Manky's Pop.

[Manky Monkey]

   "Joe Lucas, Prince of Darkness" -how long have they had that reputation?! I remember old guys mentioning that phrase to me when I was first starting out on Brit bikes back in the late 70s. Doesn't seem to have harmed their sales though, unless it's just everyone buying new lights from them to replace the ones that fall apart?
I'll use one as a fog light, (got a red one with a halogen bulb conversion). I've also got a white one for a reversing light, but can't find a reverse light fitting on the gearbox. It's a Borg Warner auto box from a Rover P6. The inhibitor switch has 4 terminals on it I think. Does it act as both inhibitor & reverse unit?

[Cabman77]

It's a Borg Warner auto box from a Rover P6. The inhibitor switch has 4 terminals on it I think. Does it act as both inhibitor & reverse unit?

You got it big man that`s where it is

[Manky Monkey]

Okey dokey.
I didn't want to make a mounting for it if we ain't got the gubbins to operate it.

[spanners]

andy ,,ive had a look through what bits of info i have over here with me (memory not as good as it was ) and i,m  sorry but i cant remember which terminals you should use ,,


try askin the amphibion  one  (toad) 

[Cabman77]

simple enough to find out. Find the two that make a complete circuit when the box is in reverse.

[Manky Monkey]

Yes, that would be how the clever people would do it. 

[Manky Monkey]

No Loony at the workshop today, just little ol' me -& a very welcome visit from Terry T.
As always, a pleasure to see you mate, especially as you ended up achieving more than I did.
Mr T brought along his plasma cutter & promptly set about slicing up the sheets of body steel I'd bought for the pick-up bed.
Every workshop should have a Terry -just point him at a job & away he goes. While I laid under the truck & fell asleep, tidied up the chassis welds, he measured, cut & folded enough sheet to line the bed, ready for Loony to weld.
Thanks matey. Do call again 

[Manky Monkey]

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[Manky Monkey]

Nothing new to show today, but I've spent the afternoon trimming the panels Terry cut to fit. He plasma cut them to the right width & folded them & I've cut them to length & notched & mitred the ends so they slot together, ready for Loony to weld. Should look neat when they're done.

[Archie]

Manky's Pop.

[Manky Monkey]

Haven't posted much here in the last week or so -not because I haven't done anything, just nothing worth photographing.
I finish work around 2.30 in the afternoon & get to the workshop around 3ish each day. That gives me a couple of hours a day before Loony heads home at tea time. I've spent most of the last week laying on my back under the truck sorting out various half done bits of chassis, including chopping out a small section of the underside of each cross member down the left side of the vehicle & making up reversed plates to fit in them, to form notches for the fuel & brake lines to run in. Yesterday morning Loony welded all the bits I'd marked for him, so now I can get back under there & give 'em a quick going over with the angle grinder soft pad to make it all a bit more presentable. Other small jobs have included drilling & split pinning the front spring mounts where they bolt to the axle & drilling the brake pedal mount -the pedal pivots on 12mm brass bushes but the holes in the mount were only 10mm. Now it's got the correct 12mm bolt. A simple job but it involved unbolting the gearbox mount & lifting the back of the engine/box to give me room to get the drill in.
Yesterday was taken up with emptying the workshop & shuffling vehicles around to make way for Loony's Dad's new lathe which was delivered today. A "Colchester Student". All the little odds & ends for the Pop that I don't want to lose are now in a big box in the boot of my car.
Buried at the back of the shop was the original Ford Pop fuel tank. A basic rule of thumb for the commercial SVA test says that the pick-up bed load space should be longer than the cab internal length. Ours is, just, but wouldn't be if we mounted the Pop tank in the back as we want to. That's why there's an old Reliant tank slung under the back of the chassis. After the test we'll fit this one here, against the back of the cab.

[Manky Monkey]

Originally, this laid flat under the Pop boot floor. We'll stand it up on edge like this on a cradle, maybe with a pair of leather straps over the top. I want it to sit level with the top of the bed sides as it is here. Loony likes the angled filler neck, but I want to cut it & pull it round until it stands vertical, then shorten it till the cap sits level with the bottom of the window. The fuel gauge sender unit will be blanked off. I've got a length of sight glass tube we could fit at one end, but not sure what sort of fittings we'd need for it to be fuel tight.
I've fitted twin electric fuel pumps under the bed, so we'll run 2 tanks, the Pop one as the main with the smaller Reliant one as a reserve, with a toggle switch on the gearbox tunnel to flick from one to the other.

[Manky Monkey]

Couldn't really do anything today with the lathe being delivered, so I rang RPI Engineering. They specialise in Rover V8s & can issue certificates to authenticate engine age which are recognised by the SVA testers. We need to prove the age of the motor to avoid having to comply with modern emmissions requirements.
The guy I spoke to was very knowedgable & gave me a quick run down of my engine, based on it's serial number. It begins with the figures 11A, which means it's definitely a 3 1/2 litre Rover SD1. 9.35:1 compression. Because the strengthening webs across the middle of the valley, (the area under the carb, between the 2 banks of cylinders), are of equal thickness, (known as a stiff block), it was built between 1982 & 1986, when production of the SD1s ended. Before '82, the centre web was thinner. So it's a lot newer than I thought.
The Borg Warner auto gearbox I have was only fitted to SD1s up till 1979, so is from an earlier car, either a '76 to '79 SD1 or a P6.
So we only have to comply with the lowest CO2 emmissions requirement of 4, (parts per million?). The Holley carb I've fitted tends to run quite rich I'm told, but can be leaned out for the test so should be O.K
I've got to phone back tomorrow to arrange the certificate.

[Manky Monkey]

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[madron]

wow nearly there good idea keeping reliant tank as backup and get all that paperwork collected up ready as looks like you wont be long now