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Dam, been so long since my last update that my original thread has been archived. I had emailed support about trying to get it back out the archives but i heard nothing back so i guess i need to make a whole new thread. Heres the first part here. https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3336130 August 2017 Well eh, looks like its been 6 months since the last update and well, id love to say i have 6 months worth of work to show for it but not really. A few years ago i had all the time in the world. somehow though, as I'm getting a bit older the free time is getting less and less and its being filled up by "responsibilities". I don't even have kids so i don't know how you folk with kids get anything done!. I'll see if i can split this update into chronological order starting from my last update in February. Its not only going to be about the van as usual, i think i should change the title to "kevs life and stuff" The Lexus developed a problem around this time. I was hearing a metallic sound from the rear near side wheel and i assumed it was the rear wheel bearing so i ended up buying a new bearing and spent all day getting it fitted only to discover it wasn't that at all. after a few days of diagnosing i realised one of the spring clips that holds the hand brake shoes in place had developed a slight kink and would rub on the inner disc when going around corners. I was so annoyed! such a small cheap part and id spent about £150 on a new bearing etc.. and my time to "repair" it. Then a few days later the LPG system stopped working after the vaporiser developed a leak so again i had to fork out for that.  I decided that id had enough, I had owned the Lexus for over 3 years now and wanted a change. I thought id like something that was fast and practical so i started looking at estates and decided on a Subaru Legacy twin turbo import that i found on gumtree. After meeting the guy under the circumstances you would find in a "how not to buy a car handbook" at 9pm at a petrol station i was now the owner of this .  At first, i really liked it but over the next few days i started to hate it. I started to hear a grumble from the front near side wheel but the biggest thing i was worried about was when i would drive on the motorway , when it was going from the little turbo to the big turbo it just fell flat. The previous owner had put a silly big boyracer exhaust on and a de-cat pipe so the exhuast gasses were leaving quicker meaning the turbos would over-spool. I remembered on the test drive as i was driving the owner said "it might stall a little when your on the motorway but its nothing to worry about" and i really wish now that he had shown me this before i bought it, but anyway. To try and sort it out i reinstalled the original exhaust which helped some what but it still never had the CAT and would occasionally do the stall thing. At this point i really wanted to just get rid of it and i was quite anxious as i had spent £3800 on it and i feared i wouldn't make my money back. I gave the car a really good detailing and put it up for sale. After a lot of time wasters and test pilots blowing all my fuel away (uuugh) a guy from Newcastle came along and bought it. I was sure to show him the stalling thing and he had had a Supra before so knew about turbos saying he would sort it out and it was fine for him. Luckily i never lost a lot, he bought it for £3700. HE didn't want the chavvy exhaust either so i polished it up.  Stuck it on Ebay and sold it for £250, score!! i was actually up, only by about £150 but its better than a loss. I hadn't sold my Lexus yet so when i went to my brothers to pick it up i just felt so much more relaxed and happier with it. Don't get me wrong, The Subaru did have its good points. I loved the handling and the acceleration was brutal in that second turbo , it just wasn't me. I realised i wanted refinement, a wee bit luxury but still something a bit more exciting that the Lexus. Mmmmmhm, what should i buy next?.... It was late March by the time i sold the Subaru. So that had eaten up a huge chunk of my time. Worrying about it, selling it, cleaning it etc.. I was looking at the poor van and once i sold the Subaru i started on the tube bender part again for the roll cage. I had cut it all out and drilled the majority of the holes.   I wasn't sure how id drill the bigger 25mm holes as my pillar drill doesn't slow down enough for a 25mm HSS drill bit when i found these metal TCT holesaws on ebay. I was a bit dubious to the quality of them as i think i only paid about £6 for the 25mm version but it done the job.  The little bit of Van work this month was when my brother came down and we got the engine fitted back in after the chassis had been painted.  In April it was coming up for my dads birthday so as a surprise i took his old Wheel barrow he has had for years, that long infact that i remember it being my paddling pool in the summers when i was a toddler. I forgot to take a before pic but the body of it had rusted through and my dad was using bits of wood to patch the holes in the mean time. I managed to get it along to my work one weekend when they were away and i fully restored it. Made a new body up, painted it, cleaned it etc.. and it turned out really well. I even added a couple of drain points to it so my nephews can now use it as their paddling pool in the summer  .  Around this time someone came into my work with an old pedal car they were selling. My boss bought it and knowing how much i love stuff like this he gave it to me as a gift. I don't have kids yet still but when i do this is going to be their first toy after a nice restoration.  In May i started to think about the van again. It kind of comes in waves. I'll get a really strong urge to get out there and start work and then after a while i look and think "dam, that grass needs cut... The car needs repaired.... this room needs decorated....my brother needs help with his house.." so in May all i did was sort out the shims for the front brakes and take the propshaft to be shortened and balanced. Then i went on holiday to Crete. On holiday i had plenty of time to think about the van. I had free wifi in my room so i spent a lot of time researching and buying parts. I decided that what would really give me the kick up the arse that i so need would be to get the engine running, i think hearing it go would make it just that bit more real for me after spending nearly 6 years on it now. I got home early June and came back to a bunch of parts and a new lease of enthusiasm. The day after i got back i went and picked up my propshaft and mocked it in place.  That was pretty cool to see the engine connected to the axle now.  Think i may need to to notch that chassis brace i welded in. The other major thing i researched on holiday was the wiring loom and what i would need/lose to get it all running with the autobox. I went up into my attic and brought down all the looms and sorted through it all. Theres tons of wiring in these cars.  To help i also printed off a few diagrams and pinned them up in the back of the van.   Takes a bit of time but id rather try and do it right the first time. Just need to be patient and make notes and label everything.  I also made a new battery box and a cubby for the main engine fuses/relays.   Once i had the main engine wiring thought out and waiting on parts i then turned my attention to the engine. As the air intake is at a different location now I bought some new hoses and pipes to move stuff. The other thing is im only going to be running the alternator, no PAS or AC . so i need to make a new tensioner for that as the OEM one wouldn't work. After some carful measurements and a new pulley for a Ford Transit i started on a new tensioner.  Cut it out and weld some bolts in place.  #   and it works, just waiting on a new belt now.  The wife told me that she was going to be off work for a week soon as her boss was going away for their holiday. I kinda knew where this was going..... She had been wanting the bedroom re-decorated for a while now. On her first day off she started to strip the wall paper and when i got home i just resigned myself to the fact that i was now going to be decorating for a bit. It wasn't too bad really, it was also needing done as since moving in we hadn't really touched it and it was still decorated as how the old lady had it before we moved in.  after a few weeks i managed to get it finished doing the weekends and after work. As usual there is a lot of stuff here that happened that you don't see (new plumbing, new electrics, etc..) but im really happy with how it turned out.    And my favourite part, id been wanting to put my sword and sgian-dubh up on the wall for ages.  Well, with the room one i could do a bit more to the van. When i was on holiday i had ordered up all the Stainless steel i needed to make the exhaust headers. At first i was trying to get all 4 of the cylinders to end up in one nice 2.5 inch pipe. I managed to get the 2 closest pipes to converge but i just couldn't get the last 2 to meet so i scrapped that idea.   So the next execution was to get the 4 pipes to meet in one spot then make a collector which worked better. Took ages to get to this stage but i was loving the challenge.    Then i made a cone from stainless sheet.  and with some careful tapping and tacking i managed to get it into place to merge the 4 pipes into one.  Then i could get the rest of the pipe in place and weld a flange on the end. one done, another side to make.    As far as stuff on the van thats really all ive managed. Wish i could say it was more but its not. Its hard to keep the momentum going sometimes. I'm never ever going to give up on it though, i know that for sure. Oh, i also did buy another car. Its kind of a mix between the practicality of the Subaru and the luxury/performance of the Lexus. A 2005 Jaguar X type Estate with the 3 litre V6 manual sport edition. I really love it. It was a bit pricey (£3000) but thats with full service history and 90,000 miles. Being a manual V6 3 litre estate is also quite rare as this is the one thats most sought after. What i love most about the car is it looks good and the bodywork is still good. Its a car you can enjoy cleaning because at the end of the day it shines and gleams.   plus its much more practical than the Lexus was  Which meant i had to sell the Lexus. It was a brilliant car and id never hesitate to own or recommend one again. I put it on ebay as a 7 days auction as i had no where to store it and i only got like £750 for it, someone got a dam good bargain. bye bye Lexxy  A little bit of extra fabrication content. At my work lately ive been giving a lot more free time to make stuff so i thought id share it here. mostly tables using reclaimed wood for the table tops and stuff. This one used an old cart top as the table top and 2 inch box for the base .  This was an old picnic table top.  reclaimed flooring.  Victorian radiator covers   Side table and built in lamp with pallet wood top.  Little matching table lamp.  Another cool thing i enjoyed doing was restoring this old lock . I made a key for it from roundbar, tubing and stock then cut it to match the inside so the lock would work again. This lock is ancient, very early 19th century and im glad to have played a part in keeping it still going. I made a new keeper for it from reclaimed wood and a rusty piece of sheet steel. Cutting out the same pattern and finding old nails for the decoration.    Well thats it for this update, i hope to have another soon, cheers
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Aug 28, 2017 12:18
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5'd. Is there any risk that the exhaust routing will bake the cam/tappet cover gaskets?
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Aug 28, 2017 12:33
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IPCRESS posted:5'd. well, possibly but im pretty stuck for routing under there as i also have the wheel to contend with. I can always make heatshields and get the headers ceramic coated or wrapped etc...
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Aug 28, 2017 12:48
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As a guy who is paid to boss IT techs around and mess with computers, I have to say that all your work is super impressive! It really does an excellent job of showing me just how not skilled in working with my hands I am. 
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Aug 28, 2017 15:40
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You're back! Rejoice! That exhaust looks awesome, lots of obstructions and in an odd spot.
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Aug 28, 2017 16:09
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Excellent work, as always. With the question of the heat from the exhaust vs the upper cylinder head, I think you could easily make a little shield that attaches to the cam cover bolts and helps try and protect it. BMW M20 exhaust manifld gaskets incorporate just such a thing to try and stop the exhaust manifold heat cooking the HT leads. You might also want to consider a splash shield for that section of pipe, to stop it getting clarted up with whatever comes off the front wheels.
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Aug 28, 2017 21:26
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That has to be the fastest I've ever seen a thread go gold. Welcome back!
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Aug 28, 2017 21:57
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Welcome back! That exhaust looks great, and the wheel-barrow is awesome. How'd your dad react when he saw it?
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Aug 28, 2017 22:05
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kevbarlas posted:Dam, been so long since my last update that my original thread has been archived. I had emailed support about trying to get it back out the archives but i heard nothing back so i guess i need to make a whole new thread. I don't know if any of the support emails actually get monitored, just PM Adiabatic. But no, there's fuckall anyone can do about getting a thread back from archives. Yay for progress!
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Aug 28, 2017 22:10
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Yeah there's no mechanism for unarchiving. It requires editing Radiumcode and that way be dragons. Welcome back!
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Aug 29, 2017 03:21
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That four-to-one collector 
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Aug 29, 2017 21:25
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That lock and key work is awesome.  Glad to see you back with more updates!
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Aug 30, 2017 02:43
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He's back
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Aug 30, 2017 10:11
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Aug 30, 2017 20:25
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Welcome back! I was this close to sending out a search party.
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Aug 30, 2017 20:36
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Awesome update.  Also, lol, that jag wagon. When you get a chance, take a peek at the pcv system and look for dry rot on the hoses. If you see any, replace it. Every duratec/aj motor has issues with them. Buddy's day had the ford badged version with 200k+ miles on it and the motor kept just chugging along.
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Aug 30, 2017 21:50
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We are talking about you in the Australia thread. https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3754419&pagenumber=1387#post475930114
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Aug 31, 2017 14:17
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kevbarlas posted:
You replicated an early 19th century key? Wow.  
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Aug 31, 2017 15:47
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The furniture made out of reclaimed materials looks great. A weird thing to focus on in AI I know, but I really like the Victorian radiator end table things. Glad to see you're working on the van again.
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Aug 31, 2017 16:00
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I am definitely following this thread for some inspiration. I'm curious, where is all the wiring for the lamp and table?
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Sep 1, 2017 04:39
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Hey dude, i've wanted to let you know that a few years back i was in a pretty bad place and needed a career change (in addition to transitioning) and it was your old thread that inspired me to become a welder. I'm now certified through the AWS and work as a welder/fabricator. I like my job for the first time in my life and its a pretty neat feeling.
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Sep 4, 2017 16:44
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So glad you're back! Definitely missed the rambling posts about insanely cool poo poo.
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Sep 4, 2017 19:22
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Six-Of-Hearts posted:Hey dude, i've wanted to let you know that a few years back i was in a pretty bad place and needed a career change (in addition to transitioning) and it was your old thread that inspired me to become a welder. This is a cool story. 
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Sep 5, 2017 16:15
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