Has anyone had a lorry transported? Is it hi - NOW BODGE 50 HORSEBO11OX THREAD (Now with added turtles)

[wuvvum]

Wobbler picked up his Invacar in a 7.5-tonner so I assume so.

[dollywobbler]

Yo wobbler! Can you drive over 3.5T vehicles? You’re welcome to come and give this thing a razz* when its MOT’d if that’s of interest. It is ace fun to drive believe it or not. You’ll have to shout though!!!

 

Offer accepted!

[LightBulbFun]

That horse! I can decide whether it's the greatest or shittest thing ever.

 

Fantastic work. Makes me want to practice welding.

 

I hope it stays 

[Mr_Bo11ox]

A breif horsebo11ox news update...

Bet you think I've got this thing through its MOT and have been smoking it back and forth to work right? WRONG

So last time I had it all back together and just had to grease the LH kingpin and fit the LH brake pads. Oh and a little patch to finish the LH cab mount cos i couldnt get to it when the truck was t'other way round on the drive. So:

Finishing off the cab mount was easy enough. Cleaned up all the welds with wire brush, scraper and so on in anticipation of giving everything a going-over with seam sealer, undercoat, and dinitrol underbody shiz. Then I found another little hole in the cab flor so while I was there I decided to have a look at it. To access it properly I removed the seats and floormat:

The hole was under a bodged-on patch which I chopped off, and had a proper look at the cab floor while it was all accessible. Sadly large swathes of it were/are FUCKED. Here's the transmission cover:

Rotten on all 4 sides! Havent got a photo of the seat boxes (bolt-in) but they need repairing too.

Got the floor mat out, its full of splits and the foam backing is shredded. I'm thinking I'll try and peel that off, repair the split rubber sheet then stick some new (non-absorbent) foam on the back. Thats for later anyway

This is what I was trying to get to:

Few shots of sorting out the trans cover:

Havent finished this yet. the curved vertical lip is supposed to seal against the engine cover but its all rotten, so i need to sort that then I'm thinking I might get this blasted and powdercoated just because I can!!!

Back on the cab floor I spent ages carefully drilling out spot welds and stuff. I must say, and maybe other middle-aged welders of old shite will agree, I'm finding that life nowadays offers few experiences as satisfying as drilling out spot welds. If you get the spot weld drill in the right spot and drill to just the right depth you can pop apart the bits with pretty much zero damage to the lower layer (i.e. the chassis leg here) which then means you can get an almost invisble repair, lovely job.

Lovely fresh sheets of 1.2mm Zintec!!!

Starting to patch it up:

After much tapping and banging:

Theres a little hole right at the front edge of the footwell:

While I was on with this bit I took a moment to appreciate my rotten scuttle from beneath the dash whihc has already suffered several unsuccessful attempts to keep the water out with assorted gloopy products:

Ew. This is gonna be such a friggin job to sort out properly.

Anyway the aft edge of the opening in the cab floor already had a big shitty patch on it so I chopped that off, to reveal a massive friggin hole:

Handbrake lever floor mounting: all thoroughly rusty:

I got very busy with the spot weld drill again, chopping out some large sections of the floor:

starting to stitch it up again. I recently bought some of those big red welding magnets which although seeming to lose their magnetism quite quickly, are very handy for holding stuff if you want to butt weld it. Another good tool for 'anal welders' like myself who like to avoid overlapping stuff if possible!

OK its coming together now:

Dropped a bollock there, I could do with some captive nuts along that edge to nip down the engine cover with and I have not added any. I'll have to try and do it from underneath.

Looking over at the drivers side we've got patches and patches. Some of this is Al Bundy's work; The 4 x 8 rectngle patch was supposed to be welded to the chassis but none of the spot welds had taken properly, so i chopped a lot of it out. There was another patch about 12" by 8"; I got rid of it all.

Basically this is where I am up to. Halfway through welding up the cab floor. Heres my pile of removed stuff:

I'm only getting 2-3 hours per week on this so its taking a friggin age but what can you do? I'm just slowly chipping away at the grot. When the floor is welded up I'm gonna treat all the remaining surface rust with jenolite and paint the whole cab floor in the oxford blue Tekaloid paint. Also I'm gonna put sound deadening mat on all the cab floor and transmission cover metalwork which hopefully will reduce the noise a little. So, no MOT certificate yet but I am slowly plodding towards one! Stay tuned!!

[tooSavvy]

Just a thought [B4 bed]

..... cool avatar .... through thick and thin [reality and Beige 'handbags @40 paces' discord] that Smiling TWAT has pervaded your every post!

Beyond Parody....

I know, I know... Politics is kept to the DarkWob.

Just luvvinn his grinning pie-target!!

Keep It Up m8

[LightBulbFun]

ohh yay! a equine testicles update!

very happy to see work is continuing, keep up the good work! as always I thoroughly enjoy reading your posts about it

[Mally]

Massive amount of effort going into this. Workmanship looks excellent.

I thought Sic was mad with his 1100, but you are streets ahead of him in the madness stakes.

[SiC]

Any recommendations on spot-weld drills?

It's heat that I've found kills those magnets quickly. Once I got stuff mostly tacked into place, I remove the magnets to stop heat soaking into them. 

[Scruffy Bodger]

Some great efforts going on there to sort this old truck properly. My sympathies for the cab floor, very similar state to that LDV that I did. I persuaded the owner to leave the interior mat out in the end as the cab still leaks and they hold so much water it's ridiculous, it weighed a bloody tonne when we dragged it out. Yes it's louder but at least the rest of it didn't dissolve within 6 months of doing the job.

Keep up the good work  

[Mr_Bo11ox]

1 hour ago, SiC said:

Any recommendations on spot-weld drills?

I’ve just got a 6mm and 8mm ‘Dormer’ brand spot weld drill. I’ve had them for years and amazingly they both still seem to work as well as they did when they were new. I seem to recall when I bought them they came with a note saying that when they were worn out, they could be sent back to Dormer and exchanged against some new ones, but they show no sign of going blunt. I guess they never get hot so the heat treatment on ‘em lasts well as long as the metallurgy is good in the first place. They’re one of my favourite bits of gear when getting involved in this sort of stuff, you think ‘how TF did I manage before I got these’!

 

I am thinking of splashing on a set of hammers and dollies as my next tin-bashing investment, there’s quite a nice ‘Kennedy’ branded one on ebay for about £60 that’s winking at me, its gonna have to wait till next payday though. I love adding to my tin-bashing armoury. I have this vision of myself in a few years, when my professional qualifications and knowledge (diesel engines) are completely worthless, travelling round in the truck with all my tools on board, welding up old cars for people in exchange for food/diesel/peace and quiet.

[SiC]

I'll have a hunt for a set. Probably the brand has been bought out and now selling overpriced inferior stuff from Asia. 

There is a PRICECUT15 promo code on eBay at the moment on selected sellers. There are a couple of tool sellers that take the code. So you might find that those dollies and hammers are covered by it. 

I've just gone overboard and splashed out on one of those Makita LXT grinders + couple of genuine batteries. I bloody hate getting tangled in mains wires when cutting + grinding in awkward places. Not cheap but then that promo code knocked off almost £40 off it and they were the cheapest sellers of the stuff on eBay too. 

Payday at the end of the week for most too...

[Mike D]

Cracking work there Bol - just a thought for your captive nuts - is it worth investing in some riv-nuts if access elsewhere is tight?

 

Cheers!

[Scruffy Bodger]

My mate bought some of those Dormer brand ones last ear for the ZX 16v project I did for him. They worked really well and certainly were not made of chocolate. 

[Datsuncog]

Chuffing hell, that's a fuckton of work and no mistake. Your powers of clairvoyance around this time last year were strong...

On ‎6‎/‎6‎/‎2018 at 9:19 PM, Mr_Bo11ox said:

I do like these Dodge 50's, and the idea of having a Perkins engine is very appealing but I reckon they have all got rotten cabs as well as the old 'zero service parts availability' issue!!! I kind of want to build a house in it not piss about doing a 6-month weldfest so this is probably a bad choice.

Glad to see you're keeping going with it, mind - I suppose at some point it'll be hole-free and, once drowned in Dinitrol, should hopefully last a bit longer than the original biscuit-tin-grade steel.

+1 on the longevity of Dormer drill bits. My grandfather (ex-Mackies engineer) made me up a full set of HSS bits from his workshop for my 16th birthday - they were the only brand he recommended. Although some of the tiny ones have broken and been replaced, the majority are still going strong all these years later. 

[richardthestag]

14 hours ago, Mr_Bo11ox said:

A breif horsebo11ox news update...

Dropped a bollock there, I could do with some captive nuts along that edge to nip down the engine cover with and I have not added any. I'll have to try and do it from underneath.

 

rivnuts are for winners in situations where they need to hold really fucking tight. only need to drill from one side

If it just needs to hold in place then big acme screws and a smoll hole in the floor, let them cut their own thread

Loving the thread

[Exiled_Tat_Gatherer]

I've got a stash of HDD magnets for the flat panels when needing an extra pair of hands...…… they're incredibly strong for their size…… There's always a HDDD dying somewhere in your social circle. I've got the 'proper' ones too - but tend to use het smaller HDD bitches in preference. sadly - I think I have several on the chassis of various cars I've worked on, as i stick 'm close when busy and of course forget to take the damn things off afterwards………..

[spartacus]

Good looking work there Bo11, it's a shame you've found ask that extra to do but at least some of it can be pulled out and fettled 'on the bench'. You'll reap the benefits sorting all those little holes out now, they're the ones that become untraceable leaks once you're on the road, ask me how I know!

Keep it up!

[davehedgehog31]

That's some effort! Wasn't much metal there. Great work. 

[vulgalour]

That's borderline for chopping the whole floor out and making a new one out of a massive sheet of checkerplate, so kudos for getting your quilting skills on.

[DodgeRover]

I would be very tempted to cover the floor, engine cover and bulkhead in flashband once it's not rotten and you have stopped the leaks. It's cheaper than the amount of sound deadening pads you will need and works as well.

[stuboy]

why do the use foam floor mats with enviroment, of horse crap, mud, water and pee going on there feet, my mate had rubber chain floor mats in his 72 landie

[wuvvum]

I actually passed one of these in the village at the weekend - green but otherwise very similar.  I wondered if it'd also been converted into a camper as it was coming down from the coast and the giffer at the wheel (75 if he was a day) didn't look the horsey type.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

BUMP 4 A REAL THREAD Y0!!!! (Little in-joke there for our older members)

I bet you thought you'd seen the last of this eyesore on here. Well BAD LUCK as I still have it and its not going anywhere just yet (actually perhaps thats not a surprise)

I ended up not touching it for about 8 months after getting demoralised at how long it was taking to get anywhere with it. I think I've had it 2 years now and have not even got the bastard through its MOT! I am in my mid-40's, in decent health, I have an alright wage coming in from my 9-to-5 job and no kids so I reckoned I should be able to dedicate a bit of time to this thing. But after doing all the more important shit that you have to do as a grown up (working, commuting, shopping, cleaning, looking after your house, pets, partner etc) I was getting like 2 hours on a sunday if I was lucky and I figured it was going to take me till I was 90 to finish the friggin thing, by which time I would not be strong enough to turn the steering wheel (and old Perkins diesels would have been long banished from the roads anyway). So I just left it on the drive for 8 months with a wheel off. Didn't even shift the muthaload of magazines and brochures stored in the back (they're still there). Remember the days when i was stressing about it being an eyesore on the drive? Long time ago that.

Now though I am on LOCKDOWN and just maybe I will have a bit more time to piss about with this old heap. I have actually been on it today for an hour painting some bits under the cab so lets see if we get some decent time in on it over the easter weekend. The omens are good so far and I'm feeling hopeful.

Lets see where i got up to before I chucked all my tools down in disgust.

So, I did actually get the whole cab floor welded up. Check it:

I chopped great sheets out the floor and stitched new bits in carefully. i have to say it turned out quite nice. Gave it a couple of coats of red oxide and a couple more of that blue Tractol paint. 

I was trying to do a nice job. Made a new metal plate to screw down the bellows round the handbrake mech and some lad on the dodge forum 3D printed me a new placca square thing to go in the top of the bellows. Looks neat right?

The nice thick layer of paint seems to have made good job of the whole thing, certainly no sign of any rust coming back through yet, and thats not for a lack of water ingress (more on that later)

  

Look at all that under the cab!!! Like a flippin patchwork quilt man. Theers a mix here of my efforts and those of Al Bundy. Not the neatest in the world but its all nice and strong and I think it should last alright. Ive got a tin of Dinitrol Schulz stuff that I am gonna lash over all this red oxide paint.

Remember this transmission cover? I spent ages carefully welding it up (it was MEGA rotten) then went to fit it and it was a mile out. Ended up chopping it about a load more before i could get it bolted in. Eventually it nipped up so I removed it and threw £60 at having it sandblasted and powder coated!!!! Talk about rolling out the flippin barrel. Still, it will look nice for a short while before i stick some sound deadening pads on then put the scratty old rubber cab floor mat over the top of it.

Remember me smashing that replacement screen like a massive ham-fisted dickhead? Well i had a stroke of luck when i found a bloke breaking a Dodge 50 near my work in Stafford. He charged me £50 for the screen out of that, but I had to pay up front!!! (wise strategy to be fair). I learned my lesson last time so this time I cut it out with a Stanley knife and got it out and home no problem. As you can see I have carefully stored it down the side of my house. I was sure that those big storms we had a few weeks back would have a bad ending for this screen but it has survived unscathed thankfully. Its in fine condition unlike mine so I will get a pro to fit this for me.

So thats about where I am up to. The next job I really ought to have a look at is the rotten scuttle.

Rainwater pisses in through it all over my new cab floor, so it needs sorting before I put the floor mats etc back in. But accessing it is a BIG DEAL. You have to remove the steering column, clocks, dashboard, heater box, brake servo/master cylinder/pipes, half the wiring loom and the wiper motor. Basically the bits they put on first when building the cab. Obvs when you remove the master cylinder you are then obliged to bleed the brakes on reassembly, and I expect the chances of that going smoothly without any broken bleed nipples is about 0% so I expect a further consequence of tackling this will be that the rear cylinders end up coming off and being sent to Past Parts for a rebuild. So basically a lot of spannering.

The scuttle itself is quite a complex bit of metalwork. I'm not sure where I'm gonna chop and stitch, i suppose I won't know till I get it all accessible. I do have this which may or may not prove helpful:

 

I chopped the scuttle out of that yellow/white cab I bought for spares. Its got rust problems:

But its nowt like as bad as mine. Maybe it will be able to donate some repair sections, I hope so.

So I have a 4-day weekend coming up and am thankfully unable to spend it going round IKEA and friggin garden centres so my plan is to wade right on into this job and see how it goes. If I get a decent few hours on it for maybe 3 of the days I reckon I could have it more or less sorted. Then surely to god I will have finished welding this rotten old thing (famous last words)

 

 

[Out Run]

Get in! I’d love to see this old, massive nail clogging up single carriageways, the land over.

Best of British to you, mate! I knew you still had it, I clocked it on the drive, in your Volvo pics.

Hopefully you get some graft done on the thing during this enforced period of home action.

[LightBulbFun]

Oh fuck yeah a Bollox Box update!

very happy to see work progressing once more on this blue beast!  

[wuvvum]

Every time I see this I marvel at how tiny the front discs are.  To be fair I always thought the brakes were pretty decent on the two later 50s I had (the early one was on drums all round which were thunderously shit).

Good luck with the fettling - sounds like the scuttle is going to be a pain in the arse, although probably more feasible than trying to remove and refit a Mercedes gearbox single-handedly.

[Crackers]

Dodge/Renner products rust for fun it appears. Lawrie's Mechanical Marvels on YouTube bought a Dodgenault fire engine a few year ago, and so far the cab has turned out to contain more holes than metal ?

[sierraman]

Some bloody good work there. 

[busmansholiday]

Excellent news Bo11ock,  makes me want to get the welder out and fix the MGB GT. But then I'd have to move all the crap off it and the tips are closed.

[spartacus]

Always good to see a horsebo11ox update, your prose makes for good reading Mr Bo11.