mark powell Posted January 23, 2022 Report Share Posted January 23, 2022 Your bulkhead is interesting. I have modified an early 948 b/h to fit a later car, the main mod was to match it to the later pattern floor pans. This involved grafting a piece of a later b/h to fit. I also fitted a later type heater box as the early one was beyond saving. Apart from that, mine is a real 'bitsa'.,... Mk1 Vitesse chassis, bulkhead as above, 948 bonnet, modified 13/60 estate rear tub, unknown doors, 1500 with o/d box etc etc . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted January 27, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2022 Well, more work ongoing with the 13/60. The entire body has gone to the bodyworkers in order to tidy up the bonnet front panel, which had a few holes and a huge welded patch on either side, just below the grille. I've thrown in a couple of spare d-plates as well as repairs are definitely required around one of the sidelights, at least. One interesting thing I did notice was around the top of the bulkhead; with the pedals removed, there's an extra slot for both brake and clutch pedal in the body aperture: This is either the result of too much pedal travel, or an early feature that was discontinued, and as the slots are cut rather than pushed back by the top of the pedals, it appears factory-made. I'll be replacing both master cylinders anyway, and both brake and clutch systems will be fully rebuilt, so I think the pedal travel will be greatly reduced anyway. While the body is away and I've suddenly got loads of spare room, I'm working on the engine and gearbox. The engine block is now stripped down completely; I wasn't impressed with the state of some of the core plugs: Those are press-in but there's nothing behind them to keep them in place ie from going in too far, so I need to be careful on replacement. Easy enough to press them in too far, but not something that can be easily undone. For those of you with eagle eyes, I haven't - yet - taken the head off; although I have all the valves and guides etc for a rebuild I'm holding off. There's no indication of any head gasket problem. The bottom half of the engine is quite good, even the thrust washers don't need replacing, (although I might just whilst there's access) so at present I'm going to content myself with replacing the timing chain, tensioner and seal, plus the rear seals and engine plate. One thing I noticed was that firstly the oil filter was completely empty... not a good sign; at first I thought there had been no oil at all going through it, then realised that it had simply drained completely. I'm not a fan of filters that don't have an anti-drain flap, so this one won't be going back on. Not onto that adaptor, either - it's a bit chewed and has in fact been crudely cut-down from a longer version. The timing cover came off eventually; there's always one or more of the pan-head screws that sticks. Head and penetrating oil may help but the only real solution is to put a small screwdriver as close to the edge of the slot as possible, and chisel it round with a hammer. The timing cover came off eventually and has now been blasted, along with the sump. Everything looks to be in good condition but I'll replace the chain and tensioner along with the front cover seal, and that'll be done and out of the way. Now all I have to do is wait for the Postman to bring me the relevant service items, and for the paint to dry. That's the undercoat, by the way... top coat will be gloss black and a more even-looking finish. Last job for this session was the replacement of the speedo drive assembly on the overdrive gearbox. I sourced a proper UK-spec 18-tooth drive online - this is a US-spec gearbox and the drive was originally 17 tooth, so had to be changed or the speedo would be miles out. It's now all oiled and reassembled with new seals, ready for refitting. Reference Josef's query above; he's right, correct, all gearboxes were GB, it was the engine that was GB for the export market and I should have realised that whilst body parts were taken from a Southern-Ireland convertible for the convertible conversion, the running gear is all from the original UK car. The new gearbox is FK. ...and that's it for this session, other than to replace the brake light switch, which illustrates the standard of workmanship on most of the rest of the car... You gotta love the shoestring budget, necessity is the Mother of Invention, or so they say... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josef Posted January 27, 2022 Report Share Posted January 27, 2022 I was about to ask what the full new gearbox number was. I’m rebuilding a FK box with a D type overdrive and wondered if that might give an idea of where the change to J type happened. But then I thought we’ve no way of knowing if these two gearbox cases were built up as overdrive boxes of the given type from the factory. Plus I feel it’s far too much of a nerd question anyway, even for me All the running gear looks to be coming along nicely there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted January 27, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2022 2 hours ago, Josef said: I was about to ask what the full new gearbox number was. FK 49301. I'm just grateful that my replacement clutch fits the splines... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josef Posted January 27, 2022 Report Share Posted January 27, 2022 FK31796, so does match them being earlier and later ones. Or as I said they could well have been reconstructed in the past… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted February 1, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2022 Things have been flying in a forwards direction this week so something must be wrong. I've stripped the engine down in the Estate but can see no reason why the head is leaking water; one of the cam followers was full of coolant right beside where it was leaking, but the amount that has been lost from the radiator is so small I'm thinking that happened when the head was removed, and the sump is not full of water. If there's any coolant in the oil, it's minimal, but that's for another day - at present whilst I can't see any reason for any leak I'll have the head tested while it's off. One thing I wasn't happy with is the head studs and nuts - I'm using the uprated nuts on new studs but it seems that due to the paint (or blackening?) on the stud threads the nuts were stiff. I wonder if this has affected the torque? Some of them also seem quite short and I'm also wondering if the nuts are bottoming out on the threads before reaching the proper setting. I've since cleaned them all up with taps and dies and will see how things go on reassembly. Back to the 13/60, then - the replacement manifold has cleaned up very well - thanks Mathew - and has received new studs and nuts from Spalding Fasteners; much much stronger than the metallic cheese I received from other suppliers. The engine has been cleaned from the bottom upwards but seems to require minimal work, mostly in the cooling area as there was a lot of crud in the waterways, with some of the pipes being completely blocked. I'm replacing almost the entire cooling system; core plugs, radiator, housings, pipes and hoses. The water return pipe will be in stainless, as the original broke apart on removal. This morning was spent rebuilding the rear end of the block with a new oil seal - there is one single copper washer for the seal housing that is not referred to in any parts catalogue and only obliquely referenced in Canley's online schematic, where it seems to go through the entire backplate. I don't think that's correct; it's for the horse-shoe shaped oil seal housing where one bolt goes right through into the block. After an hour spent searching for the proper bolts - 5/16 x 1 1/8 of which I had seven ready, but nowhere to be seen - I had to use others and find another copper washer. The oil seal is now fitted plus the new alloy backplate, simply because I had one. Next stage will be the front timing cover - I'm using a heavy metal seal rather than one of the currently-available thin replacement plastic versions, and it's been fitted ready to go along with a new tensioner. In the midst of all that, the Herald arrived home again. The team at S&D Body Repairs have done an excellent job, as always. The entire front panel has been rebuilt along with new d-plates to correct the bodged profile of numerous repairs over the years, and with the front panel now vertical the headlamps should shine out in the proper plane too. Sadly this is where the real work starts. I need to remove the bonnet and front suspension, including the turrets, strip down, tidy up and repaint the entire bulkhead area from black to white, get the turrets sandblasted and repainted, clean up and rustproof the bare chassis, refit the engine and gearbox, rebuild the front suspension and brakes, and rebuild the front of the bonnet. After that I can do the interior trim and carpets. The hood will probably be the last step; it's bought already and in a box on the floor beside me. A lot of work to do and time is short... so why am I sitting here? See ya later! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted February 1, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2022 55 minutes ago, Mathew said: What paint did you use on the manifold? Whenever i try to paint them they seem to burn it off quickly. I'm trying Simoniz VHT in black, straight over sandblasted metal - no idea of how it will perform until the engine runs. I used to use PJ1 Fastblack - lovely stuff, great smell - and it performed really well on manifolds and exhausts, but my supplier will no longer post to me. https://www.thevisorshop.com/en/gb/PJ1-Paints-16-HIT-Fast-Black-Hi-Temp-Exhaust/m-5490.aspx?PartnerID=21&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=UnitedKingdom&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI7PDH0-ze9QIVE-ztCh0xNAPkEAQYASABEgKsfvD_BwE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Truman Posted February 1, 2022 Report Share Posted February 1, 2022 A friend with a concour E type roadster used pot belly stove black cured in the BBQ I think 150 for An hour it’s still going strong he did my 1500 manifold and it appears OK looks nice and smooth the thick paint filling the casting irregularities. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted February 5, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2022 Well, it's been a busy week yet again but loads done, although only on the 13/60. Most of the suspension components plus a few wheels, engine side panels and suspension turrets have been sandblasted. The suspension was in fine shape as expected; I thought there was a large spacer down the side of one of the wishbone bushes, but it was just the bush itself - distorted, hardened, and long overdue a change. The shock absorber bushes too were long gone. I'm using orange Flo-Flex Polyurethane bushes as replacements, but they're difficult to press in - whilst the polybush itself is soft enough the metal tubes kept springing out again, and if i pushed the tube in with the vice the bush came out like a huge orange marshmallow. Eventually I realised the tubes are far too thick, and replaced them with older stainless versions that I had spare; much thinner metal and these fitted first time. The shock caps were blasted and repainted - along with most of the rest of the suspension and resprayed in gloss black, and this afternoon they were assembled in almost record time with no problems at all. I'm reusing a set of springs that I had salted away, they're marked from poor storage but have never been on the road and should really have been repainted, but I was too lazy and on a roll. I'm going to repaint the turrets in white - the paintshop has scanned the car and the closest match on their computer is VW DelftWeiss or China White, so that's the colour it will be. It may have been some form of Triumph White way back in the day but VW own it now. I cleaned the blasting dust off them then painted with Etch Primer, only to find I had very little grey primer to coat that with, so had to make an urgent dash to three Motorfactors - the first two I called at close on Saturdays. Mechanics must all take weekends off. Primer secured, they've had two coats and will get the first of the white top coats by Monday. I've also given the steering components their first stripdown and cleanup; the steering rack clamps cleaned up very well. I was amazed to find I don't have Flo-Flex bushes for the steering rack, as I thought I'd bought all the bushes required for front and rear of the car, however a quick rummage through the cupboards found an old set of SuperPro bushes that I'd forgotten I had - or maybe that's why I didn't buy the orange ones? In any case I still have to refurbish the rack itself but that's really only a matter of stripping down and repainting; all the parts are sitting ready. So with that all done, the garage stinking of fresh paint and my head splitting from the fumes, the only thing to do was mess about with the freshly painted bonnet. The grille has cleaned up very nicely so it's a shame not to have a quick trial fit and see how it will look. It's gonna look nice! I've a very nice period RAC badge for the centre of that that will both break it up and set it off nicely. I'm getting ahead of myself, though - that bonnet needs to come off again in order to cleanup and repaint the bulkhead, and refit the engine and overdrive gearbox. That'll be next weeks work, then. Laugh of the week: the paintshop has been in touch, they've been discussing the Triumph and decided they'd like to paint the whole car. If I do the stripdown and prep work myself they reckon it'll only cost £2000. If I had £2000 to spare I'd probably buy another Triumph. I've a mate who says he'll do it for nothing as he owes me a few favours. I don't want concours, just to stop people laughing when they first see it... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted February 13, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2022 Cue John Lennon: so this is Christmas, and what have we done? Well it's not Christmas but it is at least Sunday again, so what HAVE I done? Have to look at the photos to remember... First things first - I'm getting ahead of myself, there's a long way to go yet, but I managed to snaffle a very cheap set of woodwork - a Vitesse dashboard, plus front and rear wooden cappings, for a bargain price online. The entire set was one third of what a pair of used cappings seems to sell for through the same site - or is that why they don't sell? The dashboard is wonderfully solid, but needs refurbishing (if I ever use it, that is) however it's the door trims that I really wanted. The original door handle screws - pozi head countersunk 3/16 UNF - were too short for the wood and 1" replacements were unavailable, so I settled for slot-head instead and the cappings have fitted very well. With minimal refurbishment they'll set the car off nicely. I'm quite pleased with the look, but it's way off hitting the road yet. The rear end stripdown is still on-going - all of the suspension has been removed, plus the brake pipes, but the diff is playing silly buggers. Not one of the propshaft nuts was tight - they were all finger loose - but one of the rear diff mounting bolts is refusing to move. It turns, so I suspect it's seized in the diff bush tube, but it's incredibly hard to get at. I've used piston spreaders to apply constant force whilst I alternate with Deblock Oil and heat, plus liberal application of lalochezia. One of the three will help, eventually. The diff is leaking oil in Saudi-export quantities so can't be ignored, and will have to come out one way or the other. I just can't get at that bolt! The rest of the rear is now down to bare chassis, which - thankfully - appears sound. The PO seems to have had unlimited quantities of underbody wax, which must have helped. Sadly it should have been applied over the upper body as well, but those problems are being ironed out one by one. I had a blonde moment when I saw the photo of the halfshaft below: How on earth did it get bent like that? Where do I get another at short notice? Do i need to buy more bearings? THEN I realised it was just the radius arm, in behind, that made it look bent. Relief all round. The rear shocks have received replacement Flo-flex suspension bushes, as have the refurbished front wishbones. The shocks being new had their own black rubber bushes but these look nicer and match all the others. Two minutes to swap over. All of the suspension components are now ready to refit, if that blooming diff would shift. I rebuilt a spare leaf spring months ago. Even the front turrets are finished and ready: If the rear won't play ball, I've turned to the other end and started the paintwork stripdown. Once all the oil and grease was cleaned off, the metalwork is quite solid, so is getting an intensive rub down, rustproofing, and priming before I decide if I'll do the topcoat myself, or get the mate to do it. If I'm doing it I may leave the two large vertical panels in black, but if he does it, then he can have the fun of rubbing down and preparing the entire thing. I'll know by Tuesday after I've seen him. There's a hole in one that needs welding up, if nothing else. That steering column still has to be removed and refurbished and all of the small spring clips for the self-tappers prised out, but it'll be done properly. The heater panel has been sandblasted and is now in primer, exhaust and propshaft removed, interior now all stripped out. As therapy for some things not going right I've turned to brake pipe replacement, one of the most enjoyable jobs I've ever done. I just love the procedure of cutting the pipe - 3/16 kunifer - then using the vice-mounted flaring tool to make perfect male and female flares every time. It really is perfect relaxation therapy. Simple creation but each one looks like a work of art. I love taking care over them, the flares and the bends have to be perfect - not just for safety but for the aesthetic effect. It's such a basic job but I can look at them and say: I made that, and I did it well, and it's miles better than the spaghetti that came off. I'm waiting on a roll of 1/4" pipe for the fuel line and will make that too - no rubber joints along the way, just straight from boot to pump, and only one flexible pipe at the top of the loop above the tank. With the engine out and the turrets removed I have a straight line along the chassis so slotting a pipe down the main rail is simple, plus with the ramp I'm working at a good height so it's all straight in front of me. And finally: my little street-urchin mate has left me. Domino the cat, my friend and helper of fifteen years, has gone to the happy hunting ground in the sky. A little mis-shapen optimist with the greatest personality, he was prepared to put up with me for food and somewhere warm to sleep. He was spoiled rotten, demanded that someone play with him two or three times a day, got the best of everything, walked over wet concrete, wet paint and sat on whichever Triumph I had just polished, glared at me if I annoyed him, and made my house his own since 2007. I'll miss him. He can't be replaced. You don't just go out and buy a cat like that; they find you. I hope another one does, someday, but not too soon. In the meantime, who's going to listen to me when I start to rant about diff bolts being stuck? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bordfunker Posted February 13, 2022 Report Share Posted February 13, 2022 Colin, sorry to hear about Domino, I know your garage will feel just a little bit emptier with his passing. Nice work on the brake pipes, there's something very pleasing about the combination of copper and brass, explains the appeal of steam locomotives and traction engines. Karl 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badwolf Posted February 17, 2022 Report Share Posted February 17, 2022 Colin - Condolences over Domino. I know exactly how you feel as will all animal lovers who have lost close furry friends. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Faulds Posted February 17, 2022 Report Share Posted February 17, 2022 Sorry to hear about domino Colin, hopefully you will get another their all different characters. Sad time though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DVD3500 Posted February 17, 2022 Report Share Posted February 17, 2022 Sorry to hear that Colin. We lost that last of our guinea pig family a week ago. A friend's husband passed as well (he was 60). Seems to happen a lot to most carbon-based lifeforms this time of year.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted February 17, 2022 Report Share Posted February 17, 2022 pets do get under your skin ,part of the family ,trustworthy , loving very sad when they pass on we have lost cats, parrots and friends its understandably upsetting four past moggies found us .... the current two are rescues Pete 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badwolf Posted February 19, 2022 Report Share Posted February 19, 2022 When we lost our previous furry three years ago, we also said no more, too upsetting etc etc. We managed 11 months before the new mini wolf arrived to fill the gigantic hole. Life is now bearable again. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark powell Posted February 19, 2022 Report Share Posted February 19, 2022 We have always had two dogs, one older than the other. Replacement is always the result of the older dog passing on and the need for company for the bereft one. This cycle has been going on for over 25 years. Cats come and go also. Currently full board and lodging to two, brother and sister. Loss is always traumatic, for all parties. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted February 19, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2022 Maybe that should be weakly... I'm shattered. It's been a long day which even with all the garage work I managed to lift a wooden floor in preparation for a replacement coming next week, this also involved removing radiators and sanding painted walls. I think it's time for a quick type here before a stiff one. Work on-going solely on the 13/60 again, it's off for bodywork painting by Tuesday, so there's so much preparation to do before then, mostly getting the rear wheels fitted so it will roll. The front turrets are off to permit better access for spraying the outer front panels of the bulkhead. I removed the dashboard undertray and the soundproofing from behind the dash, both of which were tied in place with a dozen bootlaces. That's a new one! The steering column is also removed and that long blue wire running across the bulkhead appears to have been a botched connection for the horn which took power directly from the battery. That will be one to sort out on reassembly, along with the wiring for the overdrive. I've also replaced the pedal brackets, blasted and sealed with mastic, along with two pedals that are in much better condition than the ones I removed, which were ovalled and rusty. A preliminary rough coat of primer to protect before a proper job commences. I've removed the gauge for refurbishment as the rubber seal was spread all over the wood and the lights were incredibly dim; I can work on that before the Herald comes back. The footwells are full of a dry dusty brown powder that resembles sand, and lies in heaps under the carpets, but a good hoovering and final cleanup will work wonders before the soundproofing goes down on top. The recalcitrant diff bolt moved - eventually. It took three days. I pulled it out with a threaded bar but - word of warning - don't put a nut on either side, or you'll find after almost rounding off the nut, and shearing the spanner, that you've just pulled the other nut tight to the chassis by forgetting to wind it back as the other one tightens. Another blonde moment. After that it was wee buns and the diff came out, both bushes shredded and long overdue replacement. I already had a spare case blasted with new bushes, and the halfshafts have new bearings, so I only had to change the front pinion seal. Not before time, either. It was filthy, but came out easily enough. I was very pleased to find that the teeth inside are in excellent condition, so it was a simple cleanup, new seal, reassembly and back on the car. Fitting a diff by yourself is NOT easy. I already had the new bushes in place, so it was a case of propping the rear into the chassis mounts, push the front up and hope the rears don't slide out, and while your arm is trembling and about to drop it, get the big washer and nut over one of the front mountings and tighten a few turns. Took me about four attempts. Once that's done, push upwards and get the other front mounting on properly with lower bush, and tighten well. This should raise the other side which can be undone to allow the lower bush on that side, too. Then jack up the rear on a trolley jack until it raises enough to allow the rear bolt in. And that's it! Once in place I was able to replace the refurbished rear spring and some of the suspension. I was interested to see that my spring plate cover has a nifty little clip on the end; none of the rest have that so it's presumably a superseded part without which it was manufactured more cheaply. Now fitted, and looking well. Spring, shocks and radius arms now all in place with Flo-Flex bushes. I've given the spring gaiters in the form of grease-impregnated tape wrapped around the outer arms to protect it from road grit. All bolts have been left loose to permit torquing once the car is back on the ground and settled. Things flew together after that, with both half shafts now in place, but the spring is causing trouble and pressing downwards much too hard - the shocks are at full extension and the axles resting on the chassis rails so firmly that they won't turn. I've had to pad them out with protective pads between the rails and the axles to prevent paint damage, but even when the car is back on its' wheels the axles don't raise enough to be able to remove the pads, even with someone standing in the car. I'll let it settle for a bit before disassembling anything again. I'm not happy with the rear brake hoses which appear stretched, too, so might opt for slightly longer - I'm suspicious that the PO may have fitted the first ones he could find. It all depends on how things look when the suspension settles but at present if I rock it, it bounces, and the rear camber is too positive for stability. It's half way to tuck-under already. Once all that was done I turned to my favourite activity once again - making brake pipes. This time it was the rear pipes which turned out almost perfect first time. I must be getting better. That manky fuel pipe needs to go too but I've run out of 1/4 inch kunifer, so I need to order that, plus a quantity of nylocs for the propshaft bolts. I think that'll do me for the weekend. Thanks for all your comments about the late Domino, they're very appreciated and I still find myself talking to him at odd times out of habit. The sole cat we have now is no help at all, she hates the garage and spends all her time watching television while waiting for me to bring her food and keep the fire stoked. Typical female. She'll ruin her eyes sitting there like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bordfunker Posted February 20, 2022 Report Share Posted February 20, 2022 How much weight is currently out of the car, i.e. seats, fuel tank, hood frame etc.? I have seen something similar with VW Beetles where restores ‘over lower’ them, before they have fitted engine, fuel tank etc., resulting in a car that looks like its dragging its belly on the floor. Thats the sum total of my input! Karl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted February 23, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2022 Everything's out of the car, Karl - even the ashtray is empty... all right down to the bare metal. As it's now dark and late evening, and I can't be bothered starting anything else I'll sit down for a bit and listen to the boy racers turning doughnuts a few doors down. It's been a busy day, but a good one - I managed to cut grass, lift the rest of a wooden floor and part of a carpet, build a log pile, made about two gallons of chili con carne, and sanded a few walls and filled in a lot of holes with Polyfilla, to be sanded tomorrow when dry. I just can't sit still any more. In between that the Herald got a bit more attention. A little bit of psychological work at the front in the form of both sidelights. If I'd had the proper size of spire clips I'd have had the headlamps in too. New seals, screws and even the little rubber grommets between the chrome and the glass that everyone leaves out. It all looks so clean and new again. Sadly the mate let me down... "I thought it was next Monday?" so I've another few days work before it goes off for bulkhead spraying. Not much left to do at the front so I started on the rear and made up the last brake pipe, this time the long one that runs from the union right along the chassis rail. First one was a real failure, I've no idea what I was thinking but all of the bends came out wrong. Back to the bench... cut and flared again and this time, perfect bends to fit round the chassis and under the halfshaft. This of course led me to the terrible-looking fuel pipe, more bends than the Thames, but in order to remove that I had to take out the tank. This was interesting; I had already been under the car and noticed the complete absence of any tank drain plug. The tank, rusty and tatty, was held in by large screws and one bolt / nyloc, so came out very easily especially with no drain to wrestle out of the floor. And yes, there isn't one. Now: there are two possible reasons. One is that the original drain was rusted so badly that it was taken off and the hole brazed up. I can't find any evidence for this so far; okay, so I haven't taken the paint off yet but the surface is very smooth. If it's been done that way it's been done very well. The other reason is that the tank has been replaced with a modern repro, which don't have the drain at all. I'm now left with a dilemma - do I have this one blasted, and use it, or do I go with the intended refurbished version, in primer but complete with drain? Time and a proper exploration will tell. The hole in the boot floor was covered up, I knew that from the underside, but had no chance to see how it was done until the tank was removed. It's not a pretty sight - a small irregular plate of metal held on with three self tappers. Under this is a jagged hole that looks to have been cut with a tin opener. I think the best thing to do is to round it off properly, and if I don't use it I'll fit a rubber grommet of suitable size. The entire boot floor is grimy and fairly grotty. I've no idea what this stuff is, but it's been sprayed all over the entire car - door shuts, floorpans, rear seat panels, the lot. The thing is that it cleans off with elbow grease and petrol, leaving for the most part clean white paint. The closest approximation I could get would be if someone used Waxoyl then dumped a ton of sand over it. It's sticky in some places, bone dry in others like dead adhesive, but covered in this sandy grit of Lord only knows what. It's under the interior carpets, as if some form of treatment was carried out on the bare shell, but then it dried, and flaked, and attracted all sorts of dirt over the years. I don't get how the boot is full of it, given that there was no boot mat, so this is what the PO would have been looking at, day in, day out. It would have ruined anything put in the boot, like old dry grease would. I also spotted that both bolts on the chassis top, on top of the rear spring tunnel area, were missing. Two minutes located and fitted suitable bolts and washers. Why on earth didn't any of the POs do that? So: tomorrow morning it's off to town for some spire clips - plastic if I can get them, they're kinder to the paint - plus a few short-bristle scrubbing brushes. I may as well put the rest of the petrol in that tank to good use. I'll be covering strategic areas with stick-on Dodomat so those unsightly welds will be hidden, with a good boot carpet on top, so it's just cleaning and refurbishing until things are a bit more presentable, whether visible or not. That's it for tonight but dammit I'm not even slightly sleepy. Back to the back room and a bit more rubbing down of old paint runs and overpaint. Nothing that five litres of Elephant's Breath won't cover up eventually. I wanted Winter Mist but hey ho that's life, you don't argue with the Little Women... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted February 24, 2022 Report Share Posted February 24, 2022 the tanks td fitcetts make is herald size and without the drain spout probably where that tank came from maybe ??? nah on rethink they dont have the reserve lever arrangement sorry TV is boring Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted February 25, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2022 14 hours ago, Pete Lewis said: Sorry TV is boring Pete Yes, I know... hence all the DIY and garage work at present. I'm running out of good books, too. I've taken a light coat of paint off the tank this morning and think I've found a brazed patch on the underside. It's been done very well and can't even be felt with fingertips. It looks to be a different colour to the rest of the tank, but then I haven't stripped any of the rest yet so will confirm in time. I would have been very surprised if any of the previous POs had shelled out on a new tank, given that anti freeze, clean oil and even the occasional hoovering-out were beyond consideration. I'm well on the way to making amends, though - the front end is starting to look complete again, and vastly improved. One slight problem I've had is fitting the headlamp surrounds around the actual lamps, due to being worried about damaging the new paint. I presume they're not handed? One seems to fit a particular side better than the other but it would be just my luck to find a minute slight variation in sides due to there being a left-hand and a right-hand cover, and I know, if there is, that I've got them back to front. The chrome rings are very tight in the holes, although having said that I haven't adjusted the actual lamps for beam alignment yet so that may help. I hope the price of petrol stabilises soon; I've been cleaning the greasy gunk off the floors with the spare petrol out of the fuel tank, and am currently debating wringing the cloths out into the tank again to save money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NonMember Posted February 25, 2022 Report Share Posted February 25, 2022 4 hours ago, Colin Lindsay said: I presume they're not handed? They're not supposed to be, certainly. The fit can be a tad tight, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted February 26, 2022 Report Share Posted February 26, 2022 i found they are tight with no room for the headlamp protector clips pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanT Posted February 26, 2022 Report Share Posted February 26, 2022 Very jealous of your lift! Car is looking great Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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