MellowYellow1303 - Bernadette

I've posted some recent pictures to a Flickr gallery. Please click on the link in the menu on the left. Since they were taken I have also fitted the carpets, which were cleaned last week. The seats and interior panels have also been given a good clean.

I eventually gave up with the horn push in the steering wheel and so have wired it to a button on the dash instead. The windscreen washer is connected now too, and the interior light working ready for the doors to be fitted. I am now in the process of repairing and respraying the doors. After that it's basically a bit of a service and we're ready to go for the MOT!

Spent a bit of time last night reassembling the rear light clusters
and trying to get the horn working.

The metal dividers in one light cluster had rusted away, so made some
replacements out of sheet aluminium.

The horn still refuses to work though; it appears the wire running
back to the steering wheel has too high a resistance. The sounder
works if I earth it so I know power is getting to it, but even after
cleaning the earthing cable core and cleaning or replacing the spades
along it's route all it does is make a faint 'ping' noise. I'll try
running a new cable to see if that sorts it.

I have fitted the CSP shifter which is a great quality bit of kit, and
adjusted the clutch so that I can select gears properly. All the
lights are now also connected, and I just have to tidy up some of the
wiring and look at the nearside headlamp which isn't working. After
that do the horn and windscreen washer and the electrics will be done.

Since I was not happy with the fuel pipes and fittings, I got a couple
of replacements, and refitted them all this time with PTFE tape. This
seemed to solve the leaks and the joints now don't need to be so
ridiculously tight. I also took the time to refit the fuel pump with a
better mounting arrangement, and put in some fresh fuel. While I was
at it I treated her to a new set of spark plugs.

This time she started and ran MUCH better, and after a bit of
twiddling with the mixture screw she was sitting on the drive ticking
over nicely.

I still have to adjust the clutch some more though, as it's not
releasing fully making gear selection difficult, and the bite point is
just as soon as you start to release the pedal. I've just ordered a
cool CSP short throw gear shifter though to go with the Kerscher
leather steering bought as a bargain on ebay.

Next up was to put some petrol back in the tank, and pressurise the
pipes. This revealed leaks at all the screw joints on the pump and
regulator. Tightening them excessively seemed to cure it, but I wasn't
happy with that as a long term solution. Anyway, everything was in
place to try to start her up for the first time in at least a couple
of years, and after only a small amount of cranking she did indeed
start!

She obviously wasn't happy to be woken from her hibernation though and
proceed to spit and backfire and generally behave badly. But at least
she ran. And the was as far as I got before putting her to bed whilst
I went down south to play jazz over the weekend.

Next came giving the engine a good degrease, fitting a new flywheel
oil seal, then the new flywheel (luckily I have a 500lb/ft torque
wrench borrowed from work), assembling the clutch, and fitting a new
alternator for good measure. I also fitted the original single carb as
the webers need a good clean and service, and I figured it'll be
easier to get through the MOT. Once all back together the engine went
back in fairly easily with Dad's help using my patented scissor and
trolley jack method (scissor jacks to get engine high enough to get a
trolley jack under).

Then came connecting up the wiring and fuel lines, putting some oil in
the engine, connecting the battery and turning the key to see if it
would turn over, except.... noting happened! Oh dear, maybe the
immobiliser has conked out or the wiring to it is not complete. So a
good look under the dash was in order which revealed... that the plug
had been taken off the ignition switch! So that was connected back up,
the key turned again, great! Now we have oil and alternator lights at
least. But no power to the started, so it seemed. However a quick
charge of the battery and that came to life too.

... which I have managed to achieve! I had wanted to start connecting
up electrics and lights before fitting the engine, but after
connecting the battery it appeared that nothing would work with the
ignition on, and so I figured that the immobiliser was probably
refusing to work without an engine attached (more about that later!).

The week started with a shopping trip. I had already ordered and
received a new lightened flywheel from ebay, and so set off to
Kingfisher Kustoms and German and Swedish to collect a clutch friction
plate, fuel pump, filters and regulator, steering rack gaiter and
various other bits and bobs.

I set to fitting the fuel pump under the tank at the front and
plumbing the piping to the engine bay. The steering rack gaiter was
then duly fitted without too much trouble (except an aborted attempt
to fit the rack first and then track control rods afterwards; easier
to fit them to the rack off the car).

Next in were the front seats. The mounting points on the floor pans
aren't a very good copy of the originals, but with a bit of bashing
the seats fit ok and slide and adjust. I had taken the opportunity to
do some restuffing of the front seats. The passenger one in particular
had deteriated with the horse hair padding having completely
disintegrated. So I removed the cover and fabricated new stuffing with
the foam from some old garden chairs. Although the shape isn't quite
as good, they look and feel better than before!

This takes me up to about the state of play at the beginning of the
last week of June, which I had booked off work. The plan was to get
the get mobile with the engine running so that it can be moved in and
out of the garage under it's own power...

Apologies for the lack of recent blog postings! However, with a week
off work and the help of Dad I have been able to make some significant
progress.

The hood cables were fitted quite easily, the only tricky part being
to get the tension right. With the hood half open I was able to pull
the cable tight and thread it through the spring, so that when fully
closed the spring took up the slack. Not sure whether they are set
quite right but they seem to work.

I then fitted the new hood frame seals. The original ones were always
completely shot so it's the first time it's had a decent set since
I've owned it!

After that the rear windows were refitted, and with some lubrication
work very well. I have refitted the original seal and scraper as they
were not in bad condition.