First job of the week was to permanently fit the panel around the foothold immediately behind the cab. Making sure there was room to fit the O/S indicator meant a slight modification to the location of the conduit bringing the cable up to the indicator in order to provide long enough tails to connect to the indicator base. Work continued fitting the waist panels, including marking out and the final panel from a remnant left from the wheelarch panel. Next a small, fiddly panel had to be made that finishes the waist rail and folds around the cab door pillar rebate; I did this twice though the second effort was not much of an improvement on the first! Finally the panel that completes the area below the cab step was cut and fitted and the kick panel marked out for cutting.
All posts by Nigel
10/12/2023
First job this week was the installation and testing of the panel light. Next, panelling the O/S began with the one l immediately in front of the O/S rear wheel. The next panel is in front of the tank so required some complex cutting out. I reused a round casting from the MW to bead the opening in front of the fuel gauge, but this will need some final adjustment to fit. As I progressed with the panelling I found that a small alignment error had crept in which I should have eliminated earlier, so the final panel next to the driver’s door had to be cut to an odd shape, keeping in mind the cuto out for the foothold and the hole for the wiring to the indicator. However the error in aligning the panels will be hidden beneath the beading so not a great problem, just annoying. Use of panel sealant meant I couldn’t easily remove a panel to correct the error once fitted.
Pnaelling in progress along the offside looking towards the rear.
3/12/2023
Work started this week with reinstallation of the wooden section of the cab floor and the steel sections around the gear stick and handbrake, along with the reinforcing bar angle that fits underneath and adds to the rigidity of the cab and strangth of the floor. Also an addendum to the testing was the panel light wiring and the bulb holder itself which needed attention to the connections to make it work. It has a new bulb fitted. Screws for fitting it have been acquired, 6-32 UNC for the fitting and 4BA for the cable clips along with the missing 1/4″ screws for the cab floor. The aluminium sheet needed for the remaining O/S outer panels arrived at the beginning of the week.
The woodwork for the bottom rail was cut, fitted and painted, the short section immediately under the first O/S window was made from the original long piece which was sufficiently good to use again with repair. This has been primed and painted wood grey ready for the outer panelling to be cut and fitted. This completes the repairs to the frame so a bit of a milestone this week.
Final job this week was preparing the wiring ready for the panel lamp to be installed.
Draught seal and cab floor around the steering column.
Handbrake lever painted and wooden section of cab floor installed.
Bottom rail of offside frame.