tortron Posted September 23, 2016 Author Share Posted September 23, 2016 Bleh wof, failed on doors dont close propperly because of new seals. I need to adjust the frame to suit. for now il just pull the offending one out rear indicator - connection had been dislodged last I was under the dash right dipped beam too high - will adjust right front steering tie rod end worn outer there might be a gnats pube of play in the end, its hard to say, mainly because the shock shaft has somehow gotten major play in it since the last wof, and I'm not even going to try anything till that's sorted. A shame because I would like to move this to Auckland next week, but it aint happening now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tortron Posted September 27, 2016 Author Share Posted September 27, 2016 Brought all my tools back on the weekend, so I pulled the rack out to see what's up. It's better than a new one, it's even a later model one with thicker ends. No play in the inners or outers and rack/pinion is adjusted perfectly. Re lubricated it while it was on the bench for luck Any play is coming from the shock shaft/wof man needed some rod end fails on his books 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tortron Posted September 28, 2016 Author Share Posted September 28, 2016 Pulled the shocks today. Have been putting off replacing them for years. One i assume is original with a date stamp of 8/51 so it's kind of a shame to swap it for a recon one, if the car wasnt stuffed when I got it, it might have been nice to keep it matching numbers (rear shocks are recon and not og engine) Upon pulling the shocks I was reminded that the top pin is stuck in both the arms and I didn't bother separating them last time, just removed the whole lot as one unit Can't really get a puller on them and a 3lb sledge wasn't moving them. So I squirted on some bike chain lube , it's super sticky and penetrates well, then fired up the camp stove, and the popped right apart 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tortron Posted September 28, 2016 Author Share Posted September 28, 2016 Interesting measuring the shocks on the bench, height to the bottom of the top pin hole original 6.3cm one of the replacements 6.5cm the other - 7cm the arm on that one is clearly a different casting and will hit the edge of the window in the inner wing ol mate cob reckoned just press it off pretty sure that takes about 30 tons, so im sending it back to swap with one i can use Plus side I replaced the drivers side, and there is now no unwanted movement. plus the oil stays in this one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tortron Posted October 8, 2016 Author Share Posted October 8, 2016 So have the rack back in and new shock on the right. The new left shock is off somewhere getting delt to with a big press to put the proper arm on, which sucks as apparently the guy only keeps 1 in stock. Anyway today I think I found a bit of play in the steering. Not in the rack or linkages.... In-between the wheel and the column........... These early minors have the steering wheel held on with the standard huge nut, but unlike the later models it uses a tapered shaft and a woodruff key. Guess what was missing They used a little smear of no more nails or something at least - which had lasted all my ownership Good grief. Gotta track down a new key 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tortron Posted October 25, 2016 Author Share Posted October 25, 2016 Found this on the side of the road People will dump anything now days 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tortron Posted October 26, 2016 Author Share Posted October 26, 2016 called up the scrap man to take this away but even he didnt want it, something about theres no steel left 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tortron Posted October 27, 2016 Author Share Posted October 27, 2016 swapped in the other replacement shock that only took a full month to sort out thought, oh hey il pull that single carb manifold off and fire up my twin carbs for some feel good action removed it all, thought i would set the tappets while im in there, i dont have 3 1/4W tappet spanners so thats out twin manifold doesnt fit grinded down the thermostat bulge as much as i dare and molested the manifold with a ball hammer which took alot of refitting and checking its just fitting now, but il go back over it and try get 1mm or so of clearance to allow for paint aaaannnnd it wont start... doesnt seem to be sucking any fuel into the cylinders. maybe its becaue im only using 2 bolts to hold it on and theres a massive leak, the long standard ones are too long to work with this, have ordered some short ones. battery is flat now anyway. looks good tho eh 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post tortron Posted November 2, 2016 Author Popular Post Share Posted November 2, 2016 Yeah im pretty happy with that 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tortron Posted November 4, 2016 Author Share Posted November 4, 2016 spent most of the day fiddling with 3 whitworth tappet spanners, a work light, and a feeler gauge trying to contort myself over the engine so i could see what i was doing while setting the valve clearances they had all tightened up a little, probably has not been done for 20 years because its a hell of a job put it all back together, twin carbs back on and put a few bits together to sort out the new throttle linkage and return springs, and put the air filters on. will need a few old gaskets swapped out with new ones for a propper tune once everything is put together and theres an exhaust. warmed it up and did a couple of launch tests down the driveway, its not much distance but it feels noticeably more powerful, i think i could get a wheel going for the first time ever 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post tortron Posted October 14, 2018 Author Popular Post Share Posted October 14, 2018 Shit guys you won't believe what I found abandoned in an old barn. Must have been there since the 50s! Time for my 2 yearly do some work on this thing again. Cleared the shit off and around it. Wow half my list has already been done. I assume it was me rather than the garage gnomes. Ran twin carb fuel lines Started up right away Got some bits to get me started Pulled exhaust and put new muffler in the original position. Can bin the bends as the new manifolds will line up properly with the heat shield under the passenger floor Reinstalled it and ran the numbers. Ordered some new bends and a flange to finish the down pipe Had some wicked clutch shudder. So had ordered a new kit. The one in there now is a mix of parts from scrapped cars, probably soaked in oil, and I just realised the guy that lightened my flywheel probably never machined the face. So gearbox out. Annnnnnd I done played myself. Apparently I never made the nuts for the cross member captive. So master cylinder out too. Gearbox out and there's plenty of oil between the block and bellhousing but the flywheel and clutch are nice and dry which is surprising. Might be a slight leak from the input shaft and the rear main seal but it's British. And about now I remembered I can't get the flywheel off without taking the sump off which is a pain in the ass so next weekend. Also put a bunch of trim back on and a few little things 16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tortron Posted October 21, 2018 Author Share Posted October 21, 2018 V-band and Wideband cos why not 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post tortron Posted November 10, 2018 Author Popular Post Share Posted November 10, 2018 flywheel resurfaced crank caps reinstalled made a clutch alignment tool out of some junk in the shed, now to store it for 50 years incase i need it again (was a home made bushing punch.clutch alignment tool heh) flywheel installed clutch and pressureplate installed. made sure to follow the torque specs on that one 9 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post tortron Posted December 8, 2018 Author Popular Post Share Posted December 8, 2018 Gearbox and cross member back in and attached to the driveshaft. Special ordered some 30mm copper washers for the engine and gearbox sump bolts. So they are in and filled with fresh oil. Now I need to put the master cylinder in and rebleed the whole system. And then finally, at last, I can start on tuning the carbs 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post tortron Posted January 4, 2019 Author Popular Post Share Posted January 4, 2019 Captivated my nuts Screwed all the brakes back together Attached the clutch linkage Pulled the manifolds and tightened everything up, put some gaskets in on the flanges. Ordered the wrong choke lever. Not a major as it's not necessary, but looks good. Let out my inner Barry Cheap fix eh I have some steel that would have done the job, but this is funnier and will give someone a lol wat moment years from now Anyway. I bolted it all together. Remembered how to prime an SU fuel pump, started it up, and tuned it enough for a slow idle when hot. A bunch of red liquid spat out of the water jacket gaskets, but this seems to have sealed itself. Exhaust downpipe flange needs to be at a slightly different angle for a gas tight fit. Seems to be really hot. The airfilter backing plates get almost too hot to touch after a few minutes idling with the bonnet up, distributor is also hot but expected (but not ideal as sidevalves kill electronic ignition due to the exhaust valves being directly under it). If anything it should be set up running rich, who knows what the timing is. TL:DR It starts and idles but I need to actually tune it, laptop died a while ago so need another for wideband tuning, but will fettle with SU tuning tools and vac gauges for now. I have a heatshield that came with the set up but is a pita to use as it blocks the manifold studs 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tortron Posted January 5, 2019 Author Share Posted January 5, 2019 Did I mention the starter Bendix wasn't returning. Stripped it down, cleaned it up, and ran a builders pencil over the threads. Works ok now. More barrying of a carb choke actuator bolt into a throttle cable bolt. Just needed to spin it down in the lathe eh Looks the part Also popped the air filters on. These did come with wire mesh media in them. I replaced these with some doughnuts cut from a kwasaki ninja foam filter. Starts up with a little choke from cold, and starts easy warm. Revs up nicely. I think it's going to be a good one. Cut the exhaust up again to correct some alignment issues at the vband flange. Goes together much nicer now and sounds alot smoother (waste of time tuning with exhaust leaks) Then something went wrong. Smoke started coming out of the generator, ign lamp would go off when running but come on with the key removed. Looks like the points in the voltage regulator/control box (yup more Lucas points) stuck I ran some paper between them and it's ok again. I had to do that last time it had sat for a while too. An entire new loom in in my future, maybe I'll get a dynameter fake generator instead and do away with the control box all together. Anyway Next on the list is the brakes One wheel was stuck. Just some rust on the shoes, I cleaned it up and will vacuum bleed the system later 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post tortron Posted January 14, 2019 Author Popular Post Share Posted January 14, 2019 Drove it outside Carbs are apparently perfectly balanced from bench setting them. Which I don't believe, but the needles rise equally throughout the rev range. Fuel floats needed setting. I'm running a pair of MOW needles which are what I was told to use/someone else was using already. I set up my innovate lc1 wideband but it won't connect to my surface pro. Lights up to say it's heating but no connection. Might need an ancient laptop to connect? I think it's in the ballpark. I might just have to set it the old fashioned way with a vac gauge and tach. Didn't adjust clutch yet, it's almost usable. Vacuum bled the brakes and they are terrible but exist. The pedal doesn't feel right so I think it's the master cylinder either out of adjustment or just fucked again. Most likely the latter. Amps gauge reads a constant -60 so may want to look into that. TL: DR I reversed it out of my garage for the first time in a couple years. Washed the barn find dust off it Bled the brakes but there's still none Fiddled with the carbs Tried to connect a modern tablet PC to a 70 year old car and failed 15 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tortron Posted March 4, 2019 Author Share Posted March 4, 2019 1949 lowlight inner guard panels Have had them in my pile for about 6 years, the grill for 10. Need them to clear the headlights. The lowlight grill won't fit even without headlights because the headlight swage area hits the inner guard. Rust out on top, wheel flicks muck up there I guess. Hilights have the same problems rusting out the headlight bucket. The headlight heat should dry it out anyway so it's a sound design.. Both were rusted, one just looks better than the other. Enough to copy it anyway. I would quite like a shrinker stretcher set. Maybe next rusty project. Hammer and dolly and some extra time gets it done I guess. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post tortron Posted March 9, 2019 Author Popular Post Share Posted March 9, 2019 Worst one Hammer and dolly to fit As you can see from all the fresh steel, this one was pretty thin 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post tortron Posted February 25, 2022 Author Popular Post Share Posted February 25, 2022 Yeah, it's got a big cam 20 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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