Manky's Pop.

[poprodder]

At least your not pushing that bike around Basingstoke anymore 

[Manky Monkey]

Oh my Gawd, he's taken even more bits off.
Well, not yet, but I will soon.
Cleared out all the parts that were stored under the chassis & put them in number 2 lock-up. I want to get the rear brake back plates blasted & powder coated as they're covered in rust. That means pulling the half shafts out, which I can't do in the garage. I'd like to change the wheel bearings while I'm at it too cos they're probably still the originals. As I want to spray the chassis while I'm on holiday this week, it'd be a lot easier with the Pop jacked up & the axle out of the way.
I'd glued a strip of rubber to the top face of the chassis to rubber mount the pick-up bed a little, so have taken that back off, rather than trying to mask it up, & given the top face a coat of red oxide.

[Manky Monkey]

I spoke to Ifan about the doors this morning. He plans to have them done this side of Christmas, which gives me time to paint the chassis & start re-installing the running gear. I've got another week's holiday at the end of January, so could be painting the doors then.
Ifan was hoping to use '74 Beetle window winders as they mount centrally under the glass, (now we're fitting 1/4 lights, the glass is no longer the full width of the door). He says the operation was very clunky though, so Plan B is to modify the original Pop set-up.

[poprodder]

at least pop ones wind up and down quickly with not many turns of the handle, even less on a chopped roof!!!

[Manky Monkey]

One complete turn from shut to fully open.

[stinkey]

I like the green and red oxide look

[Manky Monkey]

[Olds]

Best to get as many jobs done as possible before putting it back together.

Let us know when you want to take the cab off Andy.

[Manky Monkey]

I don't think that's ever coming off now! It's bolted to the chassis with 8 bolts. Several are already out. I thought there was a lot of chassis parts that I couldn't reach with the cab on, but it's only the 2" square areas where the bolts pass through the mounting tabs on the body & the chassis. I hope to ease off the remaining bolts, slip a brushful of rust killer between the mounts, then slide in a square of thin rubber matting before bolting it all down again. Just praying none of the filler cracks when I lift the body a few mm.

[poprodder]

don't think i would disturb it.

[Manky Monkey]

I can slide a steel rule between the mounting surfaces that have been unbolted. Don't intend lifting it any higher than that!
Removed the rear axle this afternoon. Suprisingly, I didn't end up pinned under the cab as I expected, so all's good so far. When I was a teenager, a neighbour was crushed to death while working under a car held on a trolley jack, so I've been super wary of such things ever since. The back end's now sat on a pair of 6 ton stands.
The axle itself is incredibly heavy -I had to enlist the help of a lad who was having a fag break behind the local Co-Op, which backs onto the garage area, to help me lift it onto a wheeled trolley. Fortunately he didn't notice it's a Co-Op bread tray trolley.

[Manky Monkey]

I need to strip the brakes off so I can get the back plates powder coated. The shoes appear to have double springs top & bottom. At that point I decided to quit while I was ahead & tackle them in daylight, rather than losing parts, (possibly my fingers), trying to dismantle them by torchlight. It's taken me 40 years to learn when to be sensible & stop for the day
I've got new shoes & slave cylinders, but can't remember what year the original Sherpa van was, so will have to take the drive shafts to the local bearing shop for replacement.

[Manky Monkey]

I've also flatted back the brushed on paint on the back of the chassis. Before I left this evening I gave it a quick squirt with a can of grey primer to cover a few patches of bare metal, partly to see how far a can would go, (I have 9 cans of gloss black), & partly to see if it reacted with the brushed on red oxide. Thankfully, it doesn't appear to have.

[BikerGran]

There you go, unbuilding it again.....   

[Manky Monkey]

Yup