Norms Restoration - 31 Seater Projects

1953 Leyland OPD2/1 [2818]

2020

Mechanical July

Norman Julian 3rd Jul
I'm still working on these tubes.
I have done a little under half now.
You can see the mess they are in.
Most wouldn't worry about doing this.
I guess at the end of the day it won't make much difference in the performance of the cooling system.
For me it just looks a lot tidier.
I haven't been spending all my time on these.
It is hard on the eyes and neck.




Norman Julian
This one is straightened and ready to be cleaned.

Norman Julian
These are finished.
Robert John Hood
I did it with my Albion.
A month or 2 for the radiator restoration.
It will be worth it Norm.
Just remember, bit by bit!
Norman Julian
Robert John Hood phew!
I thought I was the only one.
What did you end up doing with the rubber seals on your Albion?
Robert John Hood
Norman Julian , it's too involved for here.
A half hour phone call will be in order.
Charles Shipway
Norman Julian Another Fiddly time consuming job
Well time will tell all about your commitment to this BUS and those of us enjoying the adventure with you
Norman Julian 3rd Jul
I took as much as I can off this grill to inspect each vertical fin.
There are some crushed ones that will need some attention.
I cleaned up the rego plate that sits down the bottom centre.
I'm not sure whether I will put it back on.
Our buses in Sydney never used them.




Norman Julian 7th Jul
The frame of the radiator is now clean.
Now the thinking cap goes on.
24 tubes are done with 23 to go.
I will say now that if the engine overheats it won't be the fault of the radiator.
LOL


Norman Julian
Out of 24 tubes done, 2 were blocked up.
Norman Julian 21st Jul
Today I took the remainder of the rubber seals out of the top tube plate.
I had a good look at each rubber seal and they were all close to being the same. . . hard and cracked on the outside but still soft close to the tube.
The rubber is around 1/8" thick and more than half was hard and cracked.
The dimensions are 3/8" (inside) and 5/8" (outside) and being about 1/4" deep.
They may have lasted a good while yet if left undisturbed but to overhaul it properly the tubes needed to come out.
The last picture here shows how each tube seals.
The seal goes into the threaded hole then the tube is pushed in and then the nut tightens up and stretches the rubber out to form a seal.
The nut has a lot of thread left after tightening.
This allows for extra tightening over time if leaks start to occur.
This is where experience comes in to the equation. You need to tighten it enough that it doesn't leak but not too tight as to kink the copper tube.



Robert John Hood
Get some rubber fuel hose of similar dimensions and section it Norm.
They will work fine.
Norman Julian
Robert John Hood
Yeah.
So far I can't find 5/8" outside dia.
Plenty of 16mm.
That 1/2mm difference makes it much too tight.
I also have to avoid reinforced stuff as well.
Norman Julian
I made a silly mistake in the top story. Makes better sense now.
Robert Stevenson
Im guessing you have a press.
Use it to punch out some discs.
Then punch out the centres from insertion rubber.
A rod with a nice diagonal cut all squared up, set in a jig to punch through an equal sized hole should do the trick.
Norman Julian 24th Jul ·
Question for the people in the know.
I have a replacement crank pulley and it has its own harmonic balancer plate.
Weeks ago I cleaned up and painted the original harmonic balancer plate (picture 3) which is attached to the front of the pulley (picture 1).
Now for the question.
Would the pulley and the plate be balanced with the crank in manufacture or is the pulley balanced with the plate or is it not an exact science and doesn't matter.
It just saves me having to clean up and paint another balancing plate.



Robert Stevenson
Looking at that I dont think it would matter unless you know the exact spot the balancer came from.
Im guessing it may have been drilled to get the static balance right, so it needs to be clocked to where it came from. Given that it wont be revving hard, or doing a great deal of work, just mix and match what works best.
Norman Julian
Phew!
For a minute then I thought nobody understood what I was refering to.
Because they red line at about 1800 rpm, I thought that it may not of mattered too much if these parts were mixed matched.
Maxwell Mcroberts
Did they ever try to internally balance one of these motors or is not practical?����
Norman Julian
Maxwell Mcroberts
don't know
Norman Julian 25th Jul
This looks promising!

Classic Fasteners
We now have a range of stunning looking shallow dome headed bolts in BSF, BSCY and Metric.
These bolts are manufactured from stainless steel and are supplied with a light polished finish.
We have a more sizes on order so keep an eye out for this in the coming weeks.
Buy online at https://www.classicfasteners.com.au/shallow-dome-head-bolts/
Charles Shipway
They look fantastic Norman Just the ants pants for the job
Norman Julian 29th Jul
What have we here . . . a black hole or in my case a money pit.
LOL.
Actually this is the seal on the front cover.
The outer rusty looking circle area is the actual seal.
It is just under 4" in diameter.
It was suggested that I replace it while the crank pulley is off. Looking at it closely it is not a bad idea.
The coil spring inside isn't "springing" anymore.
I ordered a new one today as well as all the nuts and bolts for the radiator.
I also prepared for painting the replacement crank pulley.
It only had one locating dowel for some reason so I punched one from the old unit and put it in.
Thanks to Bob Gioia and David Wilson for getting me a replacement.


Norman Julian 31st Jul·
I received the front cover seal this morning.
Not bad considering I ordered it Wednesday arvo.
Because of you people I had a couple of companies to choose from.
About a month ago I got a price off 2 companies for this humble seal.
The first place I rang gave me this price of $20 plus.
The second place gave me a price of $30 plus.
That is a big difference.
Normally I don't batter an eyelid at prices but because I was also asking about other things I thought I would enquire at the price of this seal from both places.
I'm not going to mention the other place so don't ask.
The good thing to know is that they are there if you want something that no other place would carry.
In any case the other company may sell other things cheaper.



Andrew Blacklock
Is it the same seal for 0600 and 0680 ?
Norman Julian
Andrew Blacklock
no idea!
Ring the number on the invoice and ask.
Andrew Blacklock
Norman Julian
be a good idea to measure the i.d and o.d of the seal now for future reference
Robert Stevenson
Funny thing with parts in my game.
I can often buy the exact same part from a reseller cheaper than I can direct from the OEM.
And I know that the reseller buys them from the OEM anyway.
I remember years ago we needed a centre bolt for the spring pack on our old Inter firetruck.
The truckie in the brigade thought that he knew best and got a price from a wrecking yard.
Was about 20 bucks.
I rang up an Inter dealer and the part price new, and in stock was under 10 bucks.
I dont often settle for the first price unless the second place is inconvenient.
Norman Julian
I was in the retail business and I can tell you some funny things regarding wholesale prices.
Last updated
July 2020
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