Manky's Pop.

[Manky Monkey]

Actually, that photo looks a lot better than it does in real life.
So- a gearbox question while I'm laying underneath, looking at it.
Although I've swapped the engine for a later model one, I'm still using the same auto box. It's a 3 speed Borg Warner 35 from a Rover P6. The g/box sump gasket's been leaking ever since I first got it & now has a thick coating of oily/road grimey gunge on it.
If I drain the oil & drop the sump do all manner of horrible things happen inside the box? It really needs doing, but will I have to prime it before use or anything like that? I don't want to delve inside the box, just change the gasket.

[Manky Monkey]

Moving on with the chassis prep & paint, I need to address another problem that cropped up in that first year of use.
On full suspension travel & full steering lock, the front mudguard struts hit the headlights. It looks drastic, but the only real solution & the simplest, is to cut the h/light mounts off the chassis & turn them forward by 45°.

[Manky Monkey]

.

[Manky Monkey]

That pulls the light further forward & closer to the grille shell. I propped one bonnet side in place to see if I could still open it. I can, but if I moved the mounts round by 90° as I originally planned, I wouldn't be able to lift the bonnet.
I've got a MIG welder, but need to run an extension lead from a neighbour's house to use it.

[Manky Monkey]

Fortunately, the whole truck's being rewired anyway, so I don't have to worry about cutting the wires.
It's depressing to keep taking more parts off than I'm putting on, but I keep telling myself, every job I do is making it better. It's easy to forget how rough it looked first time around & how everyone referred to it as a RatRod.
Left, (drivers side), light in original position. Right one propped in place in the new position.

[Manky Monkey]

Old position, 2 fingers gap between light & mudguard.

[Manky Monkey]

New position, 4 fingers.

[Manky Monkey]

Another question.
I want to remove the radius rod, ("split wishbone"). Although I think it looks better straight & common sense says it must be stronger, it's normal practice to cut these & angle the front end, so that the rod runs parallel to the chassis, giving several inches more wheel clearance for a tighter turning circle.
Moving the lights & modifying the radius arms is to address the Pop's huge turning circle. Not so bad on the open road, but manouvring in carparks is just hard work.

[Olds]

Light still looks neat.  

[Olds]

Would you have enough spare movement in the steering box to take advantage of kinked rods ?

[Manky Monkey]

The leaf spring hanger bolts through the front of the rod. I seem to remember we had a hell of a job compressing the spring enough to line the bolt holes up when we put it together.  
Is there a simple way to do it on my own, remembering I'm taking one side apart at a time? Axle stand under the chassis, wheel off -then what? What part do I need to jack up? Or should it come apart easily if I'm working on one side at a time?  

[Manky Monkey]

Yes Dave -the rods are the limiting factor at the moment. Obviously they'd be internally sleeved & fully welded. I've got a stainless bolt head as a steering stop on the back of each hub at the moment, so should at least be able to remove that. Even if I don't gain much steering lock, I'll get proper clearance around the various steering components.
I'd like to fit extra leaves to the spring to stiffen the front end a little -it gets a bit skittery at 70mph+ & it'd also help prevent the body sagging to one side when there's just the driver in it, (an annoying problem with transverse springs). I may be able to order a stiffer spring from Miles at JackHammer speed shop, who supplied the current one, but obviously I'd have to disassemble the whole front end to fit it.

[Stix]

Yes Dave -the rods are the limiting factor at the moment. Obviously they'd be internally sleeved & fully welded.
I'd like to fit extra leaves to the spring to stiffen the front end a little -it gets a bit skittery at 70mph+ & it'd also help prevent the body sagging to one side when there's just the driver in it, (an annoying problem with transverse springs). I may be able to order a stiffer spring from Miles at JackHammer speed shop, who supplied the current one, but obviously I'd have to disassemble the whole front end to fit it.

Do the same to the light stands as they will take a bit of buffeting and vibration when running down the road

Stix

[Manky Monkey]

Yeah, but I can only partly sleeve those cos the wires run internally. The mounting arms sit over the front corner of the chassis, so there's only a semi circular hole in the bottom for the wires to drop out of, not a full circle.

[Stix]

Ok just thinking of the worst case scenario and how to avoid it.
Stix