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Thread: My RV The story so far

  1. #1

    Post My RV The story so far

    Time line 13 July 20107

    Basically we'd started to rebuild the RV that we first built back in 1992, when we used it on the road as an every day run-around for about three years until getting the kids in and out as babies forced us back into (normal cars) as anybody with kids will know if you have kids you inevitably will have less spare money and much less free time(or is that the other way round)?.
    About four years ago we decided that it was time that we started to rebuild it so we started it. Then along came our youngest along with health problems for (my wife) so we stopped again. We had just restarted and were planing to have it ready for the 2008 show season How wrong we were


















































    That's it for now sorry some of them appear to have loaded in reverse order

  2. #2

    Post

    Aug 23 2007
    Heres a couple of pic's of the dash I am making



    Aug 23 2007
    Sometime ago on I asked for some replacement front side indicator light units and no one had any, so I went back to square one and stripped the original ones down and rebuilt them, Heres the first one back in place (I think it looks OK).


    Aug 27 2007
    Been in the garage most of the day working on the RV (I'm not over keen on sunshine heat and all that). Have managed to get about 1/4 of the wiring done and tidied up several other little bits will post some more pictures when I have taken some.

    Sept 2 2007
    Look what we did on Sunday







    Thats right all day just to clean and repaint a fuel tank.

    8 Oct 2007
    Got a little time this weekend so we started to tidy the garage


    More pic,s this time she has wheels.



    she's out side standing on her wheels not on the axle stands that she's been sitting on these last three years.





    Still a lot to do but at least now I can get her out of the garage ;D
    The engine is ready to go for a complete rebuild (don't have the time to do it myself- and I think they will do a better job than me anyway)

    And with the garage sorted I can work inside with heat and light. 8-)

    9 Oct 2007
    We have had a head start on most people because we built it in the first place so we know a lot about it and how it was built, It has been off the road some 12 years or more so it really needs a good going over hence, TOTAL REBUILD.

    14 Oct 2007
    OK managed to get some more time in the garage ;D. I have drilled and tapped all the holes for the fuel tank mounting straps ( I am using the original Cortina tank) also cut in the new rear speakers and rear lights and mounted the tow hitch and wiring. Had a problem with the amount of cables etc at the rear because of the tow hitch etc and I did not want to have the usual taped up mess tucked up under the back panel.



    So I came up with the box idea I think it works really well, although if I had planed a little better.





    I would have made it easier to work on.

    7 Nov 2007
    Been in the garage again (no pic's yet) had renewed the headlight bowls, wiring and all associated bright works, rebuilt the master cylinder and servo, new seals etc (they were fun to source) nearly finished building inner wing sidelight/indicator surround I had also built a new battery retaining bracket and started to run the new brake lines, We had the rebuilt pinto back from the engine guy so I now had to try and find the time to refit. (Work was hectic but there was always the Christmas holidays)

    28 Dec 2007

    Been in the garage again.

    The old engine 1.




    The old engine 2.




    Three picture's of the spacer we've had made to allow the 5 speed gearbox to fit without cutting the chassis.









    The plate that now replaces the original gearbox bracket.




    The rebuilt engine or at least the first parts of it.




    I was aiming to be rebuilt by the end of the month.

    The to do list includes:

    Fuel lines,
    Brake lines,
    The clips for the above are already fitted,
    Fuel tank, (brackets are painted and the holes are tapped out ready,
    Rear stabilizer bar,
    Prop shaft,
    Roll bar,
    Windscreen support bar,
    Engine ancillaries,
    Radiator,
    Exhaust,
    Dash wiring,
    Dash covering,
    Dash fitting.

    That's if the weather holds.

    2 Jan 2008
    Been in the garage again "I love holidays"
    and the to do list is getting shorter.

    Brake lines are made and fitted,
    Fuel lines are on,
    Fuel tank on, Not fixed quite right yet but on,
    Fuel pump is on,
    Fitted new manifold studs ready for exhaust and carb,
    Can't fit them yet, got to take mounts off the engine because I forgot to paint them :-/.

    The weather forecast was not too good, so hadn't tried to paint them today as its been rather cold in the garage as of late and I am not allowed to paint in the house.

    Back to work tomorrow so I will have to wait and see what the weekend brings.

    [quote ] author terryrob from the Eagle forum. “Well done mate your doing great”

    Thanks for the comments.
    A little encouragement goes along way mate.
    P.S. especially when you have been in a freezing cold garage all day

    15 Feb 2008
    Had been busy in the garage again, photos to follow soon.
    Clutch, throttle cables,electrics,gearbox,lights,alarm and just lately the dash and covering,still got all the water works to sort!

    We have decided to for go the paint work for a while so that we may be able to attend some shows with it (we can always paint next winter)

    17 Feb 2008

    Here we go again. The lastest pic's , thought I'd take some of the process rather than just the finished article (have to be honest though I took two goes at the vinyl.























    Note the mouse trap in the last but one picture, the nice little buggers only gone and chewed a hole in my new seats "DEATH to mice" .

    30 March 2008
    Been in garage again.

    Seats in, Front and rear (Not I ones that I wanted to fit as they wouldn't fit).
    Seat belts, Front and rear.
    Oil in rear axle,
    Oil in gearbox,
    Oil in engine,
    Electrics sorted except tow socket (still has small problem with connections)
    Windscreen wiper blades etc sorted.
    Battery charged.
    Still quite a lot of little things to do before ready for MOT. :
    But it is definitely getting there.

    No water in the system yet, waiting for Jason (another Eagle owner) to supply me with a valve for the manifold.
    Also had yet to bleed the brakes.

  3. #3

    Post

    May 1st 2008
    Well it past it's MOT First time, just a headlamp a little too low and one of the rear brakes not as strong as the other but all legal. We will not be bringing the RV to Stoneleigh

    And here's why










    It passed it's mot driving home Mega happy and the steering went ,in to the seven foot deep drain flipped around and i climb out, I am fine "but a little bit cheesed off now" 164 pounds to recover it and bring it two miles home.

    Turns out that the steering column inner spines were wore all most away so there was control at low speed with no real pressure in the system but at 50-60 miles per hour the drain here I come. I missed the tree thou which was a bonus.

    All ways positive. All ready started the rebuild

    Should add this all happened on monday evening I had been in touch with Tim (from teac )and had ordered a screen suround so we were on the move again :


    7 may 2008
    The guy was great, although it doesn't look like it in the pictures the RV nearly ended up on it's side/top, he took he's time and did well not to flip it over or damage it any more than it already was.

    What a nice man.

    Sept 19 2008
    Well, been back in the garage this afternoon and I had made up a template of the bar that I was going to fit inside the windscreen frame, as a strengthener (it's made of plastic conduit) so all I had to do is get it to someone local that can bend it out of one piece steel.

    Then I can get on with making up a screen support bar from it back to the roll bar

    21 Sept 2008
    [quote author] terryrob Its a good idea Gary I've been thinking of fitting one myself too, especialy as I'm probably going to be running with a rag top. I was going to fit a bar from the roll bar forward to the screen support.

    It was the bar, that I had previously fitted between the screen and roll bar that probably saved my life when I went in the ditch so I know it's worth doing ,only this time I am uprating it slightly.
    The last one bent a bit when it hit my head.

    Some time here
    We decoded that we were going to get rid of the RV so swapped the engine over with the one in Helens Jago Samuri as that one needs a little attention as we had not done anything with it since we bought the car.

    30 July 2012
    I actually worked on something to do with my RV today.

    I had acquired a fresh bonnet as mine was damaged when I tried to park at the the bottom of a drain back in 2008.

    .

    So I had ground out all of the crazing and re-resined it ready for a bodge paint job

    8 Aug 2012
    Moved some boxes off the RV today, may-be if I get a couple of hours tomorrow I might be able to see it again

    Darn Olympics aren't helping, I have found myself watching more TV than I ever do and learning about sports events that I never even knew existed

    Come on team GB


    19 april 2013
    The RV is out of the garage and in the carport.
    I am working on repairing the fibreglass on the wing.

    I won't be getting it on the road yet as I have a few insurance issues (want to know more then I will be at Stoneleigh but I am not discussing on here)

    I am going to tidy the body fibreglass and then strip the brakes down and renew/check as needed then it's on to the roof fibreglass, the hard top is cracked in four or five places.

    I am going to repair the top and adapt so that it will lift on and off without affecting the soft top fixings.

    That would be the soft top that I managed to get hold of from a chap who was breaking an Eagle he had bought which had never been registered with the DVLA.

    Four miles from my house on my way home from work just happened to spot it on his driveway so stopped and had a chat.
    It is like brand new £75 for the top, doors, some of the fixings, a second hand bonnet and a set of the burger type lights, fog light and reversing light, the lights had not even been drilled for wiring.
    Top £50.
    The bonnet £10
    All the rest £15.
    The git made me remove them myself though
    It's about time I had some luck with the Eagle.

    Some pictures of the damage. I already have a new indicator side light on order as well.













    As long as the couple of little advisory jobs on Helen's Jago don't take to long, It shouldn't be too long before I am ready to MOT it and the local garage has already offered to send their truck to collect it for it's MOT (they are offering to help due to issues mentioned before)
    Watch this space

    April 20 1013
    Did a little bit more of the gel coat repair today, isn't fibreglassing boring?

    June 29 2013
    Still working on it should really get some more pic's on.

    Sept 12 2013
    I have fitted the soft top NO PICTURES yet as it is too cramped where it is parked to get any!

    I have ripped out the Cortina dash binnacle and replaced it (well almost)am in the process of replacing it with a set of MK2 Cortina chrome surround dials, it's the sensors that I am having a bit of trouble with at present.

    I have removed the rear seats and stripped them of their covers as I am hoping to get started soon on making new covers myself.
    Once I have the rears done I will attempt the fronts.

    Will update with Pictures when I can and when I have a few more minutes I will write it all up in here.

    Sept 14 2013
    [quote source="/post/16075/thread" timestamp="1379061292" author="@peter"]Looking forward to seeing the photos, just looked back at all the work done in 2007, your youngest must be old enough to lend a hand by now.[/quote]

    She will be 10 in November but the real problem at the moment is that my 18 year old daughter leaves for university tomorrow (Saturday) along will all the finance.

    Still getting on with the Geep, just with a restricted budget and timetable.

    If I can get my series 2a Landover, Moted and sold then it will free up some cash, just need to borrow a trailer as No one will insure me with it at the moment.

    Sept 15 2013

    My Fuel tank as seen in the earlier pictures is the one from the "Donor" Cortina estate.

    The problem I had was with the sensors not working Not a set up, one had stopped working on the old dash, it just that I don't have a lot of time for it at the mo so haven't had time to trace the fault.

    20 Nov 2013

    I did something to do with the RV today

    I have striped out the rear seats and removed all the fabric and started to clean up the framework and have also started to make new vinyl covers so that if (no when it rains) and the top is down I can just dry the seats off.
    I will remove the front ones and do the same when I have finished the rears.

    I also got around to fitting some water resistant carpeting (to try to cut the noise down abit) in under the rear seating area while they are out.

    Pictures to follow when I get a minute.

    Thinking about striping the engine out for a rebuild as I think the valve seals have dried up (a lot of smoke) and there are a couple of oil leaks from the block and sump areas anyway, I guess it is due for one as it is the engine that Helen had in her Samuri for a couple years and we haven't done much to it in that time and then I have let it stand for a while.

    Dec 11 2013
    Sill working on the seats they are a pig. I am hand stitching the centre seams as the machine kept snapping thread as it went though the three layers. When I can get into the garage (son is doing some welding on one of ours disco's) I will start the engine strip (I might even be allowed out over Christmas) I have hinted at it and so far have met no objections

    Jan 4 2014
    I finally managed to get the pictures of sorting out the recovering of my rear seats out on to photo bucket so here there are.

    The rear seat panel has been repainted but I still have to do the base.


    The panels all laid out this is slightly more difficult than I expected but still they have got to be done now.



    Once I'd got them all sorted using the labels that I wrote on the old panel they are ready for cutting out, I have got all the panels cut and have started to stitch them together but I don't have the pictures up yet. Don't do what I did first time I marked the seats, I marked both seats with the same number system (lucky I noticed just as I was about to put them all together on the table).



    Should be getting the RV into the garage tomorrow (weather permitting) to get the engine out for it's rebuild.

  4. #4
    March 14 2014
    Well I got the RV into the garage and while it was there a few LITTLE jobs popped up on our other motors etc, the RV is now buried under a mountain of crap.





    I spent the weekend tiding the garage and can now at least see the RV, I am trying to get to the engine by next weekend so that I can start on it rebuild.

    March 19 2014
    Been in there again tonight. The end of the bench is now clear and being used for sorting all the other crap...I am sorting all my bits trays, jars and tins as I go this time so that hopefully it won't end up back like it again too soon.

    I have been amazed at some of the thing that I have, that I have forgotten about :-X

    April 21 2014
    Been in the garage this weekend....
    The engine is sitting on the floor out of the RV but that's it so far.
    Quite pleased to be this far to be honest

    April 23 2014
    The engine on it's stand and ready for working on. I suspect now is the time when I will get really busy with work and home problems (that's what normally happens) but we will see. >

    April 27 2014
    Managed to get a couple of hours in the garage.







    The RV was smoking well the last time I started it to move it. I thought that the stem seals had dried up and decided to change then and while the engine was apart give it a little attention as we had done very little to it since we got it in one of the Samuri's.

    Boy am I glad I didn't go for one of those stem seal regeneration liquid thingies. On striping the engine I found that the rings in three of the pistons were in little bits on the bright side there is no damage at all to the bores or the pistons themselves other than a little discolouring where the oil was burning, I must have stopped it just at the right time

    Got to order some rings and things now !

    April 27 2014
    Not sure what caused it, I don't think it has been too hot since we've owned it!

    I spent today taking my eldest daughter back to uni, so I only managed to clean the block up but at least I got something done

    As for rings I don't know what I'll get yet I'm still looking.

    30 may 2014
    Well they say a picture say's it better than words so..























    The broken rings were due to overheating (must have been before we got it as we never had problem!)
    Had to have a rebore and all new pistons and rings. Hopefully it will be all right now, yet to get it full of coolant and petrol but it's the weekend so here hoping

    June 17 2014
    Well what a time I have had.

    The engine build went fine got the motor into the RV, tried to start it "no go" I realised that I had probably got the dizzy in a notch out so went to set it up at TDC so that I could sort it. I couldn't turn the engine with a spanner at all.

    So engine out, the crank was tight, so I stripped the bottom end back down, the bearings were worn like there had been in there with no oil for a couple of weeks. Luckily (if you can call any of this that) the crank only needed a little polish and a set of new bearings. Almost back together again.

    I am sure there is someone out there that doesn't want me to get this RV back on the road.

    Moral of the story DON'T try to get away with using the old bearings even if they look OK (as stated by the guy that did the rebore and removed the cam belt sprocket with a 4 tonne press after getting it red hot first).

    he was as shocked as me at the state of the bearings (first thoughts were that the oil pump isn't working) but I have checked that now and all is fine.

    July 5 2014
    Well the engine is now sorted.
    It turned out that either the engine place or myself left a small piece of rag in the main oil way from the oil filter into the engine, oops the oil was just getting around but there was not enough pressure to show on my gauge.
    Found it by threading a bit of P.V.C. wiring though the oil ways starting from the oil pump aperture, did this out of desperation having tried just about every thing else.

    Spoke to Adrian Flux's and got the insurance sorted out so onwards we go. 8-)

    July 7 2014
    Got to overhaul the complete braking system as very weak. No hand brake on off side and very little pressure in the front plus the front are quite a bit imbalanced.
    I thought about this and realised that I have not changed the fluids since building it back in 1993 (although it has been off the road for a lot of the time)it's not surprising that I have work to do.

    July 9 2014
    Been working on the RV again tonight. Stripped the rear brakes down, I now know why the handbrake only works on one side! the cable had seized into the back plate.

    It's off now and in the garage with a good dose of get yourself freed up liquids :P
    I'll find out tomorrow if it worked if not Ebay here I come.

    July 15 2014
    New handbrake cable sourced and fitted rear brakes were stripped down to fit the cable so I went though the rear system again.

    Then the front brakes were stripped off and callipers stripped and cleaned and checked, all back together now and the system bled just need to try them out but the weather has been against me.

    I also got around to fitting a centre mounted rear view mirror. (up on the frame that I fitted to hold the screen when soft top used)

    Also sorted out why the temp gauge didn't work (Cortina sensor was the wrong Ohm rating for the older style Cortina gauges that I have fitted) so I fitted one that I had, out of a 1300 crossflow works a treat now.

    The fuel gauge needed a tweak to but that too is now OK.

    Sept 22 2014
    I forgot to mention that our RV has now been MOTed and Taxed since August.

    We still haven't done too many miles in it as I have been repairing the hard top and fitting new hold down clips so that we can remove it quickly when required. OH yeah, I also fitted a sunroof into the hard top that I removed from an old orion saloon I used to have. (fits nice)

    Engine is still a bit rough but It getting there.

    I will get some pictures up sometime.

    October 1 2014

    I can only find one picture at the moment but I know that there are a load more somewhere.
    Soft top is not bad for £50 is it rock[1]



    Like I said the hard top is back on at the moment.

    March 17 2015
    Engine is ready to lifted out this weekend so that I can balance the work on my van and engine repairs (its smoking quite badly)

    Hopefully getting the RV ready for stoneleigh and the van back to work … time will tell.

  5. #5
    Nice build log and lots of pictures are always appreciated. Seems like you had a lucky escape with that drain

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