What have you been up to this week

[ben]

better get it regested before you go to qld warren, beddyman reminded me that other states arnt so leanient in this country..

[Warren]

Well therers always something to do 

Fitted an air cleaner Sunday morning then took a quick shake down drive, all seems OK then Im at the lights, when I take off theres this strange sound coming from the engine bay, doh WTF, pull over and check it out, steams coming out of what looks like the thermostat housing - BIG BUGA.

I sit and let it cool for a while and start thinking of all the possabilities - Buga - I packed tools oil, but no water what to do ?

Theres a servo just up the road, so I sneak it back to the servo, and fill it up - closer inspection sees water coming out from the radiator, Ok so the servo has some radiator repair stuff so I get that, now I dont want to be stuck there for two hours wile the putty dries so I go home and start the repairs.

play with the licence plate light, check a few things - make a mental ilist of all the little things to do, think some more.

Several hours later and I start her up - buga another leak just next to the other one, little bit more putty on, and more pottering around - how to waste a weekend

So I pack up thinking yep shell be right for the next mornings shake down.

But later that night I just cant resist, and start to go for a quick lap around the block - Buga - Iwork out what has caused my problem, under start off load the fan is skimming radiator causing fine cracks to apear wher it rubs the core.

the radiator is held in by two rubber mounted part way down the sides of the radiator, and one small brace at the top.

The brace at the top has two lots of holes in it, when its bolted in one lot you can get at the radiator cap, but the radiator slanted back toward the fan - in the other holes its further away -but you cant open the cap - Buga.

So I will have to unbolt the bracket every time I want to check the water - Buga.

Maybe the engine mounts are to soft and allowing the motor and box to move under heavy torque loads - will replace them I think - see what that does. - Buga

whats that old saying - if its got tits or wheels...............Buga.

Warren McAlmostDrivable
   

 
 

[eddy]

bloody hell bro is that the reason for the screeching sounds when you left my joint on Saturday and headed up the hill, I thought it was the fan belt slipping, gotta be the engine mounts cause that radiator and mounting brackets are standard, I had no probs when I was running a blue 202 in her  its the same radiator I had fitted

[cfjeff]

Yep I too have almost the exact same problem many years ago with my holden six beddy. Every time I accelerated hard i would get this loud tinging sound of the radiator flexing on its mounts and hitting the metal holden fan. Initially fixed the problem by removing the radiator and grill and using a round file slotted the radiator mounting holes in the front so the radiator could slide further foward hence away from the fan. The problem was the rubber mounts (4 in total, 2 each side) were getting old and soft so I opted to omit the ones below the radiator. This gave 2 advantages, 1 the radiator now sits lower allowing easier removal of the radiator cap as it now passes under the top lip of the grill, and 2 the radiator now mounted metal to metal creates no flex caused by the rubber block mounted between.

The only modification I had to make was the tounge that bolts to the grill needed to be lengthered, so a panelbeater mate of mine cut and weleded in a extra piece of steel. Other tricks you could use are try bolting it on to the bottom of the grill panel or if you cant get anyone to weld it then just cut it and bolt in an extra piece to lengthen it.

Hope this is of help
Cheers Jeff

[ben]

yeh i had a similar problem in black beddy when i first started. i shifted the whole radiator forward about 10mm and modifyed the radiator cap by grinding off on of the tabs and then you can still get in to check the water but the fan has no chance of touching:))

ben

[Warren]

Thanks for the ideas guys, another job to do - Buga

Warren

[mezzmo]

Cant believe i'm gona do this but i have made the executive decision to have the entire van soda blasted back to bare metal. This bloody bedford is killing me - i figure i've spent so much time to get it to where it is it'd kill me if i started to see crows foot thru the finished paint. I know i rubbed it back properly prior to undercoat but i cant help that niggling feeling that the original paint will give me grief in the long run AAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGG!!!!

Does this ever end???

Good news today tho - my side pipes have arrived from the states and i pick em up on Thursday - woo hoo.

[hunterbynature]

hey mezzmo dont mean to be negative but have you looked into the pros and cons of soda blasting, i understand it makes a good job but have been hearing a lot of bad things about it, mainly it gets in every were

[waikatostocky]

Yea sodablasting is quit dusty you need to blow out any car or van that gets done but it is a far better and far more efective way to strip paint off.

The only thing that it doeset remove is rust and you can blast anything without takeing it apart.

Doesent damage rubber or glass.

looked into buying a sodablasting plant a little while ago myself.

Cheers Paddy

[able]

sounds expensive...

call me cheap and old fashion or old fashion and cheap  but you can strip back to bare metal in two days for under $100 at home.

few sanding disks and wire brush attachments for the angle grinder and you will be seing rust in not time