Day 61 - 28 Chev Ute Restoration (31st October 2015)

Progress was a bit slow today, but moving forward all the same.

Preparing front wheel brake backing plates, and steering linkages, before they are painted tomorrow, weather permitting

Luckily I had a good tie rod or two in the spares cupboard

Tie rod ends

Steering box to chassis housing

Had to replace 2 of the 3 knuckles on the steering arms, which involved a lot of drilling, banging, and peening the end over.

The bolts that attach the brake backing plates and the steering arms.

Day 60 - 28 Chev Ute Restoration (29th October 2015)

Good progress today.

We now have front springs, rear springs and front axle fitted.

Day 59 - 28 Chev Ute Restoration (28th October 2015)

Its alive, its on wheels, it moves, and it crashes

Day 58 - 28 Chev Ute Restoration (27th October 2015)

Yahoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For the first time in over 4 months the chassis has escaped from the rotisserie and is bolted down to a custom table while I fit the front and rear axles.

Really starting to enjoy this restoration now.

Day 57 - 28 Chev Ute Restoration (26th October 2015)

May not be everyone's cup of tea, but for me, nothing looks better or highlights the restoration more than several coats of full gloss black enamel.

Next job will be to knock up a timber frame to support the chassis while the front and rear ends are fitted.

Hmm, got a run there, will have to rub that back later on.

Day 56 - 28 Chev Ute Restoration (25th October 2015)

Getting to the exciting stage now.

Front springs assembled, Rear springs assembled, just require a few bolts trimmed, and a final coat of full gloss black. If the weather is good, will be done in the next day or so.

And at last I can start preparing some ubolts, shackle plates and other bits and pieces for putting the front end back on to the chassis.

Day 55 - 28 Chev Ute Restoration (24th October 2015)

Perfect weather today to spray final coat on the chassis, front end and also the front spring leaves prior to assembly.

Getting closer to putting this thing back together.

 

 

Whats wrong with this picture

Ah Yes, its the down draft Holden (GM) carby, everything else looks normal to me!!

Day 54 - 28 Chev Ute Restoration (23rd October 2015)

Today I managed to get the front end and front springs sprayed in primer, and will spray a top coat of full gloss black tomorrow, weather permitting.

Day 53 - 28 Chev Ute Restoration (20th October 2015)

A couple of hours work and now the front springs are ready for a coat of primer.

The loose rivets on the U brackets of number 4 spring leaf were replaced by using 10mm coach head bolts, cut about 3/16 " longer than the depth of the bracket and spring leaf combined, then peened over (that's fancy for beaten within a inch of its life) and ground back to a smooth surface. The shoulders under the coach bolt head did not need to be removed as they were a perfect hit fit into the existing hole in the bracket.

The brown line indicates where the bolt will be cut down too.

This picture shows the flared out hole in the spring leaf that the peened bolt will be forced into

All done and looking very smart with a coat of primer

 

The next job will be painting the complete 2 front springs in primer then full gloss black top coat

Day 52 - 28 Chev Ute Restoration (19th October 2015)

Sometimes progress can be slow, but it needs to be thorough, and this is one of those times.

No 4 spring leaves (front) have a u shape clamp riveted at each end to hold the first 4 leaves together.

On both spring all four clamps were loose, and not useable as is. The only thing to do was drill out the rivets, go through all 7 u clamps that I had to pick out the best 4 to refit with new rivets.

Next job will be to source a bolt that fits the hole with minimal clearance and turn them into rivets.

Day 51 - 28 Chev Ute Restoration (18th October 2015)

Even on days that I haven't planned a lot, just getting a few small jobs knocked off is very satisfying.

Today in a few hours I fitted new bushes to the front springs, cleaned off the surface coating of Rust Buster in preparation for painting. During this process I discovered the brackets on no 4 leaf are loose and will require further attention, which will delay the painting of the front springs by a few days.

A few pictures are below.

Replacement bushes for the front and rear springs are 9/16" ID x 3/4" OD x 1 3/4" length.

Whether you press the bushes in or open up the eye slightly with a screw driver then tap them in with a plastic mallet, the key point is not to damage the end of the bush by using a hammer or such.

 On both springs the outer brackets, the ones with the holes are all loose on the rivet, and will require attention.

Day 50 - 28 Chev Ute Restoration (17th October 2015)

Preparing a set of rear springs for painting was the last of the countless hours of rust grinding and wire brushing that has become part of my life for the last 4 months.  A Last!!!

The new few jobs will be painting, the final coat on the chassis, then the springs, then the front axle, and then we start putting the thing back together, clean and painted bit by bit.

Rear springs on the right, and a collection of front springs on the left, still with a surface coating of Rust Buster.

Pretty good metal after 87 years, just a bit of pitting here and there

Front springs, actually 4, which will give me enough to choose from to make a good set.

Day 49- 28 Chev Ute Restoration (14th October 2015)

The spraying of the final few coats of full gloss black got off to a bad start, 5 minutes in the spray gun broke. Don't know why, have only had it for about 18 years.

Off to the shops and an hour later we are back in action, and all ended well.

Two coats applied to get coverage, could have left it at that, but........... will give it 1 more coat at low pressure to put a good shine to it. Yes I know most of it will never be seen, but I will be happy.

Day 48 - 28 Chev Ute Restoration (11th October 2015)

Change of plan today, as the weather didn't look right for painting the final full gloss black top coat, and having it bloom in the humidity was not on my agenda.

There was still plenty to do, and the day turned out very productive.

I gave the primer surface on the chassis a rub down with some wet and dry, what a strange feeling taking hose and water to something that 48 hours earlier was raw steel, and over the last 2 months any thing that looked like rust had been removed.

Next up was unloading the parts below from the molasses tank and reloading a fresh lot for 2-3 weeks of soaking.

A set of spare wooden spoke wheel fellows for the Red Chev, or? 

Some very nice disc wheels for the ute

A last of all a few rims