Tiger Tamers 1964 Hillman Minx Project

[Tiger Tamer]

I made a start on the greenhouse gas emission transfer scheme today. I have the Accords header so I have a good starting point to use. I don't have a lot of room to work in so two tubes will need to go over the engine mount and two below. As long as I give myself room to get to the engine mount bolts to be able to remove it then it will work. 

I only have a mig to weld it with and mild steel wire. Should I invest in a small wheel of stainless wire and the correct gas or will the welds be ok?. I am not concerned about the weld rusting but more of it or the tube cracking.

 

 

 

[Tiger Tamer]

I pulled the engine and gearbox out as I wanted to get the engine bay cleaned up and in primer. I think I will be able to finish the header out of the car using what i have done so far and keeping the engine mounts bolted to that side of the engine.

First pic is most of the paint removed and some epoxy primer painted onto areas that I want to fill to make them nicer than when built.

Second is with the filler in place, though it will need more work with some finer filler I have.

Third pic is with the first coat of epoxy rust primer. I went with the Brunox as they tell me that's what the professionals like to use. Another coat in the morning then once cured a light sand a bit more filler here and there then some grey primer and being an impatient prick, I will probably hit it with some colour and clear coat.

[Tiger Tamer]

The first coats of grey primer is on. Now it needs the finer filler and a re-sand and another coat of primer. i did have thoughts of smoothing all the ugly build spot welds etc but it would require welding all the gaps up and I think that would be detrimental to the overlapping sheet metal. It will have some surface rust in those areas and the heat from welding it will accelerate it. It will look a lot nicer in fresh paint when done anyway.

Also I managed to get some Brembo front calipers from a peugeot 406 at a good price and a new set of disc's on trade me so this will give me much better stopping power. The original Hillman brakes were disc on the front but not ventilated so they worked quite well the first time you jumped on them but not so good when they were hot. The other option was to buy Willwoods for a Sunbeam Tiger which is a bolt on but ups the price a fair bit.

[Tiger Tamer]

Well after a Cyclone and 4 weeks with no mains power and then my wife getting ill I finally got back to getting the engine bay painted. It has come out in the main quite well but I will need to redo the flat areas I used filler to smooth and the top of the firewall, as I got a reaction like there was oil on the primer even though I had wiped it down with degreaser. The top flat areas I just didn't get smooth enough. I am sure going to have to get better at filler than I am now when I get to the body panels.

[Tiger Tamer]

It was a stunning day in the bay today. No cyclones, no earthquakes, the sun shone, and the air was still. Would have been a perfect day for a bike ride, fishing or a BBQ in the park OR degrease an engine and gearbox. Though I did involve a degree of a BBQ theme to the day. It worked a darn site better than the SCA degreaser by far. It looks like the engine has been all apart before as there is excess sealer in where engine parts are mated. It also looks like the gearbox has been as well. Not sure if that is good or bad but it will look good with a fresh coat of paint and one day we will find out. I will pull the plugs for a look first.

[Tiger Tamer]

After another couple of hours scrubbing the paint went on. Need to repaint the valve cover. It looked fresh but it isn't that well stuck to the aluminum.

 

[Tiger Tamer]

It would have been nice to keep the aircon pump and have some modern comfort to the car but it just wasn't going to fit, the engine bay is just to small and these engines are like a big block 4cyl.

Once I had the engine back in I was worried that the hyd fitting on the rack was going to be in the way but after a bit of fiddling around it will be fine. I looked to see what I could get to delete the air con pump but all the kits just put the alternator down there so I bought another idler pulley and made my own bracket upI dug around to see what I had and bolt that was near perfect and a sleeve that was a little large in the outer dia but I used the Makita technique to reduce it as I don't have a lathe. I lined up the pulley with straight edges and tack welded it in place then took it off and fully welded it and gave it a coat or two of paint. And that was a days activity.

As the size of the pulley is smaller than the one on the aircon pump the belt has no tension on it so I will have to lift up the top idler pulley to compensate.

[Tiger Tamer]

[Tiger Tamer]

Today I made up a small bracket to lift the top idler pulley up enough so the belt tensioner could get the belt tensioned.

I also finished welding up the engine mounts and hit them with some Hammerite paint to finish them off. It's nice to get a few things finished.

[Tiger Tamer]

Tiger Tamers 1964 Hillman Minx Project - Project Discussion - oldschool.co.nz

I was originally supplied with the wrong pressure release bearing which they have replaced so I bolted it all together. I didn't fit the clutch plate so I didn't have to fight the spline alignment until I know I have the set up right. It doesn't seem right to me and I think I have followed the instruction correctly. The position of the clutch fork with the slave cyl fitted has the release bearing about 5mm from contacting the pressure plate but leaves SFA space for the slave cyl push rod. 

I have included the instructions in case I am missing something obvious to someone else. Cheers

[Tiger Tamer]

[Tiger Tamer]

I was hoping I would be able to buy a plastic dummy spline for a Toyota from Repco but they only really had one of those stupid plastic red things that I already had, which is about as much use as you know what. So I made my own. The petrol heads god must have been in a good mood yesterday because I had everything I needed to make something, without having to do bugger all to it to make it the correct size. It worked as well as the gearbox slipped into place without a single expletive said.

I had to get a wire clip to hold the clutch fork to the bearing carrier and there were none in the country and getting one from Japan would take at least 6 weeks I was told. The local Toyota gave me a complete bearing and carrier for trade which was still a heavy price to pay for a clip but at least 50% of retail. lesson to oneself when buying parts get everything.

Also as to the previous post when I thought the clutch fork was too close to the slave cyl. The reason being I didn't have the clutch plate in. Once the pressure plate clamps down on the clutch plate the fingers move in and that gives the required room for the slave cyl push rod. Something you don't really notice until you need to.

If I had made alignment tool to start with I would have had the plate in place. Never mind at least I kept my sanity.

[Tiger Tamer]

I spent most of today making a bracket that bolts to the engine so I can lift the engine and gearbox up nice and level. All calculations were done using the rule of thumb and the eyechromitor.

I plan on getting the car up high enough to roll it under the car with the front X member removed and lifting it up into position. It's just a bit big to be able to drop it in from the top. So the next thing to do is find some axle stands that are tall enough to get the car to the height I need which is quite high. If I can't find anything I will have to make some or some other way of doing it.

[Tiger Tamer]

New interior turned up today. Very happy with it 

[Tiger Tamer]

I painted one door card with the paint and it looks like crap. I thought i would do it two tone, but have them close in colour so it is a subtle change in colour. I thought charcoal and black would look good but the charcoal is more gray and the black is gloss which looks like crap. These cans will go into the paint whatever that doesn't matter cabinet. I went into the local paint shop who mix up all sorts of paints and they can make up a huge selection of colours so I have bought some from them in a satin finish. He gave me some advice if you are painting fabric with it, which is to spray it on in a small area and use something like a tooth brush to quickly scrub it in then you don't end up with the stiff finish to the fabric. Carpets etc he was meaning. 

I managed to get the car up high enough to slide the engine and gearbox under so I can lift it up from below. I need to modify the bracket I made which bolts to the engine, as it is fouling on the firewall at full height. I will sort that out tomorrow. 

[Tiger Tamer]

It's back in for now. Hopefully it can stay in until I get all the cooling system sorted and the headers and exhaust, fuel and the wiring somehow . I have the ECU from the Accord and they gave me the fuse box as they said it is a lot easier to wire with it .

I have a lot of other things to do as well. I will drop the gas tank tomorrow and clean it and seal the inside with POR15 fuel tank sealer. Work out the fuel lines as I will need a return line and surge tank. I want to shorten the gear lever as it's a bit long and get the driveshaft sorted. I need to find some crush tube for the bolts that go through the chassis for the gearbox X member.

Anyway we need a couple of pics to finish of the day.

[Tiger Tamer]

I dropped the gas tank out today which was a bit of a mission as the bolts were well rusted to the nuts and two of the cages holding the nuts gave way. In fact part of the boot floor gave way. It must have had water sitting in the sunken areas the nuts are held and has rusted. Someone has slapped on some por15 by the looks to solve the problem but without any prep work done. 

Looks like I am going to have to do some rust work on them and completely rebuild one of them. I will see how the others clean up, fingers crossed.

The tank is in surprisingly good nic with only a bit of surface rust on the outside and a touch on the inside. Absolutely no crap came out when I drained it. I will still seal it since it is out and I have everything I need to do the job.

[Tiger Tamer]

[Tiger Tamer]

Sealed the tank, probably should have left it to drain a bit longer as I have a wee puddle of POR15 sealer there. I don't think it will matter as that stuff still cures like that anyway. I gave it a poke with a long screwdriver and it was solid.

I also started on fixing the rust in the boot floor where the fuel tank bolts in.

[Tiger Tamer]

Some more progress on the boot floor. The floor is not really that even al all. It will need some filler after a bit more grinding but is quite close now. I gave it a coat of epoxy etch primer to protect it and will help find the high spots later. 

 

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