Williams Woodshed Workshop

[William127]

it certainly was
it was a 'pleasant' drive
the big valve 3.5 Vitesse, with single plenum flap valve Efi and Vitesse headers, made circa 210hp from the factory, from memory -- it went well on petrol or LPG and was ultra reliable (more than could be said for the over-bored 3.9, hand grenade with the pin out, successor) - lap of the Gods territory, with over 50k on the clock - 3.5s were bombproof

Plenty of go from that then, and on lpg not too crippling on the wallet

With regard to the 3.9, my Dad had a RRC 3.9 hse auto, bought at about 9 years old on 80k, went to the scrapy 6 years later (oh for a crystal ball ) on 180k. What a car that was
It had its share of faults for sure, and when it went it was in need of a head gasket at least, but for the miles, and not the most perfect service record, I can't knock it.
Me, Dad and his wife were working it out and their 16 plate vw Tuareg left them waiting for the AA for nearly as long as the RRC had, and they only had that for half as long

 

[William127]

Bit more progress on the 90. TD5 seatbox chopped to suit the pre td5 fuel tank, cleaned and painted with left over touch up paint

 

[V8Druid]

Plenty of go from that then, and on lpg not too crippling on the wallet

With regard to the 3.9, my Dad had a RRC 3.9 hse auto, bought at about 9 years old on 80k, went to the scrapy 6 years later (oh for a crystal ball ) on 180k. What a car that was
It had its share of faults for sure, and when it went it was in need of a head gasket at least, but for the miles, and not the most perfect service record, I can't knock it.
Me, Dad and his wife were working it out and their 16 plate vw Tuareg left them waiting for the AA for nearly as long as the RRC had, and they only had that for half as long

you an' me both ...... binned so much LR/RR stuff clearing my yard it makes me weep, seeing what it's all making now ... and bitterly regret selling my two RRC historics (and a few others that'd now qualify under the rolling 40 year regime) AND my last Vitesse SD

 

[William127]

you an' me both ...... binned so much LR/RR stuff clearing my yard it makes me weep, seeing what it's all making now ... and bitterly regret selling my two RRC historics (and a few others that'd now qualify under the rolling 40 year regime) AND my last Vitesse SD

Mk3 hilux with a cooked engine I sold for 350 quid is a personal low, wasn't something I had the ability to do at the time, mornings work now
That or a 2003 110 I let go for 3k, needed new calipers, pads and discs on the rear, and I thought at the time it had an ecu problem, reckon it was actually just a MAF sensor with hindsight

Oh well, better having had these things and let them go than never having them in the first place.

 

[V8Druid]

Mk3 hilux with a cooked engine I sold for 350 quid is a personal low, wasn't something I had the ability to do at the time, mornings work now
That or a 2003 110 I let go for 3k, needed new calipers, pads and discs on the rear, and I thought at the time it had an ecu problem, reckon it was actually just a MAF sensor with hindsight

Oh well, better having had these things and let them go than never having them in the first place.

amusing story, re. Hilux,s ....

Nacap Lawrence were pushing a 4ft NG pipeline through here many moons ago ..
did a lot for the outfit supplying a lot of the welding facilities/welders/gear/etc. ...
got to know them all very well ...
were always in and out of my w/shop

05.30 one sunny Sunday morning, my mobile rings and it's the third in command - nice lad, bout my age - " Need a massive favour Gra ... can you meet me at the A3 spread entry in Gilwern with your lorry A.S.A.P. - got a BIG problem "
up, dressed, into work, grab the truck and I'm there in about 25 minutes .. he's there waiting for me and I follow him about two miles up 'the spread', come round a right hander and there's one of their Hilux,s with a Lincoln Ranger, bolted in the bed, looking decidedly second hand, ...........
hanging on a side boom D9
" get under that quick and get the **** out of here with it - I'll see you down the yard, when I've put the D9 back where I got it from !! "

Hour later we're having a coffee at the w/shop and I get the low down ..
two of his blokes had gotten p*ssed up the night before and gone 'rallying' round the spread, gone up a berm, rolled it and rang him in a panic ...
the chances of their company getting kicked off the job were massive, if anyone'd found out, hence the urgency -

" so what do you want me to do with what's on the truck ? "
" Stick it in a corner and hide it under a tarp for now, please, I'll have a word with the boss in the morning and come see you tomorrow "

came back on the Monday morning, as promised and said " Lose it - it's yours for your time and help- we DO NOT want to see it again - EVER!! "

eventually sold the Hilux to a guy who wanted it for bits for his, with a shot chassis and box a year or so later -- apparently the Hilux was a TV star and had featured quite a bit in the Ballykissangel series (never saw it), before ending up on the pipeline job.
Only Hilux I've ever owned
The Lincoln Ranger is still sat here with me, after I repaired/straightened out the panel damage and replaced a couple of meters - 4 pot Kub in it runs like a watch

 

[William127]

amusing story, re. Hilux,s ....

Nacap Lawrence were pushing a 4ft NG pipeline through here many moons ago ..
did a lot for the outfit supplying a lot of the welding facilities/welders/gear/etc. ...
got to know them all very well ...
were always in and out of my w/shop

05.30 one sunny Sunday morning, my mobile rings and it's the third in command - nice lad, bout my age - " Need a massive favour Gra ... can you meet me at the A3 spread entry in Gilwern with your lorry A.S.A.P. - got a BIG problem "
up, dressed, into work, grab the truck and I'm there in about 25 minutes .. he's there waiting for me and I follow him about two miles up 'the spread', come round a right hander and there's one of their Hilux,s with a Lincoln Ranger, bolted in the bed, looking decidedly second hand, ...........
hanging on a side boom D9
" get under that quick and get the **** out of here with it - I'll see you down the yard, when I've put the D9 back where I got it from !! "

Hour later we're having a coffee at the w/shop and I get the low down ..
two of his blokes had gotten p*ssed up the night before and gone 'rallying' round the spread, gone up a berm, rolled it and rang him in a panic ...
the chances of their company getting kicked off the job were massive, if anyone'd found out, hence the urgency -

" so what do you want me to do with what's on the truck ? "
" Stick it in a corner and hide it under a tarp for now, please, I'll have a word with the boss in the morning and come see you tomorrow "

came back on the Monday morning, as promised and said " Lose it - it's yours for your time and help- we DO NOT want to see it again - EVER!! "

eventually sold the Hilux to a guy who wanted it for bits for his, with a shot chassis and box a year or so later -- apparently the Hilux was a TV star and had featured quite a bit in the Ballykissangel series (never saw it), before ending up on the pipeline job.
Only Hilux I've ever owned
The Lincoln Ranger is still sat here with me, after I repaired/straightened out the panel damage and replaced a couple of meters - 4 pot Kub in it runs like a watch
View attachment 67479

Amazing
Engine out of that would have sorted mine out

 

[hiluxman]

amusing story, re. Hilux,s ....

Nacap Lawrence were pushing a 4ft NG pipeline through here many moons ago ..
did a lot for the outfit supplying a lot of the welding facilities/welders/gear/etc. ...
got to know them all very well ...
were always in and out of my w/shop

05.30 one sunny Sunday morning, my mobile rings and it's the third in command - nice lad, bout my age - " Need a massive favour Gra ... can you meet me at the A3 spread entry in Gilwern with your lorry A.S.A.P. - got a BIG problem "
up, dressed, into work, grab the truck and I'm there in about 25 minutes .. he's there waiting for me and I follow him about two miles up 'the spread', come round a right hander and there's one of their Hilux,s with a Lincoln Ranger, bolted in the bed, looking decidedly second hand, ...........
hanging on a side boom D9
" get under that quick and get the **** out of here with it - I'll see you down the yard, when I've put the D9 back where I got it from !! "

Hour later we're having a coffee at the w/shop and I get the low down ..
two of his blokes had gotten p*ssed up the night before and gone 'rallying' round the spread, gone up a berm, rolled it and rang him in a panic ...
the chances of their company getting kicked off the job were massive, if anyone'd found out, hence the urgency -

" so what do you want me to do with what's on the truck ? "
" Stick it in a corner and hide it under a tarp for now, please, I'll have a word with the boss in the morning and come see you tomorrow "

came back on the Monday morning, as promised and said " Lose it - it's yours for your time and help- we DO NOT want to see it again - EVER!! "

eventually sold the Hilux to a guy who wanted it for bits for his, with a shot chassis and box a year or so later -- apparently the Hilux was a TV star and had featured quite a bit in the Ballykissangel series (never saw it), before ending up on the pipeline job.
Only Hilux I've ever owned
The Lincoln Ranger is still sat here with me, after I repaired/straightened out the panel damage and replaced a couple of meters - 4 pot Kub in it runs like a watch
View attachment 67479

I remember the hilux in ballykiss angel.

Twas about the time the my dad had his go walkabouts.

Was a mk3 fully colour coded looked the dogs...loved them ever since.

 

[William127]

Amazing
Engine out of that would have sorted mine out

We were on a big job at a scrap yard once, built an enclosure round some crushers and conveyors, 2 artic loads, weeks work. Their on site mobile welding guy was doing some steps, had a mk3 with a tow along Lincoln. At least I think it was a Lincoln, looked like it was on wheelbarrow wheels I made the mistake of admiring his Hilux, he proceeds to bore me for half an hour about how 'the ole Lux' will do 40mpg, with or without the the trailer welder. Yeah right
Lots of good memories on that job, mate driving us the 90 miles there in his 90 holding a hand over one eye as he'd just had some swarf scraped out, my mum giving me a lift at 5am as my 200tdi 127 wouldn't start, other mate yanking the steering wheel from the passenger seat and nearly rolling us as he thought the (now 2 eyed ) driver had misjudged the bend and the 3 of us making a 40 mile detour to take down a sky TV dish while balancing on a 3ft step ladder
Oh and me getting bollocked for absent mindedly climbing up 20 ft while drilling holes for rivets.
Good laugh all round

That was supposed to be an edit, not a reply. Oh well

 

[William127]

Talking hiluxs then-
White one was the mk3 that cooked itself, my 2nd truck, not really got any decent photos of it. These ones were at a Scout center in Staffordshire that Hertfordshire scouts used to lease, sadly closed now.
The yellow tipper- bought blind from up near Glasgow, drove up overnight with a trailer for it. Came with a 200tdi fitted tto the hilux gearbox, lift kit and bumper, I fitted the winch and had the back reshaped so the wheels actually has some clearance. Something wasn't quite right in the adaptor plate, did 2 gearboxes in 400 miles! Dropped the engine and box from the camo mk4 into it in the end.
Great offroader, sold it after I got into discovery's. Needed a fair bit of welding, an alternator and general fettling, just couldn't see when I'd actually use it!

 

[V8Druid]

Amazing
Engine out of that would have sorted mine out

that truck's cab wasn't so bad apparently ... 'til Pete stuck a strop through it to pick it up with the side boom ... never tried to run it up

 

[William127]

Well this was a new one, whoever fitted the 90s front bumper somehow put loose nuts on the bottom of the bumper bolts, not captive plates. They'd then welded it directly to the chassis for good measure!
Explains why it was still attached I suppose, not the five minute job it should be! Had to drill one of the nuts off, sideways then cut whatever needed cutting.
Got the steering box off, gave it a good clean up and a first coat of paint, milwaukee die grinder making life easy as usual
Opened up 2 of my Christmas presents to myself, stainless fixing kit for some of the 90 and snow chains for the freelander! I'm off to the North of Scotland next week and my mate who lives up there said I should think about getting some hopefully I won't need them but for 70 quid why chance it.

Christmas Dinner now

 

[William127]

More progress, engine and box in position ready for tacking- lower the whole lot into place, with the weld on mounts bolted to the engine rubber mounts, bolt the gearbox mounts to the gearbox crossmember, that sets the front to back position. Then manoeuvre the front end so the engine mounts are where they should be, that sorts out the height. Tack the mounts in position, unbolt them from the rubbers and lift the whole lot out, fully weld the mounts, paint it, stick the engine and boxes back in. Hopefully
Then I put the fuel tank in position, test fitted, trimmed, test fitted, trimmed tested the seatbox till it fitted.
That done I got most of the cutting out done for the bulkhead removal bar, much easier without a floor, seats etc. But so is everything else, even with no bodywork in the way I've stood up, knelt down, stood up and walked round the truck so many times today, be so much quicker with 2 people but satisfying getting it done on your own

 

[William127]

6 day whistle stop tour of Scotland.
Lots of scenery, sky, snow and sunshine! Cold and dry, lots of standing water but hardly any rain
Home last night after a great run back.

 

[William127]

This mornings activities- chipping 90 collected Christmas trees as a Scout fund raiser.
Wasn't planning on putting the chip on my track this year, but it's going to be an age before it dries out enough to carry on the improvements. Remembered to drag the bucket this side of where we chip this time, so I don't have to knock a path through with the headstock
That done we decided to see if the ride on I bought on a whim at auction would run. Knew it turned over and had spark, took the carb off and cleaned it out, freed the float right off and away it went. So obviously we had to do some testing, wheelies nicely
I'll give it a bit more fettling then put a towbar on it for my bin trailer
Really need the field to dry out so I can finish the digging off, do a bit of drainage and spread my planings. Not going to happen any time soon

 

[William127]

Had the loader out to put some planings in the trailer for tomorrow's job and the ground was firmer than its been for ages so I got stuck into my soil pile. Another 12 or 14 ton gone, ready for a bit more diggering.
Looks so much better just not having a random pile of soil sticking up
Spread the Christmas tree chip a bit, helps make it passable for winter. Think I'll put a planings track in though.

 

[William127]

Few from this week- disco looking smart in a very nice underground car park, soil pile is back scrap heap challenge digger shed in progress, I've tried something different for my new angle grinder and the little ride on off to a new home for a nice little profit

 

[William127]

Couple of pictures didn't upload

 

[William127]

Bit of progress, despite a few interruptions.
1st 13mm bit I picked up was like a knife through butter!
This thing is going to be a right lump until its done and in position

 

[William127]

Chalk aided design from yesterday morning

 

[V8Druid]

Chalk aided design from yesterday morning

what's the bench ? - it looks sort of familiar