Australian Mk2 Phase 1 truck

[carnut1100]

Tell me about it! Borrowed the 405 the other day and came back with broken shift linkage and only 3rd and 4th gears... And my Volvo 242GT is waiting for me to fix the broken exhaust that I didn't break...

[carnut1100]

Well, my 5 speed gearbox has arrived! Borg Warner T5 with all the stuff for conversion. On the downside, the fuel pump is dying and the carby needs a bit of attention. Also somebody who isn't me but seems to like breaking my cars clipped a trailer while reversing it so now the bumper end cap is broken, bumper twisted, and a nasty dent and gouge in front of the wheelarch... I is not a happy bunny! I do have a long weekend organised though, so I can start getting to work on it. And my other cars...

[carnut1100]

It's 1 am and I have just come in from doing a service and a carby rebuild, and it is now running sweet as a nut! The settings were all off, and the idle was set with the fast idle cam instead of with the idle solenoid. Big sense of satisfaction getting a rough running pig to a smooth sweet thing! I am not gonna drive it again though until I get new brake hoses...Let's just say I found where the brake fluid was going!!! Tomorrow I get some new hoses and finish the brakes. Next week or so the balding retread tyres will go for a one way trip to oblivion...

[irishtransit]

keep up the good work.

[carnut1100]

Well, the new brake hoses won't be ready until monday...they don't have the right fittings so they have to take apart my old hoses and make new ones with the old metal fittings. Gonna cost $125 for the pair too! Found why the speedo is not working, cable and speedo are fine, drive gear in gearbox is rooted. Will be fixed when I fit the 5 speed anyhow. New rubber elbow for the air cleaner to carb cost 40 bloody dollars! I need a new rad hose too, and the thermortat isn't working and the housing is badly corroded so more $$$... On a good note, I got the driver's window winder to work! The shaft that the handle goes on was badly worn and was slipping on the cable. The mechanism was riveted together, so I had to drill it apart and bolt it back together with M4 bolts but I pressed the drive gear off the shaft, machined the worn section to clean metal, welded it and machined back to size. Also got the cable turned 180 degrees to expose a fresh surface to the gear and cleaned it all up and filled it with fresh grease, so here's to another 30 years of trouble free window winding! Next is to fix the fuel gauge and dash lights and get the 5 speed in there! Also to wire up the electric winch for the crane on the back. Got some stick on orange reflectors for the side of the tray and some red ones for the back too. Gonna fit a reverse beeper and some loading board mounted worklights soon too. I love this truck, and I love driving it even though I have more than one car that in better, handle better, stop better, use less fuel, are quieter etc etc etc, I still love driving it for some reason!

[carnut1100]

Brakes are back together and now the fronts lock up nicely!
Too nicely...I NEED those new tyres SOON!!! These ones have NO traction...
Now to get the handbrake working and the rears biting harder...
And I have been given a lead on where I might find a nice Mk1 truck with no tray on it in good running order for a very good price...so I'm gonna go hunting!
And I might have a '58 Dodge 2 ton truck to play with soon too...

[irishtransit]

sounds like the making of a nice collection going on

[carnut1100]

Hehehe...at last count there were 9 Volvos, 3 Fords, 2 Peugeots, 2 Datsuns and one Holden at my place with another Ford, 2 Morrises, a Humber and a Toyota stored at friends' places...damn good thing I have 5 acres!!!

[Luke]

hmmmm 5 acres just think what i could do with that

[carnut1100]

Hehehe...I'm already doing it!

[carnut1100]

Things have been quiet on the Transit front lately, as I have been very busy at work, with a lot of 10 to 12 hour shifts leaving me in no mood to get under a car...however things have started moving again. Today the 4 speed gearbox came out so the 5 speed could go in, only to find that they gave me the bellhousing for the later OHC motor which has the starter on the wrong side, so I have to wait a few days while they send me the right one. The new tyres made a HUGE difference...on the hill to my place before it would spin up in third gear at light throttle, now it needs a big jab on the loud pedal to get it excited... I have also priced some H4 halogen lights to replace the sealed beams and a worklight to mount over the tray for night work. Can't wait to get on the road again with the 5 speed in it!

[carnut1100]

Long time between updates, but not much happening to the truck...
The place I got the gearbox from sent me the wrong belhousing with it, for th later OHC motor, and it has taken them until now (over 3 months!!!) to find the right one and finally send it to me...after a couple of dozen phone calls which they never respond to, even now I am waiting for a return call to give me the tracking number so I can check the progress of the bellhousing...
Annoyed doesn't even begin to describe it...

So, the truck has been sitting in my shed with no gearbox, but it is about to go back together again!
About bloody time too!

Anyhow, I have taken some more pictures and uploaded some more to photobucket, so I can update this thread a little...



This is the damage sustained when I wasn't driving it...trying to turn around on slippery ground and it slid into a trailer...the plastic end cap is going to be welded apparently, but the mounting lugs are missing so I am doubtful. Bumper is slightly twisted but repairable, but the damaged bodywork will be a pain to set right. I'm not paying for it, but I'm not too hopeful of it being paid for any time soon...




The old girl hooked up to the trailer that did the damage...can you guess what other kind of car I like too?




A towing job I did for a friend, moving his HOlden Torana drag car to get the Motec engine management wired in...it's got a VL Commodore Turbo engine in it with a much bigger turbo than the factory ever put there...




A close up of the Torana...




One of the times I took it to work before I took the gearbox out.




Just a shot of it sitting in the driveway.




Engine bay shot.




Other side.




In the garage waiting for its new bellhousing...




A pic of the interior with the engine cover removed.




The crappy dash arrangement, plywood painted black with a crappy tape deck stuck in it. Slated for removal quite soon...




I want a tachometer in there!




This is the hole in the floor for the 4 speed shifter, the 5 speed should come up in the same place. Check out the crazy gear lever, modified to bring the shifter out in front of the seats!








I am going to do better than this for the 5 speed!!!






Bit of interior work required, interior light missing, dash cover warped.




The 4 speed that came out. This is a Borg Warner 0503 "single rail" 4 speed from a 1980s Ford Falcon.






The 5 speed that is going in, a Borg Warner T5 from a post-1988 Falcon with the OHC engine, hence the bellhousing trouble.
The bellhousing I need is from a 1986-88 Falcon XF Series 2 S-Pack, the only ones with this gearbox/engine combination. At least it is on its way down now...

I have priced up the headlight upgrade I want to do, and it will cost somewhere north of $200 all up, which includes replacement H4 headlights to get rid of the sealed beams, plus heavy duty fused relays with direct wiring from the battery, heavy guage wire, and some decent bulbs. In fact it will probably cost $250...

Add another $100 or so for the wiring, plugs and fuses to set up the electric winch on the crane, and probably another $100 to purchase and wire up a swivelling worklight on the loading board. Don't want cheap crap, it's gonna be Narva or Hella or something like that. And it's getting the extra safety of individual relays and fuses for each light, so if a fuse blows all the lights don't go out...

[Luke]

it's interesting to see how the aussie transits differ from the UK ones whats the engine noise like having it so far back into the cab

also that dash top warping never happens over here but thats the price you pay for living in the sun

[carnut1100]

It's not what you would call a quiet vehicle to drive...although some insulation under the engine cover might be in order...and some new wiring grommets through the firewall might cut it down a bit too...
Don't suppose you would know anyone with a decent unwarped cover by any chance??? They should be findable in the UK, as they don't rust...

[carnut1100]

Bellhousing finally turned up today!!!!!!!!!!!!
Still need to get a longer clutch cable though, the early 5 speed bellhousing has the clutch on the opposite side to the 4 speed so my nearly new clutch cable won't reach...here goes another $80...
On the plus side, I have a day off on Monday, so I can get the gearbox in and just be waiting for the clutch cable to be made up...