Dutton Dementia

[Mick O'Malley]

Following yesterday's abortive prop. bolt attempt, I today jacked her up from the rear to increase the gap so that I could improve leverage. With a meaty screwdriver through the yoke to prevent rotation, I succeeded.

Now that I could see the handbrake mounting bolts more clearly, my brain suddenly clicked into gear and I realised that disconnecting the cable at the lever end would do just as well. I had to cut the inner at the axle end and lever off the hose clip locating the outer inside the tub. Job done.

Examining the seat belt mountings more closely revealed that they were rusted solid onto a convoluted bar welded to the frame each side. OK, if I cut it just outside the outer belt mounting each side it could come out with the tub. Off with the back wheels and, unsurprisingly, there was barely room to get the angle grinder in a suitable position. A combination of cuts, cold chiselling, parting of digestive biscuit strength welds, and work hardening with the ends Mole Gripped finally achieved the necessary clearance. A few minutes wrestling had the tub free at last.



The bar can be seen looping around the inside of the tunnel. I can't remember how Tim Dutton expected builders to anchor the lower mounts, clearly the rather flimsy tub wouldn't be man enough. I'll dig out the photo' of my 80s solution and post it.

Regards, Mick