THE PULLDOWN CONTINUES

Hmmm, decisions, decisions.  I've been thinking about whether to remove and replace the badly rusted pieces of the chassis before I send it away for sandblasting and today I made the decision to go ahead and do just that.

Dodgy welding job to be removed.

Bit of galvanized flat plate welded over the top.

Removing spring hanger for clean up and re-use.

I slowly cut back the chassis until I reached solid steel and allow me to internally plate the staggered joints.

And still the cutting back continues.

Ready for the new section.

The chassis still needs cleaning up and finalizing but at least now I can see what really needs doing.

All the waste parts.

REMOVING THE STEERING RELAY

As I mentioned in the previous post, Garry had obtained information from TimNZ's posts on the AULRO forum showing how he removed his steering relay.

Garry located some pieces of 75 x 75 x 6 steel angle and some 12mm x 600mm threaded rod and proceeded to construct a steering relay removal thingy.   Over the last week the offending part has been liberally  treated/doused with CRC and Penetrene.

Stuck good and tight.  Hard to see that it's a separate piece.

 It seems the 2 tonne jack was not capable of doing the job.  He could hire a 4 tonne jack from Kennards Hire or buy one at Supercheap Auto on sale for $34.00.  No prizes for guessing we now own a 4 tonne jack

Well and truly clamped and packed.

2 tonne jack and it's not even moving

Time to bring in the 4 tonne jack and start pumping.  Ever so slowly it started to move.  You can just see it starting to rise up in the photo below.

Finally, out it comes and you can see just how dirty and rusty it is. 

To say that Garry is stoked is an understatement.  Our collection of tools and implements is growing and all will come in handy, along with the knowledge gained from the AULRO forum when it's time to strip down "Bev".  

Thanks and credit for the steering relay remover thingy must go to TimNZ.

TIME FOR AN UPDATE

Life's been a bit busy lately and I've been slack on posting updates on Forrest.  Work has still been going on behind the scenes though. 

Garry, with some help from his brother Richard, has continued to strip all the sundry bits from the chassis which is now bare.  The gear box has been comfortably resting on the shed floor while other parts were removed and as you can see, the gear box mounts are totally stuffed.

This rear outrigger is a bit bend and will be replaced.

The front rail of the chassis will be repaired.

Along with the other areas of the chassis that need repairs and dodgy patchwork redone.

All the new pieces created with the CAD drawing program have been fabricated and just need to be welded in place.

With some help from timnz on the AULRO forum Garry was able to get some information for making a Steering Relay Remover thingy out of some old bits of steel he's had laying around for years it seems.  Check out the name on the bit of steel angle.  BHP Co Ltd. 

Will post another photo of the patented thingy in action.

He also treated himself to an early Father's Day/birthday present.  Hmmm, seems the presents are never ending for this birthday year.  Hope I find some good uses for it too, haha.

The chassis pushed outside for another clean.