C8A HUW: body dimensional data needed

[Jerry Hill]

Today we completed the passengers side headlamp panel straightening and fitting, followed by tack welding the entire structure together to be strong enough to dismount from the vehicle to enable us to final weld the front panel from the inside.

Pic 1 shows the passenger side panel being temporarily bolted up. When we finally weld up the assy the temporary bolt holes will also be welded up.

Pic 2 shows the front end tack welded.

After the pics were taken we removed all the clamps and braces, thankfully there were no nasty surprises. Later in the week we'll fit the angle iron support bracket to the base of the assy and tack welding it in place. Then we'll the remove the whole lot for final welding.

Jerry

[Jerry Hill]

Today saw us weld up the last bits of the front body assy. Pic 1 shows the angle iron welded onto the assy, also the bottom of each wing were tack welded in areas where we couldn't work on earlier as the G-clamps were in the way.

Satisfied that all was well, we were ready for front body assy removal, it was out with the block and tackle and off she came. Pics 2 & 3 show the front assy on the ground blind side up. On Friday we'll weld everything in place on the blind side.

Whilst the nose was off I took the opportunity to resolve something that has haunted me since the collision and this was I floored the brake pedal and normally the pedal didn't travel that far. So I removed the brake pedal cross bar assy from the chassis and confirmed a suspicion. When stripped down the pedal side Woodruff key was serviceable. The key on the crank that activates the master cylinder was sheered along its length. So I must have hit that pedal mighty hard, I'd be interested in hearing if anybody has heard of a similar occurance.

Both Woodruff keys will be replaced with new and the shaft surfaces will get a coat of Loctite when the clasp bolts are re-assembled. I'd appreciate any opinions on this.

Jerry

[Jerry Hill]

Last Friday and today Richard welded, welded and welded a bit more, today the nose has completed an important stage and is available for final assembly onto the truck.

Pic 1 shows the drivers side viewed from the inside and the many welds. The patch at the base is from an earlier life. The top panel is new.

Pic 2 shows the passengers side, the front panel was too ratty to re-use, so Richard cut out and welded the original headlamp bowl into an new piece of 2mm zintec, this was no small feat, as it was done without any heat distortion, the top panel is also new.

Pic 3 shows the centre section and the numerous welds. resulting in a rigid structure that fits the rest of the vehicle like a glove.

Pic 4 sorry the pic's sideways, but it shows what a good result we got from what was a sorry sight at the back end of September. The centre section is welded into a tight structure from new folded centre section pieces making it stiff and strong.

Before final fitting I've got to fit new woodruffe keys to the pedal cross shaft assembly, having obtained some excellent tight fitting key material late today, so that will get done and fitted shortly. Hopefully some panel fitting caulk will arrive tomorrow ready for the next stage later in the week.

Jerry

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Excellent work, I have never seen a job so thorough as this one

H.

[David Dunlop]

So, Jerry. When are you planning to put this vehicle back into production and how big a production run are you targeting?

David

[Jerry Hill]

Hanno, thank you for your kind words. We want to do a good job.

Today we fitted a proper pair of Woodruffe keys to the brake cross shaft and fitted the assy back onto the chassis. What a difference to the pedal and its position, adjustment to the master cylinder linkage will be required to bring the pedal down to allow 1/2 inch of free travel before the brakes act and I need to refit the clutch linkage. I'll do that with the ramp up once we've done the final fit of the front panel assy.

Pic 1 shows the brake cross shaft looking through the headlamp aperture, not a good pic I'm afraid.

Pic 2 the ankle freezer door bolts have been replaced and work properly, the front panel's loosely hung awaiting the arrival of the panel mastic/caulk, which arrived just as we were packing up!! We trial fitted the bonnet and grille, the grille needs narrowing a tiny bit, which we'll do as the grille needs a bit of refurb work anyway.

Pic 3 we need to weld on the bonnet catches at some point, but it's all coming together at last.

Jerry

[Jerry Hill]

Over the last few days we've caulked all the newly fitted panels, the bulkhead and the front panel assy, nasty smelly stuff it is. As the bolts pulled up everything has become considerably stiffer than ever before.

Headlamp buckets & mounting rings were fitted, followed by the drivers floor panel and the wings / fenders. The grille is temporarily fitted and the bonnet / hood will be tie wrapped to the body ready for the drive home tomorrow from the workshop to the truck's shed at home.

Thank heavens the body's fitted as the weather's pretty wet and grizzly just now, so I'll get home soggier than I started!

A couple of pics for the record, one of the driver's footwell and one of the front end. Lots of detail work needs doing yet, including re-wiring of the front end and the last major job of straightening out the front doors before priming and painting. The latter will wait until the weather improves in Spring.

Jerry

[Jerry Hill]

An easy drive home and into the shed ready for a lot of prep work prior to painting next year. I'll take off the doors this w/e to enable us to sort them out and the replacement grille will need titivating then the bodywork's done. Only event on the drive home was one tight brake shoe, a simple fix.

Jerry