On Thu, 23 Jul 2015 20:01:40 -0700, Larry Jaques
wrote:
On Thu, 23 Jul 2015 21:28:27 -0400, wrote:
On Thu, 23 Jul 2015 17:37:03 -0700, Larry Jaques
wrote:
Sounds like that was a real joy to perform. Ugh!
You do a lot of strange things when there is no other alternative.
That drum took almost 2 hours of hack-sawing and chipping to get it to
fit - on a Sunday afternoon about half way between Choma (the new
capital of southern province) and Macha (home of the Macha Research
Trust and Malaria Institute).
Lovely.
I also made an "exhaust system" for it out of copper plumbing
fittings, Land Rover driveshaft, and a gas filler.
Now _that_ is an odd combination. g
It was apparently an old WW2 Kubelwagen engine - 985CC FMCV1 and 10
taxable HP - NO parts available to replace the (at that time) 25 year
old. There were not supposed to be any in civilian production, but the
muffler from the 1100 and 1200 cc engines wouldn't fit - and even they
were virtually unavailable.
The vehicle was registered in Zambia as a 1949, but may well have been
produced earlier than that. The fact that it originally had 4.5X16
tires would indicate production before 1946 - and the FMCV1 would
indicate 1943 or earlier ---as the 1100 cc engine came out in early
1944.
It also had a magnesium trans case - 1949 had Elektron Alloy, and it
had no cable bonnet release - also a 1949 innovation., and the brake
drums were modified in 1948 ---
Mine had the old brake drums, the 4X16 rims, no internal hood/bonnet
release, Magnesium cased "crash box" transmission,FMCV1 985cc engine,
- all signs of pre-1949 production - and actually pointing towards
1946 mechanicals - - - - -
But it had the wolfsburg crest on the bonnet and the 1949 style
speedometer - so who knows what it REALLY was - and it could have been
parts of several vehicles by the time I got it with who knows how many
owners before me - the last being a south-african "coloured" VW
mechanic.
Had a Peugeot 204 and the engine mount let go - making it impossible
to shift gears (4 on the tree) so I welded up a solid mount to stay
mobile until I could get a new rubber one shipped in.
It was involved in a rather major colission - T-boned a Datsun 1200
and shortend the car 4 inches and swayed the front end almost 10
I'll bet she was a doglegging bitch after that. bseg I saw a truck
with no rubber in the eye of a leaf once, and he had about 1 foot of
dogleg. 'Twas a wrecking yard parts retreiver truck; no big deal.
inches - would never have even THOUGHT about repairing it here - I
pulled and hammered it back into shape without replacing a single part
other than the battery.
Not safe, but runnable, eh?
The battery in the VW died - and it was over a month's wages for a
new battery. I jury rigged a Land Rover crank and crank-nut to the end
of the crankshaft and hand cranked it for months until the battery in
the big Leland Lorry died - one bad cell, second from the negative
end. I hacksawed off the neg post, drilled it and screwed it to the
intercell link in the middle of the battery, pulled ou the back seat,
and threw it in.
Heh heh heh.
We had a land rover that put a rod through the block. We bored it out,
machined down a fergusson tractor sleeve and shrink-fit it in - then
finish bored it to fit the original piston. With a cube of rad-sealer
it sealed up perfectly
Those are some heavy duty repairs. No parts but a full machine shop?
You were lucky.
Among a lot of other crazy things.
I helped a lady with her Buick or some odd GM veHICKle one time. She
was in the parking lot at the grocery store and I was coming home from
work wrenching, so I was still stinky. Several people were standing
around, trying to help, so I put my bags of groceries in the car and
walked over. Her shifter was loose, with no feeling of detents. I put
it in park, crawled under the car with my trusty Mac4, and fixed it
for her. The shift linkage had come loose from the auto trans lever
on the tranny, and the interlock was moved by said lever, so nothing
happened when she tried to start it. I think that was the first time
in public I'd heard applause for a quick fix. I was probably still a
deep shade of maroon when I got in my car and left.
Mac4 = MAC 4" crescent wrench which had been ground to rotate farther
open until it could handle a 9/16" nut or bolt. I've had her for over
40 years now. VERY handy in so many tight places.