Bedford TK

[mylesdw]

A few readers were worried about the state of the air tanks on an old truck like this - that they may be badly rusted inside and unsafe. So i bought a cheap USB endoscope on fleabay




I could then inspect the inside of the tanks. The image quality is not great and what makes the camera hard to use is that there is a time lag of several seconds for the images displayed on the attached laptop.

It was good enough to see that the innards where not badly corroded - some surface rust and a fair amount of black gunge

 

[mylesdw]

I have started to replace the air pipes. The first section runs from the compressor to the small condensate tank behind the front bumper.

The pipe from the compressor is deliberately long; it runs all the way round the back of the engine, through a hose to the offside chassis rail and back across the front cross-member. This is to allow the air to cool as much as possible before it reaches the tank. I reused the first three metres of so of steel pipe (with a coat of paint) because this can easily withstand the heat. Nylon pipe would not be suitable for this.

The steel pipe ends at a non-return valve behind the front cross-member.





I replaced the valve innards





The original steel pipe to the tank looks like this





Somewhat rusty and because I had moved the pipework to clear the new clutch master cylinder it didn't fit any more. So I replaced it with 5/8" nylon.






The ends used a 3/4" UNF thread and sealed with brass olives. I was able to reuse the tube nuts and just added new olives and an inner sleeve to support the nylon






I also refitted the safety valve and a schrader valve which I assume allows the system to be pressurised externally; that could be useful for leak testing.






Finally a nice new automatic drain valve. The old one clearly was not working because the tank was half full of water when I took it off.

 

[mylesdw]

Starting to replace the air pipes I need first to get all the relevant parts back onto the chassis. This is a double change over valve (COV) that allows one of three air supplies to release the spring brake on the back axle.




Originally it was mounted on solid air pipes in the nearside chassis rail






But since I am using mostly nylon pipes now it needed a something solid to mount it






So I made up a little bracket in 3mm steel.






Should do the job!

 

[mylesdw]

Long weekend here in NZ and the weather was nice so got on with few odds and sods

Brake foot valve in place with push rod and relay from the pedal. Also starting to get the new 3/8" nylon air pipes in place: replacing the old metal lines

 

[mylesdw]

The master cylinder was quite worn so a local brake place rebuilt it including a stainless steel sleeve. I had already sourced the two new reservoirs off fleabay. They also tested the servo and said it was fine, so a coat of paint for that.

 

[mylesdw]

Most of the brake hydraulic lines back in. They were in much better condition than I had expected. A quick clean with a wire wheel and there was little or no corrosion.

 

[mylesdw]

OK wise forumites, a question for the panel...

How are you meant to insert this type of bush?


Fairly soft rubber with a steel inner. This is the gearbox mount; two are located in holes above the belhousing


I pulled them into place with a big bolt and some spacers. It went in easily until it stops because one end deforms enough to stop it going any further into the hole. It sort of bulges out both sides


There's about 2-3mm more on one side than the other but does that really matter?

 

[Seadog]

OK wise forumites, a question for the panel...

How are you meant to insert this type of bush?

View attachment 74126
Fairly soft rubber with a steel inner. This is the gearbox mount; two are located in holes above the belhousing

View attachment 74125
I pulled them into place with a big bolt and some spacers. It went in easily until it stops because one end deforms enough to stop it going any further into the hole. It sort of bulges out both sides

View attachment 74124
There's about 2-3mm more on one side than the other but does that really matter?

I'd guess that the factory would have a sleeve with a slightly tapered bore. Lube the rubber with rubber grease and push in. The Norton Commando isolastic anti-vibration system, on the engine cradle, had bushes a lot more fiddly than yours and sold a service tool with tapered bore to enable assembly.

 

[awemawson]

Would putting them in the freezer over night maybe help? Certainly make them more rigid, not sure how much rubber shrinks with coolth.

 

[p0689109]

The third photo looks like the rubber just needs teasing out so that it looks like the one that has. Is that how you want it to be and if so cant you just tease it out with a thin blade with plenty of silicone grease?

 

[mylesdw]

For the next attempt I make a tapered sleeve (on the right) to stop the bush spreading before it reaches home



This worked better but not perfectly because the tapered sleeve gets pushed off by the rubber in the last 1/2" or so

 

[mylesdw]

For the installer MK III I welded the tapered sleeve to a plate so that it could be clamped in place. This and plenty of silicone grease worked well.

These are the bits that form the installer



and the bushes in place in the rear engine hangers. They need to project about 10mm at either end.

 

[Robotstar5]

For the installer MK III I welded the tapered sleeve to a plate so that it could be clamped in place. This and plenty of silicone grease worked well.

View attachment 76335

View attachment 76336

These are the bits that form the installer

View attachment 76337

and the bushes in place in the rear engine hangers. They need to project about 10mm at either end.

View attachment 76338

At last

 

[jpmillermatic]

wow, way to see it through...thats good determination.

JP

 

[mylesdw]

Re-bushed and reassembled the handbrake bell-cranks (after blasting and a coat of paint)



I cleaned up the bore with 120 grit, put a slight bevel on the bush with the bench grinder and lubed with silicone grease



Then tapped in (gently) place with a hide mallet; I don't have a press. The new bushes are plastic rather than the old ones which were fibre. The bushes are the same as the pedal bushes



Then assembled on the bracket attached to the diff. New spring brake from fleabay. The rear bell-crank is an equaliser - it 'floats' in a slot so that the left and right brakes are balanced.

 

[mylesdw]

Gave the engine a good clean up

and refit the rear engine mounts and crossmember



Quite a fiddle because the whole thing is asymmetrical - the engine does not sit centrally between the chassis rails so the holes are offset and the two cast hangers are not mirror images. Basically you assemble it all into the cross-member and and drop it onto the engine last.

 

[mylesdw]

Oh Yes! Engine back in (with the help of my neighbour and a decent size loader)



Quite a jiggle getting the whole thing in place. The cross-member mounts on the chassis mean that you can't just drop the whole thing straight down - it has to be slid back to clear the bell-housing and clutch release arm.

 

[Mark E]

That feeling is so satisfying. Congratulations!

I am a little surprised you didn't paint the engine after all the other fine work! Then again, you're actually making progress so it's probably the right call!

Happy New Year!

 

[mylesdw]

I was very tempted to paint the engine but it would have needed a whole lot of dismantling, particularly you would have to remove the compressor and injection pump. The engine is (I believe) in good shape and it cleaned up quite reasonably so I left it alone. Much of the travelling we do here in the South Island is on gravel roads (unsealed) so everything gets filthy pretty much straight away so any painting I do underneath is really for corrosion resistance rather than looks.

Happy New Year 2U2

 

[mylesdw]

With the engine in I've started replacing the air lines. I am replacing the old steel pipes and flared fittings with modern nylon : much more compact and easy to maintain.

The bulkhead fitting where the airline passes through the chassis to the brake servo was replaced with this. I included the brake light switch here too because the original was supported by the steel pipework. The bulkhead fitting itself is neat - it has a push-fit for nylon pipe on one side and NPT threads on the other. Would you believe that part came from Amazon!



Bolted through the chassis it looks like this



and the pipes to the servo just plug in



Here is the back of it, inside the chassis rail -



This area was a small forest of steel pipes before; now it will have four nylon pipes bunched together with clips and ties. The brake-light switch is well protected here.

I also plumbed up the foot brake valve



The plastic blocks are the originals reused. Nylon also allows you to colour code the lines. Here black is the primary circuit and red the secondary