1966/7 traveller project.

Let us all know what you are up to with your current restoration project. Get that Minor on the road!
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dbys2
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1966/7 traveller project.

Post by dbys2 »

Hi all,

I have spent today travelling down to Andy (1mustard) to collect myself a new project.

I have spent an awful lot of time doing up old Land Rovers but have always fancied a Traveller.

All the important bits seem to be solid wich is the important thing.

Unfortunatly i have a couple of other projects lined up before this one so it will be mothballed for a little while until i have a little more time to play.

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Chris
DAVIDMCCULLOUGH
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Re: 1966/7 traveller project.

Post by DAVIDMCCULLOUGH »

Good Luck with your new project, it doesnt look to bad. Keep us up to date with progress. 8)


Too many Minors so little time.....
dbys2
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Re: 1966/7 traveller project.

Post by dbys2 »

Just a little update to let everyone know how the traveller is getting on, I think the best word for it would be "slowly" :D

Im currently waiting for some parts for the Land Rovers so had a bit of spare time yesterday with noting better to do, so i decided to see just how badly siezed the travellers engine was.

I have had it with WD40 in the bores since i bought it but have been unable to get it to budge so decided to dismantle the engine to get to the bottom of the problem.

After removing the head i was suprised to see that the bores are in relatively good condition, there is very light surface corrosion in three of the cylinders (Rubs off with my finger and a little WD40 so thats not too bad) number three Cyl has slightly more corrosion but a quick clean up with a honing tool should sort that.

The last job yesterday was to remove the sump so i could start to get the big end caps off to shift the pistons, the rings appear to be quite well stuck so all might not be so good further down the bores but thats the plan for today.

The valves appear to be the bit thats suffered the most from the damp, 5 of the valves are sticking quite badly so i will obviously need to give them a proper look over to see whats savable and whats not, the push rods are Completely knackered as i suspect is the camshaft as the whole area is covered in quite heavy corrosion possibly due to condensation running down the rods from the rocker cover ???

The other thing that suprised me is the amount of Ali corrosion that is in the Water pump, Thermostat housing and the heater control, I think it was laid up all them years ago without drainig the coolant at all and also without any form of antifreeze.

The waterpump is knackered - the bottom hose bought part of the pump with it, as i believe is the thermostat housing, not removed it for close inspection yet. The heater control however, seems in good order :)

I am hoping to be able to ressurect the engine if feasible as i would like to keep the moggie as original a possible.

Will probably report back a bit later today with some piccies of progress as everyone likes pictures :-)

Chris
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Dryad
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Re: 1966/7 traveller project.

Post by Dryad »

Looks like an excellent project! I have an almond green Traveller (Feb 68) I'm restoring at the moment, and has the prefix BJH so it was registered in the same area as yours (Reading, Berks). :D
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ignatzcatz
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Re: 1966/7 traveller project.

Post by ignatzcatz »

Race ya
dbys2
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Re: 1966/7 traveller project.

Post by dbys2 »

ignatzcatz wrote:Race ya
Wont take much for you to win, i have a habit of having several projects on the go at once so they all go at a snails pace ;-)

Finally managed to get the engine stripped down completely, piston two and four were siezed completely solid and i literally had to destroy them to get them out...

I hadnt intended to take the engine completely out yet but, needs must i suppose :-)

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I am hoping to get away with simply honing the bores as the corrosion isnt as bad as i first suspected but i may have to go to +20 as Pot 4 is Probably close to the limit for honing :-(

The Camshaft that i initially thought would be rotten to the point of no return is in actual fact in very good condition so is going to be reuseable, the followers are going to need replacing though as they are fairly well pitted internally.

The engine has only covered 47,000 miles so its a bit of a shame that its been damaged so badly by the water ingress.

It will need a good clean internally and externally to remove the surface corrosion before i start to re assemble it.

The bores are not as bad as the photos make them look.

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Engine remains.

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Dead pistons.

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I also thought you might like to see the speedo, whats the chances of it being laid up with that many miles reading on the clock :-)

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What would people reccomend to remove the corrosion from the Conrods Ect. that i intend to reuse ???
Would Some cheap nasty cola be safe to use on the parts?

Chris
taupe
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Re: 1966/7 traveller project.

Post by taupe »

I also thought you might like to see the speedo, whats the chances of it being laid up with that many miles reading on the clock
More likely thats the exact mileage that the speedo cable or drive gave up the ghost due to the additional strain of turning all the numbers at once :D :D

Taupe
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Dryad
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Re: 1966/7 traveller project.

Post by Dryad »

taupe wrote:
I also thought you might like to see the speedo, whats the chances of it being laid up with that many miles reading on the clock
More likely thats the exact mileage that the speedo cable or drive gave up the ghost due to the additional strain of turning all the numbers at once :D :D

Taupe
:lol: My first Minor used to do that; whenever it got to a thousand mile change it would stick and make a clicking noise, and used to drive along thumping the dashboard above it to try and free it up!
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dbys2
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Re: 1966/7 traveller project.

Post by dbys2 »

More likely thats the exact mileage that the speedo cable or drive gave up the ghost due to the additional strain of turning all the numbers at once :D :D

Taupe
Hmm, makes sense, didn't think of that :-)

Will have to have a play with the speedo cable at some point to find out.
chickenjohn
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Re: 1966/7 traveller project.

Post by chickenjohn »

dbys2 wrote:-snip-
What would people reccomend to remove the corrosion from the Conrods Ect. that i intend to reuse ???
Would Some cheap nasty cola be safe to use on the parts?

Chris
Get some citric acid from Ebay- make up a 10% solution in hot water in an old dish bowl and leave to soak overnight. Then wash off the citric acid and coat the con-rods in oil till you are ready for re-assembly.
Cheers John - all comments IMHO
- Come to this years Kent branches Hop rally! http://www.kenthop.co.uk
(check out the East Kent branch website http://www.ekmm.co.uk )
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dbys2
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Re: 1966/7 traveller project.

Post by dbys2 »

chickenjohn wrote: Get some citric acid from Ebay- make up a 10% solution in hot water in an old dish bowl and leave to soak overnight. Then wash off the citric acid and coat the con-rods in oil till you are ready for re-assembly.
Many Thanks, will order some Now :-)

Chris
dbys2
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Re: 1966/7 traveller project.

Post by dbys2 »

Another update:

I have had several parts of the engine soaking in the Acid for a couple of days now and it seems to be doing a good job of removing the corrosion, I left the parts soaking overnight then ive been giving them a wire brushing to remove the loose rust then have left them soaking again.

Following on from a Land Rover bonnet closing onto my head in the wind yesterday :evil: i suddenly found myself no longer wanting to play landys so i decided to continue stripping a few bits off the Moggie. I have now removed both the front wings and had a good poke around with the door pillars, the passanger side seems in remarkably good condition, appearing only to require a couple of small repairs.

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The drivers side wing was hiding slightly more corrosion but nothing that i find too worrying :) , a replacement hinge pillar cover and a couple of minor (Geddit :roll: ) repairs inside the pillar should see it solid again...

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I also took the opportunity to remove the old rotten carpet and the front seats, the floors look to be in really rather good condition all thngs concidered, it appears only to have corroded in the usual place, just above the crossmember.

Apart from the carpet being rather manky the interior is in really good condition, the seats are all in very good condition with the only noticable damage being to a small section of the piping round the drivers seat, unfortunatly like a oops I typed a naughty word i managed to break the interior light whilst "fiddling" with switches ect. :oops: What a knob... and also the plastic clips for the sun visors have gone brittle and have broken. other than that its all in really good nick :-)

Unfortunatly someone in the past has bodged on a pair of undersills meaning that i couldnt get the bolts for the sill finisher and the cover panel off to assess the condition of the sills, i will have to take a grinder to the bolts some time today to see how bad things are behind the repairs.

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It would also appear the woodwork isnt quite as good as i first thought it was, i was originally intending to replace a few bits of the timber and salvage as much as possible but it probably wouldnt have looked right having new and old next to eachother, i have decided to replace the whole lot with new as it will look neater and be better than having to partially strip the car to replace the salvaged bits in a few years time, need to sell a kidney or somthing :)

Once the car is completely stripped down i intend to get the shell shot blasted before repairing it to help show up any weak points, once its repaired i will probably get it hot zinc sprayed to add a bit of protection, in an ideal world it would be nice to have the shell "hot dipped" but sadly i think the distortion would be far to bigger risk :(
1mustard
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Re: 1966/7 traveller project.

Post by 1mustard »

Hey mate, i see you have been tearing into the car, glad to see the corrosion isn't that bad, bad luck with the engine looks like it was well corroded together, hone it and measure it you may be able to save the bores, as for the wood i have changed bits and pieces before but obviously you can have colour match problems with aged timber, i have used liberon wood bleacher before and got good results, or like you say replace the whole frames i have picked them up on ebay before, but you do take a chance with ill fitting stuff, obviously new would look best.
keep up the good work! Andy
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