New project arrived at Blackpop Towers, in for final fettling and fitting a few bits that are not right.
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...39b475c490.jpg
Printable View
New project arrived at Blackpop Towers, in for final fettling and fitting a few bits that are not right.
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...39b475c490.jpg
I had a bit of a look over the car last night - first thing I noticed when I walked into the garage is it stinks of petrol, so will have to investigate that.
I've found lots of extra stuff that needs doing over the list that Andy gave me to do, most of it reasonably minor though.
The std of finish from Williams Bros is ok, but it's been built as a race car, not a road car so the amount of holes in the cabin to the road or engine compartment or boot space (fuel tank in boot) is fairly big. It's certainly not air or watertight.
This is the hole around the steering column as an example.
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...633ed2dd21.jpg
Door handles, window winders and boot latch are all semi seized (probably misaligned in fitting and also need to be restored as well).
The throttle is the major fault at present - it's stiff, but worse is there is about 40mm of travel between closed and wide open throttle, not very progressive! or safe to drive on the street.
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...f645cf634e.jpg
The cage I have advised Andy to get altered - this is a leftover from the original 1990's(?) build and is 50mm tube. The rear downward bars are right by your head so extremely dangerous in a road car. These will be cut out and new ones that extend back before dropping to the floor will be put in instead.
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...2ba89fa0f5.jpg
First job on the doors will be to alter the check strap bars to stop them opening over 100 degrees!
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...57dbf20e72.jpg
Bonnet stays are a job that is on the list, temporary stays fitted https://storage.proboards.com/forum/...miley/grin.png
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...2777a2b555.jpg
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...f5c6e79d39.jpg
That's it for the first look over.
Okay, lets make a start on it.
I'll start with an easy bit, sorting the very stiff window winders, door handles (inner & outer) door wedges that are currently missing and the door check straps.
After I stripped the inner door panel off it became quite aparrent why the doors open too far, the main plate inside the door is missing and the buffer is just a bit of heater hose https://storage.proboards.com/forum/.../notamused.png I will need to make new door plates and proper flat rubber buffers.
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...8162e1aa7b.jpg
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...6905905ff9.jpg
Lets see why the window is so tight, is the adjuster not aligned?.......err, no. Is there any grease on the window slider mechanism?......err, no.
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...4d8e7ec51d.jpg
With that greased up it now moves nice and freely.
Moving on to the door lock - again dry as a bone,
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...411bfb1578.jpg
Andy has sourced some good condition original door wedges,
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...80ccfeceb7.jpg
Door lock cleaned up and now fully greased and moving freely and the missing end screws re-tapped to 5mm. Door wedges cleaned up nicely.
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...e646e09a36.jpg
1 hour.
Lookin forward to this thread
Nice looking pop that one. Keep the updates coming
It's the tons of seemingly unimportant bits that either take ages to do or just dont get done. But those small bits can make a huge difference in the enjoyment of the car.
Along for the ride!
Chris
Sent from my SM-A750FN using NSRA mobile app
it's in the perfect place for all this sort of detail work mark, as above the little things make all the difference :thumbs_up_smiley:
neil.
Thanks Chaps, for the amount money spent on the build it should hase been absolutely perfect in my opinion. THe condition it's in now is the completed car [:(!] as handed back as done.
Some good progress tonight but nothing much photo worthy. All fiddly jobs that eat up time for little progress.
Still working on the door fit (or lack of, lol). I had a bit of a look at the passenger door to start, the lock was also really stiff, but a quick squirt of lithium grease soon freed it up. Quite a lot of fettling got the door wedges to fit into the bodywork, but I've stopped on that side as it really needs an offset wedge for the door to continue.
Back to the drivers door and more fettling of the door wedges that side saw them working better. I had an offset wedge for this side in stock but the door was still jamming tightly. A bit of investigation highlighted 2 areas of interference - the missing paint is a bit of a giveaway as well.
This top area I managed to massage with a deadblow rubber mallet, it did split the filler at the top but otherwise caused no damage.
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...92e9377e8e.jpg
The edge of the door was catching on the door latch as well - not quite so obvious is the door is pushed in a lot around the catch hole & the screw holes. I've managed to push some of it out in the photo but I wont have proper access until I remove the window.
The offset wedge was also catching the door frame, but a bit of linishing and filing to fit the door better saw better clearance.
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...eb35988288.jpg
The door hinges are also quite worn so that was the next step. I've only done the top hinge here as I only had one spare bolt with a long shank that was a good size - 8mm which is the one you can see fitted. This will get changed out for something in Stainless later on - I'll probably get a friend to machine some pins up.
The original pins are I think 1/4" or just over so the next metric size is 8mm. Just fitting this has lifted the door and gained much needed clearance. The lower hinge is a bit less worn - I'm hoping to ream that to 8mm as well but clearance is very tight on that hinge so I may not have enough room to get a drill into it. I wont really know until I remove the doors. If I can't it's not the end of the world as the door is a good fit now and lines up with the beltline nicely.
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...60864fc7b5.jpg
And lastly a photo of in the engine bay - paint is wrecked from (I assume) fitting the steering box - really not good from a Pro shop https://storage.proboards.com/forum/.../notamused.png Look at the deep gouges in the paint on the left of the photo (and the rust in the photo above - it's only been driven about 100 miles since completion.
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...6aa09fbe39.jpg
2.5 hours.
Good start Mark. Looking forward to the updates as the remedial work progresses .
Whats the brief background history of the car , sounds like its a rebuild of an existing car ? Looks pretty cool with a great stance .
Without distracting to much from the purpose of the thread , can I ask, is that a Landrover steering box ? and , is the car running a tube axle ?
Feel free to reply via PM and delete this post if you would prefer not to have distractions from the main purpose .. Cheers .
Yes it was (I think pink & silver) back in the day - it caught fire I believe so Andy had the whole car rebuilt at Williams Bros.
No idea on the steering box I'm afraid, but yes it is running a tube front axle.
cheers Mark,
Bit more done tonight.
Changing tack a little - I had the boot open to try to source the strong smell of petrol every time I enter the garage - I think it's the tank breather as its just vented to open air - all on the same level so any braking or cornering with a full tank will just pour petrol over the road https://storage.proboards.com/forum/...ey/shocked.png I've now ordered a pressure relief valve for the vent hose which should cure the smell and the fuel leak issue.
So.......bootlid catch. This bit of steel was folded up to latch the boot - we knew about this so Andy sourced a good used original.
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...31ae241e35.jpg
Except when I unbolted it, rather than the two 6mm holes that ought to be there - someone has butchered the (new and restored) boot seal lip https://storage.proboards.com/forum/...superangry.png As its all painted I can't really go welding in new steel so I've had to compromise with large stainless washers that will (once I've painted the bare edges of the lip) be bonded to the body with Tiger seal to make it watertight.
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...80e7cf9f32.jpg
Washers and the correct mount fitted here. The seal will go as its about half the size it needs to be to even reach the bootlid, let alone seal it.
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...a3f5f670e5.jpg
Moving to the front Andy has got the very nice stainless steel bonnet mount kit from Pop Browns, I need to sort this soon so the strings can be removed from the rafters that are currently holding the bonnet open https://storage.proboards.com/forum/...miley/grin.png
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...15d310583f.jpg
I've fitted these before and know they need a bit of a modification, some heat applied and the ends folded round 90 degrees.
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...b16fbaf46e.jpg
And polished up again once cooled. A small win - the passenger door had 2 proper door restraint rubbers fitted (rather than a bit of heater hose like the other side) so that's useful for putting both sides back to how they should be.
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...092fe3629a.jpg
I've started making the replacement door support plates from 6mm steel, easier to slot them from one side & then weld up the open end gap to match the slots in the washers.
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...110e886a90.jpg
They will end up welded to the inside of the door like this for the rubbers to compress against.
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...3cf13ccbf5.jpg
Taking the inner door covers off revealed some less than ideal finish. One of my pet hates on 'show cars' (not saying Andy's is a show car but more a general comment as I've seen it on a lot of 'top' cars) is they are finished fantastically well everywhere you can see, but not finished at all where you cant.
The paint job on this car seems to be extremely good, but it's only painted on the outside, the inners are partly done and there is plenty of bare steel on a lot of corners and edges all over the car.
Why go all out on only one side of a panel if rust will ruin it within a year or so from the unfinished other side??? Am I being too picky?
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...53d7ac213d.jpg
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...8b5a1ccf42.jpg
I had a very small amount of Hydrate 80 left so I've brushed this into the double skin seam, I've ordered more and will clean up, treat & seal (and repaint) the door bottoms before giving them a good coating of Dinitrol wax.
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...c1165eaabd.jpg
4.25 hours
Mark, your attention to detail is excellent.
Lots of little things improved will no doubt turn this car around.
Thanks for taking the time to explain clearly what you are doing with all these bits, I'm enjoying following along.
:thumbsup2:
Hi Ian, glad you are enjoying it.
Had to change the oil on the daily today (deisel – yucky black carbon oil) but got some good garage time in afterwards on Andy’s car.
Today I mostly was eating Wine Gums – yummy ��
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...8a3afd5bff.jpg
While eating those I had bought a load of stainless bolts in the morning – one of which was this 12mm socket head bolt. I’ve drilled a 6.5mm hole through the centre of it.
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...084b1c5094.jpg
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...93963354b3.jpg
This is going to fix this ugly hole here;
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...d0aa1f6477.jpg
There, that is a whole lot better and virtually airtight.
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...58dfb04c5e.jpg
This was part of fixing the throttle cable alignment and also the travel.
Currently it's like this - I've already cut the bracket off here and reversed it temporarily to see where the cable end will go - its not square so I'll make another one - it's also only painted on the side you could see - hence the rust on the reverse side.
As you can see the cable is about 50mm to the left of the throttle pedal. Currently the throttle is far too direct with hardly any movement of the pedal between idle and full throttle which makes for 'interesting' (read unsafe) driving.
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...0bcfbda2f0.jpg
After stripping the pedal down and straightening out the bent up top half of it I re-bent it properly in the folder to give a 50mm step sideways. This had the added benefit of reducing the upper pedal bracket from 5.5 inches down to 3 3/4" which may well give me the progressive pedal it needs. If it needs more I can drop the cable link to one of the lower holes.
Once I've worked out the optimum hole to use I'll make a new outer cable bracket to make sure the cable has a nice straight entry.
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...4fcf4bd875.jpg
Another job was the bootlid latch, this was removed and was held on by self tappers! and phillips head ones at that (which have no place on an old car anywhere).
I have drilled out the new bootlid skin to accept the 5mm csk allen bolts and retapped the inner plate to 5mm threads. With the inner latch cleaned and properly greased the bootlid now latches easily and closes with a firm push without having to turn the handle.
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...1f8a8e987c.jpg
Moving on to the doors, drivers door removed to sort the bottom hinge. With the door off there is room to drill out the hinge.
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...628d9a886c.jpg
And also room to drill the bottom hinge from below.
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...8638cd4e98.jpg
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...41650723ed.jpg
Driver door hinges are now sorted with the door back on the car, I've done the passenger door top hinge so far but moved on to the door straps now I have the fixings I need. The door straps have been re-drilled for 5mm allen bolts and an extra hole drilled so the doors open the correct amount. Much better position as seen below.
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...4d54e8aeaa.jpg
Close up of the new holes and bolts.
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...5bbcc0f961.jpg
Another little job was the fixings on the bonnet latches, they had fitted stainless screws (good) but had only used mild steel washers and nuts, hence the rust.
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...543e9d802a.jpg
They also left them too long and no nylocs fitted.
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...cd6cfe8ec7.jpg
Bolts re-polished and fitted with stainlerss washers,
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...1b74c611f2.jpg
and trimmed to the correct length with nylocs.
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...0aeb950bba.jpg
And a pet hate of mine - lovely paint job but no paint in the gutters! https://storage.proboards.com/forum/...superangry.png this will be remedied at a later date.
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...09992188da.jpg
8 hours.
Forgot to add the photo of the new door pins, 8mm Allen bolts with acorn nuts bottomed out on end of bolt to keep hinge free.
https://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/blac...2c3ae0e350.jpg
just to let you know I really like reading these threads always learn or see something new, even after 50 odd years playing with rods, cheers keep posting.
Thanks Bert, nice to have feedback and if people learn stuff then all the better.
You rounding off the cap heads ? Or a filler for the top ?
Sent from my SM-A556B using NSRA mobile app
Some nice finishing touches! What will you do about the paint in the gutters?
I know the WBR guys quite well, I’d have thought they would sort these issues for their customer.
Either way keep on trucking it’s gunna be a nice pop.