The answer is 34!

In case you ever wondered how many air pipes there are in a TK...

...the answer is 34!

Biting the bullet

With the cab off and engine out the chassis looked increasingly shabby compared with my lovely new cab so I decided to bite the bullet and strip it down for blasting and painting; I was hoping not to bother but there you go.

There are a LOT of bits to remove and in particular a lot of pipework. I drew diagrams and got to point where I think I understand how it all works before starting dismantling it all. I am taking loads of photos of where everything goes and then using Windows Paint to label the photos. I started adding some diagrams to another page of this blog under Reference Material.

Here is an example of the photos for a single air pipe. It seems very anal I know but I am also sure that I will never remember how to get it back together any other way.

Then there is a list of pipes in a spreadsheet

Engine out

As the title says, I lifted the engine and gearbox

Had no idea that it would be so heavy. It is right on the limit of what the front end loader will lift. I will certainly need some help getting it back in again but there is a local chap with a hiab on a small truck so I may ask for his help.

The only casualties were the small unloader plastic hose to the compressor and the two front engine mounts that just fell apart.

Got straight to it and pressure washed all the chassis and pipework that was inaccessible with the engine in place

Old cab off

After being a bit slack for the last month or two (actually putting some extra lights and sockets into my workshop) I finally got the chassis parked up where it won't be too much in the way and took the old cab off. Summer is coming in this part of the world so it does not matter too much if it is all parked out for a few months.

It was a much quicker job than I expected, bring out the imperial spanners -

1. Remove pedals (2)
2. Unplug wiring loom
3. Disconnect steering column
4. Disconnect earth strap
5. Disconnect engine stop cable
6. Disconnect throttle linkage
7. Disconnect radiator filler hose
8. Disconnect air filter and breathers (2)
9. Remove gear lever
10. Disconnect handbrake pipes (2)
11. Disconnect emergency brake valve pipes (2)
12. Disconnect speedo cable
13. Disconnect pipes to brake pressure gauges (2)
14. Remove alternator regulator
15. Remove cab bolts (4)

With no windscreen fitted all you need is some forks on the front-end loader and a plank...

The coolant came out clean as a whistle which is encouraging considering how many years it's been in there!

I marked some pipes with paint and took plenty of photos.

Cab spraying complete

My spraying is passable but not great so for the outside of the cab I called in my brother, Hugh, who has done quite a bit of spraying: boats rather than cars.

The scheme is to - 

1. Mask up all the openings so that the overspray does not spoil the previous work
2. Wet the floor with water to keep the dust down.
3. Wipe the whole thing down with wax and grease remover
4. Wipe the whole thing over with a tack rag to remove dust
5. One light coat that just covers everything
6. Wait for the coat to be just dry enough to touch without it coming off on your finger
7. One heavy coat and wait for it to be just dry again
8. Thin the paint and one final coat
9. Walk away and leave it alone for 24 hours

Spraying the first coat video

The man at work

And the finished article - 

Interior painting done

This weekend I painted the last of the interior: the dashboard and a few other spots that needed some colour.

There was some paint left in the gun so I did the door inners and the inside of the outer mudguards too.

The next task is to mask off the whole interior and spray the outside and the doors all in one go. My spraying is average at best so I will get my brother to come over and do these bits that really show.

Overspray and (some) shiny bits

I have been discovering all about over-spray! I had not really appreciated that if you are painting something in sections the over-spray from one session spoils the previous one and so on... Time to start planning better and masking as needed.

I was not too happy with the results anyway so I asked my brother who has done quite a bit of spraying (boats rather than cars). His advice as to spray on one quick coat, not worrying too much about the look and the coverage, then wait until the coat was just dry enough to touch and then put on a second coat much thicker.

This I tried around the sides of the roof and got a much better result. Not professional quality by any stretch of the imagination but if you look hard enough you can see the workshop lights reflected in the shiny paint!

More colour going on

Not much so say here. Some pics of the painting progress.

A turning point

It may not seem like much but I actually bolted something back together for the first time this project. The brace bar that runs across behind the front panel. It's not nearly strong enough to help in a crash so I guess it is just a stiffener. 

There should be another upright but somehow that didn't get sprayed! I'll have to do it next time.

Shopping on ebay

I bought a clutch servo on eBay

Brand new and only paid five quid so a bit of a bargain. The truck has power steering and air assisted brakes so it is quite light to drive except for the clutch which is very heavy. I am not sure why but I think that when the truck was converted to diesel the linkage was changed in some way. There should be (I think) a clutch relay linkage that gives some extra leverage to the pedal but that has been bypassed completely on my truck. An air clutch definitely makes a truck nicer to drive so I will have a go at fitting it once the cab is off.

Somewhat blue

When my trial paint had dried it was a lot closer to the colour chart but I still didn't like it! It was just too boring, rather like that colour that Audi uses so after a chat with the helpful guy from International I took it back to the supplier and we added an extra 4Y of black tint. I can't remember what 'Y' stands for but it is the unit of measure for paint tinting machines and represents 1/48 of a fluid ounce. The blue is now darker and greyer and much more to my liking.

Like the primer it is quite easy to apply with little over spray. I find that mixing about half a litre at a time is enough so that I have to finish before I make too much of a mess. My spraying is a bit dodgy so I am concentrating on the bits that don't show much first, in the hope that I get a bit better as I go along.

Why do they sell thinners in a pot that is almost impossible to pour when it's full?

Cock-up on the colour front

I mentioned in the previous post that there was a big difference between the colour swatch and the online version of the colour I had chosen. I assumed that the printed version would be the more accurate because viewing colours on a computer monitor is very variable; I was WRONG! The online version was much closer so I've ended up with 5L of a colour I really don't like much. What I wanted was somewhere between Royal Blue and Navy Blue, what I got was rather like Fordson Empire Blue (tractor colour). I am hoping that because what I want is darker, it can be retinted.

Choosing a colour

The truck was originally dark blue and I don't see any reason to change that so being an engineer at heart I consulted BS5252 and found a nice shade called 18E53. I am intending to use this topcoat by International. It is a two-pack industrial polyurethane called Interthane 990. It is not an automotive paint but is recommended for offshore structures, chemical plants, pulp and paper mills and the power industry some I'm hoping it will be tough. It is meant to have a high gloss finish and has 'excellent long term durability and recoatability' so it should be just the ticket for an old truck.

The online samples of the colour look nothing like the samples in the swatch book so it will be interesting to see what it actually looks like.

Sealing seams

The new front panel needs its seams sealed so that moisture does not get between the layers so taking advice from this site I bought some of this:

As recommended, a chopped-off paint brush works well to apply this thick grey gunge.

The best technique seems to be to apply thickly with the brush, not worrying too much about how even it is but pushing well into the seam. Then using rubber gloves dip you fingers in GP thinners and smooth over the joint; it quickly makes a nice smooth finish.

The picture is not very good but shows the interior seam across the front of the floor pan. I think I went over that again with the thinners and got a better result after the picture was taken.

Mostly sanding

This month I have been mostly... sanding!

The front panel is as good as it needs to be and ready for primer. I also blasted the reinforcing beam that goes behind the panel.

I will be interested how it turns out. Years ago I restored a Triumph Spitfire and although I thought I had been very thorough and careful when the topcoat went on it looked terrible. Every repair was plainly visible! We shall see...

That Shrinking Sensation

As I mentioned before, the replacement front panel has a multitude of faults. Under a thick layer of filler was old accident repair work and I have introduced warping when I welded a patch panel in. To try and improve this I bought one of these:

It is a shrinking disc, a flat piece of stainless that goes on a 9" grinder. I discovered it on YouTube and bought it here. The owner, Ray Schelin makes and markets these discs. I bought the disc and a backing plate that makes it more rigid. I did not bother with the DVD that goes with it. Ray was very quick and helpful answering my queries.

I hired a 9" grinder locally. I did try using my 5" grinder but it did not work at all well: the gyroscopic forces generated by the disc spinning at 10,000 rpm attached to a small grinder made it almost unmanageable. The bigger heavier 9" grinder spinning at 6,000 rpm was much easier to use.

Its purpose is to remove high spots by shrinking metal and I can say that is works very well. Using the disc as flat as possible you apply the disc until the high spot gets hot, then quench it with a wet rag. It is much easier to do this job with two people. The effect is amazing; the high spots just disappear before your eyes!

The results really doesn't photograph well but after about 20 minutes work I had achieved a result that I was happy with. It will need skimming with filler and I'm sure with more time and skill you could get it even better but I keep reminding myself that this is just an old truck and making it look like a classic car would be ridiculous.

Front panel on

Trial fitting the front panel was quite tricky because it has returns on both sides where it wraps into the door shuts. You have to sort of spring it into place.

After a few goes and adjusting the flanges to get a nice close fit I removed the panel, cleaned up all the joining faces with a flap wheel and painted with this stuff:

It's a weld-through primer. I haven't used this before and I can't comment about its corrosion resistance but it seems to do exactly what it claims: it is very easy to weld through.

I clamped it all up with a number of mole-grips and started on the windscreen pillar corners because I reckon that these would be the most obvious if they don't align. The first thing I discovered was...

...lead! - where the original panel joint had been filled. It really doesn't weld very well but after a bit of heating and wiping and welding...

Then just a matter of plug-welding and grinding the 200 odd holes. It took me quite a while to get the technique and it still isn't that pretty but it all gets hidden by the grinder.

And finally it looks like this 

A little more primer

While the front of the can was off I blasted and sprayed the back of the dashboard and the door pillars.

The inside of the roof also had a little surface rust so I gave that a coat too

This I rubbed down by hand because I could not bear the thought of trying to get all the blasting grit out of the return that runs round the top of the inner cab.

Removing a 'mystery' bracket

There was a bracket on the back of the cab which I had no idea what it was for.

Turns out, (with thanks from the good people on Truck and Bus forum that this where the hydraulic jack was stored.

I don't have the jack and I will probably store one in a side locker on the body so I cut it off.

And by the magic of welding, grinding and painting it was gone

The reason for this butchery was because I can use the space to remount the power steering reservoir in a nice easily accessible place. It was mounted closer to the engine before

Musings : grit blasting

With the blasting nearly complete I thought I would record some of the lessons I have learned.

I used a cheap Chinese pressure pot widely available on eBay and through tool warehouses:

This is the smaller of the two sizes available and is VERY heavy when full. The handles, wheels and frame are barely up to the job and it is difficult to move on any surface other than a smooth floor.

The grit is loaded through the screw cap in the top, a large funnel is needed. It is important to sieve the grit as it is added because if you get bits in the vessel they will be very difficult to get out.

Here are my funnel, ordinary kitchen sieve and an old dustpan for scooping up the grit.

The set comes with ceramic blasting nozzles that wear away very quickly.

As they wear the bore increases which uses more air and slows down the grit so performance starts to suffer almost straight away. The life of a nozzle with the grade B garnet that I was using at 100 psi was about 15 minutes. I used about 8 nozzles for the bare cab: about $120 worth.

So I bit the bullet and bought a professional quality tungsten carbide nozzle

This is a CT-2 nozzle from Clemco Industries. About $150 and after finishing the cab and all the panels it is showing no signs of wear. The -2 refers to the nozzle size in sixteenths of an inch, so this is a 1/8" nozzle and I think, the smallest they do. 

This single phase compressor will not keep a 1/8" nozzle supplied at anything over about 65psi continuous which was not really enough for the work I was doing which meant regular pauses to let the pressure build up.

If I doing a similar job again, a whole vehicle, I would consider hiring a towable diesel compressor and do it all in one weekend.

I built a simple tent out of wood and plastic; another piece of plastic covers the top and open side. This did a good job of containing the mess.

The grit is Grade-B garnet and it leaves a really nice key for the primer.