Pickup restoration part three

[davidmiles]

Ive been trying to find the split pin hole in that bolt for two days, It feels like split pin Groundhog day. I even tried the namrick nut and bolt shop in Hove for a Nylock nut of the same thread and they came up with an metric, thats no good, it may be a loose fit on the castle nut, but the metric nut to chassis fixed bolt is no match. So I'm stuck, the MOT will fail with a castle nut and no split pin.
Ive refitted a new length of copper pipe at the front and thats stopped the leak. I found my cable ties from Halfords too short to go around the front spring mount, so I'll get longer ones and secure the brake pipe tommorow. Not the most profitable two days work, must be the onset of winter, and the lower light levels.[frame][/frame]

[drivewasher]

why dont you drill a new one. Put the nut on where it should be, drill through the castleations into the threads carefully and out the other side. Use a nice new colbolt drill from an engineers suppliers.

[k33f]

or hold alt key down scroll up on the mouse over the picture of the pic of the thread you can see what look like the sheared off split pin

[cadetchris]

yep, i can see the sheared pin still stuck in the thread. its between the second and third threads. should easily come out with a little punch and a big hammer

[davidmiles]

it's just muck on the threads, Ive been looking through a magnifying glass with an inspection lamp and It isn't happening, I need an alternative to get me through the MOT, Nylock nuts would have done it, but if even Namrick nut and bolt shop can't supply them, I'm in a bit of a bind.

[davidmiles]

What a day to remember, I drove My restoration project for the first time today! Ok it was only out of the garage and up the drive, but it is the very first time she's moved under her own power since the early Eighties, what an achievment, I felt like I had reached the summit of mount everest when she started moving. I would Well recommend this to anyone. You gotta do this at least once in your life. Great feeling of having overcome adversity. Ok there's still a few problems to sort, the split pin in the leaf spring mount, the lights arn't working yet, the wiper motor fails to respond, the horn.... but hey every step forward is a step toward getting it back on the road.[frame][/frame]

[DAVIDMCCULLOUGH]

Your nearly there now, the list is getting shorter!

[Fingolfin]

Most excellent, David, most excellent! We're all pulling for you!

[brucek]

Got to agree with all the positive posts on this restoration - it's just a great story and you should be extremely proud of what you have achieved. Having looked back at all the threads (parts 1,2 and 3) this has been an inspiration to anyone who wonders if they could complete a restoration. The best part is that you have shared all the frustrations and problems too - not just posted the progress once the probems have been sorted. It feels like we've lived the restoration with you.

Congratulations on having the tenacity to keep taking photo's and thanks for sharing your progress with us

[aupickup]

u candrll a small hole in the end of th stub and put a split pin in, but the hole will be there somewhere, so just drill anther hole

[davidmiles]

thanks for all the positve support, the list is getting shorter day by day, I couldn't live with the missing split pins in the rear suspension, so after the Remembrance Day minutes silence, I headed to B&Q and purchased two of these Titanium bits.
one in 2mm and one 2.5mm,cost a fair bit, they were a fiver each [frame][/frame]

[davidmiles]

I really had misgivings about trying this, but once I held the drill bit accurately, so the bit lined up with the gaps between the castleations in the nut, things started to go really well, I paused to reduce heat build up and sprayed WD40 in there regularly, the swarfe came out in a sludge, Once the bit got below the surface it went through like a hot knife through butter.[frame][/frame]

[davidmiles]

I then simply enlarged the hole with the 2.5mm bit and the pin fitted like a dream. I take my hat off to all those who encouraged me to do this, you were right, it worked perfectly.[frame][/frame]

[davidmiles]

and on with the next issue on the list, starting the engine, it has started first time every time for the last week or so, today there was the wirr of the started motor but not enough to get it all moving, so possible cause not enough juice in the battery, reason, a duff dynamo not recharging the battery, so lets see if recharging the battery allows the starter motor to get it going again, this will eliminate the starter motor as the problem.[frame][/frame]

[mogbob]

Well done David......sharpen the pencil and put a tick in the box !

Next lights...with the switch " on " is there nothing ? No panel lights, side lights, head lights ?
If so check out the main power supply to the lighting switch from the control box to start with....Brown/Blue, Multimeter set to 20 Volts position, do you get 12 volts + from the battery ?

Wiper motorThree terminals 1, 2 and earth.
1.Black /Green wire from wiper switch on/ off
2.Green wire " power "from voltage stabiliser
E Black wire earth to body
Is there 12 volts + on the Green feed wire ?
Has this been refurbished/ touched in anyway during the resto ? e.g old grease cleaned out and replaced, new brushes, commutator lightly cleaned with sand paper (not emery paper ),wire to the auto park (internal to external dome cover ) replaced ?

Bob
P.S. battery most likely, until it has had a "proper run" the dynamo at tickover is unlikely to be able to replace the power back in the battery.Starting is the biggest drain on a battery.Give it whirl in the morning, all should be well.

[Matt Tomkins]

you say duff dynamo... it won't charge much on tickover anyway, and it takes a lot of juice to turn (especially a new engine) over -- just keep charging it until you do good run in it, then the dynamo'll work

[davidmiles]

yes quite right gents, the battery charger gave the Battery enough power to start the engine first time. So it's just a longer ride thats needed. I'll be following Bobs advice on the lights next, see if I can get my self up to the next stage. But I have work this weekend, so toward the end of next week we'll see if there's power to the light switch ect

[davidmiles]

finally got some time to work on the pickup, so I got myself a one man brake bleeding kit from Halfords, not bad for under I fiver, basically its a clear tube with a one way valve at one end, and a rubber sleeve at the other end.[frame][/frame]

[davidmiles]

the novel bit is this new impoved strap that retains the rubber sleeve onto the waist of the nipple,this helps to make a air tight seal to prevent the sucking back in of air. Worked rather well, it also reduced the amount of brake fluid that was wasted in the jam jar. Brakes done, now onto the lights..[frame][/frame]

[Matt Tomkins]

i';ve got one of those -- absolutely invaluable! -- i think mine was £2.99 at the local autofactor. Well worth the investment!
best of luck with the lights