Bulkhead

 What to do with the body and in particular the bulkhead?  My plan was to do only what needed to be done to the body to keep it functioning properly, and not mess with the patina.  That said, the left side A pillar has a rust hole and a dent which needs to be fixed.  After much deliberation I’ve decided to strip the bulkhead before getting that fixed.  This is a serious new “rabbit hole” I’m headed down; a lot of disassembly (and later reassembly) with a lot of chance to break things.  On the upside I can refurb the steering box while I have it off and clean/paint the peddle boxes, and give the engine side of the bulkhead a good cleaning.

I did hit my first snag though; what should have been a straight forward job of removing the steering are has not been.  Even though I have a great puller that has never before failed me, it is not popping off this arm.  After a lot of work I sprayed it down with PB Blaster and left it with max force on it.  Maybe it will pop itself over night.

No luck getting that arm off.  I could put a torch to it but I decided to just remove the complete bracket from the bulkhead and the. I can remove the steering box form the 2 brackets without removing the arm.  Seems like if I can avoid a possible deeper problem I might as well.  Besides, if I'm going to work on the bulkhead it all comes off anyway and while I have it off I'll clean and paint.

I took the cover off the steering box and everything looks good in there so I just put it back together with a new gasket and new gear oil.  When the bulkhead is ready I'll just put it back on in reverse order.

I've removed the pedal boxes (will clean and paint) and the throttle linkage. Next I will remove the clutch and brake lines and then pull out the dash and electrical parts from the other side.

Here is the bulkhead, stripped and ready to have the A-pillar replaced.  I'm going to take it to a guy named Earl that Les Parker knows and used to replace his A-pillars on his D90.

U-Bolts

 5/16/2023

U-Bolts Should be an easy job right?

I had ordered new U-bolts all around.  The u-bolts come as 7/16” for the front (3 short and one long for the short side of the differential.  The back are 4 x 12mm.  Close to 7/16 but not the same and the nuts are of course not interchangeable.  

They come with nylon nuts (no washers) and the first thing I noticed was that the nuts were a sloppy fit.

After putting all of the on and hand tightening is proceeded to torque to the book specified 58 ft lbs.  Around 45lb a front bolts stripped.  Same thing with a rear bolt (which i thought might be heavier).

In my research on FB Series pages I found that this is a common problem, know by both users and the suppliers the complain to.  Most suggest gong to a local spring shop to have them made.  Some suggested grade 8, but after visiting a local spring shop and checking with U-bolt distributors on line, I found that all the 7/16” bolts are Grade 5 and torqued at 45lb.  So unless NOS bolts can be found I think the 58lb torque is out of the question.

No one that I’ve found offers Grade 8 U-bolts until you get the the 1/2” size (70 lb torque) but of course the LR spring base plates are drilled for 7/16”.

I am fine with a 45lb limit but I don’t understand why the sellers of these (India made, under whatever brand= Britpart, Bearmach, Proline) knowing that there will be an issue, don’t specify the 45lb limit when they sell you the U-bolts. It would save them a lot of grief.  RN (Proline) did not give me any push back and refunded my money for all of them (one of the reasons I like dealing with them).

Although, knowing what I know now I would use the supplied bolts with a 45lb torque, I’m going to have some made, maybe use grade 8 nuts.

Update: 7/16” U-bolts with long nuts supplied by Tampa Spring, located at 710 Combee Rd, Lakeland, FL

45lb torque spec with washer and lock washer on each and the long nuts which hold more thread.

I torqued them to 20lb and will finish the torque later after I have full eight on the springs and they have a chance to settle out.

Brakes

 5/7/2023

Beside the actual brakes (which are done), there are brake lines to run and the master cylinder to install.

I purchased brake lines, already fitted with fitting, from Rovers North because I thought it might cut down on the confusion of having the right fitting to go with the rest of my set-up.  The lines came rolled in 6” circles and so need to be straightened before I can fit and bend accordingly.  These line are the black nickel and not pliable like the copper lines.  I needed to purchase a line straightener, but most available do not clamp into the line (rather feed the raw tube in one end) so I can’t use them with fittings already on.  I purchased the tool pictured below and used it today with what I think is pretty good success.  Here are some pics,

One thing I learned about fitting the brake lines was that if they are pre-made lines, you have to make all the same bends like the manufacturer envisioned or else you will come out long or short at the far end.  I have always built line from scratch; start at one end, make your bends and when your ge to the other end add the fitting.  I bought pre-made lines from RN and fund a couple to be. Couple inches too long, which I was able to get past with some creative bending.  But I had one that was 10” too short; I used the same bends as was original to my truck but apparently the company that built the lines had a different routing in mind.  This required me to build a 10” extension piece.  The lines on the truck did have one extension/union in one of the lines and it was made using compression fitting which is Not RL and not ideal.  More evidence that this truck was not as “unmolested’ as I had been told; but I guess I should not have believed that anyway as it just doesn’t make send on a 55 year old vehicle.

This is how the rear came out.

Assembly

 Today is 5/6/2023 and I am just starting to put the rolling chassis back together but I came up short of the U-bolts I need so I'm also working on other things that need done.  I always have several things going on at the same time; today I have a engine going back together, a transmission done and waiting, fuel injectors disassembled and cleaned (waiting for a injector “pop tester” to come) so I can check them before I install them.

I was able to get the springs on and the axles in place on the springs but now I’m waiting on some new nuts for the U-bolts. I fitted the springs first and was able to jockey the rear axle into place, but there wasn’t enough space to do the same on the front, so I had to drop the front of the front springs, then put the axle in place and then lift the springs back into place.

All of that done using the hoist and crane.  It would have been impossible to do by myself otherwise.