A was for Austin, but now B is for Bedford

Now to what has been happening in the last two weeks . . . 

Basically working my way through many little things that had been postponed waiting for Ron (as in Later Ron) and needless to say, even now, they are still only in a transition stage - but such that they will work as is. Finishing touches will no doubt be addressed somewhere/sometime off in the distant future.

My main focus in what is now B for's shed has been mostly inside the cab:
1.  Finalising the UHF aerial mounting. This could not be done until it was out of the previous shed. Simple to do, but it was holding up final fitment of the headlining and associated pink bats above it. Although the wiring was all there it had to be re-routed to ensure no possibility of the wiring getting damaged. All done.

2.  The centre headlining support (replacing the original bows that a cloth headling is attached to) which is a piece of 150mm C channel from front above windshield through to the upper section of the roof above the back window. The two 'tek' screws up through the roof have been replaced by two screws from the outside and down into nutserts in the C channel. Eminently better than before and without two unsightly and very unprofessional screws sticking out!  Satisfied, even though they were hard to see before.  .

3. Insulation (courtesy Men's Shed left overs) back wall initially sorted, several layers thick in places, and held in place with Liquid Nails and generally tight fitment, particularly around the curves. Done also, and a big step, very pleased with result. 
 

4.   Improved the rear seat mountings, better than before, which had bare minimum of bolts holding them. Once the correct length bolts were on hand the seats were left out of the way for a while. Tick.

5. Floor insulation fitted from the foot wells to back wall of cab, excluding the step up where the rear seat mountings are. No picture, but much satisfaction, done.

6. What to do with the hole where the handbrake goes through and down the lower back wall? No idea what was there previously (if anything as it was originally in the box arrangement that was under the Bedford seats) but the hole had to be covered. My answer was to make up an instant mini dog kennel as shown below. 
 
 



Tight space but possibly needs some shrouding to avoid dust getting in, although not essential until it proves to be a  problem???     In the last picture you will notice the head of a bolt on the left hand side of my mini dog kennel, this and its mate are the left hand rear seat mounting bolts, simply sitting in the holes waiting for the seat to come back. The one nearest the kennel is a real pain to access once the seat is in position, I didn't realise how difficult it would be when this picture was taken - but I do now!  

That will do for this post, a bit uninteresting as it stands here but decidedly time consuming. More to come later.  
 

Nice job PDU, those last jobs seem to take forever.
I couldn't find a suitable handbrake boot for the C1 so I used some left over black vinyl and a boot lace. The local horse rug lady sewed it up for $5. The hold down (bezel?) I had in stock but they're not hard to make from sheet metal or stainless steel.

 

Neat job Southbound, and a checker-plate floor too - steel or aluminium? I had a rubber boot laying around and the steel plate I made to go over the gearbox was made to suit it. 

Meanwhile the jobs that indeed have been taking much time continue from yesterday's boring comment . . .

7.  Seats went back in. Sounds straight forward but a major problem as my arms do not allow me to be inside and underneath at the same time. WARNING: a long sentence coming up, even long by my standards!    Despite this, by the cunning use of mole grips and a 13mm socket - universal joint - long extension - short extension - and ratchet plus much cursing and swearing (as I negotiated myself past the crossmember that was placed in the most awkward position possible) I stubbornly continued (convinced I could do it solo) until the seats were mounted with plain and nyloc nuts in jammed format to boot! They will not come out in a hurry!
 

8.  Between the seats, a third seat?   Not in an O Type! But there is a handy hold-all console (?) for those odds and ends that might one day be carried. I had this laying around in the shed and tried it in place months ago, even though it was not mounted solidly. It is now, or at least the frame is, with the ammo box - circa WD 1943 sitting within the confines of the frame.  Condition requires a wire brush clean up and paint, but not critical just yet. A partial tick (until tidied up). Note the handbrake clearance and my repurposed swampy air-conditioner frame. 
      Sorry I should have rotated the second one.  

9.  While fitting the seats I had also continued with the insulation of the area where the engine is set back under the dash panel. Initially I attempted to do this all-in-one piece and was almost successful . . .
    . . . reluctantly I had to accept that there are some things that need a second pair of hands, at which point I made the upper section from three separate pieces. The result is acceptable and should assist with engine noise control. 

10.  Footwells to under dash:  The insulation in the driver’s footwell required some improvement of the floor panels where the pedals come through, after which a layer of insulation was fitted from floor level below the pedals up to the dash. This was fiddly getting around the pedals and behind the steering column while still keeping it in one piece. Thankfully much easier on the passenger’s side.

11.  Side vent panels:  Fitting the insulation was even more difficult with some odd angles, curves, and varying depths around the hand operated side vents. After some consideration the issues were eliminated by making a flat metal sheet from the cowl to the door pillar. This included a suitable hole to accommodate the vents with the insulation sandwiched between the cab wall/inner guard and the back of the metal sheet. This will eliminate any chance of damage to the insulation in the very tight foot well although my long term plan is to carpet under the seats and the lower areas where there might be any “at risk” insulation.  
 

Well that's enough for tonight, sorry no piccie of the driver's foot well as I've used my picture quota already. More to come later of course.  

Just two short comments tonight    additional comments re yesterday's post.

First picture, did anyone notice my door seals?   

AND   

Last picture, that is not an error with the floor insulation - all the radio speaker wires run along the left hand side of the insulation and disappear up behind the second sheet of insulation where the feet would rest.

Wow, so succinct. 

PS: Go back twenty pages and there is a picture showing the speaker wires when I first laid them.  

I had a post almost ready to send, waiting for me to take some pictures, and in the meantime have been carrying on wherever possible. However this post has taken precedence over that . . . 

Feeling confident with the way things were going I forked out for a three day permit yesterday and carried on. Hot to trot.

Ernie stopped by today to assist with bleeding the brakes. Him pumping and me rolling around underneath. Brake fluid was reaching the rear cylinders and things were looking promising (lack of air wise) although Ernie said the pedal didn't feel right and the pressure was still dropping away. Was it still pumping? Ernie confirmed this but added, " it just doesn't feel right."

Some concern but before crawling out from under the rear I decided to check all the brake line fittings. Brake fluid at the T joint on the back axle . . . everything nipped up nicely so worked my way up the rear brake hose to discover a tiny leak running down the hoes to the joint. Despite this we decided to check things at the front end, only to discover no brake fluid? Ernie said the pedal had gone solid while he was pumping the brakes!? By now the concern was greater.

Unlikely the rear hose would be causing the problem but would need to remove it anyway. As there wasn't any point Ernie continuing I considered how to obtain a replacement hose with minimal time to achieve it. Was there any point going to Port Pirie only to discover no one had a suitable hose available? Probably not, common sense and previous experience told me go direct to Power Brakes in Adelaide, which I did, and yes they did have one.

Great you might think, except even if they had put it straight into the post there would be minimal chance of it arriving in Crystal Brook before I was due to go to Clare! Not to panic, daughter and grandson were coming up on Saturday so perhaps she could pick it up? Phoned her but discovered she was not leaving until grandson had finished his swimming, plus a one hour trip into Power Brakes was not possible within the time she had available. When the rot sets in for me it really sets in, but there is still more . . .  

Perhaps as a last resort I could rob the hose from the spare D Type Bedford hiding in the small shed? Shazam, two hours later the brake hose was transferred into the O Type, barely bridging the gap (about 20mm shorter than the weeping hose that it was replacing). Okay, maybe we will be right with the new set up? Topped up the master cylinder level and climbed behind the wheel and   AGH! Ernie was certainly right about the pedal feeling odd, it was barely moving halfway to the floor and stopping dead! Now the master cylinder seems to be jamming, and that had been working fine (after pumping it about four of five times to get a decent pedal) and I was able to move and stop the truck as it should.

Bottom line for me at the moment Clare will be a Territory and caravan only event for us - my permit money is wasted and the possibility of the truck going anywhere is minimal right now. I am devastated.   

This having been said, I will still persist. I am considering having a go at pushing the piston forward by removing the brake line and fitting at the rear of the master cylinder. This will  be attempted in place, as removing the whole Bedford kit and kaboodle is not a fun job on any day/week!   

PDU,
These things are sent to try us!
It may be worth pushing the piston forward but I doubt it will last for more than one application of the brakes. I suspect you will have to "bite the bullet," remove the master cylinder and restore it.

You probably read about my unsuccessful trip to get a Roadworthy Certificate for my Morris. Owing to the stupidity of the mechanic, I was not able to take my convoy of Morrises to the National Morris Rally, and when the next one in Victoria is due, I will be approaching my 88th birthday and if I still have a truck licence by then, will probably not be able to drive it. It also wasted the cost of a seven day permit.

I am sure you will have a good time at Clare, the South Australian branch of the HCVCA are a great bunch of people and they do a very good, and inexpensive by Victorian standards, rally.
 

Thanks for your comment Morris, I appreciate the possibility of it sticking again (but not being the pushee at the time) I wonder just how hard it was pushed?

IF I can undo the back of the cylinder on the truck and IF I can manage to remove the spring- etc to push the piston forward again I will treat the bore to a finger full of wet rub to assist clearance factor. Nice to know its a 2" bore in there . . .  

I have not looked at anything yet as daughter/grandson came for a cousin's football grand final yesterday, which we went to also. Simply waiting for them to leave, plus wife, which will leave me alone to get back into it. 

Meanwhile I trust you are feeling better now, and it was interesting your comment about age - I also worry that I might never drive my truck before the annual trip to be assessed by my doctor strikes out any chance! Be like Spock, live long and prosper.   

The rear of the master cylinder refused to let me in despite use of six sided socket and a 3/4" drive long handle!

Much to my displeasure, after about two hours, I extricated the master cylinder. Awkward and sorta heavy to get it out, but large trolley jack helped. No idea how I'll get it back in by myself again, assuming I can get things working.

After putting it in my vice I tried pushing the pedal linkage and got a decent blast of remaining brake fluid out of the side outlet (primary piston, rear brakes) but diddly squat from the rear outlet (secondary piston, front brakes) - which explains why I appeared to have some brakes and why we had no joy when attempting to bleed the front slave cylinders. It would appear that the rear piston is the culprit. But I need to get into it!



Oh what an exciting day for me tomorrow. 

What a pisser. Good luck sorting it out putting it back.

Yeah maximum pisser cobbadog.

Today 7:30 - 9ish was spent attempting to open the back of the master cylinder (unsuccessfully), separating it from the vacuum assist part and generally delving into the inner workings. End result both pistons moving to and fro freely and brake fluid everywhere! 

Following reassembly of brake and servo unit I moved back to the Bedford to remove the D Type brake hose (a one day very temporary fitment), fitted the new rear brake hose and realised it was coming up to 10:00, perhaps time for breakfast/brunch/lunch?   

Too early? Yeah, so thought I would try to get the master cylinder back in before midday.  

Surprisingly, with the trolley jack supporting it (and much fiddling to get the brake pipe hidden in the chassis side rail onto the outlet) it was all back in by 11:15!  

The afternoon was spent organising a bleeding session which delivered pretty much what I had before. This time though there were some dribbles from the left front bleed nipple, but that's all they were, dribbles. Closer scrutiny suggests that as the pressure builds up the brake fluid is bypassing the seals in the master cylinder which sealed the chance of making it to Clare.  PDU fails once more . . . 

Consequently I have decided to resign myself to getting Power Brakes to rebuild my spare master cylinder and I'll get back onto all the unfinished bits before trying it again. OR maybe I have other possibilities before wasting that permit?