The Floyd Brothers 68 Barracuda Fastback

RobTwin · Post by **RobTwin** » Tue Apr 29, 08 3:54 pm

Great write-up Stu/Gareth/Stu/Rob.....

Need to do that on the Satellite.... one day

Stu wrote:....... it's on there without looking like a well hammered prostitute with a hippo's yawn downstairs!

Would have been more impressed if you used 'wizard's sleeve' to describe the stretched orifice

latil · Post by **latil** » Tue Apr 29, 08 4:11 pm

Nice photo write up,very useful to some that might be scared of the job. Thanks for taking the time to take the pictures and post it all up.

Kev · Post by **Kev** » Tue Apr 29, 08 5:12 pm

Ivor · Post by **Ivor** » Tue Apr 29, 08 5:55 pm

I'm glad I had the entire dash out when I did that job

Superb stuff, I used the same technique to get the seal on, but used a drop of silicone grease...slipped on a treat missus!

Cannonball · Post by **Cannonball** » Tue Apr 29, 08 6:11 pm

Stu wrote:The instructions with the kit say NOT to use any kind of mechanical spreader for this and I can see why. (How many double entendres can you fit in one thread... ) the density of the seal makes it very hard to stretch, but I get the feeling that if you DID stretch it with anything mechanical and hold it there, it'd stay there permanently. So this is where your bar of soap or washing up liquid comes in handy.

A quick coat of washing up liquid round the head of the shaft ( ) makes it a lot easier to force through the hole. (I know, I know... It's like reading viz.... ) A lot of pushing and shoving and weedling and swearing later, it's on there without looking like a well hammered prostitute with a hippo's yawn downstairs!

B1 BRI COULDA GOT SOMEONE WITH A FALSE ARM TO PULL THAT SHAFT FOR YOU

Stu · Post by **Stu** » Tue Apr 29, 08 8:45 pm

Thank's, Chaps. Rob, that's one I've not heard before!

Righto, so it's nearly ready to go back in... Last bit to do is to seal the base gasket around the shaft using the strips of caulking provided in the kit. Easier said the done, though, as it doesn't seem to stick to anything except the paper it comes on, which it won't let go of without a fight!

Lot's of picking out tiny pits of greaseproof later... you can see it round the bottom of the shaft.

That one goes back in and gets tightened up, linkage replaced etc, then it's on to the difficult side...

I guess the other side would be easier on LHD, because it would be towards the right hand side of the instrument cluster and the right hand side would be in the middle of the glove box orifice. On RHD, however, the left hand side sits roughly half way between the glove box and the radio / heater controls. This makes it nigh on impossible to get to. So first is to wrestle out the glove box liner without destroying it. (What a game THAT was.

)

Stu · Post by **Stu** » Tue Apr 29, 08 8:54 pm

Quick interlude, here you go, Dunc. Bit of Bentley action for you!

You've probably guessed that's not home we're working at, (mere paupers!) we rent a space in a barn at a local engineers farm round the corner from me so that we have the car dry and undercover. Bonus' are that he is a brilliant old guy who can fabricate most anything for pence, because he likes our car and loves anything classic. He rents us the space cheap, too. The other bonus is that you never know quite what will be there when you turn up. There's a Daimler Dart there all the time, Jag XK120, Aston Martin's and MG's galore. Some really interesting old stuff! (He used to run a motor museum.

)

Anyhoo, spotted this last time so thought I'd snap it.

Stu · Post by **Stu** » Tue Apr 29, 08 9:00 pm

Back to the re-install of the wiper seals...

I said it was difficult getting to the other side, I'll snap some pics tomorrow, the first batch didn't show up properly it was so cramped. To get to it, the radio has to come out so that you can squeeze your right arm through the hole to steady the socket on the bolts, whilst you blindly use the ratchet through the glove box aperture. Undoing the nuts is painfully (quite literally) slow, as you can't turn the ratchet more than a mm or two at a time and they are quite long threads. Can't get a spanner in there either... This is what the radio hole did to my arm just getting the wiper seal unbolted!

Stu · Post by **Stu** » Tue Apr 29, 08 9:07 pm

I think Chrysler must have asked their engineers to test out the cars for working on in the 60's. So when they came back and said, "yeah, no problem" the chief engineers went back and shoved sharp bits of metal everywhere you need to put your arms and fingers, to force Joe Public to bring them in for services instead of trying it themselves!

Anyways, you get the idea now. This one goes together the same as the other one and it all goes back in (lots of cuts and scrapes again for your arms and fingers on the way back in.) Wipers back on in line with your handy tape marks on the windscreen and tighten everything up. One quick "Pour several litres of water into it" test later and Bob's your mother's brother, no more leaks!!!!

Next problem... The heater doesn't work.

Might as well re-adopt the playboy pose and try to solve that whilst the dash is out.

Tune in tomorrow for more pics on the heater problem and possibly starting on refurbing the dash in the garage.

Stu · Post by **Stu** » Tue Apr 29, 08 9:18 pm

Forgot to mention the greasing nipples...

In the kit, they provide two greasing nipples and recommend fitting them at the base of the shaft to avoid complete removal (again...) and disassembly if the need arises. Ours seem to turn just fine, so we weren't sure whether to bother. Advice welcome, but surely if we drill through to fit them, we'll just fill it with filings that would be a nightmare to flush out anyway? Just didn't seem worth the hassle, but they are provided in the kit if you are that way inclined.

Rebel · Post by **Rebel** » Tue Apr 29, 08 9:25 pm

Excellant write up, very worthwhile info as well as great pics

Cannonball · Post by **Cannonball** » Tue Apr 29, 08 11:31 pm

Stu wrote:Quick interlude, here you go, Dunc. Bit of Bentley action for you!

You've probably guessed that's not home we're working at, (mere paupers!) we rent a space in a barn at a local engineers farm round the corner from me so that we have the car dry and undercover. Bonus' are that he is a brilliant old guy who can fabricate most anything for pence, because he likes our car and loves working on anything classic. He rents us the space cheap, too. The other bonus is that you never know quite what will be there when you turn up. There's a Daimler Dart there all the time, Jag XK120, Aston Martin's and MG's galore. Some really interesting old stuff! (He used to run a motor museum. )

Anyhoo, spotted this last time so thought I'd snap it.

thanks for that stu, great place to store/work on yer mtr then,

Blue · Post by **Blue** » Wed Apr 30, 08 7:01 am

Good work guys! If you think acessability is bad on these old cars, you should try working on modern stuff, you cut you hands to shreads just trying to change a headlight bulb, I'm sure they deliberatly sharpen all the edges of any steel panel these days.....

Stu · Post by **Stu** » Wed Apr 30, 08 8:56 am

They must have been just warming up on the Barracuda then, Blue.

Dunc, It's a great place to work. Nice and quiet till we get there, too.

If the old boy's about, he always comes for a nose and sometimes makes us a cup of tea! When we snapped a U-bolt swapping the axle, he wandered off and came back a short time later with one he knocked up in his workshop that looked straight out of the packet! Charged us a fiver!

He made us up some pucker connectors for our remote oil filter kit, too, when the ones we got from Earls didn't fit. Top fella, he is.

Anyway's, back to the heater...