390 replies to this topic

[Verderad]

Put the clubman top radiator bracket on, moves it into correct position at the top, but evert thing else is out. 

The noticed fan was on the wrong way

Turned around, now fowls the breather!!!

 

Also noticed that I had put radiator hose on wrong, had the heater offtake pointing down into the drive shaft and the pipe routed under drive shaft. 

 

Filled the car with oil in anticipation.   Though I would save any cleaning by putting a big cloth around the oil fill 

unfortunately I forgot to tighten down the rocker cover and did not see the leak!!!

 

lots of cleaning.  

 

Might get the start next week? 

 

Fan spacer on order 

[JXC Mini GT]

 

Onto the heater plumbing.   Why is it that the outlet on the heater matrix is in the wrong side?  

Having fitted the heater, decided the best option was to remove and rotate the matrix.

New holes 

 

 

Plumbed in 

 

 

Great work, you must be getting excited that the end is now in sight

 

 

 

 

I changed my heater for a later 2 speed fan unit, as the hose take offs were on the same side, the same as your modified unit, plus its a plastic casing so less rattles and the fan is quieter.

Edited by JXC Mini GT, 29 June 2023 - 12:37 PM.

[Verderad]

Ordered spacers for fan, longer bolts

Removed radiator again… changed the screws holding rad to cowl for short bolts, makes its much easier to get the lower one next to bullhead in.  

Trimmed the lower cowl to make fitting rad easier

Removed lower bracket for surgery…

not used grinder or welder for a while

 

Put it all back in, align Rad, cowl, top bracket.  Top bracket needed a bit more shaping and one hole making a little larger 

Worked out the position for bracket, removed welded painted 

 

Much better positioning for cowl and fan, probably needs a bigger spacer for fan.  

Small admission to make, I had the block to lower rad outlet on the wrong way, outlet to heater facing down, and I had plumbed it into heater by routing pipe down, under drive shaft, round back of subframe.  
Routing much easier when its round the right way.

The wrong way…

 

Then stripped offside hub to install drive shaft.  Built up drive shaft on bench, glad I did much easier to keep the mess in check. 

No pics

Finished plumbing in the fuel line, needs a P-Clip to hold the metal pipe onto bulk head and keep it clear off exhaust manifold 

 

Changed out the rocker cover gasket, looks ok but had gone hard

Noticed that the top of the head appears to be skimmed, the cast numbers are all machined flat 

 

Topped up the water, turned over the engine, all appears good.   

Went out bought fuel

 

battery flat, wont turn over.

[Verderad]

Battery charged, borrowed booster pack.

 

Turned over…. Nothing 

 

Have fuel pumping into carb, spark at the plugs.

 

Try, turns over but nothing

 

Check leads 

 

Read forum, would appear leads are the wrong way around

 

change round, fire up,  occasional puff out of carb, quiet back fire 

 

Read forum, was the distributor drive out?  Maybe, the lead position would suggest so. 

Try again, big bang, oil filler cap pops off!!  

Maybe its firing on exhaust…

 

Change leads back

 

choke out, fire up, bit of throttle

Misses, coughs plutters, starts… yes 

 

runs, wont idle but with a little throttle she goes.  

 

More adventures with Strobe, carb adjustments coming up.  

 

Close now, headlining and windows next.. 

[Verderad]

Double post

Edited by Verderad, 03 July 2023 - 09:43 PM.

[colinf1]

Getting very close now! You should use small cable ties for marking the sparkplug leads, now that you have them in the correct order.

 

 

Are you going to spruce up any of the engine, or will that be a winter job?

[Jarvis_SPI]

Getting very close now! You should use small cable ties for marking the sparkplug leads, now that you have them in the correct order.

 

 

Are you going to spruce up any of the engine, or will that be a winter job?

 

Looking tidy, I would consider protecting those exposed soleniod terminals with something like Black PVC Battery Ring Terminal Cover (vehiclewiringproducts.co.uk) though to avoid the fireworks when that spanner gets dropped.....

[mini-mad-mark]

Well this weekend didn't go as I wanted..

Only had to fit one drive shaft, bit of wiring and start the car......

 

Started with the clean jobs 

 

Fog light Switch 

Had to work out the wiring on bench before getting in the car. 

Needed a new earth lead, wired into the same one as the heater. 

 

Fit rear fog lamp 

but first deal with the couple of rust spots on back of bumper, treat and a bit of clear lacquer. 

fitted rear bumper, attached fog lamp. Drill hole in fresh paint of valance, fitted grommet

 

Fog lamp is an early 80's NOS cheapo £4 period item.. 

 

Switches fitted, will get new ones on order as they all look a little shabby. 

Lots more messing about with cleaning battery terminals, fitting grommets etc 

 

Then it was attach battery time......

 

Heater fan came on as battery terminals attached, thats one of the list.

Lights on, side lights ok, main bean took a while to come on??
Hazards - all working, flash a little slow

Indicators, left on, dash light on, not flashing. Right on, no dash light, not flashing.

Read forum, already read through many on Slow indicators.

Worked through the earths, added earth from indicator / side lights into loom, too much new paint for them to earth through body.
No joy.

Swapped hazard flasher and indicator flasher, better. Changed the connectors on indicator flasher.

Put bulb back into dash indicator light!!

 

Still not flashing

Changed bulb that didn't have any markings on.  Flashing !!!

 

Whilst lookin at the forum there was a suggestion that changing the bimetalic flasher for modern is a better solution. I have one of those from an incorrect purchase.    Needed another earth lead but the flash is now very consistent and brighter.   Ordered another unit to replace the hazard flasher.  

 

Lights all good, main beam really slow to come on?

 

Checked all earths, some not a tight in new connectors, quick squeeze with the pliers.  

 

Then I noticed the main earth onto bulkhead was not tight, bolt not doing up tight, thread in bolt knackered.  

Tapped out to 8mm.  Amazing difference.  

 

Brake lights staying on. 

Not enough adjustment to move the switch back far enough. 

 

screw added, now works fine. 

 

Onto the heater plumbing.   Why is it that the outlet on the heater matrix is in the wrong side?  

Having fitted the heater, decided the best option was to remove and rotate the matrix.

New holes 

 

 

Plumbed in 

 

 

 

Done this on both my cars that had the matrix the "wrong" way round (I also have one car where they are on the "correct" side - late model )

[Verderad]

Feels like I’ve spent more time in the garage than is reasonable to achieve not a lot…

Probably undone more than I have progressed or that’s how its feels…

 

Can’t remember the right sequence but lots happened 

Car starts, runs rough, drinks lots of fuel. Happy it runs

adjusted timing, old strobe not great, messed with the mixture, fuel now running out of the overflow

Went on holiday to overcome the disappointment,

 

Ordered a carb service kit.  What seems a quick job takes a long time. Had to make a tool for the bushes, that’s where the time goes. Not helped by breaking the thread off the choke cylinder thingy.   Luckily the box of odd carbs donated by a friend has what I need.  

Back on the manifold

followed AC Dodd start up recommendations

Started first time, little tweak of distributor runs smooth.  The sucking noise around the carb has also gone, those dry spindle seals really were not working.  

Bought new timing light but not used it yet.

 

Starts but does not stop.

pressure bled the brakes, fluid pissing out of every union.  Its like i never used a spanner.

managed to knock over every jar of fluid

All air out of system, still no pedal.

friend over to bleed the old school way.   Clear fluid at all corners, still no pedal

Change over master cylinder, spent over a hour trying to remover pin from pedal.   Removed steering column for more space.

still nothing at the pedal

Service cylinder, still nothing.   Give up 

 

booked into to Thomas Classic and Modern.   Brakes and tuning 

 

Windows in, but first headlining 

Needs a little work on A Post but happy with that. 

 

Rear window in

Cant get front in, one corner will not go in 

Close but broken

bit like me at this point.

 

Side windows in

On with bonnet, lights and grille 

 

Just fuel tank, seat hoops, carpets, window winder and glass.

[Retro_10s]

Looks like this car was sent to test you! It's coming along nicely however. Headlining looks great!

[TahitiSprint]

Just looked at page 1 and compared to this one, wow what a transformation! All credits to you and your preservation! Keep it up, the end result will be stunning      

[Sir_Swish!]

I've just read this from the start, hoping for inspiration as I await delivery of a very rotten shell... To be honest, I don't think I have your determination or resolve! But seeing you overcome every hurdle and end up with a stunning Clubby makes me feel like I have to give it a try.

 

The effort and hardship and is clearly worth it! I wish you all the best for the final stretch.

[Verderad]

I've just read this from the start, hoping for inspiration as I await delivery of a very rotten shell... To be honest, I don't think I have your determination or resolve! But seeing you overcome every hurdle and end up with a stunning Clubby makes me feel like I have to give it a try.

 

The effort and hardship and is clearly worth it! I wish you all the best for the final stretch.

Thanks, enjoyed the cutting, welding, grinding more than this end bit.  
~Getting it totally finished, engine running well is more difficult. 

[Verderad]

Five minute job to install the petrol tank. Oh no, I’ve mounted the fuel tank bracket around the wrong way the fuel tank just won’t fit in above it.

 

Lots of huffing and puffing, then realised only one course of action cut the top of the bracket off radio the hole for the captive nut

Slight adjustment to the edge of the tank to allow it to sit in line with the boot cable bracket

 

Four or five hours later, the tank is in place all the edges, primed and topcoat it a little bit of vinyl to stop the tank and bracket

 

Wheel arch covers installed

 

Car Starts, runs rough but wont stop.  Bleeding the brakes.  

Bought an easy bleed kit,  not great for rear, nipple too small. 
Lots of pedal action, clear fluid flow, no brakes.  
Lots of split fluid…….
Made up a pressure bleed with footpump pipe and an old cap for master cylinder and the spare wheel.
Tighten up all of the unions, mop up more fluid.
Clear fluid from all corners, no pedal, just soft. 
Read many threads on the forum. 

Bleed the master cylinder, fluid coming out of all the connections. 

Re bleed all corners, used a pipe, jam jar, friend in the seat on the pedal.  

Still nothing.  Must be the master cylinder, swap for the spare.

Oh after an hour trying to remove split pin from pedal, i think I actually cried.

Went for lunch.

 

Removed steering column, managed to break split pin and punch out the rest.  Hours……

 

Fit spare master cylinder, bleed all round 

 

Still noting at the pedal??


 

[Verderad]

Give up on the brakes. 
I had noticed / heard a sucking noise around the carb.  Bought a service kit to replace the seals.  

Pleasant task until I noticed that the nut on the choke had not undone, it had sheered off the thread.
Luckily the spare carb box has a HIF38 in it. 
The butterfly spindle in the kit is also different, the original didn’t have a thread at both ends, it had a leaver clamped on it. 

 

HIF38 spares came in handy again. 

 

Tightened up the manifold bolts, refitted carb, running on tick over, sucking noise now gone.  

No timing gun.   

Decided to send car off to Thomas Classic and Modern.  I’ve had enough

 

Used a local guy Darren @ Carwow to transport.  Brilliant service, arrived on time, tracking on during transport.

 

Week away

Ross @ Thomas Classic and Modern gave car a one over. 
Fixed things I didn’t know needed fixing.  Replaced master cylinder with a new yellow tag.
changed the new rubbers on the lower arms, they had perished 1 year old, never been on the road!!

Changed the ties on drive shaft boots, the ones on were rubbing the hub
torqued up fixing on the suspension and hubs, greased up the suspension. 
 

Centered the steering steering

 

Adjusted the handbrake.  

 

Set static timing, adjusted the fuel mix.  

Returned car with a rather long list of jobs for me to do to complete 

 

Car has developed a rather large oil leak!!

 

Wipers not going the right way, wiping the bonnet.
​

 

open the motor, turn it through 180 degrees. Now wiping but not parking 

 

See if the switch is working.

Years of grease ingress from the motor, cleaned it out with brake cleaner.  One of the terminals has corroded through.  
New park switch on order, fixed the issue. 

No charge light on the dash. 
Checked the charge when car running, battery only just over 12V. 
Cleaned off the plug into alternator, 14V at the battery but no charge light.  
Multimeter is showing 14+v on both brown wires coming out of the alternator.  Nothing on charge light cable.
lots of good info on this forum, grounded out the cable from alternator, charge light comes on.  
Diode pack on alternator gone.  Replaced alternator, all good 

 

Before firing up the engine, I noticed I only had earth strap from starter down to subframe, added a 2nd from subframe onto body.
used a bolt into front panel that hold teardrop in place. 

 

Hazards stopped working.
Replaced the flashed until with 3 pin version.  Run an extra earth down to earth point.
​

 

Stopped working as the inline fuse has blown. 

 

Wired in the pressure failure switch on master cylinder 

 

Then onto the windscreen washer plumbing