September 2005
| Not very exciting stuff I know, but to me, the interesting aspect is to see if my efforts in re aligning the chassis was worth it. This is when I place the body back on to see how much has altered from before. |
| The door gap on the affected side turned out to be just about perfect after I packed it. I placed bolts in all mounting points and tightened them up. The next pic shows what used to be under the "B" pillar to get the door aligned compared to what is under it now. I could have just used a single plate but I have now also used one packing plate under the front of the cowl brackets. This is so I can gain a bit of adjustment for the bonnet and side skirts. The way it was, there was no room to fiddle the gaps. Now I have some. The driver's side also has the same amount of packing, so the verdict is, my efforts weren't in vain. |
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| I made a mud map of the body mounting points and numbered each one. As I removed the packing from under each point, I attached a tie label and marked the position it came from. The theory is, when I go to assemble the body for the last time, it will make the job a breeze. ( note, I said theory ). The next pic is the body on the dolly again and wheeled outside. For the next few months it will keep the dust of my lawn mower. |
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| Finally, I can get onto something new. I dragged the diff out of hiding. The first thing I done was to cut the saddles off. The reason being is they are now in the wrong position and I also want to make 2" taller ones so I don't need to use lowering blocks. Next weekend I will make a trip to my steel supplier and get the necessary sheet steel to make them. I have also ordered new drums, wheel cylinders and brake shoes. |
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| I got as far as attaching the rear springs
at the front and wheeled the diff under the chassis.
I made a trek to my local steel merchants and got hold of some 5mm thick plate. I thought I would show to process in detail of the construction. In the pic is the original saddle which is 3/4' high. I wanted an extra 2" so I calculated the distance between to 3 x 3"holes taking into consideration the width of the saddle and the 3/4" as well. |
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| I marked all necessary cuts I needed to perform. Once I cut them out with the Henrob, I scribed two deep cuts with a 1mm cutting disk. I then bevelled them to 45 degrees |
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| I then heated the plates on the scribe lines and bent to 90 degrees. I cut out end plates and arc welded them in after I welded the fold areas. I used a small hole saw for the centre locating hole. |
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| I could have just used lowering blocks, but I knew after seeing this under another 37, that it was the way I wanted to go. It is a lot neater and stronger than normal saddles. |
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