1965 Series 2a Station Wagon in Holland

Hash tag tried something else a bit wacky the other day too

(OK not quite as wacky as the no electrickry electroplating or even the bacci)

The font bumper that came with the vehicle is (as you might expect by now) a little bit rusty. Could do with a new galvanised coating. I went for the option of buying what was reported as good second hand.

Well - bought it - got it sent here and it is indeed a good second hand part.

BUT

Not quite as nice as it could be. Being a natural born tyre kicker there is always room for improvement. Mounting points rusty =>





It also had what looks like algae growing on it (black stuff)

So I gave it a wash



Bit of a selective de-rust wire brushing



This bumper has been used a bit in car parking wars before!

There's (CSI) evidence of contact with a blue car (I hope it was a French rot box), some long scrapes along the length and a heavy gouge that was probably a meeting with something like concrete...

...the gouge had started to rust



Not being one to pass up the opportunity to get my (well lush - have I mentioned it before?) Bosch mini cordless angle grinder - got the rust and the lip of metal away in no time



Treated with cold galvanising Zinga



The colour match on this front bumper is really good (much better than the safari roof vents)

As a "in working life" quick fix, I reckon Zinga is ideal to tackle similar car park war damage.



Here's another picture of Zinga next to existing galvanising - shows a bit better in this picture. The light grey is near as damn it the same.



Despite the pretty good colour match of the Zinga I have been itching to give Primocon a go.

This was recommended by some Dutch chap on the series 2 forum (I'd link if I could find the post - and give due credit - but honestly that forum's search function is really not up to much - so I can't find it)

The recommendation is to use unstirred Primocon dabbed on to the surface to fake the effect of a galvanised surface.



Although I'm yet to master the art - it comes up a treat and I'm quite impressed by these "faking it" results.



I'll let you know if it sticks!

Well I'll be ***********ered!

Who'd have thought it?

The daft electroplating experiment seems to be working!

I got fed up with the copperique (the pipe saddles from the DIY shop) and thought I'd just lob in an old brass gasket from a series 2 differential (you know the one from the nose cone) and blow me sideways and call me Nancy it looks like it is doing something =>



It doesn't show all that well in this picture because the flash was necessary - so I'll take a new picture tomorrow in daylight - but the part being shown is actually slightly yellow - brass yellow.

Very exciting.

As you can see from the picture I had little faith in the process after the copperique experiment failed and just carried on using the little green house on the prairie for spraying (hence the Eastwoods extreme chassis black dust floating on the electrolyte). I just bunged the nose cone gasket in there as I had nothing to lose whilst I got round to cutting up the copper head gasket as planned.

#####

So anyway the plan is now

1) get hold of a tumbler cleaning machine so I can get these small parts totally rust free (my usual mechanical rust removal method of drill and angle grinder wire brushes is not suitable for small parts)

2) cut up some of the copper head gasket or cut up this brass gasket (haven't decided which just yet)

3) re-do the experiment with new clean electrolyte


{As always - to be continued}

Well as promised here's another picture of the no electrickery electroplating.



Again this is more of a photography problem than a it isn't working problem! I have to say "trust me" (I'm a vegetarian) - something is happening albeit rather slowly compared with the reported performance in the model building thread.

Still for me it is a nice distraction from painting - which by the way is getting more complicated by that bloody grape saving green house. Layers of paint are taking longer to dry. I need to be more patient to stop this from happening =>



Oh well - sand it back - wipe it down with panel prep - start again [TEDIOUS]

Fitting hotspots - Green book says to use a "hide faced mallet" to fit them. My arse! No effing way the ones I bought were going in with a hide faced hammer.

I ended up using the hydraulic press.



Checking protrusion with a DTI =>



Limit is 0.001" above head surface and no more than 0.002" below. Despite cleaning out the holes for the hotspots well they just weren't planning to go in with out a fight.

It says it in the title so I'll carry on with the "in Holland" theme.

...

So...

...how would you get your engine block to the machine shop?

In Holland you do it by bike (oh yes I'm sure some of the Dutch will swear blind that they use cars and trucks but in reality they all use bicycles. Despite my nationality resistance is futile - I have been assimilated)



Note the nice wicker basket - very butch. I've decided to borrow this bike and trailer combo for a little bit longer so I can go and pop some wheelies outside McDonalds and impress some chicks.



You are of course allowed to carry other rusty Land Rover parts in bike trailers - so it is not just engines - the options are almost limitless as there actually aren't any size or speed restrictions in Holland for pedal powered vehicles. True freedom.

Continuing with the engine I thought I'd better crack on with the crank...

...turns out the back journal (nearest flywheel) is just worn past limits. This is a bit of a bugger as I was hoping to get away with reusing the original crank. The cost of re-grinding the journals (one of the pins for the conrods is also a bit past it) - seven in all - is far more expensive than a replacement new crank. So I've ordered a new one from Craddocks (meant to be an original - we shall see) along with new thrust washers and plain bearings

Still here are some pictures of the removal of a pretty worn crank shaft sprocket







I also started to weigh the pistons (and then remembered the machine shop has number #4 <= bugger!)



So progress on the engine is a bit stop start stop at the moment.

The new valves for the head should turn up this week so I can at least get that finished.

Dingocroft delivered!

(Seems like a nice company - despite the trouble I had paying for my order online)



Mostly differential parts - so tomorrow...



...it has been some time since I've seen preserving grease like this!



That'll keep me busy

I'm posting this picture more for my benefit than yours! (Bit cheeking using the forum as a post-it note but I need to remember the order on the shaft)

Air filter

Eeeeek!

This is a challenge.



Grotty



Grotty



Grotty



Grotty




Grotty (especially the cap with those louvre-like flaps)



###################

Decided to drill out the rivets on the clips so I can strip and paint



Using a 1/4" drive 8mm socket to hold the bracket in place while I punch the rivet out of the clip



Clips removed =>



(Still grotty!)



Dismantling the clips =>



Now I've got to find some rivets...



To be continued.

Well - back to the no electrickery electrolysis =>

It is definitely working albeit really slowly and obviously in a less than ideal situation

I just left it soaking and look =>



Now I'm definitely not going to leave it like that! It will all be cleaned off once more and then done properly - but - seems like a cheap way to plate stuff to me

Bloody hell!









Preserved for a post nuclear apocalypse I assume when they expected people to have more time on their hands or something like that - flipping heck - wish I'd bought that cheap parts washer now...

...might end up putting the sodding thing in the oven at this rate - melt the bloody gunk off

It does seem to have done a good job though. What degreaser are you using? Xylene thinners work really well. Use them somewhere well ventilated though or you'll be off your bonce before long!

LincolnSteve said:

It does seem to have done a good job though. What degreaser are you using? Xylene thinners work really well. Use them somewhere well ventilated though or you'll be off your bonce before long!

Click to expand...

As usual I'm using brake cleaner.

It is slowly getting it off.

Soaking in a bucket as I type.

I've half a mind just to leave it on!

It looks like cosmoline that they use on firearms when they go into long term storage. I've had to clean that crap off loads of my deacs and I can recommend using the oven on about low, it will stink the place out though!

LordOWar said:

It looks like cosmoline that they use on firearms when they go into long term storage. I've had to clean that crap off loads of my deacs and I can recommend using the oven on about low, it will stink the place out though!

Click to expand...

Thanks I did think the oven might have to be used but I reckon I'll be in deep deep **** if I do that...

Progress

(Been a struggle for this bit - took a bit of time to find a replacement - then I had to fix it)



I've refitted the rubber bellow that came with the shaft as it will help keep muck off the splines. It isn't an original piece - according to the Green Book and the spares catalogue there's only one of these things fitted on the front propshaft.

Drat and double drat - I found the Craddocks order has been at the neighbours for nearly two days. It nearly got lost under a pile of paperwork...

...still the valves are finally fitted to the head



Whilst I have no reason not to believe that this vehicle won't be "done by the summer" it is best to be realistic about things and smear grease over the unpainted parts because I find it much easier to remove grease than rust whilst the head is in storage waiting for other things to be done

Water pump

I had a rivet counting moment with this one. The Green Book shows a grub screw for holding the shaft in place.



Initial thought was oh dear I'd better go shopping. However according to the series 2 club guru's (well guru) by 1965 it had just the weep hole pressed in bearing type.



So I'm just replacing the bearings as I trust them not: Mainly because although they spin nicely there's a piece of pressed steel crap on the end of the shaft as an impeller.



Hydraulic press (if you don't have one I can highly recommend one - I value it about as much as my angle grinder!)



Bit of rust on the inside of the pump.

I'm considering the merits of Glyptal again





To be (guess what) continued

Stretch said:

Bloody hell!

View attachment 106973

View attachment 106974

View attachment 106975

Preserved for a post nuclear apocalypse I assume when they expected people to have more time on their hands or something like that - flipping heck - wish I'd bought that cheap parts washer now...

...might end up putting the sodding thing in the oven at this rate - melt the bloody gunk off

Click to expand...

Update for the gunk:

I avoided the gunk for a few days. Luckily I had sprayed it with brake cleaner and left it in an air tight container. The heavy waxy gunk went soft and was easy to wipe off!

That was nice



Rebuilding it with new parts =>



Shims fitted - cogs fitted - pin fitted

I fiddled about with the shims to get the backlash as good as I could (as per Green book instructions)



Fitting axial bearings with hydraulic press (Have I mentioned my hydraulic press before? Bloody good bit of kit that thing)



Axial bearing cups fitted to their correct bearings - held in place with masking tape for now

Even though I haven't gotten the brush attachment parts for the dynamo re-plated yet I've managed a bit of progress with the other bits

All parts de-rusted and repainted. Re-wrapped the windings



This time I unwrapped and re-wrapped to keep the windings in place






The cooling fan from the other dynamo is the same as this one - so that has saved a bit of messing about - don't have to paint that one. But, the pullies are of a different size.