Manky's Pop.

[hunter]

kapri is right on this,the paint as got to cure before re-coat,
you can also spray this paint with the right thinners.

[Manky Monkey]

Fortunately you don't have to wait for it to cure before hitting it with a wire brush on the angle grinder. 
Stripped back to bare metal now -so back where I started.
Loony can pick up enough satin black to spray the whole truck for the cost of a couple of aerosols, so we'll visit the paint suppliers tomorrow. He was welding an Austin A35 today, so I spent the afternoon crawling under the Pop, cutting notches in some of the chassis cross members. I want to tuck the fuel line up into the chassis, rather than it being the lowest point of the vehicle. Most of the framework's only welded from the top & sides, so hopefully tomorrow we can get under there & finish the job.

[WAYNE999]

ive never got on with it either its ok for gates and fences i like hammerites stone guard it drys with a textured satin finish and youve got to be a bit daft to get runs

[terry t]

i was told its great on rusty metal. it don't like clean new metal.used some hammerite red oxide on some new mudguards once took about 1 week to dry never again

[Manky Monkey]

Some progress at last today. We've had a few afternoons of not really achieving a lot, followed by a day's crawling under the car, welding the chassis up for Loony & grinding the welds down for me -which made us both grumpy Monkeys.
I arrived at the 'shop after work this afternoon to find young Terry there. Seems he'd been to the Kempton bike autojumble & thought it rude not to call in on his way home. We thought it rude not to repay the gesture, so put him to work.
In not very long at all, he'd drilled out & re-tapped the sheared off bolt in one of the exhaust header blanking caps. One job ticked off the list.
Then he moved on to shortening the exhaust tailpipes to clear the repositioned rear shocks. In the end we took almost 18 inches out of each side. The pipes now end just ahead of the shock absorbers, curving over the rear axle. With that done, Terry adapted the push-in exhaust baffle I bought last week to make a pair of 6 inch long ones for the tail pipes.
We were concerned that shortening the pipes that much would make the system ridiculously loud. Mr Dslam kindly leant us a hand held decibel meter the other day, so we hooked everything up & fired the motor up. It sounded suprisingly civilised. The exhaust level's tested at 3/4 throttle with the meter held 500mm from the end of the pipe & at 45 degrees to it. In our case that meant laying it on the ground under the truck, although I later realised it should be 200mm off the ground too, which would only make the reading lower. Maximum allowed is 101 db. We haven't got a rev counter so had to guess the throttle position, but on tick-over we got 85 to 90 decibels, rising to around 95 when we revved it hard. That'll do. For comparison, we tested Loony's standard 4 cylinder Rover saloon. That came out at around 85 db, so our V8's only 10 decibels louder than a standard car.
A couple of welds to smooth out, although I've been told I'm not allowed to waste valuable building time on them, & the exhaust is finished. I just need to make up a pair of new copper brake lines for the rear drums now after we decided to re-route them, then the back end's finished apart from the pick-up bed panelling.
Many thanks to Terry T for his help today. Sometimes you just need a fresh approach to kicksart things a bit. Always welcome matey. Thank you.
No piccies as my computer's thrown a small wobbly this evening. 

[terry t]

That's right i could not drive past and not call in.just to see you all an have a look at the Pop.
went to kempton to see if i could get some forks for my new project.it was busy but not crowded. it also  looked as if a few store holders didn't turn up.i didn't buy anything. met Chevy Rick there and he said that it wasn't that busy.
it made a change working with other people instead of working on your own.and to have a good look around the Pop.
and yes you have been banned from any more grinding and filing down until after the test 
just get the basics done for the test then do the finishing off

[Manky Monkey]

Right-o. 
Spent the afternoon making up new copper brake pipes & fighting off a workshop invasion of bees/wasps/buzzy wuzzy things.
Actually the BW things didn't bother me -I usually find if you don't annoy them, they won't annoy you, but there was some concern we might find a workshop full of them tomorrow.
Being Sunday today I treated myself to a lie in, got up early & went to church, so didn't make it to the 'shop till after lunch, about the same time as a working day. So while Loony was out, pricing up a paintjob, I bimbled around, shaping, cutting & flaring new brake lines to link the rear drums to the brass T piece on the rear axle. That's linked to the copper pipe on the chassis via a flexible braided hose, coiled to allow for suspension travel.
We've strengthened the rear mudguard mounts & I've cleaned one up & refitted it, but as the brake pipes pass through a hole in the mounts, I need to finish the other one too before I can do the pipes up tight. We've welded tabs to the axle to take P clips to hold the pipes in place, but I've run out of clips so need to order some more.
I also took a look at the 2 new residual valves. These are low pressure one way valves. When the master cylinder's mounted lower than the calipers like ours is, fluid tends to drain back when the vehicle's parked up, meaning the brakes need pumping a couple of times before use. The valves hold the fluid in the lines to prevent this. They need to be mounted as close to the cylinder as possible, so I've found a handy spot under the cab floor & will fit them tomorrow.
Not a lot done today, but another job crossed off the list.

[Manky Monkey]

The brake pipes pass over the top of the suspension 4 bar rods, keeping well clear of the pivot points. We've also fitted a small K & N type axle breather. Not as vintage looking as the coiled copper pipe we tried before, but we had no way of permanently attaching that, (I might try Araldite glue at some point). The K & N filter was in my spares box.
The shortened exhaust pipes still need cleaning up. They don't run parallel to the chassis & I want to cut & straighten them, but I'm not allowed till after the test! 

[panthershaun]

looking good mate, hoping to get back on mine soon... as for the tow hitch, me I'd go for it mate and build a custom bike trailer to carry the XS to shows so you can have them both there as you said yours isn't going to be a real pickup.....

[Archie]

looking good mate, hoping to get back on mine soon... as for the tow hitch, me I'd go for it mate and build a custom bike trailer to carry the XS to shows so you can have them both there as you said yours isn't going to be a real pickup.....

Nah that's why you have a resident welder without a bike licence and trade insurance.

It's also a way to get a certain members girlfriend to the shows as well when that bl00dy xs is finally on the road.....

[Manky Monkey]

  Hi Shaunus.
Tempting to fit a towbar, but that's another few days work & the schedule's tight enough already. I've only ever towed once or twice & doubt I'd use it that much. The whole bike-in-the-back-of-a-pickup thing's been done now I think.
I've turned my chop project over to PD to build for me cos I just haven't got the time. I gave him the major components & a rough idea of what I'd planned & left him to it. Dropped by there last night & it's looking good. If he can get insurance cover for it, then he'll be out & about at the shows on it next year, when I'm not using it.
We were only wondering the other day how you were getting on with your truck.   
No Loony at the workshop today, so I'm at home to clean the other rear mudguard mount up in me shed.

[Manky Monkey]

No Loony again today, so I spent a few hours bimbling around the workshop on my own. Well me & "Workshop" the cat anyway.
Both rear mudguards re-fitted & brake pipes hooked up.
Then it was on to the residual valves. 2psi for the front disc brakes & 10psi for the rear drums, (to overcome the return springs).

[spanners]

whose make are them there brake pipe nuts  ? ? they look a little odd

[Manky Monkey]

The adaptors that connect the valves to the pipes? The silver fittings are marked as Goodrich, the brass -no idea. They came from "Pop Browns", the custom Pop parts suppliers.

The majority of the brake pipes are copper/nickel, rather than straight copper. More resistant to vibration fracturing, but harder to bend, especially where space is tight. Loony's got 2 brake pipe flaring tools. One's handheld but not strong enough to flare the pipes in situ. The other's much stronger, but heftier & designed to be clamped in a vice on a workbench. I needed to cut the pipes in place, under the truck, & splice in the valves. That meant flaring the ends to suit the compression fittings.
So I've spent most of the afternoon laying on my belly under the chassis, brake fluid dripping down my arms, holding the heavy flarer up to the pipes & trying to clamp them into it to flare them. Then I had to feed them back around the cross members to the master cylinder & bolt it all up. Hopefully tucked tidily out of sight under the floor. A pain in the neck, (literally), but another job off the list.
Got to swap the rubber hoses connecting the dual circuit master cylinder to the reservoir before we refill the system -they're marked as suitable for fuel & oil, but need to be for brake fluid.   

[Manky Monkey]

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