Thread: Need help on bus origins.

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I should have finished those engineering classes

Originally Posted by 34_40

SUSSED??? Translation please?!?!?

Don't you love it when the "Man" changes the game on ya'? 3 large for 2 seats is a huge penalty! All for an engineers report?

Sussed...Sorted..Dont know where the saying came from,,but it works with some people..And yes,,some of the certification rules and regs leave a lot to be desired,,but you cant do much about it..''They''are trying to protect us from ourselves,,and some of the ''engineers''are a bunch of ..d***s,who work on theory,,and have expensive habits,,so they screw some people long and hard..For the record,,there is about 35 pages of seats,seatbelts,and seat and seatbelt anchorages in the ''book''that we build our cars to..Yes,,I think they saw johnboy get into his car,on the way to where he got screwed..

Thanks for the explanation! I remembered the word Sussed in the WHo song "We're not gonna take it"... And it appears your authorities have your hot rodders the same!

Originally Posted by rspears

Can you help me understand the working relationship of the two steering boxes? You have the input shaft on the right side, looking from back to front. How are the two boxes interconnected such that it reduces the steering forces, and are both boxes connected via pitman arms?

The two steering boxes are inter-connected both mechanically and hydraulically.
Willie's idea is that you're not increasing pressure; but there is a larger volume available to facilitate steering at low revs.
Changing vehicles from left to right-hand drive is all he does, and he does it extremely successfully; he must have about twenty top tradesmen working for him, and he's done many thousands of conversions over the last twenty years.
Here's a link to his website:
Eagle Automotive Ltd - THE BUSINESS

I can't yet answer if it does in fact work, I won't know until such time as we can fire it up and road test it; but to me, logic says it will.

And knowing Willie, (Robin can affirm this,) if he says it will then it will.

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Originally Posted by johnboy

The two steering boxes are inter-connected both mechanically and hydraulically.
Willie's idea is that you're not increasing pressure; but there is a larger volume available to facilitate steering at low revs.
Changing vehicles from left to right-hand drive is all he does, and he does it extremely successfully; he must have about twenty top tradesmen working for him, and he's done many thousands of conversions over the last twenty years.
Here's a link to his website:
Eagle Automotive Ltd - THE BUSINESS

I can't yet answer if it does in fact work, I won't know until such time as we can fire it up and road test it; but to me, logic says it will.

And knowing Willie, (Robin can affirm this,) if he says it will then it will.

.

Can you explain the mechanical connections?

Originally Posted by 34_40

SUSSED??? Translation please?!?!?

Don't you love it when the "Man" changes the game on ya'? 3 large for 2 seats is a huge penalty! All for an engineers report?

Robin sussed the 'sussed' translation...sorry 'bout that...Kiwi slang...incomprehensible to any but a fellow Kiwi...

Essentially, what bit me was the change from lap belts being legal, to lap/diagonal belts being required.
And because I couldn't find swivelling seats with lap/diagonal belts at 'Pick a Part' I had to go to the people who manufacture them for the Camper-van market.
And those fellas charge like a wounded bull.
Ouch!

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Originally Posted by rspears

Can you explain the mechanical connections?

Each box has its own pitman arm and spindle arm, and they're connected with a common tie rod, so that everything works in unison.

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Originally Posted by 34_40

Thanks for the explanation! I remembered the word Sussed in the WHo song "We're not gonna take it"... And it appears your authorities have your hot rodders the same!

We're not as badly off as many in the world, the Ausbloodytralians have it far tougher than us, they're very heavily regulated.

But essentially these rules/regulations are here for our own protection, and the protection of other road users.

As a f'rinstance; when we were building the Morris Minor I welded the brake pedal pad (the round bit you put your foot on,) onto the brake pedal.
Because it had been welded it had to be x-rayed.
It failed.
Somehow I'd got a miniscule piece of slag in there.
Grind it out and do it again, I was told.
Fair enough.
Who wants their brake pedal to fall apart in an emergency?
(Although I doubt it would have...it was a very small piece of slag.)
But it does stop the cowboys from building poorly engineered, and in some cases, with some of the cars I've seen over the years, downright dangerous pieces of absolute rubbish.

BUT...(ands it's a big 'but') some (and it's only 'some') of the LVVTA's agents with little intellect or ability find they have finally got themselves into a position of minor power where they can throw their weight around and make the lives of everyone they come into contact with just that little bit more difficult.
So they do.
I've been fortunate with those I've dealt with over the years, one in particular, right here in New Plymouth, has bent over backwards to be of any possible assistance, with both the Morris Minor and the '47 Ford...but I've heard some horror stories from other hot-rodders in other parts of the country.

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Okay, here's a shot of the left hand door...I hope!

http://i1053.photobucket.com/albums/...G_0007_NEW.jpg

Dunno what I did wrong there...think I'd better talk to Mrs Lynda again.

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Originally Posted by johnboy

The two steering boxes are inter-connected both mechanically and hydraulically.
Willie's idea is that you're not increasing pressure; but there is a larger volume available to facilitate steering at low revs.
Changing vehicles from left to right-hand drive is all he does, and he does it extremely successfully; he must have about twenty top tradesmen working for him, and he's done many thousands of conversions over the last twenty years.
Here's a link to his website:
Eagle Automotive Ltd - THE BUSINESS

I can't yet answer if it does in fact work, I won't know until such time as we can fire it up and road test it; but to me, logic says it will.

And knowing Willie, (Robin can affirm this,) if he says it will then it will.

.

With Photobucket, you did nothing wrong. Occasionally it will just show the link. It is frustrating as the next time it's all right - that old story, time of the day, phase of the moon, whether the sun is emitting sunspots, etc. So Ms Lynda doesn't need to be bothered.

Also - if you remove or change things around in Photobucket, it disappears from here as it is a link only to their website

The "Manage Attachments" below has 3-4 steps but always seems to work.

Keep it going - if someone is too lazy to click on a link - their loss

Originally Posted by johnboy

Okay, here's a shot of the left hand door...I hope!

http://i1053.photobucket.com/albums/...G_0007_NEW.jpg

Dunno what I did wrong there...think I'd better talk to Mrs Lynda again.

Johnboy,
What I do in Photobucket is go to the album that has the photo I want to post, hover the cursor over that photo which opens up a box with four choices and left click on the bottom one, "IMG Code" which copies that link. Then in the CHR text I drop down a space or two, right click and hit "Paste", and then add any text I want to either above or below that Image Code line. Seems to work, almost every time....

Okay, thanks for the help/advice guys, I'll have another crack at it.
This is supposed to be a shot of the batteries box/tool box.
Let's see what happens.



Yeeha!
That worked.
The batteries box/tool box is the lower panel just in front of the l/h door...you can see the piano hinge at the leading edge.
I'm running one twelve volt battery that is for the mechanical (ie engine/exterior lights,) and two deep cycle six volt batteries coupled together as twelve volts to run the 'house' side of it.
Both systems are coupled to the engine alternator but are independant of each other, so that the house battery cannot drain the mechanical battery and vice versa.
Although, in an emergency, I can run jumper leads from the house batteries to the mechanical battery.
Tucked away in there too, in a separate compartment, is an hydraulic bottle jack, a 3/4" drive T bar with a 6" extension, and two 3/4" sockets, one of 1", and one 7/8" for the stud nuts.
The box itself is lockable....to keep the two-legged mice out.

When we're parked up and plugged into mains power, both systems can/will charge directly from the mains.

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Good news!

Dave Green, from Matamata, is the computer expert who's been organising that side of the engine for us.
Unfortunately, he's had to spend some time recuperating after an operation.
Yesterday he felt well enough to get back on his feet, so he went out and got the engine running.
Sweet!
That donkey's putting out enough grunt to spin duals!
(Not that I'd do that of course; being the sober sensible type that I am.)
That's good news.

The bad news is that he's had to take the computer back to his workshop for 'tweeking'.

But the real good news is that it's now just a matter of days away from going for certification!

Yeeha!

Its been a long road...almost five years...since I first mooted this project and started looking for the appropriate vehicle...there's been frustration after frustration, obstacles and problems to overcome and suss...
I've been ripped off and mucked about by suppliers who've failed to supply...

And now...there's a light at the end of the tunnel!

Life is looking good.
I couldn't be happier if I was twins.

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Showing the new-second-hand petrol flap (with filler pipe etc.,) on the left-hand side of the bus.
The flap/filler pipe is cut from from a Toyota van, (because it was about the flattest I could find,) and is activated by a pull cable just inside the door and on the right.



With the smaller diameter Chev wheels the rear tubs were too big, so were cut down.



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Coxy (Graeme Cox, the fella that's doing my engineering,) rang to tell me that Dave Green had bought the computer out and installed it.
They took it for a test run up the road, and to quote Coxy: "That motor's got more pulling power than a schoolboy with a copy of Playboy!"

The neighbours, who have been aware of this project from the day it arrived, heard it leave the workshop, and by the time they got to the end of the road were all at their gate (Mum, Dad, and three kids,) demanding a ride!

But Dave wasn't happy with the computer, so took it out again (after giving everyone their ride,) and has taken it back to his workshop for further tweeking.

(Sigh.)

It's just so close!

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