The start of my van's body build

[Ruairidh Dunford]

It's starting to take shape, rather nicely.

[Steve Bryant]

Thanks Ruairdh. The build is not without its issues which are slowly being worked out. It is very satisfying the see the final shape appearing.

Cheers,
Stephen

[Steve Bryant]

Hi all. A bit of an update with pics to come soon.

I've been off the web for almost three weeks thanks to a computer update that wiped out my bookmarks and also messed up my e-mail such that I could receive e-mail but not send which was debilitating. Then to add insult to injury I had misplaced my wee book with all my passwords in it which created its own set of problems as I couldn't remember what my pass word was for this site. I managed to fix the e-mail issue and was able to contact one of the moderators who was able to send me my login information - so I'm finally back on line here. Thank you Ruairidh.

The van is progressing well with the steel rear wing wheel houses made up and one currently welded and riveted to the floor pan -  the other is due to be done tomorrow. The dash has been finished in black wrinkle finish and is back on the car. The fuel tank is out to be painted and re installed.

I made up hardboard templates for the laminated windshield glass and took them to a glass specialist  and I am waiting to pick them up when done.

At the moment I am reassembling the SM5 switch but am encountering some puzzling issues with how the ammeter  mounts to the Bakelite body. The switch was not assembled when I got the car almost 40 years ago but was in a tin with what I thought were all the parts from it. I be posting a message with pics about this soon.

I tried to put the reproduction patent plate on the dash but the hole centres were all off by about 1/16" when matched up to the original plate which had been modified. I had to slot the holes slightly so that they matched the original dash and plate.

Once I get the wheel house on I can locate the rear body frame permanently and get on with the framing of which I'm looking forward to doing.

Cheers,
Stephen

[Howard Wright]

Hi Stephen

The ammeter is attached via small set screws that go down through the main hexagonal connectors on the back of the panel.

You should just be able to see the slotted head of screw in this photo.

Hope this helps

Howard 


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[Steve Bryant]

November 27 update. 
A couple of things  have been accomplished since the last update on the build. I fabricated and installed the wheel houses on the floor pan. This was a lengthy process but I'm happy with the end result. Everything seems to fit properly so I can attach the rear door frame and start the actual assembly of the wood bits. Finally! 
   
   

The dash has been painted in wrinkle finish paint, and has been reinstalled temporarily to stiffen up the front and keep things rigid  for the frame construction. I've placed the switch panel and oil button along with the patent plate into the dash to add incentive. The screws in the oil button are not the ones  that will be used and are there just to hold it in place for the pics.
   
   

Currently the windshield frames are out to have their glass fitted, so I should have those back soon.
Cheers,
Stephen

[Steve Bryant]

December 7th 2023
Getting things set to fasten the rear body frame to the body pan. There are two shaped  distance pieces that go between the rear frame and the metal rear cross member. A 1/4" diameter hole must be drilled trough the lot to allow a 1/4" coach bolt to be inserted and fastened inside the metal cross member with a nylok nut.
   
   
   

I had to purchase the extra long drill bit to allow me to go through all the pieces that comprise the lower rear attachment of the rear frame. The hole does not go through the parts square to the face but at a slight upward angle as shown in the third picture. The spacer shown is the temporary one I made to check fit before cutting the ash one that will be put in place on final assembly.

I also had the windshield glasses made up in clear laminated 1/4" glass and installed in the frames. The cost was very reasonable considering that they picked up the frame installed the glass and delivered them back to me for $400 CDN. The job was extremely well done.

Cheers,
Stephen

[bob46320]

Ps - easy to weld a 1/4 drill to a piece of rod, hammer to shape / straighten whilst the weld is still red hot (Nice and cheap).

[Ruairidh Dunford]

I have used captive pronged Tee Nuts, for hard to get at places, Steve.

[Steve Bryant]

December 16th update 2023

Nothing spectacular, but I fitted the rear back door frame to the car properly by fitting the upper cant rails to the uprights for a good fit and then drilling and screwing them together. The bottom was clamped in place and drilled with the long drill loaned to me by my colleague so that a 1/4 inch coach bolt could be fitted trough the assembly and a washer and ny-lock nut installed on the inside against the steel cross member which the drill had passed through. Now all is very sturdy. The speedometer was installed in the dash making it all look very smart.

The next thing I have to do is to apply wood preservative to all the wood before it gets installed permanently.

I was successful in getting the Lucas vacuum wiper to work finally. In my case the leather discs were not pre-shaped as per the instructions of the You Tube video on the subject. They worked better for me in a flat state rather than a preformed cup. I did lubricate the leather with Neets foot oil as suggested on this forum.

Thank you all for your input in solving issues.
Stephen

[Steve Bryant]

Hi all. 
Some of you may remember the issue I had with the laminated wheel arch pieces that were not correct for radius and one showing a definite twist which had to be removed before it could be installed on the body shell.The first two pics show this.  I had contemplated making new ones and went so far as to make a wooden clamping form that was correct for radius.

The answer was actually quite simple. It is known that hardwoods soaked in Ammonia  softens them to the point that you can tie knots in them. I had used this method before when making a wood rim for a steering wheel with great success. The first issue was how the soak the two wooden arches and not have the Ammonia all evaporate and make the place un-breathable from the fumes. Second was how to limit the amount of Ammonia I had to obtain.

The answer to this was very simple. I cut an old inner tube in half and sealed one end. The arch was inserted in the inner tube and four litres of Ammonia 10% as used for cleaning floors was pored in and the end folded and sealed. The amount of Ammonia was just right to fill the inner tube.  I let the worst twisted arch soak for a week. When it was removed the twist had gone but I clamped it to the form and left it to dry out for another week just to make sure it was correct. Upon removal it was dead straight and the curved radius was perfect. The other arch was inserted soaked and is drying out on the form as I write this.

The only side effect from all this is that the wood is slightly discoloured, being a little darker than it was. The Ammonia when pored of back into the bottle is now dark brown.

I very happy with the end results and thought this method might be of interest to some of you wanting to bend some wood but don't have a steam cabinet.
Cheers,
Stephen