George takes a trip

Today George went to Reading.
With some trepidation I set off up the A4 from Newbury heading towards junction 11 of the M4.

Not exactly the road trip of the century but further than he has been for a while.

Overall the trip was great fun, with a small amount of hooning where appropriate of course ;-)
The downside was that the alternator tensioner is buggered, the bracket has slipped and the bolt head has sheared off.
So, the next job will be to fabricate another bracket using a different fixing point.

Test Drive

Having finally fitted the front propshaft we took George for a test drive yesterday, just a few miles up the road to a couple of byways near Cold Ash.

Other than being quite noisy due to the silencer being knackered, there were no major issues. The steering was somewhat wandering about and the headlights decided not to work.

I have had a go at tightening the steering box adjuster, so am hoping that this will help with things as all the other steering bits seem tight.

There is still a problem with hot idle speed being far too high. Not sure what to do next though as I have now had both SUs off and been through the setup process. There is new vacuum hose to both the dizzy and the brake booster and I can't find any other obvious air leaks.

Anyway, now for some pictures.

Test drive

Local Byway

Local Byway

Next jobs are to sort out the roof / windscreen fixing to stop it banging and clattering, sort out the lights and  to fix down all the flooring and panels.

Back on the road

Eventually after much buggering about, George is again fit for the road, well mostly.

The electrics have been sorted (only a couple of small things need doing now). Some bits still need tidying up.
Amazingly, all things seem to be working and nothing major has dropped off on the runs I have made so far.
Some pictures:-

Fuse Box - Prior to connecting

Fuse Box - Work in progress

Fuse Box - Completed

Fuse Box - View from above

Coil fixed and connected.

I have made a start on the monster list of things to do, I have fitted a new seat belt on the drivers side and have removed the sliding windows from the truck cab. That was a bit of a pain to do, but will make things much better when I get some new, clear perspex in there.

Some oil has been added to the steering box and relay, as well as topping up the gear and transfer box. The handbrake has been cleaned and adjusted, but I think that the pads will need replacing as they were somewhat oily.

The road tests were fun, but the steering is not quite right, it is a full time job keeping George on the correct side of the road. I will see if I can adjust the slack in the steering box a little to help with that.

One other thing that is spoiling the drive is the idle speed gets stuck at 1500rpm when it gets warm, I have taken a quick look and can see that the carb pistons are not dropping fully back down. Not sure why, but have bought some new brake vacuum hose to replace the current knackered one just to remove it from the equation.

I am tempted to take George off to a garage who can do a proper job of setting up the carbs and timing, I would think the cost would be offset by the reduction in fuel consumption. I think a new exhaust is required as the left ear takes a bashing. Am hoping I can get it to be a proper 4 -> 2 setup.