Sprint Restoration in South Australia (pic heavy)

[Rob from Brum]

For fitting new poly bushes. This works for me. Put the poly bushes in a plastic bag put them in the freezer a couple of hours before you intend to fit them.
Then when you come to fit them gentley warm around the area the bushes are to be fitted in with a blow torch. Slightly contracted bush + slightly expanded mount = easy fitting. Have fun.

Cheers Rob.

[Jod Clark]

What sort of drink did you buy Toledo Man, was it a lovely bottle of Lucozade Sport with the dual-purpose bottle?

Mr Straylight, if the Australian authorities put those spider photos on the immigration application forms you could reduce the influx of poms to your country. Britain might be morally and financially bankrupt but at least we don't have evil b'stard spides like the ones you have.

[SPRINTPARTS]

Come on guys, the Redback spider is a small harmless (well almost) thing quickly squashed with a shoe. If it was a Sydney Funnel Wed spider I would be more concerned, because they can kill you.

Where Stu lives, I would be more concerned about the snakes, Brown snakes and the like.

Australia has some wonderfully wildlife, Tiger and Taipan Snakes that are super aggressive. I would say of the local animals, the highest death toll would be either to the crocodiles in the northern areas of the country, taking people swimming in rivers, or camping to close to the rivers edge.

Lately there has been several people taken by sharks, along the NSW coast (a Navy Diver was attacked in Sydney Harbour and lost his arm), SA, WA and QLD coast lines. At least on the northern coast line the sharks don't seem to be a problem, as the crocodiles keep the sharks away.

Mark

[triple tango]

our most dangerous form of wildlife are feral teenagers, these creatures hunt in small packs & are recognisable by their hoodies, they seem to mainly exist in darkened built up areas.

[straylight]

thanks for the advice on the polybush fitting. I did take out the metal sleeves Ian, not sure it would be possible to push them in while they were still in place. Job is done now and was quite straightforward (looking back)

I'll get the latest wildlife invasion out of the way


these buggers are called "Rain Moths" or Trictena atripalpis

http://www-staff.it.uts.edu.au/~don/lar ... ripal.html


they grow quite large, have massive bodies and defy the laws of physics in being able to fly at all.

mostly they don't fly, they kamikaze out of the sky and belt into things, particularly cars driving on the road.


they come out in huge numbers, after rain.


they only seem to last overnight, then die, creating a huge mess around outside lights, or get into gutters and stuff up the rainwater we collect. Anywho, not poisonous or anything, but they put a stop to spray painting at this time of the year


slight setback, I've picked up the headlining but I've got to say it ain't what I'd hoped for. The guy who made it is a good craftsman, the workmanship is great, but unfortunately his selection of the material is nothing like the original. He has used a bone coloured vinyl (thin) and it has very little texture (you can't see any really). I'm sure it will fit up okay, but I'm not sure it will look decent. His instructions were to make up a new one in a similar material and I'd trusted his judgement in what a similar material would be. This puts me in a really bad position, since there is still a stranglehold on funds and this new headlining wasn't exactly cheap. Buying a new one out of better material is but a dream.

so, do I or don't I fit it and hope for the best ? It'll look okay and be smart.

do I try and find some better material and have a go making it myself, as per the original plan ?

would I be happy looking at the roof everytime I drove the car and knowing it is very different.


The trimmer did suggest using carpet underlay for the roof sound insulation. Bond the unsealed surface to the underside of the roof using contact adhesive, leaving the sealed (thin plastic) side down. It sounds like a plan to me. Has to be better than plastic bags flapping around in the roof above the headlining. Again, your thoughts would be appreciated.

Finally, I bought some material for the rear engine bay bulkhead, sound and thermal insulation, in black, but the surface isn't exactly rugged, like the old stuff which has that think rubber-like layer over the foam. Kind of stuck here, I suspect I need more rugged material. I can use the new stuff inside the car, around the front footwells, but think I'll have to keep on searching for engine bay stuff.

should be able to get the rear axle painted today (in daytime, the moths, "they mainly come out at night" ), weld up the old rear shock absorber mounting plates and clean and fit everything back up.

stu

[straylight]

some second hand Konis arrived from SPRINTPARTS with the poly bush set. Cleaned them up, sprayed, ready to fit.



sorted the upper mounting plates for the rear shock absorbers. Pretty obvious really, to drag out the Mig and weld in fresh metal, then grind back and file to shape.





Visited a wreckers on Thursday and picked up some interior lights. The small passenger side door light is, frankly, the pits. Since mine is broken and new headlining is made, I'm going to put a central light in. Made up a bracket out of an old microwave steel casing, going to glue the bracket to the roof of the car using some special glue that George swears by. The headlining will sit between the bracket and the light casing. I won't forget to run an earth wire back to solid metal. Toying with having 12V available at the light and a connection for an MP3 player, so people in the back can plug into it. Dunno about that yet, still tossing it around.







having attended the ANZAC day dawn service and managed to stay sober (breakfast in the pub and 2-up was fatal last year), I've spent the rest of the morning putting the rear shock assemblies back together. This is where I need some help

They are just not right. I thought the wear to the old shock spindles was from installing the upper plates the wrong way round, but now I recall that I had trouble seating the springs in the absorbers and upper plate. Running into the same problems now.




The springs look to be too big for the mounting points and sit at an angle. The spring is not seating onto the rubber isolation piece under the top plate and the bottom of the spring is not well seated into the shock absorber plate.





I've had them apart several times now, tried putting the spring tongue to the rear, the side and inline (to the front) with the isolation rubber and they just sit crookedly no matter where it goes. The workshop manual advises to put the tongue of the spring rearwards, but my isolation rubbers have an indent where the tongue sat next to the tab. Since the tab sits forward (although the workshop manual doesn't mention there being any orientation needed save being at RA to the lower shock bush) this doesn't seem right.

I have definitely got the angled upper plates, but they should still sit squarer with the spring.

I don't think I ever replaced the rear springs, but it is as if they are just too big in diameter, by about 1/4". The springs are 96.3mm dia ((3.8").

one last question. I cleaned off a pile of white, sticky glue/sealent from the front and rear turrents, where the upper plate sits. Anyone got any ideas on a replacement (if one is needed) ?

back to cleaning the back axle.

stu

[tinweevil]

Agree, wrong springs. Yes you do need the goop, non setting body sealant is what you need. George probably has an open tin or tube lying about.

[straylight]

thanks guys. 25 years+ of using the wrong springs

ah well, easy to fix now.

thanks for the lead on the sticky stuff tin, I guess that is the same sticky stuff around the wiper motor and under the tunnel ?

stu

[tinweevil]

Yes to the wiper, also the steering shaft plate & brake servo. That's all I can recall off the top of.

For the tunnel I think you want Dum-Dum ideally.

[straylight]

thanks Tin, appreciate the advice

stu

[speedracer]

Looks like it's coming along well Stu - nice work!

I would say of the local animals, the highest death toll would be either to the crocodiles in the northern areas of the country, taking people swimming in rivers, or camping to close to the rivers edge.

I agree Mark, very hard to squash a crocodile underfoot ...

[speedracer]

Actually on the creepy-crawly theme - how about this?

This is a coconut crab (so named because they climb up trees and snip the coconuts off) my wife and I "met" on our honeymoon in Vanuatu.
It's about a 2 foot in diameter...

[straylight]

big crabs.

got some on Christmas Island

update shortly, but it took 3 hours to get the front passenger door glass back in last weekend.

how does mart do it ?

stu

[Mad Mart]

Glass goes in first.

[straylight]

aye, and lots of practice I'd imagine

I eventually sorted it with this sequence:

door locks and levers in
all wire rods in and attached except interior and locking knob.
quarterlight in, but don't rivet or bolt in the bottom
rubber/felt runners in, leaving rear supprt channel unscrewed
regulator in
slide glass in from top at an angle, leave it in the bottom of the door
insert weather strips inner and outer (a painful job this was)
insert glass into runners and move up a bit.
locate regulator lever into glass
wind up glass
secure quarterlight and rear bailey channels

Next step is the interior door mechansim and a look to see how I can install sound deadening after the fact

I'm having to powder coat the little quarterlight triangular inserts, the vinyl covering had disintegrated.

stu