Project "Why Not"

[whtractors24 3,197]

On 1/26/2016 at 4:46 PM, Stigian said:

Well..... I woke Project up from her 2 odd month slumber yesterday and thought I'd take her for a little drive before I start on the flaming exhausts again...

I may of got carried away a bit

 

 

 

 

 

 

sweeet !  you ever make it over to the u.s to the Pennsylvania show? 

[Horse46 519]

 I love that image Ian, covered in mud and a silly grin on yer face, classic British eccentricity!

[roadapples 6,983]

That should be a calendar picture...

[WNYPCRepair 1,923]

On September 27, 2015 at 4:05 AM, Stigian said:

Sorry guys, no idea when the next update will be. My Wife is seriously ill in hospital, so WH's will just have to wait until my Wife is better and life has returned to normal..

 

 

Sorry, I missed this, glad to hear she is OK

[Stigian 1,234]

On 26/01/2016 at 11:43 PM, pullstart said:

Oh yeah!  That is awesome!

My vote's for some super swamper bogger tires and a selectable locker in the rearend.  For sure

 

Thanks Pullstart, I have been wondering if I should get another diff and weld it up before dropping it in...  It would make straight line driving even more fun

 

 

On 27/01/2016 at 2:04 AM, roadapples said:

We have to grow old, but we don`t have to grow up. Wish I could have been there for that..

 

Your never too old to be immature

 

 

On 27/01/2016 at 9:22 AM, 19richie66 said:

Definately would not be any good for mowing yards. Resodding....yes!... Mowing, no. Would be fun to try though.

 

I guess I could always tow a gang mower behind.. It might work as long as it's possible to drive WN slowly

 

 

On 27/01/2016 at 1:31 PM, JC 1965 said:

That looks like fun Ian. Good luck cleaning off all that mud. Great video thanks for sharing.      

 

Thanks JC, it was very much fun.. A lot of the mud is off now, the rest can wait until I pull her apart for painting..

[Stigian 1,234]

On 28/01/2016 at 3:14 PM, whtractors24 said:

sweeet !  you ever make it over to the u.s to the Pennsylvania show? 

 

It would be really cool to fly over to the show, I'm just not good on planes

 

 

On 28/01/2016 at 9:10 PM, Horse46 said:

 I love that image Ian, covered in mud and a silly grin on yer face, classic British eccentricity!

 

Covered in mud and didn't care.. The fun is more than worth the mud

 

 

On 28/01/2016 at 9:39 PM, roadapples said:

That should be a calendar picture...

 

Now there's a thought.. Remind me for next years calendar

 

 

On 29/01/2016 at 10:57 AM, WNYPCRepair said:

 

 

Sorry, I missed this, glad to hear she is OK

 

Thanks Brian, I'm happy to say 4 months and a couple of weeks on she's doing very well.

Evening all, with Project Horse Gut finished apart from a couple of little bits I have turned back to Project Why Not and the exhaust flame system..

 

Starting at the top, the green paint on the flame fuel tank just had to go..

That's better, paint stripped then blasted with some red oxide..

The flame fuel pump will be going about here... It is a little higher than the tank, but once it's been primed a fuel tap and not return valve should stop it from trying to drain out.

25ft of brake pipe and some pipe connectors turned up in the post..

I had been wondering what to use as jets in the exhausts until I noticed a couple of knackered Wheel Horse carbs on the rack.. Both carbs put up a fight but I managed to get the jets out..

As it turns out they are a nice tight fit over the brake pipe..

A bit of tweaking later had a small hole blocked at the end and the threaded bit ground away.

I expect the jets will get clogged up once in a while so I had to find a way of making them removable.. So into the lathe went a bolt..

A little while later..

Ta- Daa removable jets They are both a nice tight pressure fit so shouldn't come out in a hurry...  How the brass will cope with the heat I don't know.. One way to find out I guess

 

 

I almost forgot.....    

 

 

 

Edited January 31, 2016 by Stigian

[elcamino/wheelhorse 9,358]

After watching the Director's Cut , I have one question did you go to the Pub before or after filming?

[Stigian 1,234]

On 26/01/2016 at 11:43 PM, pullstart said:

On 31/01/2016 at 10:45 PM, elcamino/wheelhorse said:

After watching the Director's Cut , I have one question did you go to the Pub before or after filming?

 

 

It would of been worth going to the pub after filming just so I could of seen the look of shock as I walking in plastered in mud

 

 

Before the flame jets were fitted the exhausts got a good clean up and a coat of red oxide..   Red oxide isn't a "high temperature" paint, but the over spray that had got onto the pipes hadn't burnt or flaked off despite WN getting lots of muddy thrashings about the place, so I thought a coat wouldn't hurt and help keep any possible future rust at bay.

 

 

 

One of the jets welded in.. Well, the nut not the jet

 

 

 

Speaking of jets, I needed to give the home made jets a smoke test to see how they flow... That should do

 

 

 

Nigel dug out his brake pipe flaring tool.. I've no idea on the make but it is very old, very well made and easy to use.. A proper tool in this age of cheap tat!

 

 

 

 

Here it is in action flaring a short section..

 

 

 

Which Nigel then soldered into the jet.

 

 

 

A steam Punk exhaust..         The fencing wire won't be staying, once I know the flames work then I will make some weld on clips to stop the brake pipe from moving.

 

 

 

That fits well..

 

 

 

Fitting the flame fuel tank took a bit of thinking about.. I could of just welded a couple of bits of box to the tank and bolt them to the frame... But I didn't want to spoil the look of the tank which is a nice shape, so I made up some nice brackets..

 

 

 

 

Fitted but not fully welded.. I'm happy with how it fits in the small space that's the only place left to fit it

 

 

 

The final spark set-up..  This produces very good sparks at both plugs and as Nigel and I found out yesterday it has no problem lighting TVO.......   On the bench that is..

 

 

 

With all wiring and plumbing done on the flame set-up there was only one thing left to do......   Yep try it out....

 

No flames just lots of smoke and TVO pouring out the exhausts!!        A bit of over fueling me thinks that just floods the spark plugs!      That should be an easy fix tomorrow... The smoke looked good though

 

 

 

[Stigian 1,234]

Flames eh, Who's idea was that?

 

As it turned out the only way we could get the mix (a strong TVO mix, 50/50 paraffin and petrol) to light was in the workshop in controlled conditions! Which means we put a very small amount in a tin lid and checked to see if the spark plug would light it. It did!!
But pump the warmed up mix into the end of an exhaust and give it a spark... No Joy! Even trying to light it with a blow torch didn't work, it just kept blowing the torch out even at tick-over!
And there chaps is the root of the flame thrower problem, the exhaust gasses are so great they blow the spark on the plugs out! I could change the spark plugs for glow plugs, but as a blow torch won't light it I can't see that glow plugs would!
I know that a lack of oxygen in the mix might have something to do with it, I do have an interesting idea that would give me full control on how much air, how much mix goes into the exhaust and it would also atomize the mix better..

Sooooo.... Flames are out (for now) I'm afraid but.... I do have another idea.. I won't give anything away other than despite spending a long time trawling the internet, I can't find any sign of anyone anywhere trying this or even asking if it's possible.. It should be interesting

 

In other news I have a pair of small headlamps for Why Not... I'm sure some of you can guess where they came from

They need a bit of work, the chrome is too far gone with deep rust pitting for them to be re-chromed and the yellow bulbs just have to go..

 

 

 

 

It was a bit hard to hold a lamp in place and take a photo at the same time, but this will give you an idea...   I need to mock up some brackets and roll WN outside so I can get a good look, hopefully they won't make WN look all "Toy Town"

 

 

 

 

Friday the front of my workshop looked like a mower dealers... Two of them are for sale as it happens, just not my two

 

 

 

Other than having a bit of tidy up (the workshop needed it) the reason for parking everything out front was to make space for putting my big bench up again so WN can get stripped down and painted..

 

 

 

For the past er... 8 odd years I've been using a bench that basically was a large computer desk with a very large slab of thick chipboard as a top.

It served me well for many a year with WN, the 6x6 and others being built on it..   However when WN was taken off the bench late last year it didn't fair too well, broke a few welds and the frame got twisted..

 

So yesterday a new bench frame was constructed....    Thanks for all you help and welding yesterday Nigel

 

 

 

It's a bit hard to tell from this photo but it has a hanging shelf frame.. I just need to add a few more bit's of box and some boards..     When I find some I will be fitting some strong castor wheels to the legs so I can move the bench about when I need to..

 

 

 

And for your viewing pleasure here's the latest WN video.. Enjoy

 

 

Edited February 14, 2016 by Stigian

[WNYPCRepair 1,923]

You guys are braver than me. I wouldn't want to be standing anywhere near that cloud (or sitting on the tractor in the middle of it), in case it suddenly did light off. It would make a nice huge fireball, and might even act like a fuel air bomb.

[Pullstart 63,201]

What about lighting it into a small tube before it mixes direct into the exhaust pipe Ian?  a pre-burner if you would call it that it maybe a 1" pipe "Y" ed into the exhaust...

[WNYPCRepair 1,923]

I'm really surprised it didn't light, to be honest. With the tube running down the exhaust, the fuel should be getting quite a bit of heat, lowering the flashpoint, and the jets spraying it as a fine mist, you would think it would light off easily. I think you are right on the money with the lack of oxygen, I don't think it has enough oxygen to burn. Need to pull fresh air in somehow to mix with the fuel. Venturi, maybe? And maybe less fuel?

Edited February 15, 2016 by WNYPCRepair

[WNYPCRepair 1,923]

Is this your doing?  

http://www.engadget.com/2016/02/08/world-s-fastest-mobility-scooter-hits-record-107-6-mph/

 

 

[dells68 7,498]

I know on a lot of the hotrod flame throwers that they don't add extra fuel, but rather ignite the unburnt fuel/vapor that makes it to the exhaust.  Too much fuel drowning out the spark?  The fuel in the cylinder ignites largely due to compression, so too much raw fuel too close to the plug?  Just my. 

[jcp0420 109]

Usually I have seen with flame throwers they use propane to shoot the flames.  What are you using?

[Pullstart 63,201]

37 minutes ago, jcp0420 said:

Usually I have seen with flame throwers they use propane to shoot the flames.  What are you using?

 

 

Ooo that's a great idea!  you could use the small mapp gas canisters for quick change out!

[callum12 256]

12 minutes ago, pullstart said:

 

 

Ooo that's a great idea!  you could use the small mapp gas canisters for quick change out!

you could use a solenoid gas valve, i'm sure there's 12V ones. 

 

Callum 

[Jparkes43 329]

Not sure if it has been suggested but...

 

on the idea of gas valves and solenoids, what about using nitrous jets + solenoids as you have multiple options for jet sizes etc etc and you can pick what gas you want

 

james

[Stigian 1,234]

Hi Guy's n Girls, sorry for the lack of updates from me for the past month, I've been suffering a huge amount of pain for a while now and battling with side effects of very strong pain killers, so my life has basically been, do a bit at the workshop, eat and sleep.. This pain lark is so tiring and I've just been so shattered!     This old age lark isn't what it cracked up to be

 

Thanks for all the great comment and suggestions about the flames... It was all taking so long and getting nowhere that for now I've decided I can live without them or WN will never be ready for show season this year!

 

But there has been progress..

 

I've been playing with headlamp positions, bearing in mind if I do decide to fit them they will have much better looking "hot rod" curved brackets..

 

So the question is.... Do the lamps make WN look all "toy Town" or not?

Afraid it does.. The lamps look good but add a "cutie and cuddly" look where as I want a "mean and evil" look, so the lamps won't be going on.

 

 

 

 

Then one day this happened.. WN being winched onto the big bench..    Thanks for your help Nigel

 

 

 

Followed by...

 

 

 

 

The naked chassis...

 

 

 

And a few of the parts which need cleaning and painting..

 

 

 

Another a slow week with WN, tidying welds, welding the odd place or two I had missed, and capping off loads of open box section..

I'm happy to say that despite the thrashing I have been giving WN, there has been no signs of any broken welds which could mean..

 

A - The chassis is a good strong design..

Or

B - I've not been driving her hard enough....

 

 

 

 

 

Fully welded up and red oxide'd.

 

 

 

More to come later. just popping out for some lunch..

 

[Pullstart 63,201]

I couldn't hear your stomach growling but all the mention makes me hungry!  My gut's rumbling now!

 

Thanks for the update, hope your pains can go away and your progress goes your way Ian

[Stigian 1,234]

43 minutes ago, pullstart said:

I couldn't hear your stomach growling but all the mention makes me hungry!  My gut's rumbling now!

 

Thanks for the update, hope your pains can go away and your progress goes your way Ian

 

Thanks Pullstart, unfortunately as it turns out I'm riddled with arthritis so not much chance of it going away..  So grin and bare it, carry on as normal only a little slower

As for lunch... It wasn't worth the money!  Don't you just hate it when a place drops it's food standards...

 

Anyway...

I was asked if there was room to put the lights in the normal place behind the hood.. So I thought I'd have a look..

 

 

 

It was close but not quite enough space... However if I trim a bit off the top of the light backing then it should just slide in

 

 

 

With the chassis cleaned up and coated in the red stuff, I started to look at the vast amount of smaller parts that need cleaning up... Which got me thinking that I have a blasting cabinet and compressor both of which had not been used since I moved workshops well over a year ago!

 

 

 

 

As the compressor is a tad on the large side the fear was the current drawn when starting it up would cause problems with the workshop wiring which could best be described as "needs work"!

Anyway, nothing went bang or produced any smoke so a clutch pedal went into the blasting cabinet....

 

Not bad, maybe the blasting medium is a little coarse but we shall see what it looks like with a couple of coats of red oxide.

 

 

 

Only a couple of problems with the blast cabinet...   It needs to be raised by 6 inches or so so I'm not bent over using it..  And I need to sort out a dust extraction system as despite a good vent pipe it can get a bit hard to see what's going on.. I've just dug out a spare

computer cooling fan which hopefully should suck out enough dust so I can see what I'm doing..

 

Dust extraction eh... Well, I built this thing

 

 

 

 

 

 

This kinda worked, doubling up the fan helped a bit more but is far from ideal....    And then yesterday I lifted the cabinet lid a little with the extraction fans on, and all the dust cleared in couple of seconds!!

 

Me thinks another filtered hole in the side of the cabinet is needed!!

 

Well, you know what they say about blokes and instructions........

 

Thursday my mission was to get my blast cabinet working which meant sorting out the dust extraction once and for all..

 

After drilling a big hole and a couple of bolt holes in the side of the cabinet, I bolted this filter on that had been kicking about for years...   It did come with the blast cabinet which I found a bit strange as the only "hole with bolt holes" was way bigger with 3 not 2 bolt holes....  So it got wrapped up in a random bit of paper and stuffed in a draw until today..

 

 

 

On the inside I folded up this cover to stop the inside of the filter from getting blasted away..

 

 

 

It was whilst bolting the inside cover on that I noticed this strange box like thing at the back of the cabinet under the light!  Can you guess what's behind it? 

 

 

 

As it happens the space behind the cabinet is so tight the filter wouldn't of been able to let any air in anyway, so it kinda all worked out for the best!

 

 

 

Oh... And the random bit of paper the filter was wrapped in all those years ago... Were the instructions!   

 

 

A few of the bits that have been blasted and coated in the red stuff..

 

 

 

As WN's dash panel had started to rust under the clear coat, it got blasted and hit with clear again..

 

It's a bit hard to make out but it almost looks like metallic silver only with more metallic showing.. Get it in the right light and it almost sparkles..

 

 

[dells68 7,498]

Looking great Ian!  Your stuff never ceases to amaze me!  Just watched your tear down video.  I agree, great people here on !  You said you might look a bit mad - aren't we all!  Started thinking what I've spent on my son's suburbans - could've bought myself a couple of nice horses with that!  I'm just glad he loves them and has interest too!

[Stigian 1,234]

On 19/03/2016 at 3:41 PM, dells68 said:

Looking great Ian!  Your stuff never ceases to amaze me!  Just watched your tear down video.  I agree, great people here on !  You said you might look a bit mad - aren't we all!  Started thinking what I've spent on my son's suburbans - could've bought myself a couple of nice horses with that!  I'm just glad he loves them and has interest too!

 

Thanks Dell (I'm guessing it is Dell from your user name?) Yep, certainly a great bunch of people over here, even though I'm not here as much as I used to be I always make sure RS gets the first shout out on my vids

I think a bit of madness adds a bit of fun to life

 

 

A few more photo's for ya all..

 

Freshly blasted and red oxided steering wheel boss and one of the brake drums.

 

 

 

 

The air pressure was turned down so it only just took the old paint off without any damage to the dash surround..  The inside has already been re-reded if the is such a word

 

 

 

The ally diff case was cleaned up using a soft-ish wire brush on a drill....    I may polish it up, I may not.. We shall see.

 

 

 

The rest of the rear axle cleaned up and painted ready for it's top coat of black.

 

 

 

Speaking of paint, it has been ordered and should arrive this week.. No clues to the colour/shade though

[Stigian 1,234]

But as the black paint for the rear axle and a few other parts turned up I thought I'd get it painted as it was a nice warm day for a change..

 

 

 

 

The ally diff case was clear coated at the same time as the black.. Well, it will save me having to keep polishing it

 

 

 

"Clear Lacquer... For when that bald patch just isn't shiny enough"

 

 

 

I'm still waiting on the paint to arrive, Tuesday now as it's a bank holiday weekend!!  The front brakes and steering were fully pulled apart yesterday for painting..

 

 

 

 

Some interesting masking opportunity's were presented by the front hubs/brake disks!

 

 

 

Painted and masking tape removed...Any paint on the disks that shouldn't be there will soon get worn off by the brake pads.

 

 

 

Why Not's engine was lifted up onto the bench Thursday, thanks for your help Karl and Matt.
Coils, carbs, wiring and radiator were removed so I could make a start on cleaning the engine up for painting.. Oh, and to sort out a couple of small oil leaks!

 

 

 

[Stigian 1,234]

Oops, I forgot to post this up yesterday....