That was a year that was..

[Peter Truman]

So after all this are you going to make fiber glass replica's suitably insulated! god job you made the poly car port!

[Bfg]

17 hours ago, Mathew said:

Getting there, what are you going to do for heat and sound proof?

..haven't really looked into that yet, but when I bought the car it had 1/2" thick felt under the carpet, over a crappy fitting fibreglass cover.  My first priority then will be to make this cover sealed..  And similarly the hole through the bulkhead. 

I've only driven the car a few miles with the top up, so heat and sound proofing hasn't been an issue.   Someone was saying just the other night that they sealed off the gap between the bulkhead and the bellhousing on their Spitfire.  Beforehand the gear-change lever got hot, thereafter it didn't.  That seemed to be a rather neat and compact solution. 

Pete

 

[Bfg]

Suggested on the TR forum . .  " any scope to dog leg the pedal(s) to the right by 1-2" to give your left foot more room as it is you might end up riding the clutch."

And my reply which I'll share with your good selves, simply because I drew up an illustration that might be pertinent to owners of other cars . . . 

. . . Thanks Gents. That is a possibility, but ergonomically a disaster..  The clutch pedal on my car already hangs 1-1/2" to the right of the steering column, which means our foot, knee and hip are skewed some 7-1/2" to the right, as we push down on the clutch pedal, which swings in-line with the axis of the car.   

^ TR4A seat to clutch pedal configuration.  The hip's ball joints indicated by the two red circles.  With the seat in its further back position, there's a 12.6 deg skew of the hip and foot to the clutch pedal ..which then pushes down square to the car.  For those with the seat 100mm forward this angle increases to 14.3 degrees, so perhaps the clutch feels heavier than published figures might imply ?  Either way, I'm sure left-hand-drive cars are considerably better in this respect, but then their brake pedal ergonomics are worse.  

Although the human body is incredibly adaptive, particularly when young &/or fit n' agile, it may be that some of us (in the latter-stages-of-life) experience some discomfort (particularly in the hip or as a back-ache) after a lot of stop/start driving in traffic.  

So ideally I would very much like to move the clutch pedal across to the left, rather than to the right. 

Pete.

[Bfg]

After a couple of days off, I did another afternoon's work ..with my doing similar slimming-down of the bulges on the passenger-side's cover. . .

    

^ Left is what we had, with an inch and a half lateral clearance besides the clutch lever arm.  ^^ I've slimmed that down to around about 1/2".

And then, the top part was dropped down a bit at the bulkhead, and an inch or so where the two halves of this cover will meet to fit under the H-frame. . .

^  its getting very close to looking like the fibreglass cover that was on the car.

^ the top of the front section is presently only held in place with self-tapping-screws, but all-in-all the shape is now as tight to the gearbox as I dare take it.  It's still a mighty-great-lump to have inside the car though ! 

I hope to get things welded tomorrow ..but with noise abatement courtesies (..what with respecting neighbours an' all), I won't be able to fettle those welds, or to make the overlapping flange. That'll just have to wait until next week.   So for the time being..

I'll bid you once again a pleasant weekend.

Pete.

 

[PeteH]

HI

Looks like it will be a decent job when finished. For myself, I think I would perhaps have looked at beefing up the F-G offering!, as being a lot less of work involved?. Not withstanding, I am still admiring your skills in a clearly non workshop environment. Well done!. P.S. how is the Trailer/camper coming on?.

Pete

[Bfg]

On 12/12/2021 at 08:11, PeteH said:

HI

Looks like it will be a decent job when finished. For myself, I think I would perhaps have looked at beefing up the F-G offering!, as being a lot less of work involved?. Not withstanding, I am still admiring your skills in a clearly non workshop environment. Well done!. P.S. how is the Trailer/camper coming on?.

Pete

Hi., what you're saying Pete is that it "looks like it will be a decent job when".. under sound deadening and dark-coloured carpet ?  just kidding   .. Thank you. 

Fibreglass is a wonderful composite material ..which is incredibly strong for its weight (especially in tension) but it is not in itself a very stiff material, nor locally (around bolt holes) very strong.  Any stiffness comes from its formed shape and how well it is bonded to the adjacent structure. 

So, in my considered opinion.. "beefing up the fibreglass offering" would miss the point.  Which is, when bolted in place - a steel cover structurally-extends the driveshaft tunnel (a pressed-steel u-sectioned backbone, fastened on either side to the main chassis rails) to the bulkhead and forward body mounts,  ie., it fills-in the considerable length of car where there's a gaping-great-hole in the floor, and door openings & no-roof compromise body rigidity, and perhaps more critically with regard to the car's handling - its torsional stiffness.   If one were to think about it.. it's quite bemusing to read of adding anti-roll-bars and the host of 'upgraded' bushes, springs & dampers - when these car's overall structure, all those lovely goodies are bolted to, flexes ..somewhat unpredictably !

In short, the time n' trouble I'm putting into making this steel cover fit well - saves the time and cost in suspension upgrades.  Aside from polybushes Katie's  suspension is of standard specification. As are her wheels n' tyres, and steering.

Pete.

 

[Bfg]

Having established the steel g/box cover's shape and fit,  I next needed to weld it together and at the same time get down to details ..like the overlap between my front and rear sections . . .

   

^ raw material came from a pair of household radiator mounting brackets ..naturally reclaimed from a skip. 

 

^ getting close.. with the overlapping flange added (although not yet drilled for its fastenings), a flange added under the speedo drive,  and of course the forward section's top and RHS welded together with its maximised footwell width and sorta clutch-foot rests.  I still need to close the hole in the top as I can't imagine access is necessary there.  The cover over the speedo will, I think, be screwed on.   But then again..  how often does one need to just get to the speedo cable ? 

On the LHS of the cover, I wanted to add just one more  little detail. . .

^ before the overdrive and its solenoid, there's a fair amount of space between the floor and the gearbox.  The block of wood you see pictured is 46 x 98mm in section, and I've screwed it there, level with the raised flange of the floor edge, to see if it would come out passed the O/D solenoid.  It did, and so . . .

^ 4-1/4" (110mm) above the bottom flange I formed a rolled edge, for panel rigidity. 

   

^ The top cut-edge was joggled a little before I fabricated the sides of a simple box.  Although presently only tacked together - it's already a surprisingly stiff structure. My intent is to have a plywood lift-out back panel ..where just two screws need be removed for good access to the gearbox filler / oil level plug.

^   When the back of this box is in place, I'll have an extra storage bin.  It's not huge ..but I think it'll come in handy, whether for documents or else for a windscreen squeegee & cloth.   Its inside dimensions are ; 1-1/2" (40mm) front to back x 8-3/4" (225mm) long, with 4-1/4" (110mm) up to the rolled edge, and an average of 7-1/2" (190mm) vertical from its base to the curved top cover.  If I fit a fabric liner, then I can pull out anything 'lost' in the bottom. 

That's it for today.  I bid you all., a warm and pleasant evening, 

Pete.

 

[Bfg]

When painted over I think it ought to look fine, and then of course it'll be carpeted over too.   I'm thinking of fudging together a 1/2" thick felt-within-plastic type horse-blanket ..to lay over the gearbox before I fit this cover, rather than stick-on insulation either on its underside (which can get very grimy) or outside (which takes up interior space). And then to use just 1/4" foam under the carpet to soften it's touch.  Any thoughts ? 

Pete.

[johny]

Ive used something very similar as it was economical and I think will be pretty effective however I havent put it on the floors as I wondered about its wear resistance. I know it'll protected by the carpet but worry that under foot pressure it would start to break up.... 

[Bfg]

Thanks,

I've used aluminium faced sound deadening / anti-drum pads extensively  and then sheets of neoprene in the Citroen I restored, but to be honest the car was a pressed-steel drum and even when done was not particularly quiet . . .

 

[Bfg]

  

It's a busy time of year but I'm now close to finishing up on Katie's  gearbox cover ..

Firstly though, I had to close over the speedo drive. . .

       

^ again trying to make things close fitting / less intrusive into the interior.  There was a little more work in making this a removable access cover, but really not a whole lot. My difficulty was in shaping the thin material (reclaimed panel from the back of a boiler) as its steel was far less ductile than the original cover, and so somewhat reluctant to shape into a neat compound surface.

     

^ I also drilled the screw attachment holes between the two sections of this cover ..and those for attaching to the bulkhead and again to the drive-shaft tunnel. Then blanked the (TR3 gearbox dipstick ?) hole in the top of the forward section and the small one for the oil-filler, as well as several carpet fitting holes, before adding a few penny washers to where this cover's bottom flanges were a little frail.  ..and of course generally cleaned things up . . .

And then to add a coat of paint (again I'm using POR-15), followed by just a little seam sealer . . .

  

^ Strictly speaking that ought to be fine, as it'll all be under carpet ..but by special request . . .

On 12/12/2021 at 09:33, BRENDA1 said:

 Hope your going to paint it all red.

Mike - Redrose TR group

..If you like Mike

     

   

^ No prizes for this panel work and paint I think, but it'll serves its function.   

That's it from a damp and chilly Ipswich, where the paint is slow to dry.

Bidding you all a good evening,

Pete

 

[Bfg]

Season Greetings to one and all.   Ho., Ho., Ho.,  says the big guy with the grey beard that looks back at me from the mirror.

Just an afternoon of pottering tasks ..on the slay, this past week or so . . .

  

^ cardboard template and then the almost finished article in ribbed rubber, which befittingly was up-cycled from a damaged piece used on the shelves in the Range  household store.

   

^ In case you're wondering, it's simply a noise and heat barrier between the engine bay and the gearbox tunnel.  Of course the same bolts are also used to secure my gearbox cover.  Credit to Steven, in our local TSSC group, for sharing the idea with me. He's used similar on his Triumph Spitfire and says it works surprising well.

Next up, having learnt of high-torque starter motor woes on the TR-Register forum, I decided to have a quick look inside mine. Like the car's dynamo, it most probably needs a little fresh grease on its bearings (being so close to the radiant heat of the exhaust down-pipes they are particularly susceptible to drying out) . . . 

  

^ the starter motor was still off the car, so it was simply a matter of undoing the two long screws and the wire, to separate the motor from its gear box. The motor itself is remarkably tiny. Thankfully, despite the engine's coolant having been dripping on it, there was nothing but very light surface rust inside. The bearing next to its output shaft, just needed cleaning and I'll try to get some fresh grease in there.  Under the pressed-steel-end-cover (which faces the exhaust down-pipes) there's a tiny little bearing .. and despite a good flushing out with carb' cleaner it still clunks as it turns. The problem then was how to get it off, to replace it ?  . . .

   

The gap between the bearing and the plate is just about 2.5mm, and I know my pullers would be too big, So I thought to make a Heath Robinson one, especially for this job, out of scrap metal.  Fortunately though I found., in my bag of scrap steel, a bracket, 2.25mm thick, and already slotted to carry something pretty heavy. The bearing spindle dropped over that and then with blocks of wood to support the armature.. I was hands free to use a centre punch, on the end of the spindle, to drive it out.  Success !   Of course our excellent and local East Anglia Bearings is closed for the holidays, but I've left a message with the part number (NSK 608Z) to ask if they have or can get one for me.

Moving on.., after yesterday's seasonal good spirits (..just half a bottle) with my old college buddy Chris, this afternoon I was ready to get on with the next task. . .

   

 ^ Yes, I'd succumbed to temptation and bought a pair of leather covered MX5 seats.  My back is too prone to aching when a car seat is the wrong shape for me and also twisted (as many seem to be ..perhaps thanks to the weight of the clutch). I have tried two standard TR4A seats in the car and neither was any better, so e-bay for the seats (under £200 delivered) and my good friend Rich for a pair of seat runner adapters ..to fit the Mazda seats without having to alter the standard seat bolt holes in the floor. 

As per the instructions supplied - the seat runners of the Mazda need flattening out and the pins sticking down at the front also need chopping off.  As you can see I did this manually.  This is the passenger seat, and the rear end of the inside runner is angled down (top of second photo).  This is just next to the seat belt mounting (on the Mazda seat) and is a pretty tough mounting.  I cut a vee in the side and then managed to also bend that end of the runner flat (..using the grips, I needed an extension bar to bend this one).  Sometime before final fitting, I'll remove the runner and weld the v-slot up again.

   

^ The seat runner adapters are conveniently labeled (this one's PR standing for Passenger-Rear bracket) which as you can see overlaps the body mount. I'll most likely cut the body mounting plate and weld the two plates together.  The second of these photos shows the corner of Mazda seat runner sitting on the standard seat mounting bolt. As it happens the seat wobbled diagonally (this floor is uneven, rather than the seat or adapter bracket), and so a couple of thick body washers lifted the seat runner up enough to clear the bolt head and also leveled the seat to stop it rocking.    That'll work.  The adapters made life very much easier and altogether the task happened pretty quickly.

That MX5 passenger seat is now temporarily fitted. . .

^ To compare

  

^ I've never found this car's original seats attractive.  Indeed (..just my opinion you understand) but out of all the TR models - the TR4A are the ugliest of them all, and being short and stubby - the least comfortable for me.  Conversely, the Mazda seats are too modern looking for a 1960's car, but that aside - they are really good looking, both beautifully shaped and I very much like their white stitching.  I'll re-colour the light grey squabs to black, which will tone them down ..and then I'll be happy with the benefits of having an adjustable backrest and better ergonomics. 

For me ..dainty as I am not, size and fit is really important.  I find the Standard-Triumph seats look bulbous but are actually pretty softly sprung (generally more so than the bolster across its back rest !). The Mazda seats are firm in comparison, but (at least in the passenger space) offered good under-thigh and lateral support. In essence they fit my shape much better.  Despite their differences in shape and firmness - both seats offer a remarkably similar position to sit in. 

Across wise the centreline of the Mazda seat is 310mm from the centreline of the handbrake bracket, whereas the Triumph seat is 10mm more.  In practice I don't think that'll make a jot of difference.  Length wise, the bolt-holes in my Triumph's seat runners had been redrilled to move them back some 30mm.  The Mazda seats and adapter brackets, when pushed right the way back, offer just a very-little more legroom.  And, for my weight and stature, I sit just a tad lower. Those tiny distances work together, and so the bottom line ..for me, is that with a foot rested against the bulkhead step (where the main-dip switch is), my knee clearance to the dashboard centre switch console is 1/2" or so greater ..when sitting in the MX5 seat versus the Standard-Triumph seat. 

Just half-an-inch may seem like nothing worth writing about, but for my getting in and out of the car ..it counts.

Whether the Mazda seats will transmit more harshness of ride remains to be seen.  I think though that their better ergonomics will (for me) lessen back and bum ache over a greater touring distance.  In the meantime I'm quite looking forward to feeling supported around corners when I go for a spin. 

That's it for tonight, so I bid you a pleasant evening and a good holiday.

Pete   

 

[Bfg]

4 hours ago, Mathew said:

The bearing is a "608" the letters before are the make and the letters after refer to the race cover, z being metal, one z meaning one side the other open a "zz" being closed metal both sides. You could have plastic covers (rs) but not recommended for this application. 

Thanks, I didn't know that. The rear bearing has a plastic cover on both sides. Will the cover prise out so I can get fresh grease inside ?

Pete

[Bfg]

3 hours ago, Mathew said:

They will come off, not certain they will go back on! Usually sealed for life! They usually squeeze oil in from a spray can , just to keep them going till we come in! (Food safe).

Quite a cheap bearing. 

I'm guessing you missed "the rear bearing has a plastic cover on both sides".  The 608 is the bearing facing towards the front of the car.  This rear  bearing is serviceable and smooth, larger diameter, and just needs its grease replenished ..but that is under plastic covers . . .

^ before being cleaned up

Still I guess what you say "They will come off, not certain they will go back on! " equally applies 

[Colin Lindsay]

https://simplybearings.co.uk/shop/advanced_search_result.php?search_in_description=1&keywords1=25&keywords2=52&keywords3=15&

I use these guys a lot; the search on that linked page is for diff output shaft bearings on the Herald, 52 x 15 x 25 which comes up as Timken 6205.  You can order open, rubber shielded, metal sided, and all kinds of variations.

The 608 is listed as 8 x 22 x 7mm  and again shows quite a selection when searched.

[Bfg]

^^ Thanks very much

 

This afternoon I reassembled the MX5 driver's seat runners which were stiff and clunky. . .

   

^ after a whole lot of flushing out with petrol and running the sliders back n' forth numerous times to clear the crud and surface rust out of the mechanism, all I could do to lessen the clunking was to run some emery paper over the groves (Left hand photo) to lessen the each hard edge. I only dismantled the one, as the other when flushed out was in better condition.  Once repainted, I lubricated each with a generous dollops of waterproof grease. They now clunk a tiny amount as they roll ..but not enough to warrant any further rework. They are easy to adjust and so good to go.

Again, during this seat's fitting into the car, I found one of the runner's fouled the adapter bracket. Similarly inserting a washer or two under the runner, enabled it to clear.

However, having fitted this seat, I found its position still too far forward for a BFG.  As previously said, its about 1/2" more than the standard seat, but that was too tight for me.  I really need to move the seat back a bit, as much relative to the door opening as to the pedals, as again.. my size 12's have an issue swinging in or getting out passed the door.  You try wearing flippers instead of shoes and you'll see what I mean !

   

^ reviewing the adapter plates, I recognised that I could rotate the front one around by 180 degrees ..and the holes to the floor still aligned and the studs to the seat runners were still square.. but were then positioned 58-60mm further back.  Where the 10mm nuts are seen on the floor, in the Left photo, is where the studs would be with the adapter plate the correct way around.   The photo on the right shows the rear bracket, and because the floor's bolt pattern relative to the MX5 runner studs is the same, rotating that bracket around by 180 degrees has no effect.  

I decide that (for the rear bracket) I'd have to drill new rear floor holes, some 60mm further back (to match the rotated front plate). Doing that would be fine for the inboard one, as it is clear of the main chassis rail and there's enough space to use a sizeable plate under the floor for seat security, but the one closest to the sill then would be over the IRS-chassis.  hey ho . . .

  

^ So I modified the adapter bracket, just on the outside, to position its hole through the floor to where I could reach from the underside and also fit a decent sized body washer.  That works. . .

 

^ the MX5 driver's seat, so fitted, sits 1-1/2" further back, and is now hard against the rear inner wheel arch. That extra length makes things very much better, but there's still another 3/4" to easily be had ..if I locally flatten the curve shape of the wheel arch. There's certainly plenty of space between that and the wheel to do so.  But it'll have to wait until when my hammering will not disturb the neighbours.  

Until then.., I bid you all a very pleasant New Years Eve.

Pete

 

 

[Bfg]

 

This afternoon I did just a little more to help my jack-in-a-box-like syndrome, by altering the inner wheel arch . . .

     

^ with the seat hard back ; I felt and marked with tape as far as my finger would squeeze in. And then peeled back the cover to reshape the metal.  I did it progressively so that the convex bonged inwards to be a concave shape, and that went well, but after refitting the seat again I found that I needed the dint to go 2" further down, to clear the now moved back tilt mechanism.  Hey ho., just an opportunity to do it again tomorrow !   

I also redrilled the front adapter plate to try the seat 1" (25+mm) towards the door.  Now I know that sounds contradictory to the issue I have in getting my big feet passed the open door, and also that my arm is already hard against the door (..and shoulder against the hood frame), but I reasoned that moving the seat outwards would square me up a little better with the offset steering-wheel and pedals, and that in turn would lessen the twist to my back when I'm in the seat. These things are always a compromise and, for the sake of just two holes in the adapter plate, it was worth a try. 

It worked better than I might have hoped insomuch as the improvement was quite apparent. Together with the gain in leg length, the driving position is more comfortable for me.  And for the first time, I feel that I have half-decent leg room under the dash & around Katie's  15" steering wheel

    ...well at least 'half-decent' for someone who's 6ft-5"  . . .

 

    

^ You can see here that although my legs cannot go straight, the under-dash clearances are good and it is a comfortable / relaxed leg position. This is while wearing steel-toe-cap work shoes that have 3/4" thick soles and 1-3/4" heels, and with my left foot resting on the bulkhead step (where the main-dip switch fits).  Conversely, I recall test-driving my friend Mike's TR4A way-back-when (..as previously reported in these pages) and my knee was literally wedged inbetween the underside of the dashboard (alongside the choke lever), the H-frame and the steering wheel.  Admittedly he did have a USB port screwed under the dash pad, which made things lower by about 3/4", but I now have an honest 2-1/2" clearance under there.  He also had MX5 seats fitted, but the seat couldn't be moved back any more on its runners. 

 

^ For comparison, with each seat right the way back.   This space would appear to be practical for me.

And perhaps because the seat's backrest is further back (giving me more room to straighten and get my leg under the steering wheel)  &/or else because I now find it easier to lean back over the driveshaft tunnel) - it feels a little easier to get in and out of the car.  Worthwhile progress

So that's it for tonight.. I hope there's something useful here to anyone else who is in any way 'larger than average'.

Pete

 

[Peter Truman]

I helped a friend fit a pair of Mazda MX5 seats with headrests into his Spit1500 complete with the inbuilt head rest speakers, if I remember correctly it took ages to wire up and the quality of the sound was terrible! there was a stack of wires going into those seats, but they were very comfortable, and he made good money selling the original  hounds tooth  covered seats.

[Bfg]

This afternoon I did similar alterations to the passenger-side seat adapter plates, and again to that inner-wheel-arch to bring it in line with the driver's seat. ie., 2-3/8" (60mm) further back.

   

^ In the first instance I drilled the floor adapter plate holes 1" further in, as I had on the driver's side. That was a mistake because the Mazda passenger seat has a different offset to its runners.  So I redrill again the outside floor mounting hole (further in). 1st photo ; The larger nut on the floor is where the seat runner's stud would be - with the adapter plate the correct way around, but I chose to reverse it (..to move the seat back by 60mm). I also wanted to move the seat closer to the door by 1" (25mm).  NB. the inside mounting required a small bracket extension to reach the standard Triumph mounting. 

2nd photo ; the rear adapter plate required two additional small extension plates to suit. The inside floor mounting is again back to the original captive nut in the floor. 

Please NOTE ;  the adapter brackets supplied would suit most owners, just as they are.  It is only because of my size that I sought to modify things to gain the extra length and slightly different offset. The task was easy enough, with the adapter plates giving me a useful head-start.

 

   

^ If at all noticed, I've installed these seats slightly skewed relative to the car's centreline. The front mounting of each seat was moved closer to its door by 1" whereas the rear of each seat only moved out 1/2".  That may seem odd, but the reason was to better align the seat back to the asymmetric footwells & offset pedals, and to allow the seat adjuster mechanism to clear the B-post (second photo). There ought to be just enough space for a piece of vinyl trim in there ! 

 

  

^ The LHS rear inner wheel arch was similarly 'altered' in line with the driver's side, but this time I took the concave further down ..so as to clear these seat's tilt mechanism. . .

I further altered the RHS inner wheel arch ..in line with this, so the driver's seat can now move still further back on its runners.

- - -

And so to conclude this subject of fitting MX5 seats, for the Big & Tall, here are a few final dimensions (..taken on the driver's / RH side) . . .

      

^ From the step on the bulkhead (my left foot rest) to the seat squab is now almost 29" (735mm). And the distance to the corner of the backrest is 48" (122cm).

    

^ measured from the clutch pedal to the seat squab is now some 25-1/2" (65cm), & the distance to the centre-bottom of the backrest is 45" (114cm). Standard spec (see drawing from a road-test at the bottom of this page) shows max length from pedal to seat squab as 22". The distance from there to the backrest is 10", so I've increased the overall pedal to seat backrest squab by 3-1/2".   In turn that means I can better straighten my legs to get them under the steering wheel and dashboard.

The seat squab's centre (width), measured at the rear of the handbrake bracket on the driveshaft tunnel, is 12-3/4" (325mm) from the car's centreline.

 

   

^ with 1/4" spacers under the front seat runner mounts, the clearance between the underside of Katie's  15" steering wheel to the (uncompressed) squab is about 7" (18cm).  And my own knee clearance under the dashboard padding is a now more than 4" (10cm), with my foot resting against the step of the bulkhead, & when wearing thick soled shoes.   NB., When I drove Mike's TR4A, also fitted with MX5 seats, my leg was wedged tight under the dashboard, between the H-frame and the steering wheel. Admittedly he had a double USB port fitted under there which lessened the height by 3/4" but on the other hand I was wearing brogues with 1/4" thick soles  So thanks to moving the seat runners back / the extra legroom - my leg straightens, to similarly give me the equivalent of an additional 3-1/2" inches under dashboard clearance. 

Tomorrow, I'll just be tidying and repainting the brackets and altered inner wheel arches.

Pete

Autocar  - 1965 : TR4A

[Bfg]

Not much to report on, so I'll keep it brief . . .

^ speaks for itself.  This was at 10am, so my working outside was postponed to the afternoon.

^ amateur restored 22 years ago, so I'm not complaining, but as you can see seam sealer even when over painted with a good quality primer doesn't prevent rust in the corners and panel overlaps.  As I work around the car I'm pulling it out, cleaning out the corners and then painting into them, first with POR-15 or else zinc (cold galvanising) paint, before topcoat.  If then still needs a little seam sealer, I'll do it once that paint has dried.

^ little steps, but still progress.

Bidding you a pleasantly warm evening,

Pete.

 

[Bfg]

15 hours ago, Mathew said:

That will take a while to cure in these temperatures! It just occurred to me that you were planning to paint the car green at some point? Most of that will be covered over so no matter. 

two tone, green over red

[Bfg]

Yesterday afternoon ..with work in progress on the driver's side, things were looking like this . .

^ Beginning to look more like a restored car now.

Katie's  prior owner(s) had not only used copious amounts of something like 'No more Nails' to secure the felt underlay and carpet, but also numerous self-tapping-screws.  There are possibly 20 or 30 small holes through the floors and, because my welding thin sheet-metal isn't that good, I decided not to weld each up. Instead I've painted the hole's edges and now will use a sealant to close them up.  Having found that my use of C-Tec CT1, as a seam sealer, prevents this white-spirits-based acrylic paint from going off for a month ..on the gearbox cover , 

Last night I tested Everflex - Weather Mate, which is a n-butyl acetate compound to see if that proved any less "inconvenient" !  All night and all day in the warmth of my lounge, and this evening the red is still tacky enough to come off on my fingers.  I'll find something else ! 

- - -

Today was very damp and equally as dull to be working outside, even under a cover.  That, together with a pulled back, led me to find a job in the warm.  Mind you the job I chose to get on with wasn't possibly the best choice for my back.., don't know really because sometimes I find wrapping it up and just getting on with jobs sometimes just works through it  ..we'll see.  

Anyway's up, this afternoon's exertions were to pull the driver's MX5 seat mechanism out ..and to start cleaning the leather . . .

 

   

^ four bolts hold the seat back adjuster  / tilt mechanism to the seat squabs, and then one screw, on the other side of the seat back, releases the backrest altogether.  Seen on the window sill (second photo) is that mechanism and its two trim covers. Each have overlapping tabs and a cross-head screw or two to hold them in place. The screws are removed and then the covers can be wriggled out over the bolster's padding.

     

^ Seat runners were removed because ultimately I'll be taking the leather cover off the seat to replace a couple of pieces of its foam padding. I had already started cleaning the base pan of its light surface rust and giving it a pretty coat of zinc, so I'll do more of that when the covers are off.  However, having been freshly painted, it then revealed the diamond shaped scuff marks, from the TR's floor as the seat was moved back and forth. The adapter plates are just 1/8" (3mm) thick and even though the car's floors are slightly bowed downwards, it looks as if I might want to spacer the back of the seats up, by just a 1/4". 

Moving on to the task in hand . . .

    

^ The light grey better reflects the light amount of dirt on these seats ..after all they came from a breaker, so who knows what the condition the car was in. 

I'm sure many of you have seen the " remarkable " cleaning properties of bespoke leather and fabric cleaners.  Well - I didn't use them !

 

^ I started with a relatively-dry nail-brush and a tiny dab of washing-up-liquid ..first wipe.  I followed that with a light scrub of kitchen degreaser (..I was introduced to Sgrassatore Universale  ' Formato Professionale '  ..when I was preparing to restore my Citroen Ami-Super in Slovenia, and was so impressed with it that, when I got back to the UK., I ordered 5l. of it from Italy). 

Again I used just a tiny amount on a relatively dry nail-brush.  And because that doesn't froth, I followed it up with soap (..to lift out the degreaser).  Yep, that was really posh stuff too.. from Aldi's basic range.

Each stage was wiped off with an old washing-up sponge and clean warm water.  And to finish off ..just another quick scrub with another tiny dab of washing up liquid. I did this to minimise any residue of soap in the leather. That again was wiped over / rinsed off with the sponge and clean water. 

Throughout I tried to keep things as dry as I could, particularly because the squab's leather is perforated, but on the side bolsters (which have no such perforations) I could let things get a little " frothy man "..   Each stage was wiped dry with an old cotton, clean T-shirt.

^ cleaned with ordinary household / ordinary kitchen products.  No particularly strong chemicals, and soap and washing-up bubbles to wipe the dirt out the leather's grain and perforations.  I went on to clean the rest of the seat, which was then set over a low temperature oil-filled radiator (seat squab inverted and not touching it) to mostly dry for 20 minutes.  The leather now feels very much more supple (compared with the passenger seat which I haven't yet cleaned) and I think would take in leather conditioner quite nicely, but first I want to dye the light grey to black.  I have some shoe dye but it's at least xx years old, so I think I'll pop out to the shops and spend a few shillings to buy some new.  

Just out of curiosity, I do have some foaming upholstery cleaner, which I may try tomorrow, to see if that leaves things any cleaner still.

In the meantime, I bid you a good evening,

Pete

 

[Josef]

Very nice result there!

On the theme of using household products for upholstery cleaning, I found these Flash magic erasers did an amazing job on my tan vinyl in the Herald. I bought the whole shelf from Wilco when they were on offer at some point, and have used two or three (at under a pound each). Before I gave it a go I was a bit concerned they might damage the vinyl, but a small test worked, and the trim still looks great.

[Colin Lindsay]

Those Magic Erasers work wonders on discoloured or grimy sun visors, the off-white ones that we have in Heralds. 

That's an amazing job on that seat, BFG.

[Bfg]

Evening all  ..not a whole lot to report on. After pulling my lower-back last weekend I seemed to be unable to get it warm, and so my going outside to work on the car ground to a halt.  This afternoon I made an effort to kick-start myself into a back-to-work mode.

Having reversed and modified the MX5 seat-runner adapters, and then locally altered the inner wheel-aches ..in order to move these seats back by some 3-1/2"  ..I needed to clean up and repaint under the wheel arches. . .

   

^ All-in-all I was pleasantly surprised that despite my having rudely inverted this wheel arch's compound-shape inwards.. the pink primer had stayed almost entirely intact. The conifer green (which was the car's original colour) paint appears to be on top of the pink primer, so perhaps the original restorer was going to repaint the car that colour.   However, he sold the car as an unfinished project to Bob Bell, who painted her red.  I guess the thin layer of under-seal was applied directly over the green, some 22 - 24 years ago, and that has now dried out and so tends to not stick as well as it once did.  Naturally, with that many years since restoration, some of the bottom panel edges would now also benefit from a little preventative care & attention.  

But, this afternoon I only got around to attending the driver's side - because I found a bit of welding to do. . .

^ The lower seat belt mounting was one I drilled when I first got the car. This was to relocate the retractable mechanism from immediately behind / under the seat (bolted to the sill), so I could move the seat back a bit.  As you can see I'd fitted it with a large body washer, which I'd intended at some time to tack weld in place. Plans sort of changed direction for a while though last summer, and so while (again) in this space I thought it opportune to get on and do it. 

The crack through the panel immediately, below that mounting, is surely an also-missed MOT failure.  Not least because I had the TR6 body to chassis mounting added to the suspension bridge ..just the other side of this panel.  

Interestingly, or otherwise, the dint to the underside edge of that panel (below and a little to the left of the seat belt's hole) is where the body shell literally used to rest on the previous chassis' spring cup.  I'd spotted this when seeking to correct the excessive wheel-arch to tyre clearance (post chassis-swap). The body is some 10mm higher now.  

Anyway moving on.,

   

^ Fortunately nothing but a little surface rust to clean off.  To reinforce this corner, I cut a plate to fit behind it, and then drilled the panel so I could plug-weld it in situ.  The crack itself was of course seam-welded, and the underside edge of the panel and plate were also stitched together. 

   

^ it was awkward to get around that corner to finish it smoothly, with the suspension bridge in the way, so this will have to do for now.  The large diameter, 2mm thick, body washer for the seat belt mount is now tacked in place (it happens to be of stainless steel ..because that's what i had to hand).  And then after a little more scraping and general cleaning up, including the end-plate of the sill, I splashed over it with POR-15.  Not a very pretty job but once again painted over - it'll keep the wet out and help preserve the car for another 55 years ..or at least until the next phase of rolling-restoration. 

Oh yes., and while i had the POR-15 out I painted the MX5 seat runner adapters, and also the car's original body mount washers  . . .

 

^ The honeysuckle is doing very nicely, and remains constantly in flower.  And the frame for the plastic cover is convenient for hanging nails to dry things on.  I don't know how many of these thick body-washers are used on a TR4A, but here are 18 that were previously on this car ..and had been over painted several times over.  It took me ages to get these back to bare metal and ready to repaint them.  M&T had swapped-them-out for stainless-steel penny washers (fitting two under each fastening).  All very pretty looking, but also very wrong because two thin penny washers don't equal a single thick body washer in bending, and so each penny washer bowed as its fastening pulled the floor panel into the rubber body mount.!  

Anyhow, all of those from inside the car are already out, for my cleaning and repainting of the floors, so refitting the fastenings with these thick washers will be no extra work.

That's it for today, and time for a cuppa tea.

Pete