Stuff you have fixed today

[Seadog]

After the saga of my very expensive, wrong-sized tyre valves, I got one the correct size. How to fit it? Fortunately the tyre fitters had removed the old one before discovering they didn't have a replacement. They left the tyre off the bead. One of my wood-working cramps came in handy to hold the tyre clear, and I was able to wiggle it in with the aid of my long nose, curved pliers. A bit of MS4 to aid fitting. But how to pull it in. The thread is a weirdo, and the fitting tool is £7. After a little think I remembered the tyre valve thread tool that had been languishing, unloved for over 40 years. Yes, I knew where it was.
Once again, the pliers were the perfect tool pulling in.

This also gave me an excuse to fire up my IR compressor which has not been run for maybe 15 months.
After a liberal dousing around the bead with soapy water, the 120psi soon had the bead reseated and pumped up to pressure.

The jobs a good 'un

 

[DAPPH]

Might be an idea to get a surface plate, spray adhesive a bit of wet and dry to the surface and then you can use that to finish your part off very flat

A granite chopping board or a bit of polished grave stone is much cheaper than a surface plate Even a square of flow made plate glass 1/2 to 3/4 " thick is good too & they can be had very cheaply too

 

[Brad93]

A granite chopping board or a bit of polished grave stone is much cheaper than a surface plate Even a square of flow made plate glass 1/2 to 3/4 " thick is good too & they can be had very cheaply too

I'd be surprised if a chopping board is particularly flat to be honest.

Float Glass is okay for some applications, but it is not stable nor rigid. I watched an old boy at work chase blue islands on a bronze wedge valve for three days before he gave up. He was using a 6mm thick piece of float glass.
The pressure he was exerting blueing the part was flexing the glass.
He was one of those people, you couldn't tell them.
This was prior to me knowing clive and taking his introduction to scraping course.

Depends what you're going for, if i'm talking flatness i'm talking better than 10 microns.

My new surface plate was 3um when new. I suspect it's now probably double that, still shop floor grade.

 

[DAPPH]

My 12x12 "polished granite board seems as though it's flat I can't see light under the precision straight edge no matter which direction I look at it , It's good enough for me as I only work to the nearest foot or so .

 

[Anguz]

My iron surface plate probably hasn't been scraped since it was engraved "steam engine bench" on the side

 

[Brad93]

My 12x12 "polished granite board seems as though it's flat I can't see light under the precision straight edge no matter which direction I look at it , It's good enough for me as I only work to the nearest foot or so .

Generally seeing light between two planes is only accurate to about a thou. Theres actually a colour shift that can be seen due to the diffraction of light through a slit.

So if we said well its flat to a thou, thats 25 microns. Yes probably acceptable as a magic sanding plate (

) for carbs etc.

 

[Keithmac]

We had a glass plate that we used for flatting off warped single cylinder heads.

Anything else goes to the machine shop.

For carb flanges my big file does a very good job, flat enough for a good O ring seal (I added a wipe of Three Bond as well).

Will look into some of the suggestions above.

 

[awemawson]

Some of you might remember that we had an issue back in April with an Audi A4 demolishing our front fence on the A21 and "doing a runner" - but I found him!

Well at last the NFU have extracted the dosh from his insurance company and the fencers have put up the new fence. Now just waiting for the temporary traffic lights to be removed.

It took three days in the end for two blokes. Including "Traffic Management" it cost just shy of £8,000 !

Traffic Management in place

Google Maps says traffic building up nicely

New Fence erected

New Bollards in place

 

[Seadog]

Glad to hear that it's finally resolved, Andrew.

 

[ajlelectronics]

From the "things that bug me" thread... specialist supplied the chassis repair plates which were totally incorrect in shape as well as size. I did some cutting and shutting today and I think that this is what it ought to look like, attached to a new side rail. It is going to be simpler to fit that as one assembly I suspect. Test fitted it with a couple of tacks and it appears to be a reasonable fit. I had my gas backed off to 5 lpm for some reason and I seem to be out of practice! Couldn't find my finger sander either, which would have made it look better.

Welding up can wait for next week I think as I need to prepare the GTC for the show on Sunday.

 

[Memmeddu]

My colleague asked two weeks ago if I could lend him my engine driven welder.
He has to fix his gate in a property in woods, no power over there.
So I propose him to go there together cause my engine driven is completely mechanical, no fancy electronics to control it, an engine and an alternator.
Last time I've used my GenSet she was running poorly and it made me struggle.
So today once back from work I've removed the carb for cleaning, lots of rust powder in it belonging from the tank.
I've cleaned the bowl, the jets, butterfly valves, the internal passages and the venturi tube.
External will stay dirty till I have the time to address the thing properly.
But I've decided to repair the stud's threads.
So used my new to me tap wrench and just because I won't to dig out my drill and tapping box (with the good stuff in it) I've used my cheap sae metric set .
So tapped the holes to M6x1mm no problem.
I've then ruined a stud because I wasn't able to get the die chasing the threads correctly.
And ruined the other one because I didn't think how to loosen the nut once prolonged the threads which go into the carb .
So time for new studs I guessed.
Took two M6 screws but had to cut them to length.
How to clamp them in the vice?
I've had little bit of brainstorming as I didn't have a nut long enough to use another screw to keep it still .
And broken a die too because I have to buy expensive stuff and not be cheap buying cheap sets .
So I've took a nut and splitted with an hacksaw.
Cleaned the threads put the screw in and tightened the nut in the vice.
It worked very well the nut clamped onto the screws without ruining the threads.
Again hacksaw, cut to length.
Unscrew little bit, champhered the edge with a file stroking anticlockwise around the threads.
Did it twice...
Cleaned them up with the die.
Loctite on the stud, Loctite in the threaded hole, screwed the stud in and tightened them up.
Anyways here the results.
I'll let the Loctite cure over night and hopefully tomorrow after work in the evening I'll be able to put it back together and test the welder if it solved the problem as it most likely had an air leak because of those studs

 

[DAPPH]

My colleague asked two weeks ago if I could lend him my engine driven welder.
He has to fix his gate in a property in woods, no power over there.
So I propose him to go there together cause my engine driven is completely mechanical, no fancy electronics to control it, an engine and an alternator.
Last time I've used my GenSet she was running poorly and it made me struggle.
So today once back from work I've removed the carb for cleaning, lots of rust powder in it belonging from the tank.
I've cleaned the bowl, the jets, butterfly valves, the internal passages and the venturi tube.
External will stay dirty till I have the time to address the thing properly.
But I've decided to repair the stud's threads.
So used my new to me tap wrench and just because I won't to dig out my drill and tapping box (with the good stuff in it) I've used my cheap sae metric set .
So tapped the holes to M6x1mm no problem.
I've then ruined a stud because I wasn't able to get the die chasing the threads correctly.
And ruined the other one because I didn't think how to loosen the nut once prolonged the threads which go into the carb .
So time for new studs I guessed.
Took two M6 screws but had to cut them to length.
How to clamp them in the vice?
I've had little bit of brainstorming as I didn't have a nut long enough to use another screw to keep it still .
And broken a die too because I have to buy expensive stuff and not be cheap buying cheap sets .
So I've took a nut and splitted with an hacksaw.
Cleaned the threads put the screw in and tightened the nut in the vice.
It worked very well the nut clamped onto the screws without ruining the threads.
Again hacksaw, cut to length.
Unscrew little bit, champhered the edge with a file stroking anticlockwise around the threads.
Did it twice...
Cleaned them up with the die.
Loctite on the stud, Loctite in the threaded hole, screwed the stud in and tightened them up.
Anyways here the results.
I'll let the Loctite cure over night and hopefully tomorrow after work in the evening I'll be able to put it back together and test the welder if it solved the problem as it most likely had an air leak because of those studs
View attachment 463053

Next time you want to cut a stud off a long threaded bolt . all thread rod or a long screw , fill the thread you want keeping with nuts and lock nut the end nuts to the next flat so all flats align then pop it in the vice & use an angle grinder or hack saw to cut it . Insert studs using the same lock nut method .

 

[GRW]

I've replaced the rear discs, pads & Calipers today on the camper. Not too bad a job really.
I think I should replace the handbrake cables too - they weren't seized, but weren't as free moving as I think they should be.

 

[qwakers]

finally getting round to finishing the doors.. the last job(bar stronger hinges... ill get to that later) is to sort out the trim round the outside.

cut, mitred, attached in final position

corners tack welded

welded and painted the back side in primer.

now just need to topcoat the back side, then reattach the frames, weld them to the doors and paint the front side.

 

[Gragson]

Not really fixed, just put some new castors on this Sealy stool.

Cheap at £12 but a fair bit better than the originals, came with half decent hardware and really flat spanners for access which I will be keeping, didn't expect that.



New seat pad on order as original has gone paper thin.
The frame and height adjustment are pretty good, but let down by cheap bits.

Fair bit of a misnomer this Sealy "premier industrial" or maybe my arris is in another league...

 

[qwakers]

and inside enblackened...

 

[GRW]

and inside enblackened...

Cor you've got a proper pit in a big garage & everything - very nice!

 

[qwakers]

it was a lot of work but soooo worth it.

back to the doors....

not my best bit of welding, wrong gauge wire for metal thickness and awkward angles, but got the frame welded to the door.

just needs paint.

 

[Arc Tourist]

Couldn't wait weeks for an appointment, so I recently superglued a splintered tooth, and its still holding up well today.

 

[awemawson]

1974 Ford 4000 Tractor: New Hubs, Bearings, Sleeve Bearings and Thrust races and Track Rod and new Track Rod Ends.

This fought me the whole way, from finding the parts (this surprised me) to dismantling and re-mantling it was quite a struggle. Getting the spindle bearing sleeve out was a right pain until my die grinder came to my aid neatly weakened the bushes until thy would drive out.

New shiny bits:

I'd started off intending to just change the spindle thrust races and sleeve bearing bushes but it was apparent much more needed attention.

The track rod tube that has the track rod ends fixed into it has obviously been severely bent and a crude angle iron repair added. I've had this tractor for a good ten years and never noticed, as the bent bit of the rod goes through the tombstone that the axle pivots on so is obscured !

I was utterly knackered in the end, and only restored by Ibuprofen and two cans of Old Speckled Hen.