Dutch '59 Fleetside Longbed

[YahamaR1]

Looks really good Kees,
Nice looking truck you got...

[RockinKees]

Thanks Kim, Doug and YamahaR1!

I found out that there is another ring in the steering tower that can be the cause of the leaking.
So I give it a try again....
If that doesn't work out, Well, I have to spend some....

I'll let you know.

Nev68, I also can't find any info on reconditioning Jag steering racks, but I'm one step closer to understand this expensive part. It has an o-ring at the torsionbar, which I never knew it has one, that can cause the leak and throw oil out of the top.....

[RockinKees]

This morning I took the steering tower apart, again..
And I found my problem real quick

To be honest, it's my own fault...
I drilled a hole in the tower where the column mounts, because I use different u-joints.
NEVER drill a hole there!!!!
At the top is an o-ring inside at the torsionbar, this was damaged by the drilling and caused the leak.
So now I have the search an other steeringrack, (probably have found one already) and hope that one is sealed.

Again, never drill where the u-joint is bolted on!!



Luckily I have the original joint, maybe I can modify that to the column or u-joint.

When I couldn't go further with the steering, I put the dash together, that's finished now.



Only have to ty up the powerlock unit.

Then time for seatbelts, put in the benchseat and seatbelts. I have to think a way to mount the rollmechanism and the lower pieces of the belts to the floor, and where.
That's the next thing I'm going to do while waiting for the rack & pinion.



I've got two 3-point belts and one lapbelt in the middle, better safe then sorry!

[Kim57]

Glad you got your leak figured out.
Dash looks real nice. love the Sun tach.
Kim

[deejaaa1]

your truck is coming together and looking real good. your attention to detail is paying off.

[oldman3]

Glad you found the problem. Moving right along...Jim

[tommys72]

Just read the whole deal cover to cover! Awesome fab work! Gonna have a amazing truck there.

[reaper71]

Looking better and better every day!!

Mark...

[RockinKees]

Originally Posted by tommys72

Just read the whole deal cover to cover! Awesome fab work! Gonna have a amazing truck there.

Thanks for checking me out, appreciate it!!

And ofcourse thank a big Thanks to Kim, Deejaaa1, Jim and Mark!
Always nice to see people reading along

Yesterday I got my new rack and pinion, mounted it today.
This time I used the original joint from Jaguar to mount the the rest of the column. I welded the Jag joint to the u-joint I already had, so no more drilling in the pinion tower
Also I had to shorten the DD shaft a bit to take the length of the extra joint.
Plan is to get the steering finished tomorrow, set the tow-in, put door weatherstriping in and hopefully get the truck on its wheels finally

And then maybe Friday, after setting the front at rideheight, drive the truck a little....
Then all construction work is done, interior and all other small things I will be doing along the way.
Unfortunatly I have to leave the little Hot Rod Shed, because the owner wants to park his oldtimer camper (1979 Dodge) in the shed...

[Advanced Design]

Getting close! Too bad you have to leave the little hot rod shed and it was very nice you were able to make use of it. Hopefully you have a place for keeping your truck Kees.

[RockinKees]

Yes, getting real close Doug!
I don't have a place besides in front of my house.
It's meant to be my daily driver, that's also why I didn't have a $8000 paintjob

Today I did do what I planned to do:
steering works, no leaks, it starts, shifts, brakes, runs on petrol and runs on propane
This all on the axle stands...
I even made an adjustable stick to set the toe-in

I thought I had to set the rideheight on the front, because the springs are so stiff from a Jag XJ 12.
But I didn't have to, it's right where I wanted it
Not too low and not too high:





When I started, I built in a rake, but as those English Top Comfort cars are built with comfortable suspension, it's just 0 degree rake now.
The rear suspension is a bit weak, I will make a few miles to see how it works out. Maybe I have to raise it a bit.
Those 1.5 degree rake isn't there anymore now.

Tomorrow I will put new stainless steel bolts in the front suspension and try if it will move under its own power...

Wish me luck!

[lower50's]

Wow that does look great. You just proved once again you don't need a expensive paint job to make a truck look amazing. I love all the little things you did to set it apart. Congrats on everything working so far, I'm sure it will move without a problem.

[Kim57]

Stance looks real good.
Good luck with the test drive.
Kim

[Clarance J]

Hello RockinKees. So the time to take its first test ride is getting closer. All the work that you have done and shared with us has been great. Your truck has turned out beautiful. All we need now are some on the road pictures. Thanks for sharing. I know you will be smiling.

Earl

PS Does your truck have a name or what do you call it? Just curious.

[dug224]

Take some video when you roll on the test ride! Man, every time I see how straight your bed is I have bed envy!! Good job. dug

[oldman3]

Kees, truck looks great, and as a daily driver it can't be beat. Looking forward to update on the first drive...Jim

[Nut Case]

Kees

Strong Work, I enjoy the total build..

Great daily driver.

Looking forward to all the up coming items to be completed

Enjoy

Nut Case

[reaper71]

Look's really good as it sits Kees!!

Drive the wheels off the old girl!!

Mark...

[ChuckDriver]

Looking good! Will look even better going down the road!!

[deejaaa1]

that is gonna be a smooth ride for a DD with the Jag suspension. nice job so far.

[ptc]

Kees, it looks GREAT man!!!! ---- glad to see youre getting on the road with your truck.

Congrats to a fine job! -- I wish you were here in US to do my pinstriping!

[stevespg]

kees, did you use any jag shims on the front springs?

i have xjs springs which seem to have a good spring rate, but just a little too high

[RockinKees]

Man o man, long time no see!!
I did get a question on Whatsapp where the updates went....
Well, first let me thank you all for all the kind words!!
I am far from finished yet

stevespg
kees, did you use any jag shims on the front springs?

i have xjs springs which seem to have a good spring rate, but just a little too high

Steve, I took all the shims out, I had three per side. Don't know the rate of a XJS, mine is from the heaviest XJ12. It sits great as it is.
It's you I have on the mail right? I thought you had it mount in the original rubbers? I welded the subframe to my chassis, maybe that's the difference?
Mine was only this way after I put all the sheetmetal on, oil and water in, so basically a complete frontend.

ptc
Kees, it looks GREAT man!!!! ---- glad to see youre getting on the road with your truck.

Congrats to a fine job! -- I wish you were here in US to do my pinstriping!

Thanks PTC!!
I'm in Curacao in August, maybe we can meet in the middle
Sometime soon (in the next couple of years...) we will going to Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekender, I can drive that few miles South... We were planning, after the weekender, to make a roadtrip to So Cal. If you still want stripes then, it's all my pleasure!!

Clarance J
Hello RockinKees. So the time to take its first test ride is getting closer. All the work that you have done and shared with us has been great. Your truck has turned out beautiful. All we need now are some on the road pictures. Thanks for sharing. I know you will be smiling.

Earl

PS Does your truck have a name or what do you call it? Just curious.

I didn't stop smiling when I knew it was coming to Holland. The grin just keeps growing bigger and bigger
The truck hasn't got a name yet, I'm open for suggestions....
With all we've been through: Mayhem '59 , but then you get all those questions about the '58 trim...

Okay, about the lack of updates...
I managed to get the truck at my home. My son and I drove that 20 Km almost without any problems.
I could feel the trans was slipping just a little bit. I put some gas in it and drove further to my home, parked at the side and we went in for a cup of coffee.
After that 30 minutes or so, we were going to get some propane in the tanks, started, put it in Drive, but no motion what so ever...
Tried some, but only would go at about 4000 rpm, sounds great, but I do not think that's normal
End of testing...
That was on Monday, last week.
My son has bought his first motorbike, so we first took care of that, replace the brakes, maintainance, all that stuff.
So last friday I took a look at the truck again, and let some oil out of the trans:



Fresh oil, doesn't look good to me....
Looking for a fresh trans I'm afraid.

[ptc]

Looks a little 'sparkly'.... you doing a metal flake paint job with that???

Something got a bit 'o wear on it.....


Hey if youre coming to vegas in a couple years.... i'll meet ya there! I should be done by then!

[RockinKees]

Just uploaded the videos my son took when driving home for the first time:

https://youtu.be/YM3CEpggkIc
https://youtu.be/3N2TRB4JuU8

Looking very serious at pumping gas....( well, it's expensive stuff )



Yesterday, after some phonecalls, decided that we could repair the trans ourselfs
I know some one who did a few of them, so out with the trans!



This morning took the trans apart and found the problem very quickly:





And this is the problem:



When you look closely you see that the frictionplates are seperated from the steel plates where they normally are glued to.
We think this trans had some coolant inside it somewhere in it's life.
In the time I have the truck I have already put in three new filters and new oil. Remember the problems I had when I was getting it ready for registration?
I was lucky to drive those 50 miles to the "DMV", and getting home this time!

Also this clutchpack was a bit warm in its life:



So, we cleaned the inside, all the parts, got the repair kit and went for it
Now it's waiting for the two bands, hoping to get them tomorrow.
Checked the valvebody again, checked the pump and all the loose parts that usually are in the transmission
Then it's all clean, again, and can build it up.
With a bit of luck and good wheather, it's all in on Friday evening...

Then to not start a discussion of good or bad, but to get the converter drained, I drilled a hole in it.
Let me explain how I did it:

This is the converter, big and heavy. No drainplug yet.



Take a hammer and centerpoint and hammer at the right place.
I did it under a mountingpoint for the flexplate:



First you drill a small hole, I took 4mm. Be carefull not to drill too deep, if you do it carefull, you don't hit anything inside.



Then, measure how deep you eventually COULD go drilling...



It goes in until my nail, straight ahead.
Measured it in mm:



The same in Inch:



You see, almost 3/4" deep before you hit the stator, plenty of room!

Drill further until you have a hole of 9 mm.
Tap thread 1/8 bsp, don't know if that is what you use nowadays, it's an old tap... The plug I use is a tappered plug, if you put it in, be sure you use Locktite threadlocker.





That fits
Now to get the discussion going...
I put the plug on a scale:



A whole 8 gramms!!!
Yes, there goes your balanced torque converter!!
But, when you drilled at the right place, you have some sort of nut above this plug.
There you drill a smaller hole, but not through the converter!!!!
Just a few milimeters deep is enough.
You take out material for the plug itself, now you take a bit extra, this makes up for the weight of the plug, conclusion: (almost) balanced
Some people make only the drainplug and drive for years without any problems.
I think this is better, but don't listen to me



Something else: there is little to none metalparts that falls into the converter, use a sharp drillbit, drill at good speed and you'll see most metal comes at you instead of in the TC.
The rest come out when you drain the converter



When drained, put the plug in with locktite and your ready to go.
Easy for further oilchanges!!