Long Weekend of Joy

Cam was not going to let the last long weekend for the year slip by, so I took an extra day off work, and put it a marathon effort!! After a trip to the tool shop for grinding disks, and FWD for a new water pump (more about that another day), I flipped the chassis upside down, and got stuck into the rust!

Check out the rust I cut out from under the radiator crossmember!!



You can see that the PTO hole has caused crud to get stuck, and the bottom has rusted through.



The side was rusted too, so out that came too!



Here is a nice un-rusty it I cut out of the donor chasis to fit my chasis.



Donor Chasis is looking a little smaller...



What a snug fit!! =D Notice the MASSSIVE drain holes Ive added, and I've tried to make the gap between the bottom and the PTO hole a little bigger, so crud wont get stuck as easy. (Also, took the chance to paint inside, 2 coats, cold gal, and kill rust topcoat). Please excuse my crappy welding. =)



Also, I had the chance to swap gearbox crossmembers with the donor chassis. Notice the old one, full of rust holes, and 2 baby drain holes at the centre. And check out the new one! Its made from 3 mm steel, not 2mm like the old one, ad its got HUGE-MUNGUS drain holes!!



Next weekend, I'll finish welding these bits, and start chopping the rear bumper up!! You guessed it... its full of rust too!! =D

Going to Pieces

You may remember me saying "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"...

It is slightly distressing to me that Grover has gone to pieces!?!?!!



Im trying not to think about the fact that Grover is now, completely stripped!
You can see the axles, springs, wheels, engine, firewall, radiator, and chassis all laid out above!
Not even the brake lines, or pedals are attached!! Grover is butt na-ked!

Its going to be a big weekend of chopping rust out of the chassis for Cam. With any luck, I'll have most of it welded up by Tuesday. I'm taking Friday off to make it an extra long Queens Birthday weekend!!! =D YEEEEEEEEE-HAR!

Special Cuddles

Guess what has happened... yep, Damo and I have extracted the soul of Grover... the breakfast! A Grover-Rover without its breakfast, is like a clown without its squeeker, a poop without its pooper, a priest without his choir boy!!



After extracting Grovers soul, the engine was easy!
Whats the good of a garage without I-Beams!?!?!!



Special Cuddles for everyone! =D



Now with the engine out of the way, i can get on with the fun job of cutting out all the rust I found this weekend... (oops, did i forget to mention that...) =(

Scrub A Dub Dub

Its been a few weekends since the last post.
Here's a snippet of whats been doing in project Grover land!

After welding the spring hanger, it didn't seem like cutting off the rusted outrigger, and welding on a new one, would be that bad.

First I made a jiggamythingamyjig and welded it to the chassis, so that the bolt hole that connects the firewall, would line up.



Cutting it off was easier than cutting of a big chunk of extra mature bree cheese, at least I didn't get cheese stuck to the grinder.



As you can see, Ive cut nice and close to the main chassis so that its easier to weld, the metal should be thicker there... if its not rusty...



Now its easy to see why I needed a jiggamythingamyjig, it would have been impossible to line it up without one! Makes welding a new outrigger back on easy too!



Having a donor chassis is great, hopefully, rusty bits on Grover, will be OK on the donor. And hopefully they fit.... you never can tell how many things a car has run into in 50 years that have twisted the chassis, ever so slightly!!



Before I welded Grover's new outrigger on, i cleaned up the stump... and hooray... more rust! So, a quick chop, plug, weld... and she's good as new. It was a good chance to look inside. Theres a lot of crud in the chassis. I will need a few decent drain holes to clean it all out.



Hey presto!! Grover has a nice new outrigger! I did some rigorous testing... first by sitting a beer on it... then sitting me on it... then whomping it with a hammer! Its stuck on good and proper!



So, now, in theory, all the rust that I know about is fixed! Time to clean the rest of the chassis/engine, and paint the old girl.



Water restrictions suck, using a hose is punishable by removal of the testicular bits via yer ear hole!! And there was no way I was giving Grover a Sponge Bath!! So, its down to bunnings to pick up a Kachooo-Weeener! Its not a good as a $4000 7000psi hot water diesel powered monster.... but this cost less than my monthly coffee budget!



I tested the weeener on the front axle assembly, outside, where I could make a mess. Look, it works a treat! Sucks out of a bucket, and uses less water than I do in the shower!



Because it uses such little water I decided to wash Grover in the garage, much easier than dragging her up the front driveway (remember... no front wheels, no seats... no pedals... no steering wheel, no fuel tank...)

Just in case you are wondering, how could I possibly be doing all this in the garage... Check out how much space Ive got!!



3 cars will fit in, end-to-end... on one side!
And theres as much space on the other side!!



After the bath, I was amazed that things were not all the colour of dry mud! The gearbox is alloy! The engine is black (not grease like I thought), and the chassis is light surface rust.... yep, no paint on her at all!!



To make light work of cutting back the remaining surface grime and rust, I got my self a random orbital sander. It will be great for panel work and finishing as well, as it doesn't leave swirl marks on the paint. Makita make great stuff. Its pretty quiet too! And the replaceable disks are about 70c each! Cheap!



If I was made of money, a high speed 7 thousand watt orbital sander would strip it quicker... but then Id have nothing left for a renegade 16cfm compressor! Its one hell of a step up from the tired hand-me-down compressor Ive been using. This one will even hold its pressure for a few weeks!!



Now, if you'll excuse me, its nearly nine, on a Saturday... the neighbours should all be awake, and Cam's gonna fire up the power tools!! Ooohh-Aaarggh-Argh-Arrr...