Fairway taxi.Welding inner wheel arches and floor.

My taxi had badly rusted inner wheel arches. Really only visible with the rear wheels off and the interior trim and seats removed from the back. I've already welded up much of the bodywork,links to more photographs etc are on this page.

 

 This was the hole in the drivers side inner wheel arch,the area just in front of the wheel where the seat bottom rests was also rotten. These holes were made just by pressing the rust bubbles with a finger.

Using a thin cutting disc in an angle grinder the rot was cut out and cuts made to get back to sound metal.Using a depressed centre disc in the angle grinder the hole edges were cleaned up. A piece of card was pressed down onto the hole to make a pattern for a plate,cut approx 1/4 inch larger all round to sit under the hole.

The metal plate was curved and some cuts made to get the sharper bends,these cuts were then welded back together when the shape was finalised when the repair plate fitted accurately in place.The raised section or flange replaces the original which had started to rust badly and enabled the plate to fit accurately and strengthen the section it is welded to. 

The plate was welded in place and the welds partially ground down.The area is concealed so it seemed pointless to spend time making an invisible repair. Some seam sealer was used to stop any water access between the new section and the original panels.The plate is thicker than the original metal it replaces would have been and the arches are now considerably stronger than they were and probably stronger than when new.Supposedly the MOT (test for fitness) on these vehicles is very strict. I have seen enough of these vehicles (even ones in service) with extensive corrosion that I believe this is a myth.

Using an old ex london black cab as a daily driver.

For a long time I've been using an old London taxi as a daily driver. The old Nissan 2.7 engine has proved ultra reliable but the bodywork has needed welding constantly.

I started a taxi owners forum  for other owners of these old vehicles and found there are examples of these cars all over the world.Few are now used as fare carrying vehicles and many were scrapped when the British government and the idiot of a London mayor (Boris Johnson) decided they polluted too much yet replaced them with taxis using the same nissan diesel engine.

Spares are slowly becoming a problem. Most body parts are now unobtainable although most are relatively simple and can be patched with welding. The servicing items are still easy to source as are tyres as these were carried over to the later models.

As with any diesel engined vehicle starting in cold weather requires a strong battery and these are fitted with a seriously large one under the bonnet.Taxis have a weird electric lock system that locks the doors automatically when the foot brake is applied,this prevent passengers in the back (there is no front seat and the back is partitioned off seperately from the front) from hopping out as the taxi stops and thus avoid paying the driver. The rear doors are the 'suicide' type with the added bonus that the driver can put his hnd out of his window and open the rear door without leaving his seat. You can see this on many old films based in london or some of the larger UK cities.

Keeping the patina on an old classic car.

I've started a facebook group for the owners of classic cars who would rather use them than keep them locked away or take them to shows on a trailer. If you have a car you've restored on a budget,where you've adapted parts,sprayed and welded outside don't be shy,be proud of what you have achieved.

If you have a car that you've restored without spraying and chroming to within an inch of its life,join the Oily Rag restoration group. The link to it is here.

Fairway Owners,a new forum to share experiences etc.

There is a new forum for the owners of fairway taxis. These old london taxis are now virtually all in private hands after the politically motivated decision to remove them first from London and then other cities streets.
If you have one of these and want to meet other owners and share hints,tips and maybe spares etc or just say hello,the link is here

Although these things are very reliable and clock up huge mileages they are prone to rust and whilst most repairs are simple there are not many garages who seem prepared to work on them.
I have done many thousands of miles in my own fairway its moved furniture and engine spares and transported two big dogs to the beach.my London taxi web site.

Taxi tantrums,the worlds most reliable car starts playing up.

I had a problem with the old taxi. The problem started as a minor one with the car being hard to start if parked facing uphill. gradually it got worse,I traced it to air getting in via the top of the priming pump on top of the filter.

I cut the top off and welded a plate over it (I think the diaphram was leaking).

. This got the thing running but air still got in and only by revving the engine hard every few minutes would it keep running it was also down on power.
Eventually I rigged up a temporary system using a squeeze type priming pump and a couple of inline filters. This seems to work well,so I've decided to leave it alone for the time being.

Welding up the fairway doors part two.

The rot cut out left a bigger hole over half the door skin to bottom

is missing
After welding in some plates the seams were skimmed over with filler.

Welding up the back doors on the fairway taxi taxi

The door skin on the old fairway taxi was starting to come adrift. I took the door off and turning it upside down found the bottom of the door had all but vanished.
Even the thick metal that holds the door seal had broken up into pieces. I made a couple of sections to weld in,the repair wont last for ever but I did find even on ebay doors for these are hard to find and/or expensive. The doors like the rest of the vehicle rot badly,water comes in through the very poorly designed seals.

Welding up the wings on a fairway taxi.

The wings on my old fairway taxi bounced up and down on every bump in the road. It seems a fairly common complaint,the inner and outer wings are held together and to the rest of the bodywork with coarse threaded screws and plastic spacers. They rust badly and quickly
I welded the inner and outer wings together with a steel strip replacing the plastic.

After welding the join was ground down and covered with a skim of filler. The wings are much stronger after being welded together. Temporarily the repairs were covered with some black gloss. At a later date the taxi will be resprayed.

New Fairway taxi owners forum

If there is anyone else has daft as me,driving about in an old fairway taxi,(although to be honest they make great run abouts and clock up mind blowing mileages without falling to bits)
Ther is a new forum to talk to other owners,swap bits and pick up advice.
The link to it is here.

I'm now listing a lot of the tools I've decided to clear on on the baconsdozen web site.
I've moved and decided to pretty much wind down the business so if you want any imperial or other tools for your classic give us a call.

Car boots and rusty pillars

Tried another car boot today at burgh castle.To be honest it was pretty much a waste of time,people just walking round but not spending much at all.With people saying that the closest one at kessingland wildlife park charging 50p just to look round I thought it might have been busier.I did get rid or a few bulky items but didn't take a lot of money.
I thought when I got home I'd have a poke at a rust hole in the taxi that had been annoying me,the hole soon grew.

Taxi hole at base of windscreen pillar.

I cut a patch out of some scrap galvanised sheet and welded it in,it should last a few years at any rate.

A couple of plates curved to shape and mig welded in.

Car booty in a taxi.

I took a load of stuff to the local car boot,Julies Car boot at Burgh Castle.There didn't seem much to take at first so I just loaded it in the taxi but ended up pretty much filling the old girl.When it's all laid out it looks pretty nigh impossible to get it all back in it.

I didn't do too bad getting rid of some gear that there wouldn't really have been a place for at the new home.I don't like the Kessingland car boot,although its closer they tend to squeeze you up together and have all sorts of sily rules about where you can go and what times you're allowed to go on,I can do without a load of petty aggro first thing on a sunday morning.

Two stroke oil in a diesel.

I've now tried the engine in this old taxi (its a Nissan 2.7) with and without the two stroke oil added.Its definately quieter with it added and although it might seem to run a bit smoother there's no more (or less) power as a result.No smoke from the exhaust (I'm using a low ash two stoker mix at 100 to 1) but the diesel 'knock' when cold is noticeable less.