Grover Rover

Grover Moves House

2008-11-14T13:32:00.000-08:00

Shortly after the rebuild, we moved into a
house that we had bought just before christmas.

Yes, that was the incentive to finnish the
Grover during Christmas.

And folks, it was absolute bliss, driving grover
to the new house, rather than towing the
rolling chassis on a trailer!!

Grover's Garage is Multipurpose...

Theres plenty of room to work on whatever it is that
needs atention. (Because it's British, thats quite alot)!

And theres plenty of room for boulderation.
Cant do both at the same time, although, boulderation in
the garage, does encourage bloky talk of greasy, grimy
storys of battered knuckles. broken machinery, and
dream modifications.

As luck would have it, I sold the donar chassis
AFTER we moved house.

The buyer is using parts of the chassis to repair another
series one, so he asked me to slice and dice.

I did all the chopping with one wheel! Only Just!

This is what a rover would look like if ordered from Ikea!

Once settled into the new house, the restoration continues...

First to be adding shock absorbers!

Then to be replacing tie rod ends!

Cant believe those old ones even worked at all!!

Then to replace the stocking over the carby with a rover
oil cleaner. This was the only place it would fit, and after
a day screwing arround, I gave up, in favor of...

RAMFLOW!

When fitting Ramflow, make sure the gasket hole lines up!

Here my lovely asistant points at said hole!

Its some sort of presure thing.

Car wont start if this hole is blocked!

Finnished Product! Super easy to fit!
Apart from the 30 minutes it took to work out
that we put the gasket on back to front.. =(

Grover has a roof! It had been in storage for a while.

I am super happy that the new house has a rock
wall I can drive up. Picture doesnt realy do this justice.

Man and Machine, enjoying their new home!

Belated Christmas Cheer

2008-11-10T01:20:00.000-08:00

This is an important post!
So lets all forget for a moment that its 6 months out of date.
Because... yes folks... thats right....

GROVER HAS BEEN REBORN!!!! =)

Lets take a look at the festivities that consumed me during the christmas break of 2007!

Since Grovers Wiring loom was only good for the bin, I set about making a new one. The whole thing is in visio, so I can refer back during the next rebuild...

Doesnt the dash look awesome!
It used to look a bit like a birdsnest.
A birdsnest that most of the eggs had fallen through because it was so crap!

Once installing the loom through the firewall grommits I had to solder the otherside in the engine bay temporary solder station!

Doesnt the finnished fuse block look awesome!
My secret, trailer wire!

The indicator stalk is original... and needed some TLC.

Finnished product, with horn pressing thingy.

This old Zenith 175CD carby leaked on a previous test run.

So I swapped it with another I picked up on Ebay!
Check out the stocking air cleaner
(the original fell apart in the swap)

Heres the modified steering column studs.
Where are they going Neil?? No-Where! =)

Here you can see the extra steering bracket Ive mounted.
Its a damn site more ridgid.
This is from a SII.
It stops the steering column twisting like a twisty thingy...

I forgot to change the steering tie rod ends...
...add to the list of things to do on the next rebuild!

By this stage, I'm on a Mission!

Grab a couple of bolts...

Bribe a few mates with beer and vegimite sandwiches!!

Throw the tub on in roughly 2 minutes!

Then spend roughly 60 minutes trying to get the bolts through the holes blocked by the fuel tank!!

Then throw the seats in!

Dont worry bout the floor pan!
Its retro cool to be able to grab the tail shaft from the driver seat!

Foot pedals are a good idea!

Windscreen and fender!!
Looking like a Grover Now!!
(The one-way sign is pointing at the laundry... oops)

One last Fender, a couple of doors, and a bonnet.
I reccon she'll go!

But before the maden Voyage, best to pack a couple of tools! =)

Grovers first trip will go down in history!
To the curry shop for a hot indian vindaloo please!!
And on said trip, only one problem!
Fanbelt needed tightening!!

Who said an IT nerd couldnt build a car!!

Thanks B for helping pull Grover apart, so many years ago!
Thanks Dan, Neil, Damo and Alan for drinking my beer.
Thanks Colleen for not complaining that the house smells of diff oil.
Thanks MrB and Mr Bump for your wise judgement...
(but i decided to go with the Lucas parts anyway) ;-)

And thanks to Grover, for not giving up on me.
I hope she'll be as kind to me when my chassis is all clapped out!

Sunday Afternoon Sweat Fest

2008-01-06T04:17:00.000-08:00

A whole stack has been happening, so heres
a brief run through...

After contemplating putting hundreds of odd
sized bolts back on Grover, I tossed that idea
out the window, and bought 150 bucks worth
of bolts. None of which ate BSF!! All standard
heads. The killer was the 2x Stainless 8 inch
bolts for the firewall, 25bucks each!! Ouch!!

Lucas, prince of darkness, made this smashing
starter motor!!

Heres the hole it sits in, thats a massive cog to
turn, good thing its a sturdy lucas!! =D

Lucas fitted nicely back in its home, with a good
coating of loctite gasket maker.

Heres a close up of the clean and painted gearbox
mounts and drum handbreak.

Front engine mounts have fresh paint and new
rubber as well.

Ive put the original muffler back on. New bolts
and some muffler gasket cement keep the fumes in.

Neil shouldnt have comented on the state of the
prop shafts, or my grease gun... he got the job of
cleaning and greasing them both.
Great job Neil. You earned the beer! ;-)

I couldn't convince Neil to install the prop shaft's though.

No worries, easy to install without the body panels!!

Next the freshly painted fuel tank gets installed.
The jack helped to lift it into the tight spot.
It was even tighter with a thin rubber strip at each
end to protect rubbing and rust holes!!

Here's the fuel tank installed, and if you look
close you can see the rubber strips.

Fan, Alternator and fanbelt installed!! YAY! =D

Installing the master cylinder was a fiddly job.
The copper pipes were not quite bent the right way.
Brakes are bled, ready to roll!! =D

I made sure to check that the break peddals fit
before greasing everything! Good job, since they
didnt quite fit, and i had to do some extra
dismantling and replace a few split pins.

But in the end, everything fit nicely! =D

I needed to make a pin for the clutch pedal, the
original broke! =( Considering i dont have a drill
press, Im happy that i got the split pin hole straight.

Here you can see the new pin on the left. Nickel
anti seize on the shaft may help prevent snapping
on next removal. Fingers crossed!

Next the radiator goes on, and after fiddling with
the hoses, filling with anti freeze will ensure no
frozen block in the extreeme Australian Winter.... =D

Next Damo fills the fuel tank so we can test the
electric fuel pump, no problemo!! =D

Then, after finding the distributor cap, solenoid,
coil and battery cables.... and then figuring out
where to plug them in.... I pushed the start
button..... She turned over a few times, then
chug-chug-chuggedy-chug.... Grover was alive!!

Now for the firewall, wireing loom and body pannels!!

This is a super happy day! Not long now folks!! =D

Ho-ho-ho and Rub-a-dub-dub

2008-01-03T14:43:00.001-08:00

Grover has a new battery boys and girls!

Don't you just love it when the new water pump
you bought doesn't come with the bolts, and the
thread is different to the old one!! Why is it that
these things are only discovered After the shops
have shut for the night!! I guess the neighbors
are happy, coz its 930pm!! =D

Break lines are almost done, again, a bolt
problem, cant find where I put them!! =(

Ive replaced the 3 break lines with new ones.
No cracks in the flexi hose is good for stopping!
Check out the tiny break cylinder!! Its so cute!

Fuel tank is all painted ready to go in! =)

If I'm really lucky, she may start this weekend!!

HOORAY!! =D

Turning Point

2007-12-28T14:40:00.000-08:00

Today has been a long time coming.
A great day for all man kind!
A corner was turned.
Yes folks you guessed it...

BAH-BAH-BAHAHAAAAAH...

Project Grover Rover has commenced the rebuild!!

YIIPP-YIPPY-DOO-DIDDLY-DEEE-DAH!!! =D

With the combined brain power of Dodgy Dan, Bush
Tucker Dad, and Oober Nerd himself, today were
going to build a Grover!

With a couple of death knots hanging the chassis from a water pipe, we had Grovers ass in the air ready to recieve springs.

"Permission to scratch Grover" shouts Dan, holding a large hammer. We knew what needed to happen... I Nodded.... *WHUMP*WHUMP*WHUMP* And the springs were driven home.

After a short debate over which bolt goes where, air tools drove them home.

Lifting the engine was a breeze with the Lever Hoist I splurged on.
If only the garage was taller.
We couldn't quite lift the engine high enough.
So, with a rug over the chassis, we man handled the engine in place.

*S-C-R-A-A-A-T-C-C-C-H*

=( Oh well, had to happen eventually.

The next few hours were filled with me searching the garage for bolts and washers but in the end, Grover is finally a rolling chassis once more. Thanks Dan, Yer a bloody legend!! =D

Happy Christmas to Me!

2007-12-26T22:55:00.001-08:00

Ive finally realized that Grover may not be a car before 2008... But not to worry, check out how much progress Ive made so far!! =)

The engine got a lick of paint on Christmas eve! Took longer to tape up than to paint.

Axle housings and springs got a tripple coat today.

They look shinier than when they were covered in mud and rust earlier!!

The firewall got sandblasted just before Christmas.

Look at the rust that the sandblasting found!! I chased it around with the MIG set to 1 for about 4 hours!! JOY! =(

After powder coating the firewall looks fantastic! But it didn't cover the rust holes i missed, Oh Well. Better ventilation I guess! =D

Heres the new water pump on the left, and you can see the taper thread that is much better than the silver-solder bung job they did in the original!!

I took the opportunity to paint EVERYTHING since the car was in bits! It just made sense!!

Lucas is the prince of darkness, but I swear this Lucas starter motor will work! First time, every time, guaranteed (fingers crossed!!) Will work even better with its hammer finish paint job!! Awesome!! =D

More misc-bits in various shades of kill rust!

Rear drums had no paint at all, and I sear, this wast the only colour I had!! Fully Sick Bro!! ;-)

Watch this space, there will be a rolling chassis sitting here in a few days, mark my words!!

Onwards and upwards! Kazzar!! =D

Snowsports and AlcoholicCafinatedBeverages

2007-11-24T15:09:00.000-08:00

Hello All, Its been a while since my last post, and while there hasnt been much rover action, there has been action none the less. Heres a brief review of the past few months.

A 4 week holiday in snowy and sheepy New Zealand saw us being van dirtbags for 3 weeks where we did some of the normal tourist'y things, but also bush walked through the alpine region, bouldered (on volcanic plugs on the beach and in limestone roadside caves and at the mecca that is Castle Hill), and mostly camped for free and didnt shower!! Our 3 week van dirtbag holliday was offset with a week of luxury apartment relaxing in wanaka while we learnt to snowboard and ski at Cardrona, Corenet Peak and Trebble Cone! Truly Awesome!! We came home bruised, with big smiles, and feeling very relaxed.

Soon after comming home, I partly tore a tendon in my little finger, which needed rest (no climbing or grover rover). So i went out drinking with the lads from work (Team Building...) and proceeded to write myself off on too many beers, sahki, jaygermiester bombs and vodka and cranbury, waking up the next day with no use of my left arm... seems I fell over in a big way. So Ive been in physio for the past 3 weeks!

Anyway, my arm is kind of working now, and Ive FINNALY got back into the project!! HOORAY! Here's the latest!

My Firewall was baddly rusted, but my donor firewall was not.
However there were 2 things that needed fixing.

This is a door hinge that dad welded back on for me while I was resting my arm.

And here you can see some welding done to the top of the firewall.
This is what the windscreen rests on.

This is the back side of the windscreen mount.
Looks shite but its watretite!! HAHAHA! =)

I quickly butted everything together to make sure it all fitted to the new firewall.
this is the floor pan and seat box butted up to the firewall base.

Here you can see it all fits! Even the windscreen!

Next week the firewall will be sandblasted and powdercoated.

And over the christmas-new-year-break, GROVER WILL LIVE AGAIN!!!

Beer Time

2007-07-20T03:46:00.000-07:00

It seems like forever, but Im typing this entry with
a beer, and a grin, because the chassis is black!

Now I have the painting bug!
Before i bolt everything back on, Im going to
consider giveing bits a lick of paint! =D

Watching Paint Dry

2007-07-08T02:45:00.000-07:00

This week sees the ever fearless Rust-Man take a break from
welding and grinding and cutting as he steps forth, bravely, into
a brave new frontier.....

Spray Painting!

The chassis now sits on milk crates and axle stands.
(with tent pegs through the spring hangers).
This makes it easy to spray underneath.

With a few coats of Watyl Kill Rust Etch Primer,
she looks great!! =)

Here's what I've learnt...

30-40psi airflow is all you need for gravity feed
spray gun's. (I started with 100psi and found that
paint drys as it comes out of the gun!!)
Etch primer isn't easy to spray, it is touch dry in
5 minutes, mostly because its about 80% thinners!!

Allow a day for the priming, paint 2-3 thin coats,
sanding lightly between coats (to get the over
spray off use 240 grade sand paper).

Next, its top coat time!
At this pace I'll have the wheels back on in no time!! =D

Chassis Debriss

2007-07-01T03:07:00.000-07:00

Heer yee heer yee...
Roll up for the.... Longest Show on Earth! =D

Its been a few weeks since the last post, and no, I haven't
been slacking off! Ive been putting in the hard yards!
So grab your beverage of choice, sit back and enjoy the
latest installment of Project Grover Grover!

Last weekend I got stuck into the rear bumper, or as Neil
calls it... Chassis-Debriss.

Below you can see fiddly welding I was faced with after
cutting a large chunk out! But I'm getting heaps better, so
I finished this in half a day! Also, i was able to grind the
weld down so you cant even see it! =D
(You may also enjoy the chassis debriss to its right...)

After welding the right, I set about cutting and welding
the middle and left.

Now Grovers bum is good and solid, ready to tackle
any curry I throw at it! Mmmm Vindaloo.... =D

While in the mood for welding, i cranked the power
up and showed the gearbox mount who was boss!

So with all the big stuff out of the way last weekend,
this weekend was all about sanding and wire brushing
all the fiddly nooks and crannies, and bang'n a few
extra drain holes here and there!

With all that out of the way, one last fun job!
Check out the snazzy battery box I made!
I'm super proud of this! Should be big enough for an
extra huge truck battery!! =D

Its almost 8pm Saturday night, and the neighbours
are gett'n shirty. But Ive got the chassis all setup in
spray booth, ready for some Sunday Lov'n!

These quick-draws are retired from climbing,
but still good for hang'n a chassis up!

Old climbing rope gets the other end sorted out!
Thats Right! Its a figure 9 ;-)

4pm Sunday, after spending the morning shopping
for formal wear... (no yer bum doesn't look fat in that) =D
I'm back home slapp'n a coat of cold gal on the old girl.

Grovers on the get up and go boys and girls,
and Cam's a Happy Camper!

Cheers and Beers! =D

Long Weekend of Joy

2007-06-11T14:01:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-06T22:58:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-04T03:24:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-01T14:44:00.000-07:00

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...

Weld-a-mattic

2007-05-05T04:52:00.000-07:00

I had a crazy thought... there is a slim chance, that others may be using this as some sort of refference !! *faint-whump* Just remeber, Im employed as an IT Nerd, and enjoy rockclimbing and keeping tropical fish! Ive mostly taught myself, and realy just use this as an excuse to buy nice shinny tools... even though Im still not sure what some of them do!

Over the past month, I have practiced my welding and cutting on some of the easy outriggers. So far I have repaired and prime-painted the 2 outriggers that hold the fuel tank, and I have cut large "inspection holes in the firewall outrigger. I am painting the bare-welded chasis with a preparation spray paint "Wattyl KillRust Cold Galvit". Later I will use an etch primer, and a top coat (not sure what colour yet. Grey? Black?)

** painted fueltank outrigger **

Meanwhile... back in the garage... Cam scratches his head pondering the real problem... a huge hole in the bottom of the chasis, and cracks up the side, just behind the front spring mount. Now that I have "fine-tuned" my "talents" *cough-wheeze* I feel ready to take on the job of fixing this mamoth problem!

** original rusted spring mount **

I could have cut the whole front off, but I have decided to fix it, thinking it good life experience, and better than a replacement...

To get a look at the whole problem, its best to see whats inside the chasis, so I cut the hole underneath much bigger. Poking about inside the chasis revealed a lot of rust, that had been covered up with a side plate, by an owner before me.

** Hole Cut Underneath **

For all this cutting Im using a Hitachi 100mm (4") disk grinder with standard metal cutting disks are great, because you can abuse them abit, but they take out alot of metal. For a precise cut, I use 1mm thick disks, theyre fantastic! For grinding, i find the metal disks a good choice to rip through tough stuff, but the masonry disks are handy, as they dont cut in as much, so you dont take too much metal off by mistake. Another usefull tool are the wire wheels, they are so much easier than a wire brush. And then, for tight spots, the good ol trade tools die grinder, with a tungsten-carbide bit! Its works quite well with my old-clunky compressor.

** Grinder and disks **

Next, I made a template out of cardboard that fit the hole, using that to cut 2mm sheet metal (since my chasis is 2mm thick, thers no need to go thicker, its harder to weld!) I had to bend it a little to make it fit, using the vice, and a big hammer. With a few clamps holding it in place, I was able to tack it in place with the MIG. I found that welding upside down isn't too bad. The danger is catching on fire. However, if you set the voltage low, and doing spot welds, there are no drips, and no splatter. However, make sure you are getting good penetration. Its all about the penetration! =)

** Bottom plate clamp **

** Bottom plate welded **

Next i cut the side plate off to see what it was covering up. I found the spring mount to be good, it is thicker metal, but the main chasis was pitted deeply, and had a massive hole! Cant believe it was just platted over!!I cut into the main chasis, tidyed up the edges, made a cardboard template, cut more 2mm metal sheet to size, bent it a bit, and hey presto! Nice and snug....

** Cut hole with plate**

Then I got cocky... and decided to investigate a plate welded on top.... I should have done this before making a nice fitted metal piece for the side... Anyway, the sheet on top, was welded over the chasis to strengthen it, but there was a gap at one end, where moisture could get in. Result, the 2x 2mm plates had buckeled to about 10mm thick, full of rust! So I cut out the battery box (it was in the way) and also cut another big square hole it the top!

** massive rust gap **

Now, its nearly 6:30pm, and the neighbours are sick of grinder noise, so I thought Id use the time to clean and paint inside the chasis that I had exposed. Wirebrush, sandpaper, and air-gun did a good jop of getting the metal relatively clean before spraying with "Wattyl KillRust Cold Galvit". After making dinner and watching top gear =) I did a top coat of cold-galvit, making sure to mask the edges so that (a) I wouldnt contaminate the weld and (b) not die from smoke and fumes when welding (Check out the respirator I got in a previous post, it fits under a welding mask).

** Inside Chasis **

Day 2 was just about the welding. 2mm sheet steel is easy to buckle if you get too much heat into it, so the trick Ive found is this, concentrate on doing 3-4 decent spot welds, then type some blog. =) After getting a few blog thoughts down, the job is cool enough to weld some more! MultiTask!! (yes she knows its a multitask...) =D Anyway, by the end of the day, I had finnished, and it looked great! And Id even made a new mount for the battery box!! The welding doesn't look amazing, but the penetration is great! And I didnt buckle the plate at all!! =D

** Chasis Clamped **

*** Front welded ***

How Cool is THAT!! Cam's a welding machine! OOooh Yeah!

Goodby Swiss Cheese of Death

2007-04-13T03:39:00.000-07:00

Life is what happens between trips to the tool shop to
buy new toys! (life is boring)...

My latest toy, an air cutoff tool. Its easy to use, but
needs lots of air! Cutting through rusty metal was easy...

But when I got sick of waiting for the compressor to
spool up... Super thin cutting disk on the good-ol
trusty grinder is da-bom!

Its an extra matured swiss cheese mate! Mmmm Tasty!

Check out the crud that was in the outrigger!!

No wonder it rusted through with crap like this inside!
I will be "installing" a couple of MONSTER drain holes!!

I wish the drain hole was this big, it would make cleaning easy!

This weekend, I will over-engineer an outrigger and try like
hell to weld the bugger shut! My welding is getting better, and
I have a fire extinguisher, in case I set myself on fire! As a back
up plan, I also have marshmallows and beer! =) Mmmmm beer.

Say Hello to Mr Mig

2007-03-31T16:56:00.000-07:00

Forgive me folks, it has been several weeks since my last update, but don't think for a second that project Grover is falling behind, no sir... GUESS WHO GOT A MIG?! =D

Yes its true, after playing with an Arc Welder that had been lent to me, and suking badly at it, visited dad to have a go at his 3 phase mig! Welcome to the future! I was so wrapped, I went out and got my own. Here's a run down, if you are thinking of MIG, don't stuff around with 10Amp, get yourself a 15Amp. Its a breeze to get a 15Amp plug installed in the garage, if you know an electrician that works for beer! And the 15Amp welders are built bigger than the 10Amp ones, so all your mates wont laugh at you and say stuff like.... "look at his little welder, its so cute"... You don't want that do you??!?!! And there are more benefits, like 15kg wire spools (suks to change wire), built in gassbottle trolley, changeable torch lead, inbuilt fan for better duty cycle. And considering the 10Amp equivalent was 5 times smaller in size.... and only 150buks cheaper.... you do the math.... OOOH-OOOH!!! And its got a crane hoist point!! YAY! =D

Since the arrival of Mr Mig, I have been busily burning holes in my chassis (better than burning hold in bits of practice metal I say)! With any luck I may have some good welding to show you all next week. Stay tuned!!

With crappy welding like this, it can only get better... right?! =)

Nada-Wooshka

2007-02-28T03:34:00.000-08:00

Just in case you were wondering... I did nothing tonight!

Melting Metal

2007-02-26T03:50:00.000-08:00

After recent grinding works, the grover rover has finally become void of its front wheels!!

This now gives lots of room to get stuck into this monster chasis hole and crack!!

As you can see theres stacks of room to get in under the chasis now, and weld until you burst into flames!!

I spent this weekend learning to weld at Dad's, and the rest of the weekend resting from heatstroke, and fume asphixiation!! Chogh-Splutter-Wheeze!

So Ive splurged on this snazzy mask from MSA, it fits under a welding mask! Neat!

Dad lent me an Arc Welder to play with at home...

So now I can make lots of usefull welded stuff in my spare time!

Look! Its a swan!! =D

My Friend the Grinder

2007-02-20T15:02:00.000-08:00

The past few weeks have been rather eventfull. With a little help from
my friend the Grinder, the front wheels, axles, springs, diff are off the car!!
(Thanks for the pic Mr Damo)

This weekend, Dad gave me a lesson in welding!
So now I can make chunks of metal into blobby splattery chunks of metal,
that are partially joined, and partially blown open with big holes!! =)
(Guess i need some practice).
I'm learning on a stick welder for now, just so I know the lingo, and don't
look a fool when I buy a MIG from the local tool shop.

Funny Story... My blog has inspired the hubby of one of the girls at work
to go get himself a project car. Im not in too much trouble... even though
he spent most of Valentines afternoon/night working on it!!
Pitty he bought a Jeep though... =D HAHAHahaha

I Cant Believe Its Not Butter

2007-02-11T13:51:00.000-08:00

I havent made much progress this weekend, but since it was my brithday, I think thats a good enough excuse.

Oh the joys of a... Drop Saw!! It cut's through hardwood like butter. Not exactly a required tool for rover restoration, but something Ive wanted for a long-ling time! =D (thanks for the pressy Doc).

Trundle Cart

2007-02-05T23:55:00.000-08:00

This Sunday, a mate convinced me that, even though it seemed easier to leave the front suspension on the rover.... it would make welding a real bastard!! So, decided to take it off.

We got most of it done. Only the brake lines, and 2 stubborn bolts at the front of the leaf springs remain. If CRC soaking this week doesn't fix the bolts, I'll lop them off with the grinder!! Ooh-Argh-Argh-AAArrrgh... =D

I think Ive got the wiring loom all figured out...
well, all except the blue one...
(PS - I'm stuffed!!)

More Rust!! 8-(

2007-02-03T03:26:00.001-08:00

This weekend started with some maintenance of Grandads trusty 'Acme' Compressor.

Firstly the Air filters needed replacing, the foam looked 50 years old! The oil was black, so changed that, not to hard to do either!! All up, foam and oil cost $9.50! Bargain.

50 years of greasy oily grime were covering everything. I couldn't tell if it was leaking oil or air, so decided to clean it with degreaser, give her a sand/wire-brush treatment, and a coat of paint.

Here you can see the finished product in 3 layers of metallic blue hammer finish!! Sweet!

Time to remove the fuel tank so it doesn't explode when we start welding. Was easy to get out, as it only went in 2 weeks ago so we could turn the engine over.

( Don't worry about the wiring spaghetti above, a mate tells me it will be an easy job to figure out where it all goes.... shouldn't be too hard after a few beers! *hic* )

Removing the tank exposed more rust! Joy! Luckily its in a flat panel, so shouldn't be too hard to fix.

Last job of the day, try out the new axle stands. As you can see, 5000kg stands are quite a bit bigger than the cruddy Ausy Auto ones under the axle.... I needed the height (not the load capacity) so that the chassis can be supported when I cut out the rust in the front.... don't want the whole thing to fall on me scone!! =P

***NERD-ALERT***
If you see me on MSN on the weekend, chances are you can start a web cam chat session and see what I'm up to in the garage!! Chances are I'll be scratchin my head with a beer!! =)

Time to pull my finger out

2007-01-30T04:20:00.000-08:00

This blog is an ode to my 1958 Series 1 Land Rover, affectionately named "Grover-Rover".

After several happy years of visiting state forests, and national parks, she was put off the road when I blew the rear diff at Sundown National Park. The diff was fixed, but in the process, I found rust in the firewall, chassis outrigger, and a large crack in the front chassis rail.

It has been nearly 5 years since the Grover Rover last took to the hills, and I'll be damned if I let her sit for another year. She'll be 50 next year, and I intend to have her back on the road to celebrate!

Here begins the tale of Project Grover Rover Resto 2007.

We've recently moved out of share houses and units, and into a place with a monster garage. Grover Rover is happy to be home after spending 5 years in Mum's garage (I think Mum's happy too)... with no pedals, and only the drum brakes, getting her off the trailer was interesting...

The fuel electric fuel pump and battery were cactus, so I got a new "Eco" pump, and borrowed a battery from the 2nd car (yep, Grover's the first), and with the help of a mate, we wired up the essential bits and fired her up. Very happy to find that she idles without blowing smoke... after 5 years dormant, its a blessing. Some water leaking from near the fan, probably needs new seals/bearings in the pump.

Removing the firewall was interesting, as one of the main bolts was seized. But some WD-40, an air Impact Wrench and an angle grinder with cutting disc... the job was much easier. Oh, and a big hammer and cold chisel helped too!

Swiss Cheese... rust in the chassis outrigger is extensive, but only the driver side. Lots of welding to be done here...

Firewall mounts are extensively rusted to the point of almost missing. Not sure if I'll repair this, or swap for another firewall I have in better shape.

Front chassis rail, driver side, is very bad, and the main reason she's been off the road. You can see numerous plates from previous attempts to strengthen and repair. The pile-o-weld is someones failed attempt at stopping a crack, which has spread underneath, and halfway up both sides. I'm lucky this didn't snap clean off when I busted the diff in 2002... Repairing will be interesting, because welding upside down is dangerous. I propose to drink beer whilst coming up with a plan of attack... the more beer sunk, the better the plan will be!

I'm sure whomever made the pile-o-weld, also had a hand in on this "MEGA-PLATE"... Only flaw is that it stops short of the stress point that failed on the other side. Might have to cut it off... might not... stay tuned...