Henry as well as all the others..

In summer the pickup is a gardener ,the winter months he is a general builder....

Last week we repaired a 17th century bridge ,I did promise to repair it a year ago... :-[ ,most of the fragile stones had dropped...



The owner phoned me because this stone had broke in half....



I was going to make a face in this one... ;D




I had to work down the bridge jacking and fixing the stones in place ,pretty dangerous stuff... ;D





when I finished I had to test it with something heavy ....








.







.




anyone dare go underneath?

 

This christmas I decided to put a brand new engine in henry ,yes new....well it was new five years ago.... ;D

the old engine is a 1500 singleport , i bought it off jonbott for 50 quid ,I very much like the engine I think it was from Brazil [no heater] it runs very well and very cold ideal for France ,but of course I abused it...



look at the sand.... :-



eek filler cap




out it comes ,it only had three of the four bolts holding it in ,the otherside of the starter bolt must have vibrated out... :



here is the new engine...A little tip for you I changed everything but the carb onto the new engine ,so if did not start then it would have to be the only thing I did not change [ie carb]..Already coated in dust/sand.. ;D



Boy it was heavy from the bench to the floor, it nearly broke my back...




decided to hook up one of the heat exchangers ,but I might have to play a bit more [still no heat]...



Engine runs nice and you an feel the difference going from 1500 to 1600cc ,but I still have a soft spot for the 1500 ,it might get rebuilt in the future ,it`s in the queue... :

I needed it done quick, time is money... 8)

 

Incidently does anyone know who paint their rebuilt engines in blue? ,it also had a VW in blue on the flywheel...

 

ah that engine was a good engine ;D

 

cheer mal ,i can say they have done a nice job....

any olde iron?



I always thought henry was quite big ,but not as big as this...





I bet he could easy pick him up.... A big foggy this morning...

After unloading the sand it was on hardcore duty again...



nice stance ,no rest for the wicked ,engine is tested now .... >

 

My T25...





1984 proft delher ,a hum builders merchant.... :



Made by a boat company the delher was 18,000 euro new ,it has a shower ,two sinks,gas hob and fridge...





the hob fits nicely under the work surface...



the seats in the middle can be easierly swapped round so you can eat at the table




the bed goes down and the seats join it to make a good size bed ,there is a piece that slides out from under the unit the make the bed even bigger...







In the high roof is a bed as well ,trays pull out to accomadate this and fold away nicely..

It has a dg 1.9 engine and 5 speed box and tape holders... :-



it also has a bike rack and awning thing



alloy wheels two watertanks ,petrol heater ,double glazing ,all windows have blinds,two sunroof`s one opens to see the stars,roof rack and captain chairs ,camping battery and the most important thing no rust........yet...

 

Don`t drop me off page two...

The T , late late bay has always been English but this week it`s French....




It has took me a year to register it and I have jumped through a lot [a lot]of hoops ,tests by the gas installation,tests be the Drire [ like a special test center],electrics etc ,two cts[mots]and enough paperwork to keep the fire burning all night...

poor old henrys had a few problems as well...



But at least now I have a back up builders van...

 

Great pics and lovely to see Henry being used as intended.

 

cheers

decided to see if my acro prop back axle repair worked...

1st a steer of wood...



Building materials including supersize builders mug...



Tree I cut down today ,I felt like world strongestman lifting the last one..



just to show after repair back wheel follows the front



and my clean workspace...



How heavy do you think the water wheel is ? come September I want to take it home to repair it... :-



Maybe put it on henry... ;D

 

decided on the spare of the moment to do the flywheel oil seal ,started this morning at 9.15 ,notice the lack of axle stands and other safety featues.. ;D




...the clutch was soaked..



no wonder it was slipping... : could`nt find my flywheel looking tool so had to improvise..



first impressions this ring had been trapped...





decided since I did not have the ring I had to nick a flywheel off another engine ,if I decided to change the ring onto the original flywheel I would have a good chance damaging it..

decided to be safe to put another oil seal in



tap it in the with old one..



I like to put it in a mil inside...



use my centering clutch tool....



and bobs your uncle...



van working again before lunchtime...

Next installement of quicky repair will be my acro-prop for the driverside rear axle...Thanyou for watching...

btw the van flyes now and no leaks touch wood...

 

I'm not sure how my MOT tester would react to the acro-prop, solid though it obviously is. Don't you have any test in France?

 

Remember the mot places in the 80`s you used to turn up in a tidy motor ,the tester used to say does it drive good ,you say yes lovely ,he would pop it up on the ramps and spend two minutes looking underneath it ,by time you had finished your coffee the test was over ....tis a bit like that in France.... ;D when a vehicle fails you get two months to sort it ,what is better you can still drive it... ;D

here is a bit of th acro repair [patent pending]



The plate is only bolted on the chassis ,so if I need to adjust anything everything will come off easy ,later I will weld the plate on ,and can make it look original....

henry is a "vehicle de collection" and need a test every five years ,but what`s more interesting is the latelate bay/brick/wedge the mot runs out in



because it is 30 years then it will also be "vehicle de collection" before "vdc" needed permission the move out of the area code but now they have scrapped that idea....

 

see the rear wheel in this picture



found another acro and presto..



Now the otherside needs to click up one spline... :

 

don`t chuck me off page 2.... ;D

As many of you know I am a keen gardener ,just a few tulips to add some colour,notice the rubble pile our house is always "under construction"



we also built this last week in the rain....



The manufacturer said it will take 4 people to build because the top was so heavy ,I just plonked it on henry and reversed in... >

 

Your estate is taking shape.

 

That's an epic van you've got there!

 

After 4 years decided to clean out the bottom locker



Man that is some sand and soil ,the black bucket I have to drag it is that heavy... ;D

Henry will return better than before... :-*

 

Henry will no doubt have better fuel economy too.