qwakers

no they’re hinges for the folding section. all will be revealed shortly just waiting for a new angle grinder as the commutator just melted on my current one!

dont forget ive also got the folding section to add if that becomes a problem.

i cant think of a way of doing that, nor do i really want to, to be honest. they arent as heavy as they look, i can pick one up one handed, and the engineering to automate wont be simple..

ramp frames completed, jut gotta shorten the ramps and fit the end panels and lights...

got started on the ramp slides/runners/storage today. a lot of fabrication work goes into stuff like this, so im not ever half way on one side, predominately because it was raining all day...

god im tired! multiple jobs completed today, worked on the lorry all day then home and fitted a new turbo to the laguna... first thing i did was build the corners of the column up. then i fabricated (fancy word for cut a bit of 2mm sheet up and drilled some holes) a body capping to cover the transition from old body panel to new.. then i made a couple of infill pieces, and bolted them in, then a couple of coats of paint. all is well with the world just the ramps and the electrics to sort now. then at about 730pm (a full 12hrs after starting my day ) i got home to a new turbo for my daily, so i decided to crack on with that. first off i had to remove the snapped studs in the manifold and used cut off bolts (because that's all i had to hand) to make new studs. i carefully made them the same length as the original and then refitted the manifold to the car without checking. guess what? the flange on the new one is thicker! so out came my new studs and new ones made, all was well.... next i had to set up the VNT side of the turbo, not anything like as complicated as it sounds. you use a vacuum pump to measure how much vacuum it takes to start moving the arm, then you adjust the length of the rod coming out of the actuator until it meets the factory spec. then i fitted the turbo, took about a hour, and sorted the injector washers. used a injector seat cutting kit to clean up the sealing surface, new washer and torqued to spec, so its running properly now. which is nice. finished about 10 mins ago, so not a bad time for the job, would have been a lot quicker if i hadn't been peeing round with studs....

floors in.... which might turn out to be a mistake, i think ive just made my life far harder than it has to be sorting the ramps... but it was raining so i did what i could in the dry also dismantled and added a section to the door. doesn't seem like a lot of stuff done for a 10 hour day.... but sanding fiberglass flat takes forever and i had to put the door together and take it apart again about 10 times....

thanks guys, i was always scared of tig, always thought of it as black magic but it turns out, the basics arent that hard, the finnesse on the other hand...

ive got the next two weeks off to finish the lorry, seems a bit excessive now, considering its nearly done ! side profiles have now been cut, fiberglassed and gelcoated (grey, cos i had it left over from my garage roof, 4 years ago!) and glued in: i also made a start at refitting the floor. that was more than a little frustrating but is half done, with no pics, soz. also at the beginning of the week i commissioned a engineering company to fold me up the panel that's going below the door. it needs to be 2.6m long but the sheet only comes in 2m or 2.4 meter lengths, so i had them fold up 2 out of 2m sheet, and i tig welded them together this evening. i must say, the more i use my hobart tig the more i like it. so neat and tidy, no grinding back, just a bit thirsty on gas and electricity.... considering this is only my 3rd or 4th attempt at tig, im pretty pleased with this.... go on do your worst, critique this novice welding

doubtful, it was a very long time ago... it was just a bit of flat plate with a motor sized hole cut in it, holes for all the mounts drilled, cut it half to get it on the motor and welded together then a flat plate welded to it across the bottom. then another piece of flat drilled for the other end of the winch so it sits level.

i cut a plate to go around the motor and under the feet to take the bolts rather than repair the casting. worked a treat.

today i finished all of the chassis work and most of the door frame work. i also cut up the tail lift and nabbed the bottom cross bar to cut as it was the right size. chassis work finished... door frame.. roller door runner extensions so, whats left? cut some 12mm ply and fiberglass both sides to infill the box sides make a door section to fill the gap at the top. re-lay the floor. make the panel below the door and the ramp trays so they slide in and out. finish off the returns beside the door framework re attach the lighting still, getting there. and so far, its cost me absolutely nothing bar time and a bit of gas and wire... oh, and a couple of gallons of red for the genny....

yes its unnessesary.. and yes i plan to. overkill in this situation is no bad thing.

i really got very little done today. the plans where good. clean up the welds and finish sectioning the rear of the chassis legs and then start on the side panels. yeah, that didn't happen. weather was awful, all day, and you can weld in the rain, its just not a great idea. all i got done in the end between torrential downpours is to finish the weld on the offside chassis leg, and section and weld up the nearside leg. which was, i must admit, a much neater job. the bend end of chassis leg... notice the pools of water... what a unpleasant day....

lots and lots of welding today! welding off a genny takes a bit of getting used to, so excuse my welds! the generator takes a second or so to throttle up to provide enough current, so the beginnings of each weld are a bit cold, but once you're going all is well.. plus welding upside down is hard plus i cut a smidge too much out and had to weld a fillet in. plus i hit thermal protect about 3 times because the welds are huge and the settings are maxed. plus i don't weld enough to be a artist! (that enough excuses??? i got a few more!) i nabbed a member of staff at about 1pm and got him to run the welder over on the forklift, all was fine and dandy, until i looked at my watch thinking better check the time so i can nab someone to move the genny back inside... only to find its nearly 6pm and everyone is long gone! welding is a huge time suck! had to call dad and ask him to drop by after putting his horse to bed so he could put the generator away for me #-o https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7ht860

call the rac or a locksmith. the rac have got in to a few cars for me, and my local locksmith (lives opposite to me) to my certain knowledge has never been beaten.

bit of chassis chopping done today. (would have finished but ran out of cutting disks.) plus, this axle stand (my dads) compared to my big pair, is just terrible. same design as mine but the welds have no penatration at all. do you remember dads horsebox mot repair list from last year? (edit, you wont this is a copy and paste, again, cant be bothered to re write it...) i had to repeat the bushes yesterday (aftermarket garbage, went genuine this time) and when i lowered it onto the stands, the stand broke its welds and the lorry promptly hit the floor. no harm done but have you ever had to lift 7.5 tons up that you cant get a jack under. :shock: que one forklift truck later and it was sat on my axle stands and i got the job done. the repair? bash them straight again and some decent welding...

all done, the battery is the old one off my car. will start the car as lomg as i use it every couple of days. it is, therefore, predictably flat at the moment. but electric start works and it generates power, the tank no longer leaks, so all is well!

generators pretty much done, total of about 2 days work in gettingit going (read learning how to get it going) last job was to wire up the generator to a 32a socket. easy enough, but first try i count get sny voltsge. turns out yu need a battery attached to excite the windings (like a car alternator) it also has a electric start buy using the stator windings as a motor.. good to know and much easier to start just got to make battery wires up for it and job done :roll:

i might actually do that i have a vinal printer the other end of the workshop

confession time... i might have boy racered the generator! to be fair, the owner wanter a silencer on it and i had that motorcycle can knocking about....

and no, i know its not pretty, a bit of paint and a couple of new fuel lines will improve it a lot...

it runs! the leaver i was talking about was also the cold start, i took the cover off the injector chamber and gave the spring loaded rod that comes out of the fuel pump a shove and it freed up, then i was able to turn the lever to the 3rd ‘cold start’ position. i then uncoupled one decompressor levers and span it over, flicked the decompressor over and it fired on one cylinder and ran. then i flicked the other 2 over and off it went! one hell of a learning curve these old engines! ive fabbed up a fuel tank and bracket for it and connected it all up. just a 32a socket to fit and the exhaust to finish, and itll be golden!

thanks all, gives me a lot to think about..

its hand start ive only been able to locate two controls, one being obviously the decompressor leavers the other being a small leaver on the rigt hand side on the engine as you look at it from the crank handle end, it has a spring clip to hold it closed and it only moves about 5 degrees to opem it. i assumed this was the stop start and or the cold start valve. i was expecting more in the way of fuel controls... but as i say, i know nothing about these old engines. i have fuel at the end of the fuel rail clean with no air in it, i can hear clanking as i turn it over, but if i crack a injector top nut, i dont get any fuel out.., any pictures or diagrams would be deeply appreciated...