screws; the one with machine screws has ten.

Rob

[Rod]

Subframe is now in place. Somewhat a relief after having to manufacture one A Pillar Bottom / Inner Sill End (pasenger side). The alignment was spot on, but the outer leg was about 1 mm shy of the mounting point. Pulled in beautifully.



I keep looking at the title of this thread - Engine Freshen Up. Gee I haven't even got back to that, but starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel.

Cheers Rod

[Rod]

Not much has happened of late. Life has got in the way. Another hobby of mine is athletics coaching. With our season now over (concluded last weekend with the Stawell Easter Gift), I can get back into it.

I have started stripping the floor and you guessed it, poor workmanship disguished as bitumen. I have found a section of the tunnel which wasn't repaired. A patch will fix this. The floor pans are put in with a lap joint. This has been done poorly with small tac welds every 3-4 inches (when I put pressure on the floor pan it creaks around the joints). I am considering cutting along the edge of the joint and converting to a butt joint. I will only be able to do this if the floor hasn't been welded from the bottom. I suspect that this will be the case knowing what else I have seen before - short cuts. In addition I have found oil from a leaking rear main etc... has made its way inside through the lap joint (at least it has protected this area from rust!). I will investigate further today to see what it looks like from the bottom.

Anyway I thought I would share something that I have found. My wife and I were married just over 29 years ago. This FE was our bridle car. In addition we had a 48-215, an EH and my father in laws HG. One car from the 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's. On a side note. The 48-215 was a very early build (low number). Its then owner had purchased it from brand new as he was the owner of the local dealership / garage in the small Victorian town of Jepart. He was a next door neighbour of my inlaws and I often admired this car. It was like brand new and never touched. When it wasn't brought out for special ocassions, it was up on blocks. If anyone has one of Don Loflers early books I would appreciate if you could let me know of its build date and body number. All I know it was one of the earlier builds. I have looked through my copy of She's a Beuty" but I can't find reference to it. I have read about it in one of his books.

I have digressed slightly. When I pulled out the balk seat I was presented with the following as a reminder of our special day.




I have bagged up the confetti and will put back under the seat when I finish the tidy up for others to wonder when I am long gone.

Cheers Rod

[Errol62]

Mate....  that’s a beauty 87) 87)


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[Rod]

Thanks Clay. Memories!!!

On holidays so decided to do some repairs / alterations to the floor pans as mentioned previously. I wasn't as fortunate as I was hoping about not having tack welds underneath. I have been working on the passenger rear and not too far away from completing the butt weld adjustments. Would have been done if it was not for:
1. Tack Welds underneath on join between the old floor and the replacement pan and
2. More rust (see below)









I have seen some dodgy things but the last one was a ripper. The hole was filled with bog (most of it fell out) and then a patch welded over the top. Grrr.

I now need to get my head around making a patch to fill this area now. It needs to go back a reasonable distance where the pin holes are. To be honest I am struggling to get my head around how I will do this. Gee I attacked the bottom of the A Pillers, but this is doing my head in.

Until next time.

Cheers Rod

[Rod]

Well what a week that has been! Stripped floor of black s..t, converted most of the lap joints to butt joints, cut some rust out, seam seal joints and prepped and painted the floor. I still need to dress the joints from underneath but will do this when the car is mobile and I can run it up on ramps.

Interestingly some of the butt joints had evident of rust eventhough the car has hardly seen water when I restored her 30 odd years ago. Oh, the joints exposed to oil had no evidence- haha.

When stripping the floor I found the following.



This is a Rares floor pan from 35 years ago and they are still running the same part numbers.



Got side tracked today waiting for paint to dry. I recently purchased two radiators very cheaply, a two core and a three core. I thought stuff it and I took the top tank off to clean the cores of the two core one. Cleaned most cores but not most. I then took the bottom tank off to finish off the ones that I could clean from the top. These weren't entirely blocked by scale but by old solder when the bottom tank was originally put on. I decided to have a go at this as I thought I have nothing to loose as the radiators were cheap. If I stuff up, it has been a learning experience. I have had experience with Rad shops in recent years where I have dropped off perfectly fine and functioning radiators for a precautionery, clean only to be told that they need a recore. I got the impression it was much easier and cost effective for the business to do this rather than rodding the cores hence why I thought I would have a play myself. Next step is to replace the tanks and pressure test to see if I havent stuffed up. More to come.







Until then.

Cheers Rod