MCJ Imports are also worth a look, but aint cheap: https://www.mcjproducts.com/collections/bay-bus-parts And Simon at NOSVW.
Well - good news for a change Bought another circlip to fit on the clutch bearing shaft thingy - it didn't fit So thought I would sort out the fuel side so shortened the fuel pipe hose I had so the fit was neater and felt something on top of the gearbox. Only turns out to be the bloody circlip So clutch now all sorted - will sort out the throttle cable and almost ready for fitting the engine now (gulp)
01.08.2020 New month and the same old same old!! After household chores thought I would change the accelerator cable as the current one was bent and buckled and missing the end to connect to the carburettor properly. Old one came out no problems but the new one would not, it went down the conduit pipe around 7/10 then no more Noticed at the engine end quite a bit of damage to the pipe so have cut out the bad pieces. Will now have to order a length of conduit to add to the original pipe as I have done for a few of the others. Pic of the pieces taken out….
02.08.2020 Realised I hadn’t sorted out the cable for the horn to work so out with the steering box and steering column and a bit of fettling: That’s better, we now have the full complement of cables so just need a new horn as the old one was passed its best. While I was under the van I thought I would do a trial fit of the pedal tray. Will need to drill a few holes due to repairs but should be OK.
03.08.2020 Noticed the other day that the wheels weren’t aligned properly so decided to tackle it tonight. Using a 9ft piece of straight timber against the rear and front tyres on the nearside (as this side doesn’t have the adjustable steering arms) I set it to around 5mm toe-in. Went to the off-side and it was around 15mm toe-out!! Undid the steering arm connection to the hub and wound it out about 20mm then measured again with everything loose. Still not right so wound out a few more millimetre and all good so fully tightened then measured again and all good. Noticed now that the turns lock to lock were not right so slid off the pitman arm and worked out where the centre in the steering box is then connected the pitman arm back - all good Another job done.
I expect I misunderstood that. The pitman arm fits in one particular place on the box shaft. The adjustment is the length of the drag link. Words probably.
Sounds like a job well done there, reminds me I really need to adjust my steering box, I might start that tomorrow Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
09.08.2020 Brakes sorted. Poured brake fluid in and one of the junctions was not tight enough - the most awkward one to get to above the gearbox rod. Once tightened all good. Pumped the pedal a lot and kept topping up after releasing the bleed nipple on the rear nearside drum. Once some fluid came out and used the Eaziee bleed gizmo to then bleed the system properly. All done and the pedal has a good feel while the van is static! Next on the list was to sort out the throttle cable conduit so cut a larger tube and slit it so I could use it as a sleeve - here it is mounted on original tube The new tube in the sleeve. Sleeve now welded up and a spot of paint added for protection Cable pushed through and now waiting for the engine.
16.08.2020 Fitted the remainder of the fuel pipes today from the fuel pump to out of the the rear of the tinware. (Not sure how clear it is in the photo) Also fitted a tube from the oil filler to the top of carburettor air filter for removing the oil fumes etc Sorted out all the nuts and bolts for mounting the engine ready for the next week depending on the weather (gulp). EDIT: Just realised that I fitted the fuel pipes the wrong way round
21.08.2020 Today was install engine day. Here it is under the van ready to go airborne. The first issue I had was that the original jack I was using wouldn’t allow the engine to go up high enough and my bigger jack wouldn’t fit under so using the smaller jack I managed to get it in the air and balanced and raised the bed on the roller so my bigger jack would now go under. So, using the bigger jack I have it almost in situ…. But…… struggling to push the engine back, the drive shaft appears to be engaged well and the lower studs have also engaged. Is it just a case of pushing hard until it goes back or something more sinister?? A few pics of where it is now in relation to the engine block and gearbox!!!
Looks like the bottom is nearer than the top. Can help to be in gear and jiggle the crank via the alternator pulley. Clutch centring tools can need centring themselves if you see what I mean. That centres the splines ref the needle bearing in the gland nut and does help. Get it more parallel to the gearbox and brute force will do it. It'll suddenly slide on and you'll be none the wiser why it did.
As usual cheers Zedders. Weather taken a turn for the worse so will give it a go tomorrow (so longs not raining). Will have to find a way of holding everything in place so I can move the jack a bit further back to allow the engine to get more perpendicular to the gearbox.
You should be able to jack it up a little as the bottom studs are engaged and the shaft is engaged with the clutch. As the goes together you'll need to lower the jack a little as the back of yoir bus is in the air. I used to lower the van back down around the engine which made it all easier but that takes practice as it goes down sideways.
I did lower the van - the wheel on the nearside is about an inch off the floor while the offside is about 4 inches or so (drive slopes down and the van is across the drive. The area under the van was cut away to allow the gate to swing around so almost level(ish) as the drive also slopes slightly from left to right. Hope the above makes sense I would say the nose of the van is now higher than the rear - will use a spirit level to see where the land lies!.
Having the van more or less parallel ground you couldn't be better set. Personally once it's parallel top to bottom with the gearbox I hold onto something that won't break with each hand and eaggle at from side to side, up and down while pushing as hard as I can. Occaisionally one will slide straight on without trying at all. It can only be the relative positions of the clutch plate splines and the bearing in the nut?
