Lights

"School's out for summer............!"  Epic song, but true as first day of school summer holidays for us here in Redditch. This means my usual Monday evening routine of school run, dinner, bath and bed for the girls is off for about 6 weeks. They are staying with Nanny & Grandad on Monday nights for the next few weeks. So, sun is out, finished work at a sensible time for once, girls away, wife at work.......... hmmmm, pass me the tool box!
First job, clean up and refit the other front indicator light.

 Then clean up and refit the indicator and sidelight assembly.

 How many indicators do you need on a car..........4 per side?!!? With hazards on I have told it will look like a Christmas tree!

 Then moved to the rear and fitted the n/s rear light assembly. Then, confusion hit.

 I know my car is modified, but I didn't expect to find wiring that I couldn't explain/remember what its for. After connecting up all the rear lights I am left with these wires, (tape wrapped so probably not factory) going from behind the rear light up the D post into the roof.  What are they for?!!? No idea!  The fuel pump is driven off the original PI pump wiring, so its not that. The only thing I can think of is the original rear fogs, which I am not refitting....... but why take the wiring up over the roof?!?!   Need to do some continuity checking with the switch, another day!

 Then started to refit the front headlight assemblies. Got two in, fiddly, fiddly, fiddly, STUPID things they are. (doesn't help when halfway through fitting the 3rd one, you realise you have fitted the first 2 upside down and you have to drill all the rivets out and start again........ Grrrrrrr!

Light fading, dinner calling....................

Small jobs

Managed to grab a couple of hours outside this afternoon, dodging the rain showers!
Not got long enough to get involved in any long jobs, so I did lots of little things instead.
First off, got the drivers door plastic membrane on, and the door card cleaned and fitted. Then measured the hole to find the size speaker I need....... 5.5" should fit nicely I think.

 Dropped into the autofactors this morning and got the front brakes pipes made up, fitting didn't take long with the new correct double pipe clips.

 I managed to find a second hand tailgate bolt, one got lost somehow. Fitted that, all the bolts have coloured paint on them and we elected to paint the inside of the tailgate satin black. So, the plan later is to carefully mask and flick some satin paint over the bolt heads to make it look right.

 Not a nice job this, the wiper spindle needed changing as I stripped the threads on the original one. Managed to source a good secondhand one which I had cleaned up. This mean removing the glove box and the screen demist vents, then removing the wiper motor and then withdrawing the drive of the wipers. All went quite nicely, new one fitted and then inserted the drive back with plenty of new grease. All good now!

 I noticed whilst I was doing this that the screen vents are in very good condition. They usually close up and warp, but these still look like they should. Guess this is what happens from being stored in a dark garage from 1979 to about 5 years ago?

 Then I cleaned and polished the light fittings and fitted the sidelight and wing indicator. They are the original ones, just cleaned up with new gaskets and bulbs. Cleaned and reconnected using the original bullet connectors and I have to say, looking good!

 I was on a roll then, so I fitted the NOS rear lights I sourced, connected up using the original bullet connectors again.

Then, it was time to clear away and go in for dinner.

Meanwhile, in Reading, the engine is progressing nicely. I understand that the block and crank are now back from the machine shop...................

Carbs, Engines, Honda's & Parties!

Life just takes over sometimes! I wonder where the time goes, as despite constant beratings from my fellow bloggers I find that I have't updated my blog for quite some time................ sorry!

Last update I had dropped mine and Andy's carbs off with Andrew Turner for them to be "Turner'd". Got the call last week to say they were ready so I dropped in on the way home from work to collect them. What can I say....... automotive porn..... they are truely amazing. Well worth the money. Anyone who needs any carb work, go to Mr Turner,   http://www.su-carbs.co.uk/   you won't regret it!
Feat your eyes on these babies...............

 Next to the engine. My friendly engine builder has stripped and inspected the engine and found loads of problems. The issue is that despite me buying what I thought was a known good engine (assuming the best engine to rebuild is one that doesn't actually need rebuilding!) was wrong. It turns out the engine has been rebuilt before....... badly. There are a whole host of bodges that need fixing. Stripped threads in the block, broken allen keys, score marks on the face of the blocks where previous head studs have been butchered to get them off. Ontop of that, the bores are all badly scored and the crank is very worn.

 It was taken to the machine shop to be assessed by experts and the news came back even worse. The block was already bored to the max, and would need all 8 bores re-lined, then new pistons. The crank was also already ground, and the crankshaft main bearings in the block were oval and would need salvaging. All this added up to a huge engineering bill that just was not worth it. This meant that the block, crank, most of the rods and all of the pistons are now essentially scrap. Bugger.
Not to worry, Andy came to the rescue again with a known better block and a decent crank. these are now at the engineering shop being worked on. Only one bore needs a liner, and the crank will grind up ok. So, this and a hefty parts bill from EJ Wards and we should be onto a winner. Parts expected back from machining in a couple of weeks. We haven't dared look at the heads yet.................

Onto more mudane matters.............. RBRR2012. Bradley and I are booked in, but as time goes on and I get less and less opportunity to work on Libby, it became obvious that we just weren't going to make it. So, decision time. Do we rush Libby and finish it and risk messing it up, or missing something and end up doing more damage by doing the run, pull out (noooooooo way!) or find another car to do the RBRR in?
Guess what, the hunt was on.
Normally, I would just find another cheap 2000 to do it in, but the prices seems to have gone mad and it means at least £2k to buy a half decent one and then it would need going through properly to prep it. Rob Baker came to the rescue so, Wednesday night saw Bradley and I heading north in his new company Passat to collect Arnie, the Acclaim-inator!

 Now, I have to say, I have never been particularly enamored with Triumph/Honda's creation..... but I have to say, it is quite impressive. Ok, so it will never replace a 2000/2500/2.5 in my garage, but as a little run around and an RBRR toy, its amazing.
Rob has spent quite a lot of time and money on this little beastie and it shows. The bodywork is immaculate, the interior is very good (under those horrible seat covers the seats are very good and the headrests are in the boot to reinstate.

 Its the CD model, posh....... even has headlight washers!

 I love history touches like this, original dealer sticker in the rear window, which matches the key fob. Every MOT back to 1988 which shows the mileage of 66k to be genuine. It needs a set of tyres, some wiper blades, one headlight needs replacing and then a quick service and clean and its ready to go!  I have to say it is awesome. Drove back 115 miles at a steady 80mph, and used about £15 worth of fuel!! This is going to be a cheap RBRR for a change!

 Over the bank holiday weekend Sam & I had a little party. I turned 40 in April and she turns 40 in July so we decided to have an 80th birthday party at a certain well known local hotel! There was about 100 of our friends, loads of food and the most awesome band ever....... The Garage Band     http://www.thegarageband.co.uk/   we can't recommend these guys highly enough, fantastic night and well worth booking!
My big sister and her family made it over from California for the party and it mean that our girls and her two children finally got to meet. It was so lovely to see the cousins all playing and getting on so well together, something we never thought we would see.
We also got a professional photographer to come and take some proper pictures of the children together, thanks Stuart!  We are waiting for the pictures to be ready, but he sent us this teaser the other day. This is Milly, our youngest, with our nephew Adam............ she didn't want to play when it came to the photographs, but this one just happened as they do......... I love it!

 Me, Dad dancing with the girls!

I also managed to source a new wiper spindle, so that is now ready for fitting. Then its on with door seals, door cards and onto the rest of the interior...... when I get chance.
With Sam now back at work, and working most weekends, my time in the garage is limited...... but, every week I manage to do something, even if its sourcing some parts, or cleaning something ready to put back on.
More news on the engine hopefully in a few weeks.

Horny Carbs!

What did you expect from the title then?!

I dropped in to see my engine builder and after several discussions about engines, spec and timescales, we got onto the subject of carbs. The carbs on his own Stag engine were very worn and mine were of unknown quality (although they look pretty ok!) we decided we both needed our carbs done properly. So, in the boot of my car now sits 2 pairs of Stag carbs ready to be dropped off at Andrew Turner's for him to work his magic on..............

 Also, whilst doing some ebay trawling I found the correct sized triple air horns I need. Libby originally had triple tone air horns fitted inside the n/s front wing. They were still there, but looking very sad, so a new set arrived today. Strangely, there is a separate switch in the car for "horns", but there are no standard car horns connected to the normal horn push. I will put a normal set on the indicator stalk, and leave these for fun I think.

Horrible Job!

After a walk in the park and feeding the ducks, the girls and Sam curled up on the sofa to watch "Toy Story"........ time for me to work on Libby then!
The new special rivets and screws arrived from Chris Witor last week (and a new Stainless Steel Strap, bolts and rubber gasket!) so I could finish putting the wiper motor in and secure the washer bottle correctly. Job done.... looks nice!

 Then it was time to move to the horrible job........ finishing the Shutzing underneath. When I did the underneath, I did the front and the back separately....... I now needed to join up the middle and do the centre of the sills and the centre of the floorpans. So, bit of marking, then warm the Shutz up in a bucket hot water and off we go........... didn't take long, but its a horrible job!

 Then, it was time to move onto the really horrible job............. Cavity Wax. I had bought 5 large 750ml cans of Bilt Hamber Dynax Cavity Wax which came complete with the special long tubes with spray nozzles. When Brian did the sills he drilled some extra holes to allow me to do this job better, they'll be hidden under the tread plates anyway. So, warm the can up in a bucket of hot water and off we go.

 5 cans later the sills were well and truely coated, the bottoms of all the doors where done, the inside of the tailgate, the inner arches front and rear, plus a few other box sections and anything else I could think of was done.

 However, when I stood back whilst having a cuppa, I notied what I had forgotten....... the sills have holes underneath to allow for drainage, and the Wax was now dripping out all over the drive...... rats.

 By the time I got to do the other side, I thought about it see................!!

 The marks the end of the really horrible jobs, everything should be fairly clean from now on. Next problem.... wiper spindle threads........ buggered. I was thinking I would have to remove the whole wiper assembly again to get to replace it, but after a bit of gentle persuasion from the back (and a small amount shaved off the rubber grommet!) I got the remaining threads to catch and it did up tight...... result!

 Now.......... big roll of polythene...... useful stuff this. I use it for covering and wrapping things in the caravan, (its actually shrink wrap for bricks!) but today it has a different purpose. Now, don't laugh but I remembered when I took the car apart that the rear off side door had no vapour barrier behind the trim panel. This is important as it guides any drips of water from the window seals down to the bottom of the door, and it prevents moisture getting to the back of the cardboard door cards. So, time to make one..........

 Yeah, I know.... not exactly original, but hey, it does the job and it won't be see again so who cares!

 So, after messing around for what seemed like HOURS trying to get the stupid small pin in to hold the window winder handle on, I can report that one door is totally finished!!   Woo hoo!!

I then fed about another 18" of door seal in on the nearside front door (grrrrrrrrrrrrrr!) then time to go in, have a shower, wash my hair 6 times to get the shutz out of it (!) and then have dinner!
A good afternoons work I think....... quite alot finished today!

Little bit more..........

Little bits done this afternoon. Managed to fit one rear door seal..... what a swine of a job! the front ones are Witor ones which are excellent quality repro ones, but they are so hard to compress to get in the channel. Total of about 2 hours to do the front door.

Having found the correct screws, fitted the cover plates on the rear doors.

 Fitted the repainted wiper motor, and then popped on the spindle grommits and new chrome nuts.

 then fitted the rear door seal. This is a Rimmers Repro one. Not as good a quality as Witors, but easier to fit...... this one only took an hour!

Little jobs............ they take the longest!

I had about 3 hours to spend on the car today, and the next two jobs to do are big ones that will take longer than that (estate side window fitting and finishing the shutzing of the centre floorpans.......... so I was on the lookout for some smaller jobs to do.

Found and rescued some trim clips to fit the final piece of waistline trim on the nearside rear door. Fiddly as all of the holes needed careful drilling out, but we got there in the end.

 The rear doors needed the wiring loom for the central locking fitting properly. Drilling and fitting grommets having once fed the wiring up the sill and B post....... again, fiddly and time consuming. Its the small jobs that take the longest I swear!

 I had bought a new big bag of pop-rivets in various sizes so I cleaned up the engine build plate and fitted that. Was going to do the Chassis plate too but it seems to be MIA at the moment............!

 I then fitted the twin (I prefer 4 jets rather than the feeble 2 in the centre!) washer jets to the new chrome grill and fitted that. I seem to have mislaid the screws for both sides by the windscreen, just need to find what thread they are and get some more.

 I then fitted the rear stainless trim. The wing ends were NOS ones, the centre is the original which just needed cleaning and painting. After a trial fit it was time to do it properly the "Mike Weaver" way.......... perfect, all lines up just right. As it should, Brian did borrow the old trims and lights to make sure everything lined up properly before it was painted...... it now has lovely shut lines.

I then fitted all 4 of the interior light door switches and then got the paint brush out. The trimmer had managed to catch and score the paint when he was fitting the vinyl roof. Fortunately it will be hidden behind the rear side stainless steel trims, but I wanted to make sure it was sealed to stop it rusting. I masked it off, painted on 2 coats of primer, and now that I have half a litre of the correct paint, some top coat can go on later.