[Zebedee]

Totted up the hours i've spent on it. 72 hours work so far. Still a little repair to do on the inner bottom of the drivers door and the sliding door needs some serious adjustment so the bugger actually fits the hole instead of sitting 1" out and about an inch too far back.

 

[Zebedee]

Still needs a little more filler and some paint.

Found this broken expansion tank cap (and an empty expansion tank).

Also found the bellhousing timing hole is missing the bung/cap thing.

 

[300CE]

Cracking work - as has been said, the rust in these old girls seems to be never ending!

Was the header tank full up Zebedee?

 

[Zebedee]

They do like to rot.

The expansion tank in engine bay was bone dry but tank behind the number plate full to the brim. Water poured out when i opened the cap.

 

[Zebedee]

Got filler sanded on the front end and some primer on.

Been trying to get the sliding door to fit and close properly and failed miserably.
Its had a late door fitted to an early van (everything changed in 1985) and they've bodged the catch and striker at the rear of the door to lock it but theres nothing at the front at all. Theres this adjustable plate with an indent in the B pillar that something on the door fits into to keep it in place but theres nothing on the door to match and nowhere to attach it to anyway.

Found this picture online showing the rubber buffer thats supposed to be attached to the sliding door to meet up with the recess in the B pillar. As its a later door theres no captive nut in the frame to attach it to so hopefully i can just put an M6 rivnut there to screw it into.

It seems like the door is flush with the body at the top and bottom but nearly 1/2" proud in the middle. Doesn't help the new seal is solid rubber at the corners.

The bracket the bottom roller attaches to is bent aswell.
Its just getting stupid as its had so many bodges i'm just chasing my tail trying to fix stuff.

Gave the primer a little sanding and sprayed some gloss black aerosol paint on.

I'm still trying to get the replacement headlight i was given to fit the mounting frame as the old and replacement are slightly different with the mounting tabs not quite lining up.
I think it'll be easier to adjust the position of the tabs for the screws on the steel mounting frame rather than trying to attach new tabs onto the headlight.

 

[Zebedee]

New blau dalek cap and battery installed. Biggest i could find that would fit the space. 72Ah, 720CCA and has a 4 year warranty.

 

[Zebedee]

Still enough space to park a few more cars.

 

[Zebedee]

Finally got the replacement Hella headlight fitted (after welding on 3 new brackets as the didn't match the screw holes) and refitted the grills.
The lower one was missing 4 of the 5 fixings and the top one was missing 2.

Had a go at adjusting the sliding door and its just as bad as it was, with a huge gap at the front you can stick your fingers through. The corners of the new seal are solid rubber so don't compress when the door is closed.

 

[Zebedee]

Still can't get the sliding door to shut properly. There's zero adjustment left in any direction. This is as good as it gets.

 

[Zebedee]

This camper has a missmatch of drivetrain and linkage parts.
Gearbox looks like a pre 82 one with the mount for the bearing pin and has an early relay lever fitted. The front gearbox mount has a strip of steel welded on to hold the linkage mount instead of it mounting to the gearbox.

The linkage is of the later type (mostly) with the selector cup which isn't supposidly compatible with the early relay lever on the gearbox.

The rear linkage has this weld half way along which i assume isn't factory. Looks like two different bits welded together (maybe to make it fit).

Gave it all a coat of gloss black.

 

[Zebedee]

Looks like this van was built up from a bare shell using whatever one of the POs had lying around.
The gearbox is definately an early 6 rib (possibly aircooled petrol?) one like this with the earlier style relay lever mounted on the nosecone but with a diesel bellhousing fitted.

The linkage is the correct (for the year of the van) later style but with the rear section of the linkage shortened to match the position of the relay lever on the box which is about 6" further back on the correct year box like this.

 

[Zebedee]

I've still not managed to get the linkage to work fine with all gears. 1,2,4 and reverse are great but in 3rd the lower ball on the relay lever on the gearbox pops out of the selector cup on the linkage locking it in gear.
Its using a diesel linkage with a dogleg in it like this:

which is correct for a diesel van but as the selector shaft on the aircooled gearbox exits about 6" further forwards and maybe 3 or 4" lower the angle of the linkage is too steep.
It sits like this (yellow line) vs level as it should.

I think if i can reduce the angle of the bends in the gear linkage (its only like 1" steel conduit) to straighten it a little it should sit more level and maybe not pop out.

 

[Zebedee]

Not at all like the factory intended but now all 4 forward and reverse are available once again.
I finally managed to get it all working properly this afternoon. Flipped the diesel rear linkage part upside down, turned the mounting bracket over and split the U/J and flipped one part of that over as it hit the handbrake rod. All gears are easy to find and it shift surprisingly well. Gearing is horrible though as hills my caravelle storms up in 4th, this 1.9 n/a diesel struggles with in 3rd.

I don't think i've seen one of these seatbelts on an 80s car before.