First job was to get the fuel tank back on - it went back on very easily and once filled with Esso's finest supreme unleaded, no leaks were found. Then it was on with the electronic ignition and then getting the distributor fitter and wired in - all good so far. Then it was time to turn the key - well turn the switch and full the starter, as it has no key!! Despite turning over well, it just wouldn't start. The odd stutter but essentially dead despite a good spark and what seemed like lots of fuel. In the end pouring some fuel into the carb worked and hey presto - off it went. Another 5-10 mins saw the distributor and carb adjusted to get it idling and accelerating nicely so we left it to get warm, which it did pretty quickly - much faster than Bedford trucks of the same era!
Then some sorting of electrics was done - despite this apparently being sorted a year and a half ago, being sat around in the damp and unused does cause some problems, but in the end, all the lights work once again, although the fuse boxes badly need replacing as they are fiddly and at the end of their life.
I also removed some of the brightwork from the bonnet to clean up before the summer - in line with the American styling of Rootes cars in the 1950s, the Q4 has similar design ques and the badge and bonnet edge should be nice and shiny chrome rather than dull green paint! Removing these also exposed the rust underneath - nothing bad but something that needs sorting. Looking at the colour, I'm not sure these have ever been removed before meaning that the Commer badge has always beed skewed to one side rather than being in the middle!
Then on the last day of work, disaster struck! Unbeknownst to us, one of the starter motor bolts - at the bottom out of sight - was missing. So after it stalled a simple restart saw the casting on the motor finally give way, shattering the edge of the motor and firing the motor partially out of the engine. Once removed, the damage was plain to see so it's now gone for repair - the motors are no longer made of this design being heavy duty size though similar ones are made for lighter cars. So, finding the bits and welding them back on is apparently the answer! Fingers crossed....
