Martin's mi-STRESS, 1965 Long Fleetside C10 "Rebuild in ENGLAND"

[Ta2Don]

This is what happens when working on a F$&@
Untitled by Donald Olivo, on Flickr

[Palf70Step]

It's good you got that off your back.

[mjh1965]

Well this weekend I had planed to do my chassis , but unfortunately my other half had other ideas . She decided to do some cooking, but unfortunately it wasn't in the kitchen, but her engine in her Ford Ka . So instead of working on the truck I made some calls to a salvage yard I knew and located another engine £240 and a nice low mileage engine was mine with only 22900 miles . It's handy sometimes being in the motor trade.



So on Sunday morning a friend from my bike club Steve and his partner Zoe came over to lend a hand . Then a little later Rian turned up to help . The trouble with the Ka is there is no room under the bonnet (hood for you Americans ) and having air con as well didn't help .

Rian keeping the rear of the car on the ground as we jacked up the front . I am not saying he's heavy but it did keep both rear wheels on th ground .




Old engine out and box out . We also did the top suspension mounts as they needed to be changed due to an advisory on its MOT .



Two very happy grease monkeys engine all back in and started first turn of the key



So all being well truck time next weekend

[Ta2Don]

Glad it all worked out mate...

[Palf70Step]

Where's the car? I see the shop chair.

[flashed]

I forgive you ,my wife owns a Ferd so I have to maintain it .

[Grizz1963]

It was a good day out, despite us Not getting to our trucks, I always feel quite strongly that the girls need involvement in our hobbies or the havoc they create in our lives.

Zoe and Amanda really were outside, on hand the whole day. Steve has a gem in Zoe, she was collecting and sorting tools (there were a lot of them) all day, and if anyone asked for a 15mm ratchet, deep socket or whatever, she had them out faster than I personally could. She also "got" the photographing of silly moments very quickly, like the pic Don posted earlier. Amanda was the go to girl, and ended up carrying engine hoist parts through the house when I dismantled it as we were quite grubby by then and oily feet are not appreciated through the house (yes, everything has to be carried through the house as the side is blocked by bikes, axles, chassis etc) she also kept sandwiches, drinks coming through.

Just to put stuff in perspective, the driveway, though concreted, is at an angle of 25-30' so quite a slope, and the Mondeo estate parts chaser was anchored to the back of the Ka when it went up on the axle stands, to prevent it rolling/falling off.




Another pic, taken by Zoe probably made me laugh the most, as Martin's big ham fists, which were the smallest between him, Steve's and my hands could not fit into the tight fiddly spaces up front, so Amanda had to come get her dainty little sandwich making hands in there to tighten some nuts and clips.



It was great seeing Martin call her out at the end to start up the engine and then seeing her crazy Victory dance on the driveway with Zoe.

A good days work and friendship (plus learnings for me)

[Palf70Step]

Sounded like a really good day for all of you.

Victory dance for all.

[Ta2Don]

Thanks for sharing the story and pics of the day's adventures...

Amanda rockin' the Studio Tee...

too bad there wasn't video of the Victory Dance...

[uber cool]

Nice team work. Now you just need the same team around when the V8 is going in the truck

[Ta2Don]

4.5 weeks...

[Grizz1963]

Today I managed to persuade (asked nicely) mate Martin to come over and help, and supervise the replacement process on my front end rebuild. Thinking we would be done before dark.

Yeeeeaaahhhhh Riiiiighht.

Started by disassembling the Wishbones, suspension and steering.




Martin did not need to convince me very much to drop the front cross member, so that was a quick 7 bolts if I recall correctly.




After my bits were removed etc, we also started to rebuild his suspension parts that were already cleaned, painted etc.

Still need to find a decent press to press the last bits in.

Different kits have different parts, weirdly.

Thanks mate for helping.

[Grizz1963]

Very pleased with the way he helped me "break" my truck even further.....


Mr Hetherington himself after all was said and done.

Thank you mate, looks like we are spending a lot of time on each other's problems.... Last week the engine swap, today tearing my truck down to further than I ever wanted.

[Palf70Step]

I am sure glad to see people get greasy when they work. Seems like down here I come our looking like I bathed in grease/oil, while all my "mates" look like they picked up a dusty rag

[mjh1965]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

I am sure glad to see people get greasy when they work. Seems like down here I come our looking like I bathed in grease/oil, while all my "mates" look like they picked up a dusty rag

That's probably because you are doing most of the work Bill . You only need to look at me and Stephen last week and then look at the others that's all I am going to say

[Palf70Step]

Thanks. No one normally comes close enough to take pictures. I guess they are afraid of transfer

This is my typical Saturday look.

[Ta2Don]

Good to have willing mates...

[Grizz1963]

I trust you had a good day out looking at big trucks.

Some bits I had done for Martin as well to go back into his reassembly.

[mjh1965]

Thanks Rian another part to paint . Hoping to get my lower ball joints fitted at one of the dealers I have a job at tomorrow . Then the front suspension will be ready to be reassembled .

[Ta2Don]

Re-Assy

[mjh1965]

Today I went to support my friends Stephen and Zoe ,as last weekend they helped on the Ka engine swop . So this weekend he was taking his truck to a show the only thing is it's a little bigger than mine, being that it's a hgv . He asked if I could pop along on Sunday , and bring down some food for a BBQ . These are a couple of pictures I took

The paint job on this one was amazing





This was my favourite



And this one was for sale just a little to big for the drive oh and I don't have a licence to drive it



And last of all Stephen not covered in oil



So with no plans booked for next weekend , I should get some truck time in .

[Grizz1963]

Hmmmmm.... No plans?

How about pulling my cab?

Looks like you got to eat a good BBQ at least, must beat Pizza.

[mjh1965]

Originally Posted by Grizz1963

Hmmmmm.... No plans?

How about pulling my cab?

Looks like you got to eat a good BBQ at least, must beat Pizza.

That wouldn't be a good idea , as its to close to the road trip , and I don't know if you would have stopped crying by the time we get on the plane .

[flashed]

I have never been to a show for big rigs ,that was pretty cool from the pics and I love the paint job on the Benz .

[mjh1965]

Well today my first job was at Mercedes world , which is in the grounds of Brooklands motor museum . We had to do a B class that's having hand controls , but as it also needs an indicator switch on the controls , I needed to pop in and remove the switch gear so we can do the wiring at the workshop . It's to complicated to do on site .

Here are a couple of the pictures I took today











Then the best picture of all . Once I finished at Mercedes I had to go to VW at Battersea , I had to remove a set of controls , so there technician could do a small job on the car and when he had finished then reinstate them . So while I was waiting for him I asked if I could use the press . To press in my lower ball joints



So a good day , and all the wish bones are now fully built up ready to go back on the truck