Bought an older 210 liter compressor from a friend last week, collecting this week. Happy at £100 for it.
Plan is to clean it and service it, then use it to paint the Chevy truck.
Years ago I restored a 1963 VW Beetle from this.....
In other news, I went over to help mate Martin to put up a car port frame yesterday, started at 0,5'C at 08.00 and turned into a good day.
We ended up working till about 19.00 which was about 2 plus hours after dark and then I went back today to help him get the roof on as well.
Bunch of pics of the process.
Front corner post was actually correct.
After dark we carried on with the neighbours spotlight
Today we got half the roof on when rain stopped safe play.
Of course the whole motivation for this roof build is so that Martin can work under some cover over winter prepping his truck.
And that pretty much brought another weekend to an end.
Fetched the compressor last night in mate Jon's VW T5 van.
What a heavy bit of kit, nearly killed the two of us to get it in the van, so we left it in the van last night and tonight after work Jon and Martin, along with myself got it out using a coupleof sections of pipe and a pait of scaffolding boards.
Too dark for pics in its temporary resting place.
So I just took a few pics of the plates on its various parts.
Seems it was built on 12 November 1973, so 40 years old.
1.5 bhp single phase electric motor
Air filter...... Made in England too.
Name says a lot.
Plans include getting some trolley wheels under it, cleanup and repaint, service.
Then use it for painting the truck and other jobs.
Came home from work yesterday and skipped Friday admin, instead choosing to go spend two hours with 6 litres of petrol some brushes and dismantling parts of the compressor.
Started here......
Finished here......
Next up will be some new paint after the prep.
I was up early to get over to Martins today with the truck, to get a 4x8 sheet of MDF and my tall ladder to his place so that we could complete the rest of the carport roof for his truck resto.
It was really great to get the truck back on the road again, its been some time.
Martin's truck earning its keep.
We were done with the roof after dark, and by 5pm I was on the road home again.
Every time I drive my truk it leaves a HUGE SMILE on my face.
The cost of fueling it up, disappears with the sound of that V8 rolling down the road.
Looking forward to the new year and getting the body and paint sorted.
Well, as my buddy Martin is not as much of a reporter as I am, I think this will fit into my thread as he will ultimately be involved in my trucks bodywork as an advisor and trouble shooter (trouble maker)
He has been looking for a V8 engine to go into his truck for quite some time.
Martin's truck is going to be a lot of show and less go as he does not need a 400BHP monster.
He found a seller on Rods n Sods recently who was selling a 307ci motor with auto box for sensible money and decided to drive the 180 miles there to go look at the motor and see it all in the 57 Chevy truck it is in at the moment. The motor and box were from a Chevy Caprice wagon Roger broke a few years ago.
So on Saturday morning, armed with some wood, hammer, nails, tie down straps, overalls, gloves and a bag full of food and coffee,with my trail bike trailer behind his dog walking Mondeo ST estate we set off at 05.40 to drive up to Derbyshire......Heated seats were a bonus.
Stopped after 2 hrs for the loo....
We got to the sellers home at exactly 09.00 and found a real petrol head and his wife living there.
Roger has had some Street Machine featured cars, including a mad Orange SAAB years ago, tubbed and madly modded, which lives in Germany now. He still has a bunch of varied Saab's and is a keen old skool Scooterist with a bunch of stunning Lambretta scooters as well as some projects that are in process.
First to meet us was this Saab pickup, made from a Saab 7 seater estate that he saved years ago and uses as a general runnabout.
Front view.
Chopper in process.
Beauty.
Saab with Ford V4 power. Another one of his winners.
The guy really does love his toys to look good.
And another Saab in process, that will end up like all his other spotless examples...... Leadsled with 3500cc Rover V8 with a blower on top.
Should make for an interesting car.
Having seen and heard to motor run and move under its own power, Martin agreed to buy it.
The deal was good for Martin with the engine and gearbox being unbolted from the truck and sold as it was with all ancillaries including power steering pump etc.
Roger also threw in a pair of Kenlowe fans, a massive radiator with integrated oil cooler, a prop shaft and other bits for the build.
One of the biggest scores of the day was a pair of block hugger headers that Roger gave to Martin along with the motor they were fitted to.
Having all the bits n pieces from its original Smog control still on the carburetor etc, Roger had built from heavily layered glassfibre a nice under bonnet scoop to cover all the unsightly bits and pieces.
From the time we landed Martin could not keep his eyes or hands off this piece that bolts down over everything..... in the end he convinced Roger to sell it to him for £75.00 which I thought was a great price as you could not make it for that money.
Rogers truck.
Clean bay before removing the motor and box, and I have to say, not a mark on any of the paint after all was done and removed.
Time for a change of Face.....
Martin trying so hard not to buy the scoop.....
Ready to rock n roll....
Strapped down, one of the hooks still managed to make a bid for freedom by the time we filled the car a couple of miles later.
The rest of the road trip was filled with talk, driving and eating all the food we had brought alon.
Got to Martins place, moved the truck out the way, unhooked the trailer and stashed it behind the truck.
The engine will go into the garage once he moves his V-Rod to his mums garage and makes space to store the engine till he is ready to fit it.
That's all for now.
Hopefully Martin will pull finger and start his own build thread some time.
Had yesterday and today off as annual leave and today moved a lovely leather clad chair and large foot stool over to my stepson, Tom's father's home for him to put in his bedroom.
The truck obviously did not feel the load.
Tom asked to ride in the back on his new chair, but of course in this day and age it could get you locked up for years..... So when we got there he got to test drive the chair in the back of the truck.
After dropping him and the chair off, Nicola and I went off to Hempstead valley shopping centre for a walk about, and coffee and cake.
She thoroughly enjoys watching people trip over their feet and walk into stuff when the Redneck Express comes by.
Parked to one side of the carpark, as the truck takes up a bit more spae than most modern family cars here.
As always, the smiles per mile ratio far outweighed the miles per gallon delivery.
This truck really is one of the best Bucket list things I have ever done.
Thanks to my wife
Had Martin over for a few hours today, to bring back my bike trailer after unloading his new motor and gearbox into his garage.
We recently took out the one rear indicator unit as he wants to fit recessed indicators as per originals, which his truck does not have. After taking it out, we could not get the light to work again, so after resoldering the wires etc, it turned out the one wire on the switch was loose.
The next job Martin did for me (I made tea and coffee) was to wire in a Beeper into the indicator circuit.
My truck has no indicator stalk on the steering column, having a three position swith under the dash, I have on occasion driven well beyond a turning with the indicator merrily flashing away.
So now it will drive me nuts when I use it, necessitating the fast switching off of it.
The way its fitted, the beeper is now under the dash and muted to a mildly irritating level.
Here is a demo.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MfunOTf ... vG8KEwT5KgOne of the other things we figured out was that my truck must have been a Manual truck at some time in its life before the current incarnation.
We also tested the new compressor to see if it had an auto pressure switch.
Goes to 100psi and then stops filling.
I have still not quite figured out where the pressure goes when the pressure switch goes, as the motor does not stop......:mm:
