heli_madken · Nov 8, 2023

Thank you! yes I just keep going, one day I will have a really nice car to drive, the dream helps me to keep plodding along.

I now have everything back on the chassis that I had previously so tackled the cross member next. My 'elaborate' method using a trolley jack and blocks of wood -

One of those jobs that for a change went easier than I imagined -

Next up is to get the gearbox in position, need to paint the mounts first

LincolnSteve · Nov 8, 2023

It does look wonderful. Well done.

heli_madken · Nov 12, 2023

LincolnSteve said:
It does look wonderful. Well done.

Thank you, much appreciated.

Painting various parts over the weekend getting ready to put the gearbox in place.

Painted and fitted the new petrol tank with a new pump and sender unit -

And got the gearbox chassis mounts in place -

I have set the mounts as far back as they go but not I am not overly confident this will be enough as the new gearbox is 15mm longer. Has anyone fitted the Ashcroft 4HP24 automatic gearbox, I think the case is the same as the 4HP22 but the bell housing is longer? If you have what alterations to the mounts, if any, did you make? -

heli_madken · Nov 14, 2023

Gearbox fitted a day late due to storm Debi, I dare not take the engine crane away from the body during windy weather -

Angled upward to make fitting the engine easier (when it finally arrives) and help stop the torque converter falling forward -

Torque converter is a 4.6 GEMS type which is quite a bit bigger than the stock 3.5 version -

Does anyone know if this tie rod is essential, its obviously 15mm too short now. I could weld a section in to make it bigger but wondering if its worth the hassle -

I have to find a solution for the transmission oil cooler lines as the unions are different on this gearbox. I have ordered a second hand P38 set off ebay to see if I can use them.

Next up is the transmission brake.

heli_madken · Nov 15, 2023

Transmission brake done today -

P38 oil lines turned up, they do have the correct unions to the gearbox and are in usable condition -

I think I can use them, I have a pipe bender that will work to do any routing, just have to figure out some clips to support them. This is a much better option than trying to make them up with the danger of joints using jubilee clips etc.

I will use a P38 oil cooler and work out a mounting system, anyone have a P38 and can give me an idea how it all works. The lines are a little long but better that than too short -

I am stuck now on the chassis without the engine so I think I will take a look at the lower tailgate which needs some repair next.

heli_madken · Nov 17, 2023

Started the lower tailgate, overall it didnt look to be in too bad a condition so first task was to strip off all the paint. Went down hill after that as there was localised rust along the bottom together with a hole just below the top section -

The hole had been just gobbed in with filler. Along the top edge is a trough into which the tailgate lifting tabs fit. Stupid idea as its obviously going to fill with water which mine had and rusted through, which in turn was allowing water into the inside of the tailgate resulting in the hole above -

You can see how badly pitted the skin is in this area.

So what to do? I could weld pieces in and hope for the best but I have no way of knowing what the frame is like inside and no real way of ensuring good protection so off came the skin and I have ordered new -

The good news is that the frame itself is in excellent condition considering, requiring only the trough area to be repaired.

I removed the lower seal retainer as well as I can give everything a good clean, you can see here that this approach was well worth it, would not have lasted much longer -

I will get everything cleaned up and get some paint on the inside of the frame.

Heard from RPI today that my engine is due to be delivered on Tuesday, yippee!!

heli_madken · Nov 20, 2023

Welded in some new metal to repair the top edge -

I also welded up all the spot weld holes, I am hoping to fix the skin in place with self tappers, that way I can run a bead of seam sealer along the skin joint and stop water getting inside. I want to keep any welding to a minimum so the internal paint is undisturbed.

Cleaned everything up and gave everything a coat of etch primer followed by Corroless S1 on the inside -

I keep meaning to mention something about Corroless primers. In my opinion the S1 version (red/brown) goes on nicer and feels much tougher than the S2 version (buff). They are meant to be the same but I think there is a difference.

Followed up with a couple of coats of Corroless RF16, this should last a few years especially after I have coated everything with Dinitrol -

New skin is on its way but this might wait if I get the engine tomorrow.

heli_madken · Nov 21, 2023

Very nearly fits just a tiny bit of fettling to do but how nice is this -

So much better than buggering about with patches of metal and should last for ages.

One of those days today, wifes car broken so got the CBX out to go for some bits and the bugger wont start, was running only two weeks ago -

No such thing as Taxi's or busses here so got to stick at it.

AND the engine hasnt turned up, got a horrible feeling it isnt going to either.

Think I will go and eat worms

marjon · Nov 21, 2023

Is that a 750/4 I spy

You have some cracking bikes.

That tailgate should last well, and as you say sometimes its not worth faffing trying to fix something when new save so much time

and future issues.

J

heli_madken · Nov 21, 2023

marjon said:
Is that a 750/4 I spy You have some cracking bikes.

That tailgate should last well, and as you say sometimes its not worth faffing trying to fix something when new save so much time and future issues.

J

Cheers, its a 1977 550K3 restored it a couple of years ago was a basket case. Would love a 750 but silly prices now. Also got a GL1000 in there as well. I think the CBX is sulking because its in the shed, temporary home until I get the Range Rover done, would kill for another Garage.

heli_madken · Nov 21, 2023

CBX turned out to be 2 faults at once, faulty starter solenoid and the diaphragm in the 43 year old automatic fuel cut off valve has gone just too hard to work in this cold weather. So new solenoid and cut out the diaphragm and I will be good to go.

In the meantime the day got a whole lot better -

Lots of bits to hurriedly unpack to reveal this -

Something special isnt it. Triple throttle bodies, merlin large valve hi-flow heads, 4.6 ltr's of rumbling V8.

I have blown most of my budget on this engine, its the reason I have had to comprise a bit on suspension components for now but this is a long term project and I will fix that in the future.

First task is to get the drive and flex plates fitted so I can work out roughly which shim/s I need to set the torque converter air gap. Once I have these I will get the engine fitted in place.

The tappet covers are just in transit paint for now I will take them off to finish them myself.

Chuffed!!

JokerUK · Nov 21, 2023

heli_madken said:
Thank you! yes I just keep going, one day I will have a rally nice car to drive, the dream helps me to keep plodding along.

I now have everything back on the chassis that I had previously so tackled the cross member next. My 'elaborate' method using a trolley jack and blocks of wood -
View attachment 302089
One of those jobs that for a change went easier than I imagined -
View attachment 302090
Next up is to get the gearbox in position, need to paint the mounts first

I thought the black paint looked amazing - but actually the grey is pretty cool too

JokerUK · Nov 21, 2023

heli_madken said:
CBX turned out to be 2 faults at once, faulty starter solenoid and the diaphragm in the 43 year old automatic fuel cut off valve has gone just too hard to work in this cold weather. So new solenoid and cut out the diaphragm and I will be good to go.

In the meantime the day got a whole lot better -
View attachment 303171
Lots of bits to hurriedly unpack to reveal this -
View attachment 303172
Something special isnt it. Triple throttle bodies, merlin large valve hi-flow heads, 4.6 ltr's of rumbling V8.

I have blown most of my budget on this engine, its the reason I have had to comprise a bit on suspension components for now but this is a long term project and I will fix that in the future.

First task is to get the drive and flex plates fitted so I can work out roughly which shim/s I need to set the torque converter air gap. Once I have these I will get the engine fitted in place.

The tappet covers are just in transit paint for now I will take them off to finish them myself.

Chuffed!!

Oh my word that looks amazing - you are going to have to share how it sounds!

marjon · Nov 21, 2023

Porn alert

J

heli_madken · Nov 21, 2023

JokerUK said:
Oh my word that looks amazing - you are going to have to share how it sounds!

This video I took during the rebuild I did a couple of years ago -

But it doesnt really do it justice. I have ridden bikes all my life but there is no sound like a CBX. On the road above 5000 rpm it just 'wails' thats the only way I can describe it, sends tingles down your spine and just encourages you to be a lunatic.

I touched lucky with the bike, it had been over on its side, not crashed just kind of dropped and crushed a little and the rear section of the frame was badly bent. The panniers where smashed together with the fairing, exhaust crushed and lots of other parts so it was quite cheap to buy. I managed to straighten the frame with a sledge hammer, repair and paint all the ABS parts, cut the exhaust open and beat all the crushes out together with using steel balls to push out the dents in the downpipes, Made new fibreglass lids for the panniers which I extended slightly over stock. Checked the engine over, set tappets (quite a task as there are 24 of them), rebuilt the carbs and installed electronic ignition off a Kawasaki 1300. Started first time after not running for over 20 years, the video was taken the same day without balancing the carbs or any tuning it sounded phenomenal.

Definitely the best bike I have ever owned.

heli_madken · Nov 27, 2023

Engine in today -

You can see here that the engine mounts where just a bit stressed by the length of the gearbox but not by much -

So all I had to do was widen the slot in the gearbox chassis mounts by 6mm and used large washers to bridge the gap and it fits perfectly. I will measure the propshaft lengths tomorrow to see where I am.

Havent got the flexplate to torque converter bolts in yet, does anyone know the torque setting? they are only M10 bolts so probably go for around 28 ft/lb they are loctited.

Waiting on delivery of the exhaust now which is frustrating, ordered over 4 weeks ago.

heli_madken · Dec 9, 2023

Still waiting on the exhaust system so in the meantime I am working on the rear tailgate lower and the accelerator linkage.

The accelerator linkage was a bit of a puzzle to solve. The throttle bodies come with a quadrant that you can connect the cable directly to. But the 'throw' of the Range Rover cable was only about two thirds of the movement required so I would never get full throttle. Also although there was some provision in the throttle bodies for kick down cable attachment this didnt look anywhere near the required movement to me. Also cable attachment was via a 2.5mm grub screw which I didnt fancy. Probably would have been ok but if it came loose on a dark winters night in the rain it would be impossible to fix at the roadside.

So I needed to make something that fitted in the small space available, maintain the original relationship between accelerator movement and kick down whilst at the same time increase the throw to give full throttle. This is what I came up with -

I used some of the original linkage and fabricated a mount to pick up the cylinder head lifting points. The existing throttle shaft was modified with a larger throw lever connected to an intermediate cable attached to the throttle bodies -

So I have everything I aimed for thankfully and it should clear the bulkhead ok (I hope). Also works nice and smooth and snaps back really well.

Next up I can get the rear tailgate done over the weekend.

myfirstl322 · Dec 9, 2023

I think the grey chassis is a breath of fresh air, it almost has a Binky'esque air to to it.

heli_madken · Dec 10, 2023

Thank you myfirstl322 much appreciated

Storm Elin/81.6mph =

I had hoped to have the body back on the chassis before the real winter set in but I have had several delays which is frustrating.

Never mind, the cranes did their job when I came out to look the body was swinging in the air so I was able to let it down gently so no real harm done. Thankfully I had prepared for this, shudder to think what would have happened if I hadnt.

Firebobby1 · Dec 11, 2023

I love seeing what you have done, amazing attention to detail

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