CNBBC

mmmmmmmmmm cheese for the van

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i suppose this is tempting fate big time but upto now 17.14 wed/12/07 the van is on the road
brakes are done, well i say done, still need to do the back but at least i can use the bloody thing now.

hopefully getting the paint on saturday from nottingham, 5 litres of m.o.d. sand, and the good thing is its around the corner from hooters so i may have to stop off for a bit of chicken and a shandy with mr fisher and my 2 year old daughter, that will be an experience for her.

hhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmm chicken you say

yes i tempted fate with my last post, the van is broke again!!!!!

after the trip to the meet last night i found the new front wheel bearing was'nt tightened (not my fault) so had to drive home with the front brake squeeling like a banshee. this is the least of my worries as today i noticed that the other head gasket is leaking !!!!

i have now driven it 4 times in 6 weeks!

its got 1 more chance or its getting torched.

its got 1 more chance or its getting torched.

this could be used as evidence in a court of law
give me a shout if your struggling

the second head is now removed, and in record time 1 hour 30 mins from start to finish, gets easier when you have done one. the worst bit is removing the bloody exhaust.
anyway its in the kitchen again stinking, about to have the pits filled with liquid metal so hopefully it will be all together on wednesday.

its all back together but the bloody thing will not run.
one of the valves on no1 cylinder wont seem to close so i have no compression.
its probably the pushrod not seating properly but a friend a mechanic has had a look at it and even he cant get the damn thing to close.
either the hydraulic tappet has expanded and needs removing then bleeding (head off again for that one) or the rod isnt in the top of the tappet properly.

oh and the valve may have got bent!!!!!! so i need to measure the top part of the stem and compare it with the others to check on this.

hopefully it will be done tomorrow, but i have said that for the past 7 weeks.

i wont give up on the her yet as young mr manley reckons his 2lt bay will be faster than the old girl so ive got to see her right to put the cheeky little blighter firmly back in his place.

she's now got a name, well i say name as until she's painted she will remane nameless as "camowagen" doesnt quite fit a white van unless i give it zebra stripes in black.

well she's running again. the push rod wasnt locating in the tappet properly but with a bit of perseverence i managed to get it located properly.

ive driven it to crewe to get wifeys xmas present and managed to get home in one piece.

the only concern now is there was water in the oil. this maybe due to the fact the head was removed and there is a hose on the top end of that head which tipped a lot of water everywhere when it was removed.

i have changed the oil so i will have to keep an eye on it over the next few days.
the upshot of this could be that i will have to pull the engine out and strip the liners out and replace the seals!!

not to worry. i said i wouldnt give up on her.

drove to work and nantwich today

all is well, touch wood.

she's being a good girl upto now. i have used her for general run around duties since my last post and its been quite a pleasure to finally not have to use the bloody bay.
the heater is brilliant and an absolute godsend especially now its getting cold.
puchased a new aerial today and will hopefully be getting the panelling and insulation tomorrow.
paint on saturday, with a trip to hooters o bronzed one!!!

the future is definately brick shaped

oh yes, i'll book the day off

all is still well with the van and its ONLY BLOODY FRIIIIIIIDAAAAAAAY!!

just done a thirty mile round trip to stoke and she ran spot on. its the furthest she's bin to in my ownership.
on the return trip i thought i would open the taps a bit and had the old girl upto 90 uphill!!! god knows what she will do down hill.

the only thing is she may have to be hit with the lowering stick as she's not very stable when you want to get "to and from jobs very quickly".

she really is the flying brick

nemopolo wrote:the only thing is she may have to be hit with the lowering stick

Always a good option

IMHO

Looking and sounding good Nick

just found a full length roofrack, so the bid has gone in and if all goes well it will mean a trip to sheffield on sunday to pick it up!!!!!!!!

dare i drive the van that far?