Time For Some Serious Woodwork

[Panky]

Rear wing edge repaired, front bumper iron all sorted, petrol tank stripped and painted so I turned my attention to the rear springs.

Pretty much the same as the other side





Ready to be stripped and cleaned



Oh dear



The rest of the leaves are fine, no sagging and only surface rust, have to see if I can find just the small one.

[Custard]

Yes it is usually the small one.

We had leaf spring Hillman Hunters as Taxis and it was a regular occurrence when families came by train and cars carried luggage as well as people.

If you are struggling to find a leaf.

Jonathon at JLS did once say who he used and recommended and from memory they were up here.

Not sure if they were these;

https://www.rossroadsprings.co.uk/

Not a recommendation, but just an option if you are stuck.

From experience I would look at the other one and consider replacing the lower leaf on both.

It would be the passenger side that went first in ours as it gets bounced in the gutters more.

Sean.

P.S. More metalwork than woodwork in this woodwork thread

Edited to add;

Don't throw the old spring away they are excellent wide levers for pushing brake pistons back.

[Panky]

Thanks Sean. There's a place in Manchester I've used before (for my Commer springs) so might contact them if I'm stuck as is a bit closer for me. Yes it's the lower leaf on the passenger side that's bust I wonder if it will be a bit too bouncy if I leave them out .
Hopefully the woodwork will follow early next year but I'll need to get a few more sections to add to the ones I've already bought

[Custard]

If its never loaded and you don't have a towbar it may be ok especially as you have thicker oil in your dampers, but you would need a packer to space the shackles out.

Its not really advisable in case you catch a big hole.

Basically you would get to the bump stops quicker.

On a lot of cars, mainly vans now the lower one isn't actually touching the others at the ends and in some cases they are virtually straight.

They often only come into play when the others have taken up some of the load.

I think they tend to break when they rust together then hit a bump and don't slide on each other properly.

Good luck with it.

Sean.

[Panky]

Back in the garage for a couple of very cold hours today. Stripped the front suspension off the drivers side and got the parts cleaned of road crap and underseal and dumped the bits that would fit in the acetic acid bucket. Had a good scrape and poke around the chassis leg and I was most disappointed - no welding to do it's almost as good as new, just a little surface rust here and there but it's original and not messed with and bodged like the other side was - and the tie plate is all good as well - very pleased
Lower eye bolt is well worn, as is the other side, so I'll order a couple along with some poly bushes - or shall I go for the trimmed down J4 metalastic type that Philthehill uses. Decisions decisions

[Panky]

Famous last words
I found this huge hole in the panel above the chassis rail



Massive isn't it My first weld with the new inverter MIG set



Obviously the settings need a little tweaking but happy with that little repair. Still need to do some more de-rusting but the rest is good.



Once Ted is done I'll be moving on to my Commer Auto-Sleeper - I've a feeling the new set will be getting a lot more use then

I can't edit my previous post but I mistakenly said acetic acid - should be citric acid of course

[Custard]

Good stuff.

I was searching for the massive hole.

Straightforward after all your other work.

Sean.

[cococola]

Great work panky, was this from a previous repair or just generally corrosion?
Will you be posting photos of your commer as you repair I wonder, I'd love to follow that one too.

[Panky]

Good stuff.

I was searching for the massive hole.

Straightforward after all your other work.

Sean.

That pic was taken after I'd started drilling out spot welds and bending metal, the hole was right in the corner and you could almost get your finger in it was that big, I had to try out my new welder though didn't I

[Panky]

Great work panky, was this from a previous repair or just generally corrosion?
Will you be posting photos of your commer as you repair I wonder, I'd love to follow that one too.

Just rotted through, no previous repairs. I'll certainly post some progress on the Commer if it's OK with the mods. I noticed there is a Non-Minor project section so I'll put it there when the time comes.

[cococola]

Brilliant,look forward to the updates