captain_70s

Webastos are a shit compromise. Buy a convertible.

They are lovely cars to drive considering they're mid 1960s tech. Countered by the monocoque being one huge rust trap and the drivetrain being subpar in terms of longevity. Hopefully we can get this and the Doloshite together at some point and compare the Tolly to its nearly identical successor...

You've got an honest little motor there!

Magnets have been flung around with gay abandon in the usual grot spots but you never really know until the sanding discs are flying... The outer arch was known to be fucked, but the O/S seems to be in the worst condition. We expected some localised grot in the wheelarches at the sill end where they often get plated and along the outside lip, but to find the whole thing is utterly shot was a surprise! They rarely rot that badly, it's mostly because it's all been plastered in filler and been allowed to rot behind the scenes. I know that the argument is "if those repairs weren't done the car would never have survived", but for the amount of time/effort/materials that have been spent bodging it and in turn making any future repairs a nightmare a decent job could have been done in the first place...

So, me, @GingerNuttz, @davidfowler2000 and @jaypee were involved with Dolly related shenanigans this weekend. One major goal was to finish assembling the engine and shove it in the car so it could be sealed up away from grinding dust etc. You know your car is high tech when it features wooden sealing blocks in the engine... Mission accomplished! Big thanks to the whole crew for the aid in fitting it. The whole engine was lifted into the car and installed by hand because building the crane seemed like a faff... More digging in the bodywork occurred and bad things have been found. So, the tail end of the sill was at least three patches deep, with another underneath and one around the back. The inner arch also had several layers of "repairs". The arch under the riveted repair panel was even worse than the other side. Further prodding revealed... The entire inner arch was crafted out of filler, over the untreated rust metal, it'd then been undersealed. It mostly pulled apart by hand... The entire inner arch will need replacing, the top of the sill and the door jam above the wheel can go back in but were removed for access. The rear inner sill and reinforcing panel were both remade and welded in in an attempt to give the car some structural integrity before the door jam was cut away. Oh, the boot floor is also fillered, and sections of the trailing edge of the arch seemed to be entirely made of weld... You can't get panels for the inner arches, we considered buying something similar for another, more popular car, but they're mega money. I also really need another wheelarch repair panel for this side, naturally there are currently none for sale, regardless of price. Every "repair" that has been carried out on this car has worsened it's condition to the extent it is now well beyond the point where anybody would bother saving it. Especially as it's a sub-Sprint car, the man hours involved will lead to resto costing several times the car's end value. Naturally work shall be continuing onwards despite the fact we never expected the car to be this bad...

The Dolly has a drain hole under the fuel tank, it's rotted it's own hole about an inch to the side. Charming.

If done on purpose it's called a drain, as I recall.

I struggle to see how entire missing panels wouldn't be considered "body or cab security is significantly reduced", especially given how all the material that supports the roof is P38. I know there is a beam of sorts bolted in to stop it from flexing but really? While the boot floor panel probably isn't structural it's fairly obvious water has been pissing in and sitting in there long enough to turn it all to cornflakes and the panels below will be structural and are holding in the fuel tank. How shagged are they? Has anybody actually gone underneath and given it a prod? In much the same way the huge amount of filler stuck into the car when it was initially "restored" has only caused water to get trapped and make a mess the current generation of repairs are going to do the same. I struggle to see why this is being carried out when the potential of welding it was open and offered free of charge. The amount of time/effort/money that is being put into this is all in being put into repairs that are going to start cracking and bubbling in 12 months....

Already put to good use.

The bike is a classic case of "always stored indoors never been out in the rain". Nice repair job.

Well, you fucking washed it didn't you?

YES. I recall a buyer's guide for these in PC about adecade ago saying they were regarded as quite smooth for their time. I can't imagine parts supply is up to much though!

Back at it today. Timing chain is back on and in the correct place. It was at this point we realised that the oil flinging washer from the Dolomite wouldn't fit this application because it's for the larger diameter crank... This was a "FOR FUCKSAKE" moment. Especially as I HAVE one the right size, on the engine in my basement. I just retrieved that tonight but won't be back at the car until next weekend. The timing cover was also sandblasted/wirewheeled and painted. The sump was cleaned and painted. The thrust washers being 15 thou over is a concern in combination with the crank end float being so close to tolerance. The thrust washers are half moon shaped and sit on top of the crank at the end cap and take up the fore/aft slop in the crank, they can also prove to be a major Achilles' heel. They are intended to be a sacrificial wear item and as the gap increases will wear faster and faster, it isn't unheard of for these to work loose when towards the top end of the tolerance and to simply drop into the sump with catastrophic results for the bearings and crank surfaces. Given the slop is already quite high and the washers are the largest currently available I'm going to have a 20 thou washer custom made. A minor expense that will allow the whole enterprise to last longer and minimise the risk of thrust washers making a bid for freedom - Especially with me doing city driving and using the clutch a lot. The replacement engine is already machined to the maximum degree so any damage/wear would essentially render it irreparable. I'm aiming for 60-80k of careful use, if it throws a thrust bearing at 6,000 miles and lunches the crank I'll not be impressed for the cost of a £30 part!🤣 With the engine at a standstill awaiting parts we turned our attentions back to bodywork. In particular the bottom edge of the front wings are crusty... Cut away the bottom of the wing. Traditional end of sill rust. I cut another hole in the sill a bit further along to see the extent of the damage. Fucker's mint inside! The only major rot is the outer at the bottom where it joins the inner. The jacking point however was fucked. These are a vertical box section with a plate at the bottom and they always catch mud and rot out. More wing was cut away to get at it... At the right side of this picture you can see two remaining sides of the box section jacking point. The other two were torn off largely by hand! There had already been a plate welded in to the leading edge of the inner arch, that was all cut out as well - Quite an impressive pile of bits. We started making various bits for the jacking point and sills out of 2mm galv steel. The galvanisation proved such a fucker to weld to we resorted to grinding it all off. 🤣 We're also going to make everything in duplicate, because the other side will be just as bad... While down there @GingerNuttz let out a cry of "whaaaaaaat the fuck?" and pointed along to the sill repair I paid the local garage to do 3 years ago. So, it appears that's a sheet of steel wrapped over the original sill, except at the wheel arch end where they've had to lop it off and stick in a flat plate, it's then all been smothered in filler. I dug out the receipt for a laugh. £220. So we'll need two full outer sills. I looked up the price of the TDC panels and reeled off the prices to @GingerNuttz who made dismissive noises and threatened to go into the business of making them by hand while under-cutting the TDC and still making fat stacks. This was the first day I've actually cut any bits off the car or made up any bits to go on it. It'll not be the last...

Lanchester LD10 A rare old beast, I don't think I've ever seen one.

Just realised I forgot the best picture! The Dolly's old sump has been marinating in petrol for the last fortnight to shift the sludge. Result being the oil can be wiped away leaving the metally goodness behind... The good news is we have enough material in there to melt down and make a new oversize thrust washer.