That's lovely.
Jennings restoration
- Thread starter colinthefox
- Start date
Thanks for all your kind comments. I've been feeling grumpy about the whole project for a while, as it never seems to end, so those comments are a real boost.
The colour of the lower half is "Kingfisher blue", and I had to get it matched, as no-one could find a formula for it. Yes, it's two pack, and yes, "Paul the Paint" did a pretty good job.
Now yesterday's trip out raised a few issues, such as:-
The gearbox is quiet, and the overdrive spot on. The linkage needs a tweek though, as sometimes I couldn't find neutral straight away.
That pitted crown wheel didn't seem to be noisy, although I think there is a slight whine at a certain speed. Can't be sure though.
The van was photographed by random passers by too!
The colour of the lower half is "Kingfisher blue", and I had to get it matched, as no-one could find a formula for it. Yes, it's two pack, and yes, "Paul the Paint" did a pretty good job.
Now yesterday's trip out raised a few issues, such as:-
- A slight oil leak from the overdrive valve plate.
- A weep of oil from the top of the dipstick tube. I don't think the engine is breathing hard, so I've renewed the little felt washer in the top of the dipstick, and held the dipstick in with a small spring. The dipstick tube was fractured at the block when I bought the van, so it had always been leaking a flood from the break. There isn't any oil coming out of the breather either, so I don't think the leak is a problem. Shame though. I cleaned the engine on Saturday.
- Cooling was marginal when climbing hills at full chat. (Cab heater off) When I got home the coolant level was just at the top of the radiator core, so the two tiny weeps from the radiator seem to have been more significant than I thought. I took the radiator to the local specialist for a recore, with possible upgrade, hopefully.
The gearbox is quiet, and the overdrive spot on. The linkage needs a tweek though, as sometimes I couldn't find neutral straight away.
That pitted crown wheel didn't seem to be noisy, although I think there is a slight whine at a certain speed. Can't be sure though.
The van was photographed by random passers by too!
You'll get lots of attention from random passers by, it comes built in with the van.
I haven't found the button for that on the dashboard yet...
OnTheRoadAgain: Rusting comes as standard too but there isn't a button for that either.
Suinnyboy: A tweak of the valve plate bolts on the overdrive may have stopped the weep, but the propshaft front sleeve isn't sealing properly either, quite apart from having slack journals. A propshaft rebuild is on the cards. I bought an overdrive propshaft off Jimberlake, but I can't swap the components because the UJs are different sizes.
I got a quote back from the radiator specialist. Four leaks in the old rad. Recore £155 plus VAT. Recore with 20% upgrade £155 plus VAT. It's a no brainer.
Fitted cab rubber matting today. Most of the time was spent making an accurate paper pattern. What a transformation! I also fitted an edging strip on the front edge of the floor, which tidies it up even more.
Onward.
Suinnyboy: A tweak of the valve plate bolts on the overdrive may have stopped the weep, but the propshaft front sleeve isn't sealing properly either, quite apart from having slack journals. A propshaft rebuild is on the cards. I bought an overdrive propshaft off Jimberlake, but I can't swap the components because the UJs are different sizes.
I got a quote back from the radiator specialist. Four leaks in the old rad. Recore £155 plus VAT. Recore with 20% upgrade £155 plus VAT. It's a no brainer.
Fitted cab rubber matting today. Most of the time was spent making an accurate paper pattern. What a transformation! I also fitted an edging strip on the front edge of the floor, which tidies it up even more.
Onward.
Panky: No. Front end is coarse splines (and front sleeve that meets the oil seal is rough as a badgers arse). Mine is fine splines. Interestingly, whole prop is 1/2 inch longer than mine. When I bought it I thought I could swap the middle section for mine. No such luck.
Anyone got a fine spline front end?
Anyone got a fine spline front end?
Colin was great to see you and the van looks amazing. Sorry the meeting was so brief, normally can't shut me up but was a little crazy with my boys 3rd birthday and the in laws arriving 5 minutes before, was the perfect storm
Sorry to hear the drive shaft wasn't any good, not what you need at all after all the hard work and toils, will sort something out. There should be loads of fine spline shafts about with a good sleeve too, the pain is getting it shortened.
Have messaged you bout the shaft you bought from me
Jim
Sorry to hear the drive shaft wasn't any good, not what you need at all after all the hard work and toils, will sort something out. There should be loads of fine spline shafts about with a good sleeve too, the pain is getting it shortened.
Have messaged you bout the shaft you bought from me
Jim
Jim: Absolutely no problem. I should have checked it myself. Old prop will do for a while.
A few more jobs sorted.
Engine temperature was unstable. Very cool going down hill and quite warm going up. Turns out that the wrong thermostat had been fitted. The Perkins has its own internal bypass built into the cylinder head, so the thermostat should shut right off. The one fitted had a 6mm [edit] bypass hole (OOPS!) [/edit] in the plate, so downhill the engine was still being cooled, rather too much. Changed the stat to the correct one with no hole, which cured the instability problem, but as my temperature sender is downstream of the thermostat, it wouldn't register properly when the stat was completely shut. I drilled a 1mm hole in the thermostat plate, just enough to keep the sender warm, but not overcool the engine. Now I need to learn to trust the temperature gauge. The engine is a real trooper though.
Had another go at the minor gearbox leak. It's coming from a stud drilling, so I made a doughnut out of PTFE tape and squashed it in with the nut.
Adjusted the gear linkage. It was only a smidge out of line, but a slight improvement.
Adjusted the overdrive inhibitor switch. Although I had tested it before, occasionally in reverse the overdrive would engage if the gearlever was pushed to the left. Very very nasty! A slightly thicker spacer under the switch finally got it adjusted OK.
Fitted the wheel trims I got off Fleabay. No wonder they are left over "new old stock". The hub caps wouldn't fit over them, and just popped off every time. I trimmed around the hub cap buttons, and now they fit OK
Having refitted the doors, I found that any key, or no key, or a screwdriver, or nail file would open both front doors. The bit the barrel fits in is made of PLASTIC and very worn. Sally suggested that in those far off days vehicle crime didn't exist. (She should know better, she was living in Liverpool in 1970). In that case you wouldn't need locks at all would you? Still no excuse for making them out of cream cheese. I disconnected the passenger door mechanism, so it now locks/unlocks from the inside only. Then I did the same to the drivers door, but fitted a Yale (front door type) barrel next to the handle, and connected it to the mech so it operates the lock. No photos for obvious reasons. Haven't decided what to do about those rather insecure quarter lights yet.
Passenger window winder didn't work, as the drop glass bottom channel was rotten. You could wind the winder, and a little later the drop glass would......em.........drop. Crash. Made a new one out of a bit of stainless, plus part of the old one that was OK and fitted it without removing the window. I did a photo, but its hi res, and too big to post.
Is there a smilie for "Smug self satistfied old git"?
If there is one, I need it right here. No those white lines aren't a result of OCD. If you've tried reversing a truck into a shed on a sunny day, you will know it's like reversing into a coal cellar. I need all the help I can get not to damage anything!
I've ordered the water tanks, so plumbing and gas fitting will be next on the agenda.
Then MOT time. That will wipe the smile off my face.
Engine temperature was unstable. Very cool going down hill and quite warm going up. Turns out that the wrong thermostat had been fitted. The Perkins has its own internal bypass built into the cylinder head, so the thermostat should shut right off. The one fitted had a 6mm [edit] bypass hole (OOPS!) [/edit] in the plate, so downhill the engine was still being cooled, rather too much. Changed the stat to the correct one with no hole, which cured the instability problem, but as my temperature sender is downstream of the thermostat, it wouldn't register properly when the stat was completely shut. I drilled a 1mm hole in the thermostat plate, just enough to keep the sender warm, but not overcool the engine. Now I need to learn to trust the temperature gauge. The engine is a real trooper though.
Had another go at the minor gearbox leak. It's coming from a stud drilling, so I made a doughnut out of PTFE tape and squashed it in with the nut.
Adjusted the gear linkage. It was only a smidge out of line, but a slight improvement.
Adjusted the overdrive inhibitor switch. Although I had tested it before, occasionally in reverse the overdrive would engage if the gearlever was pushed to the left.
Very very nasty! A slightly thicker spacer under the switch finally got it adjusted OK.Fitted the wheel trims I got off Fleabay. No wonder they are left over "new old stock". The hub caps wouldn't fit over them, and just popped off every time. I trimmed around the hub cap buttons, and now they fit OK
Having refitted the doors, I found that any key, or no key, or a screwdriver, or nail file would open both front doors. The bit the barrel fits in is made of PLASTIC and very worn. Sally suggested that in those far off days vehicle crime didn't exist. (She should know better, she was living in Liverpool in 1970). In that case you wouldn't need locks at all would you? Still no excuse for making them out of cream cheese. I disconnected the passenger door mechanism, so it now locks/unlocks from the inside only. Then I did the same to the drivers door, but fitted a Yale (front door type) barrel next to the handle, and connected it to the mech so it operates the lock. No photos for obvious reasons. Haven't decided what to do about those rather insecure quarter lights yet.
Passenger window winder didn't work, as the drop glass bottom channel was rotten. You could wind the winder, and a little later the drop glass would......em.........drop. Crash. Made a new one out of a bit of stainless, plus part of the old one that was OK and fitted it without removing the window. I did a photo, but its hi res, and too big to post.
Is there a smilie for "Smug self satistfied old git"?
If there is one, I need it right here. No those white lines aren't a result of OCD. If you've tried reversing a truck into a shed on a sunny day, you will know it's like reversing into a coal cellar. I need all the help I can get not to damage anything!
I've ordered the water tanks, so plumbing and gas fitting will be next on the agenda.
Then MOT time. That will wipe the smile off my face.
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So..........
On Wednesday the water tanks arrived. They were fitted under the offside seat just like the ones in the picture that Panky kindly provided a while ago.
There was a surprising amount of work getting them all plumbed in, and getting a vent from the waste tank to above the sink, then back down through the floor was a real nightmare. It has to rise to above the sink so it doesn't spray dirty water, and terminate below the floor so it doesn't stink. I spent hours on the internet searching for the correct size tanks, and these were good to within a few mm. Certainly any bigger and they wouldn't have gone in.
The rush to get them fitted was because we wanted to take Beryl camping on Thursday.
And here we are all set up at Punknowle in Dorset. That's Punknowle, meaning Gorsey Hillock, and pronounced "Punnol". Wedges are to level up front to back, and the Suicide Jack is to level side to side. It also very much reduces bounce and sway when moving around in the van, a bit like proper caravan stays.
Living in Beryl proved to be a very pleasant experience, except that my beer wasn't cool enough as the fridge still has no cooling vents! So we had to go to the Pub.
And we're there because it's next to a pub, not far from home, and one of our favourite parts of the country.
That's Chesil Beach and Portland in the distance. The sun shone both days, but a fierce onshore breeze and choppy swell cancelled the water ski racing at West Bay today. We had a rain shower about a mile from home, returning this evening, and when I turned on the wipers, I realised I had left them on the bench while we sealed around the windscreen. Doh!
I did discover a problem with the overdrive though. It works perfectly until it gets thoroughly warm, (about 20 miles or so) then it won't always release properly. It does disengage partially straight away, but for some miles then it is running on the one way clutch, with no engine braking, which must mean it hasn't changed fully back to direct drive. Then it hunts in and out for a while before finally engaging direct drive. I think it might be the control valve not functioning properly. I have ATF in the gearbox at present (to give it a good wash out), and I suspect that when it's hot it gets a bit thin, so I'll try 20/50 and see if that improves matters.
Other than that, apart from being grossly underpowered, Beryl was a treat to drive. Might be out again next weekend if the forecast is good!
On Wednesday the water tanks arrived. They were fitted under the offside seat just like the ones in the picture that Panky kindly provided a while ago.
There was a surprising amount of work getting them all plumbed in, and getting a vent from the waste tank to above the sink, then back down through the floor was a real nightmare. It has to rise to above the sink so it doesn't spray dirty water, and terminate below the floor so it doesn't stink. I spent hours on the internet searching for the correct size tanks, and these were good to within a few mm. Certainly any bigger and they wouldn't have gone in.
The rush to get them fitted was because we wanted to take Beryl camping on Thursday.
And here we are all set up at Punknowle in Dorset. That's Punknowle, meaning Gorsey Hillock, and pronounced "Punnol". Wedges are to level up front to back, and the Suicide Jack is to level side to side. It also very much reduces bounce and sway when moving around in the van, a bit like proper caravan stays.
Living in Beryl proved to be a very pleasant experience, except that my beer wasn't cool enough as the fridge still has no cooling vents! So we had to go to the Pub.
And we're there because it's next to a pub, not far from home, and one of our favourite parts of the country.
That's Chesil Beach and Portland in the distance. The sun shone both days, but a fierce onshore breeze and choppy swell cancelled the water ski racing at West Bay today. We had a rain shower about a mile from home, returning this evening, and when I turned on the wipers, I realised I had left them on the bench while we sealed around the windscreen. Doh!
I did discover a problem with the overdrive though. It works perfectly until it gets thoroughly warm, (about 20 miles or so) then it won't always release properly. It does disengage partially straight away, but for some miles then it is running on the one way clutch, with no engine braking, which must mean it hasn't changed fully back to direct drive. Then it hunts in and out for a while before finally engaging direct drive. I think it might be the control valve not functioning properly. I have ATF in the gearbox at present (to give it a good wash out), and I suspect that when it's hot it gets a bit thin, so I'll try 20/50 and see if that improves matters.
Other than that, apart from being grossly underpowered, Beryl was a treat to drive. Might be out again next weekend if the forecast is good!
My old Volvo 240 specified ATF in a standard 4 speed gearbox with J type overdrive and did intergalactic mileage with no problems ever. Made for nice easy changes, good synchro and gentle engagement of the OD. Anything else and 1st gear was a fight when cold. I wish now I'd scrapped the vehicle and kept the transmission instead of selling it for peanuts.
The Commer transmission should be squeaky clean inside by now! But I will change it for 20/50 this week and see what happens.
The Commer transmission should be squeaky clean inside by now! But I will change it for 20/50 this week and see what happens.