Getting back into it - 65 Flatdeck

[morrisman1]

I thought it was suitable to create a new thread for the continuation of my project that I recently have fired back into life after a year and a half of stagnation.

Current things I am working on are the front end components and the door windows.

Today I had some good progress. I found a good chrome section which holds the grill to the radiator support, this one was the correct shape and in reasonable condition. My one with really good chrome had all its bolts fallen off completely. I gave that a clean up as best I could without brass wool and fitted it. Also I fitted the grille surround chrome piece. The one I have feels like stainless steel, does anyone know what vehicles were fitted with s/s as all others I have come across are aluminum. The original bolts never seem to survive and end up rusting solid so I found that 5mm gutter bolts are the perfect replacement, just grind a whisker off to make a flat on each side of the head and they slide freely in the channel and 5mm is the right size for the holes.

Here is the grille so far (the actual grille is in getting sand blasted and will be painted off-white pearl once I get it back)



Second project today was the electric window motors. I wasnt happy with the job I did last time so Ive gone back and fixed them up. When they were originally fitted they suffered catastrophic failure where some plastic internal components crushed from old age and getting brittle. Thankfully they were simple to make again out of some 12mm plastic rod and they were up and running again. The second stage of doing it properly involved replacing the stacks of washers used for spacing with some measured spacers made from alloy. This made it much easier to assemble and I can trust that they will not fall apart over time. It also looks a bit better, not that anyone will see inside the door.







For those who haven't seen this done before, which could probably be most of you, the motors are taken from a late 80's fairmont or falcon. The gears are a good match and it is quite easy to adapt to the morry assembly in place of the original winder handle. Inside the door they fit nicely and out of the way. It is kind of excessive but will be a good talking point in the future. The speed of the motors is quite quick so they aren't entirely idiot proof as far as operation goes unfortunately but anyone with semi fast reactions will cope fine. Switches are on the dash in the central section, using the very left and right holes. starter is incorporated in the key being a later model and the choke is relocated to under the dash.

It feels great to be back out in the workshop making progress.

[morrisman1]

After painting the grille yesterday I was today able to assemble it. I chose white because on a British racing green morry I have I had a old english white grille too and I thought it made a really nice addition and brought some more interest to the car.



Now I can go out and fit it, and the hockey sticks to the car and that will be the front end close to finished minus the lights and bumper. Should have a pic up later tonight.

[morrisman1]

I couldn't get the hockey sticks on due to not having a m6 tap on hand to put new studs in the hockey sticks but this morning I went and bought one and got it all assembled. I still need to put the bolts in across the bottom, none of which line up at all dammit.

It is all fitting pretty well so far.

[morrisman1]

Fitted the electric windows, they work fine I just had to trim the back off the felt runners because they squeezed up at the top due to the angle brackets for the frame and this strained the motor more than I would have liked.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zsDaSbvAas

Can I embed youtube videos on this forum?

[grant69]

Very Cool

[morrisman1]

Being so cold in the garage currently due to the snow storm battering the country its not really morry project weather, the only heating in the garage is the 2000w of halogen flood lamp.

Id like to get another hurdle out of the way so dragged the deck out of the paddock and gave it a clean up, unfortunately it has rusted a bit over the last four years so will definitely need a sand blast and at the same time I think I will weld in some angles to stiffen it up a bit, last thing I want is it to flex into the cab under hard braking.

Im asking for suggestions here on whether the deck I have here looks good and if not what I can do to make it better. Suggestions on dimensions like width, length and height would be appreciated. While it is at this stage it is easy to modify it. The deck wont be used for work so being able to hold 500kg is not necessary.



Here is the deck when it was on the ute before the project started if that helps visualize how it will look. Just note that the vertical section at the front has been added as I think it looks pretty good.

[LRS]

I think that vertical section looks very smart. Nice shape
I see no reason to go wider if you don't need to.
I think they look silly when they begin to look like a tray truck, it keeps it looking old school if you stay within the confines of the body.

Looking Good.

[LRS]

Sigh....

Just when I thought I was getting close....

NOW I need electric windows..

[morrisman1]

With the vertical section added It actually moves the deck back a bit, by about 6 inches and you can see this where the rear supports are currently overhanging when on the old ute without the vertical section they met up with the rear of the chassis.

I was initially worried that the extra overhang would look silly, does anyone have an opinion on this? Of course I would put a mount there so the supports arent just hanging

[morrisman1]

Been busy working on the deck frame, getting the welds up to standard and getting it to sit level and strong too. I always thought I was a rubbish welder because I couldn't avoid getting bird poo splattered everywhere and horrible bits of slag that never disappeared but in this case a good workman can legitimately blame his tools. The welder I use is an old 19-dot model which weighs about as much as a morry engine and I could never get above 110 amps without blowing fuses, I dont think the welder is overly efficient. Anyway I thought of moving it to the spa pool and running it off that power supply because it has a large cable and heavy switchgear throughout the system. What a difference that made!!! 110 amp now feels like 150 and I can even max out the welder on its 150 amp setting. With some proper heat in the metal my welding skills are starting to show

This is the frame as it stands currently, this week it will be going in for sand blasting to get it ready to paint. Its going to be painted black again of course.



Im currently considering options for wood, I dont know much about wood so can anyone suggest a wood that has nice attributes for such a deck?

[grant69]

I don't know what timbers you get in NZ, but a good hardwood you would use for decking is always the go, it won't swell much and should stand the test of time.

[morrisman1]

Had a productive day doing lots of little jobs on the ute.

~ Fitted bonnet stay, no more window wash brush holding the bonnet up now
~ Fitted earth strap for engine, no more jumper lead to earth the engine now
~ Fitted 530 CCA battery. It starts real good now!
~ Fixed leaky diff by taking nuts out and pulling diff head out enough to smear some silicone gasket in there. To replace the paper gasket would involve taking out driveshaft and axles so this was an easier option.
~ Painted gearbox tunnel and master cylinder cover
~ Painted diff head
~ Lengthened coil wires so there is less tension on the wires
~ Painted Radiator header tank.

Got the ute back out in the Southland sunshine today.

[LRS]

Hi Morrisman1,
It is all looking good.
I am not sure what engine you are running, however.

Be carefull of CCA Batteries if you are only using a Generator.
I have killed two of them in 12 months, fortunatly under warranty.
The last time they came to replace the Battery they told me the Batteries were failing as CCA's need a lot more input to remain alive than a generator can produce.
I am not sure if this is fact! It is what I was told by the battery seller fella.

The battery man told me I needed an alternator that puts out at least 14.5 volts.. to keep a CCA happy. My generator was charging at 12- 13- 14 ish.

I am no auto elec but I know I killed two in a year, he recomended the older style battery if you are running a genny.

Keep up the good work, you must be happy with it so far, your car is looking good.

Best,
Leigh

[morrisman1]

Hi Leigh.

I most definitely am running an alternator, just one out of a mini so not that big but big enough for that vehicle.

Here is a pic of my engine bay, its looking a bit messy currently but while I wait on parts to come from the UK I will be working on tidying that up as best I can. I am a fan of a clean looking engine bay and envy those who manage to have a 'cable less' engine bay. I dont intend on going that far for this vehicle but Ill at least have it looking tidy with as many cables and hoses out of the way as possible.

[morrisman1]

G'day thread followers.

I've had a few days of not much happening. There is a big list of things that I need to do but most of them require parts which are on their way over from Bull Motif in the UK, should be about a week away now. I have all sorts of goodies on their way from windscreen rubbers to badges and all those odd fasteners that you cannot get anywhere else.

Meanwhile I have had the deck surround sandblasted and I have primed it too but due to it starting to rain tonight I couldn't get the first top coat on.

I got some information on wood for the deck and everything is so expensive!! Some were upwards of $400 just for wood which is outrageous! To help solve that I am going to space the deck up from the bottom which will allow me to use thinner wood instead of putting 35mm thick decking on which is both expensive and heavy as well as unnecessary for the loads that this ute will carry.

Here are some pictures of the primed deck surround. Top coat is Wattyl Kill Rust gloss black epoxy enamel in black and from what I read this is a similar product to POR15 but not quite as good/expensive but will do the job just fine for this application. I am just brushing it on. The first time I painted this deck frame 3 years ago I used Hammerite which is just awful stuff, thick and full of silicone I read. I wouldn't touch the stuff again.









I apologise if you think I am bombarding the forum with pictures and progress updates all too often but I find it quite motivating to be able to share progress with other interested people.

[LRS]

Bombard away,
I for one love to see it all.
It is called sharing and learning.

Keep posting pic's and info. that is why we are here.
Is it not ?


Leigh

[grant69]

Keep the pics coming, they say a picture is worth a thousand words, my problem is I get carried away and forget the photos

[morrisman1]

No pics this time.

Today I painted up the deck surround with two coats of black, it looks really good. Another thing I looked at today was wiring. It started with connecting the water temperature gauge then escalated. I found a problem and I don't know why I did this originally (probably a brain fart), the gauge power was connected directly to the battery, that was why I killed the last battery because it was constantly draining. Good thing it didn't damage my classic rev counter that cost a heap.

I also got the drivers electric window wired up and the switch works perfect so Im very happy with that. I just have to make some room where the cable goes into the door so that it will shut without rubbing the cable. The cables run along the door check shaft and its all wrapped in heat shrink.

I just had a brain wave while sitting here typing this and that is to take the fuse box out of the engine bay and put it under the dash, it is completely pointless having it in the engine bay and it will just create a weak point having the cables go through the bulkhead, and putting it inside will seal up two more holes in the bulkhead.

Also today I got more soundproofing in on the inside of the bulkhead. I am using a product much like dynamat but not self adhesive and gluing it using bostik super contact. This means I can fill up all those 20 odd holes that the old clips went through and this will help quieten down the engine too. The soundproofing is quite effective making any tapping on the bulk head sound like a low pitched thud. I hope it is better than the standard fitment.

I think the next job will be to find all my windscreen wiper gear and install the cable and wiper cog thingees. Unfortunately I don't think I have a good wiper motor so I will have to source one.

Step by Step

[frosty]

[morrisman1]

Whats the deal with a two speed wiper? Do they go faster or slower than standard? What do the motors come out of? I found the standard morry one quite sufficient on my 63 saloon which was used day in day out, it didnt even have auto park on the wipers

[morrisman1]

Im calling it a night now, early at 8:30 because I managed to wallop my thumb with the hammer


I had fun fixing up more wiring today. I followed through with the idea of moving the fuse box and it is much much better now. It also highlighted a couple dodgey crimps so I have re-crimped and also soldered them this time. Heat shrinking where appropriate of course to prevent shorts.

I had a problem with the indicator stalk, a common problem: the light on the end had disappeared completely. I wasnt keen on spending a fortune on a whole new unit and other than that this unit is OK except a little pitting on the chrome stalk. The solution was to replace the light at the end with something else and this involved replacing the wire in the stalk too, a job much easier than I was expecting. My choice of light was the humble 5mm LED, in green flavour. Inline with the wire driving the LED I have put a resistor so that the LED receives the right current. The result is pretty good, Im happy with it. It is not quite as classic as the original type but it looks tidy and performs as it should.





I had a go at fixing up some wiper motors, I cannot work out why they wont work. I've had them to bits, everything is in reasonable nick, brushes have enough on them and as far as I can tell are installed correctly. I have tried four different winding/body combinations and none will work. One gave a spark and the other turned a fraction but nothing after that.

Are they all stuffed or is there something that I can do to breathe some life into them?

Another thing I am working on currently is a electronic circuit which will keep my LED interior light on for a while after I have closed the door then when the engine starts it will turn off quickly. My interior light is an LED strip which will be on the roof and I can select the colour of it, I am wiring it to be switchable between red and white.

[LRS]

RE: Another thing I am working on currently is a electronic circuit which will keep my LED interior light on for a while after I have closed the door then when the engine starts it will turn off quickly. My interior light is an LED strip which will be on the roof and I can select the colour of it, I am wiring it to be switchable between red and white.

Jaycar sells a kit for this.. http://www.jaycar.com.au/stores.asp

I have not used it but I know a guy that was very happy with it.

Might be worth looking into.

Cheers,
Leigh

[morrisman1]

Wow, its been over a week since an update, Im getting slack!!

Its been an exciting week, my big box of goodies arrived from the UK so im in top gear now fitting all the bits and bobs that I have received. Its all great fun. $800 worth doesn't look as much in a box as what it does on the invoice thats for sure. I also got a new air compressor, well overdue! Its a 12.5 CFM v-twin, 3 horsepower, so capable of doing the heavier work like spraying, sandblasting etc without stopping to let it recharge. With the compressor I got the useful array of tools including a sandblaster, parts washer and of course the standard tyre inflator and air duster. It certainly makes a difference to my working techniques and I am finding all sorts of uses for it that I could never have predicted.

Anyway back to the morry. I fitted a new door stay on the passenger side and also wired in the electric windows so now I have two fully functional electric windows which is neat. I have them wired to the constant feed so I don't have to have the key on to use them because it frustrates me on modern cars when you have to have the ignition on to work the windows. I don't know why they do that.

I managed to find my window wiper cable and associated parts so I got those installed. One of the tubes was half an inch too long for some reason so I cut it shorter and re-flared the end. That was easier than putting a bend in it and also keep the cable straighter for less friction. After dad thinking something was a bit suspicious about 4 window motors not working he had a look at the wiring and found that the way I was wiring it was back to front so we had a rethink about it and found the best of those motors. I've semi-rebuilt a motor, meaning its been sandblasted and painted and the brushes replaced for good ones and the armature sandblasted so it has good contact now. The motor runs good. With all that done I have the wipers working as they should and will put the shiny new arms and blades on once the front windscreen is fitted.

I got new headlight buckets with the order, these ones are the plastic ones which is good because they wont rust or have seized screws which are all too common with the original ones. The halogen bulbs put out a nice beam pattern with plenty of light. I might at some stage get some of those powerful +90 bulbs but that would depend on how much night driving I do in it.

I decided to go with the factory datsun air filter because it is as good as anything and looks right too. I just gave it a blast and some new paint on it and it looks good. Im still not quite sure what to do with the crankcase breather system and whether I can just have the vapour dumping to the atmosphere, that is what I would prefer but the engine has obviously been designed to re-use the vapour.

I will upload some pictures next time the ute is outside, they come out better with natural light and plenty of room around them rather than in the rather cramped garage. Unfortunately the weather is crap at the moment so I am restricted largely inside the garage. Everything is 'on schedule' if not ahead of schedule which is really good and I will most definetely have this beast finished for the target of April next year. I could have it on the road by the end of the year even and take it on a road trip if all is going well and I dont have and large hiccups. It's exciting!

[morrisman1]

Oh boy, I had a fun day today! It started with realizing that there was no thread in the carburettor for the air filter stud to screw into but I had a good one in the parts box. Off comes the carby to swap that over. unfortunately (well that not the case as you will hear) the gasket which had to come apart was absolutely coozed and I couldnt put the carby back together without it. One of the stores in town couldnt get the gasket but had a carb rebuild kit sitting on the shelf. I thought for a second and grabbed it. $100 later and ive got a couple carby dismantled on the kitchen table with parts kinda organised, lucky mum wasnt home because she would have a fit (like the time I put the time I put the engine block in the oven to heat it up a little for painting but thats another story). After dousing each of the individual parts in carby cleaner and using that new compressor to clean/dry them I began the task of putting it together. Not as complicated as I expected to tell the truth.

The result? Well now the engine cold starts perfectly, runs perfectly with the choke on, doesnt smoke (apart from the big plume from all the 3-in-1 oil around the new carby) and even idles nicely without choke when only semi warm. All these are things that the engine never used to do and reality was closer to the polar opposite of what it is now. Needless to say I am over the moon. My ute just became 10x more drivable!

The exhaust sound has gotten sweeter with a nice morris crackle of over-run after a rev (someone a long time ago was curious about if this would happen and they were curious because of the similar exhaust design).

Here is a video of how it runs now. Unfortunately I dont have a good video of it running badly because I used to get it warmed up real good before taking videos previously thinking that was just what the datsun engine had to do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qOb2G4pdV0

The engine now feels free and powerful right from cold which is brilliant!

[morrisman1]

Here are those photos I promised