Heater & Underlay

Hi

Didn't think I would get much done today with it being a Sunday, but my parents are on holiday and Lynne has taken to her bed with flu symptoms so back to work.

First job was to drag the heater unit out of storage and try to figure out how to re-fit it, first problem was to find all of the bits and after searching for half an hour I found the lost piece was still attached to the car, such fun.

You can see in the photo the cowl fitted to the top of the heater, I could not fit this originally as I had re-built the fan unit the wrong way around when I refurbished it and the wires were facing the wrong way for the cowl cutout. I stripped it down and re-positioned it in the correct position, I also took the opportunity to test it again and it worked great. I then screwed  the cowl into position, there was a bit of a gap around the edges so I siliconed these up. 

The bottom of the housing sits on the tunnel and positioned by a bracket.

This was originally riveted on so I tapped the holes to 6mm and bolted it in position.

The 2 brackets you can see on the fan housing clip over 2 studs on a chassis crossmember, the cowl fits through the cutout in the scuttle and the plastic cover is siliconed over the protruding cowl section.

You can see the fan in position when I test fit it, once I fit the carpet I can then get it bolted on tight.

I had another search on the internet this morning for the veneer softener recipe, the one I found uses

2 parts wood glue

3 parts water

1 part glycerine

1 part denatured alcohol

I was a bit unsure where I could find the alcohol and found the answer on the internet and in the bathroom cabinet, one of its uses is as nail varnish remover.

I marked of a small spray bottle into segments and measured out each ingredient and gave it a test.

I used a bit of the scarp red maple, this is quite stiff being a burl and doesn't want to bend too easily.

This was the max I could get it to go, I gave it a good spray both sides and after a few hours I gave it another test.

I shall give it another test in the morning and I may be lucky.

The main job I wanted to get started on today was the underlay, I bought a roll of jute around 2m square quite a while ago and it has just been sitting in the loft.

This was the material that I removed from the car and the decision to reuse this basically came down to price, there are a lot more modern underlays / soundproofers on the market but it would have run into a couple of hundred to do the whole car whereas the jute was around £70 for the roll. It does have the problem of smelling a bit when wet, so I hopefully won't get it wet.

I started with the centre section, I measured up and marked it out on the roll.

Unfortunately the width was a few inches short but no problem I can fit a little piece in place.

I made the cuts for all of the sticky out bits and test fit.

I also fit a couple of screws to locate the centre console attachment holes.

Next came a couple of side sections, I shall be doing the sides in 3 parts to save on waste and the first section where cut and glued into position along with the centre section.

Well not much done today but more than I thought, I have a service in the Merc tomorrow so will get started again when I return.

see Ya Paul

Dash and Electrics

Hi

Home again, actually got home last Thursday evening after my first trip working on the wind farms and boy are those babies big, anyway I had a few days working on the car then off on holiday. Had a nice time in the Lake district at Bowness on Lake Windermere and stopped at a lovely country hotel called Fayrer Garden House Hotel, bit of a mouthful but very nice and great food.

Shame it rained most days but that was made up for when Lynne got bit by a goose while feeding them, she didn't half scream and I'm still laughing now. Lovely bruise.

I have spent my time working on the electrics, I finished the wiring to the box that I was working on before I went away. I have logged each wire where it goes and what it does in the log book for future reference and have colour coded each wire with shrink wrap to make identification easy.

May look a bit of a mess but its quite well worked out, the headlights for both looms are the top wires, the middle wires are for the side indicators and the bottom set of wires are for the sidelights and front indicators. The looms are tucked away out of sight and tie wrapped so the only part you see are the wires leading into the box. 

All of the side lights work.

The dipped headlights and the main beams all work as they should.

But I still have a problem with the indicators, the drivers side works well but not the pass side so I still have a bit of figuring out to do there. I have solved one problem and that was the issue of the fuse blowing every time I tried the passenger side indicators, this problem went away when I wired up the rear lighting. The rear lighting was relatively simple and I just used bullet connectors for this. the wiring diagram came in very handy and I had them all wired up in a couple of hours. The rear drivers indicator works well but the same problem occurs with the passenger side rear indicator, hopefully my electrician will be able to figure something out. 

One of the things I have tried was fitting the dash and plugging in the main wiring loom.

My thought was that maybe the circuit would not be complete without the dash flasher repeater being in the circuit but no joy there either, in fact it created more work as after a couple of flashes the new indicator repeater packed in. It was quite expensive at around £10 but after a test with my power tester then the meter on it I pronounced it dead, the led must have blown. 

I had spent quite enough on the new warning light display so I thought no more, out with the old indicator block and see what I could do with it. I decided to use the whole of the front section of the display as originaly most of it is hidden behind the dash and you only see the warning lights, so first job was to separate the bracket section.

I sanded everything smooth and rounded the corners before giving it a couple of coats of satin black.

I removed the new/old display, marked of the hole and cut out the oblong section.

Test run before spraying.

A bit of auto tape on the back and it looked like the original.

I noticed a small problem when I had the dash plugged in and that was that I had wired up the new volt meter gauge to the clock power supply, not the best idea as the clock has permanent power so that had to change.

I wired up the voltmeter, all of the warning lights and worked out the wiring for the new underside light so it can work from the new door switches. After tiding up all of the wiring it looked quite neat.

So hopefully; the dash is truly finished, apart from the radio.

I also had a bit of a problem with one of the pistons on the drivers side caliper, I had overhauled these over a year ago and one of them has started to leak. I had noticed this before I went on holiday so I ordered a new set of seals and stripped it down. There are 2 pistons per caliper and only one was leaking, I have noticed some very fine scratches on the piston and they were in a pretty bad state when I removed them so hopefully this second set of new seals will do the job, if not then its a new piston, if I can find one separate from a set of four.

Another job was the wheel caps. 

Mine where in a very bad condition, I probably could have restored them but I decided on a new set, not quite as simple as just buying a new set as they are not made anymore. 

Fortunately Bruno sells a set of caps and Val at the club sells a set of stick on logos.

As you can see, mine are a little worse for wear. 

Now that you have the new caps your troubles are still not over as the rear set requires a little modification, not a lot, just a little sanding.

The front set fits nicely into the hole although they are a little slack and could be easily removed or lost while driving so I removed the wheels and hot glued them in from behind.

The rear wheel have drum brakes and so have less room to fit the caps in place.

When fitted like this they do not sit fully in place.

But a sheet of sandpaper and 5 minutes work will take of the required amount.

These will still need a little glueing from behind but the fit is a lot better.

The caps also have a dip in the middle which does not allow the logos to fully stick apart from around the edges, a bit of hot glue in the middle solved this.

Another job I have finished is the gear stick surround, this is the section that the rubber gaiter is fitted to, I had damaged the original on removal so I made a new one in stainless.

I have siliconed the underside to prevent any water getting through and onto the carpet.

While away I ordered some sample sets of edge trimming seal for the door windscreen interface, I got samples from 3 different companies and compared them all.

Quite a few to choose from, an the nearest match was from a company called Monkeydub car parts on ebay, I bought a metre of their Medium 2 car door rubber .

Another purchase was some more veneer for the door caps, unfortunately now it has arrived I realise I didn't order enough so will have to get some more. I stuck with the Maple wood but could not find any red burl maple of sufficient length so I have gone for Birds Eye maple, it is much lighter than the red but once the lacquer is on the color will darken out and the birds eyes will come through nicely.

The main problem I have is getting it to bend around the tight curves of the cappings, I have searched the web and come up with a recipe for homemade veneer softener. This is a mixture of Glycerine, water, PVA glue and denatured alcohol, still haven't figured out what this is, I read in one place it is surgical spirit in another it was methylated spirits??? anyone know.

Whatever I shall try both, I have already bought the glycerine.

Now for the good news and what I have been waiting for to progress the final stage.

My interior has arrived and it looks fantastic.

I bought it all through Ray at R.S Sewing Solutions  and boy is he good, I was a little unsure of the door card design so Ray gave me a hand and I give him my thanks as its better than I could have come up with.

Both the Black Panther and the wing logo have been embroidered into the vinyl, he has also fitted all of the buttons in the back so I just need to push on the door and job done.

The wool carpet is matching with cream piping.

This is only part of it, he also throws in a free gear stick cover and the handbrake cover is sewn into the carpet.

The sunvisors have matching vinyl.

Unfortunately the chrome section of the sunvisors are not in the best of condition so I may be looking at new one's.

The mohair looks fantastic, I haven't opened the hood yet but the spare wheel cover is great, I had the wing logo embroidered in this as well.

I have gone for the black hood with beige interior and with any luck I may get it fitted this time home as I have around 2 1/2 weeks left but no rush, the main job is cutting and fitting the underlay and carpet for the centre section then I can fit the heater, dash and center console. So to progress the job I have removed the bonnet and scuttle for access, maybe get a bit more done tomorrow.

See ya Paul

Electrics

Hi

I have managed to get some more hours in but when your wife takes time of work before you go away its better for your health to spend some time with her. Few nice days out and back off again tomorrow.

HMS Trincomalee at Hartlepool marina

The jobs have been small ones as most of the big work is done and I am basically waiting for the interior trim which Ray of RS Sewing solutions has helped me design and is currently ordering the carpet and mohair, the door cards have been sent to the embroiderer and hopefully everything should be ready for my return.

A few of the jobs have been small, like fitting the windscreen water washers.

And the air inlet.

The air inlet cleaned up nice but unfortunately I had mislaid a couple of the clips and anyway they were a bit of a nightmare to remove so getting to fit when the bonnet is on would be a lot worse. You can get plastic plugs, these are like a rawlplug that you fit into the holes from the top and then just push the intake pins into. But I didn't have any so I stuck it in place.

Its a three piece intake, the air funnel, gauze and chrome work, I cleaned and polished before hot glued the funnel and gauze to the underside of the chrome work then with foam double sided tape I stuck it to the bonnet, then screwed the underside plate in position.

Still needs a few more screws but in my box of 200 none fit, need a better box.

I was lucky on Friday to have my friend Ben turn up and he got recruited into door fitting, I can only fit the passenger side door otherwise I would never be able to get in to do any work without removing from the garage, O for a double garage.

Not the easiest of jobs and it took a lot of fiddling to get it mostly correct, the bottom does not come out fully no matter what I did and you can see the red paint line from the sill. I will remove the door next time home and elongate the hinge holes on the body to give the extra few mil I require, till then its out of Lynne's way. 

One other thing happened when fitting and that was the door opener arm broke, when I fitted it I thought it was a touch too long and there was no more movement on the door mech so I had to bend it a touch, a touch too much it seems.

You can see the extra length, a spot of weld will fix.

The main job this week has been the electrics and there is a bit of a problem which my electrician thinks is a short in the indicator system as they only work when the hazard is pressed down and the drivers side works ok but the fuse keeps blowing when I change over to the passenger side. This may disappear when fully connected but will have to wait until I return home and he assures me it will be no problem tracing it so until then I have been busy wiring everything up to the wiring diagram.

One thing I have found out is that no matter what else you do during a restoration; is to keep the battery disconnected when you have exposed connections. My first job on the car was to remove the battery then as soon as the engine was in I replaced it not thinking about the multitude of wires touching each other and random parts of the car. Anyway I have replaced all of the blown fuses and any exposed wires either got taped or covered with the female connector end.

I had wired up the drivers side using the new waterproof connections I had bought and I didn't like the way they fit, too bulky and far too fiddly, so I ripped them out. I next fit with Lucas bullet connectors as per the original fit and didn't like these,again to bulky and as I did not have the correct crimping tool I had to solder each end on which burnt the wires, so I ripped them out. I next used crimp bullet connectors and didn't like them, so I ripped them out.

I have spent a small fortune on connections and they all look a mess, they may be hidden under the car and no one will see them but I will know that a crap job had been done so I have reverted to what I know how to do and that is engine room method. I have worked in the engine room on ships for the last 36 years and all electrical cables are kept in sealed waterproof cabinets, they are all colour coded and numbered, and all are securely connected to connector blocks using either crimp pins or something of that nature. So that is what I have done.

I have bought a secure waterproof electrical box, cable glands, crimp pins and connector blocks, for the wiring I have bought twin core cable for everything but the headlights and 3 core 15amp for the headlights. Each light has its own cable colour code and written down what it is and does and all run under the car as a bundle to the box.

You can make out the cables in black running along the wing support and from the headlight, much neater and waterproof then brought inside the engine bay.

I have unclipped the loom from the front of the car and brought it back to the fuse box.

The electrical box has been drilled for the cable glands which unfortunately I never bought enough of and will have to get more on Monday.

I thought there would be enough room under the bonnet for two boxes but I was wrong, I wanted a box either side but will have to settle for both wiring looms in one box. I shall fit more glands when I return home.

Before fitting the connector block and wiring in the box I fit and tested each light in turn, I made up a written plan of what colour should fit what part of the loom and believe it or not it worked, I have only one issue and that is the negative wire from the driving light which is proving a bit of a problem, still works on full beam but has a small return current when the dipps go on.

Anyway surprisingly everything worked great so I boxed up all of the wiring.

I have fitted the box next to the fuse box.

The wiring for the passenger side has all been run to the box and the loom has been freed up and this fits neatly, so as soon as I get hold of some more glands I shall drill out the box and fit this wiring. I shall also do something similar to the back of the car so as all of the wiring is located in one box.

Full beam with indicators and side lights working.

Side Light and indicator.

I am much happier with the wiring as it is now and I have wasted a few days work messing about with the other connections. 

Not long left before going away for 5 weeks so hopefully I will get a bit more done, if not see you in around 6 weeks time.

See ya Paul

Headlights

Hi

Not had much time to get things done as Lynne has taken another week from her leave as I will be going away for a while, but of course I still managed to get some time in.

So I thought a little update.

Its been mostly little jobs I have managed to do, the first was the grill.

This was damaged in a number of places and I had already fixed a few but the main ones where on the securing arms, these had partial cracks in the joins and no doubt would not have lasted long.

So I had a piece of thin stainless to make up new brackets.

I made up one for each side and trimmed up the edges before securing in place with double sided tape, very secure now.

Before the finish fit of the grill and the Panther badge I machine polished all around the front of the car and waxed everything.

I was also a bit doubtful of the colour coding of the overriders, they just didn't look right, so out with a tin of satin black. I gave them 3 coats of paint and 3 coats of lacquer before getting out the polishing machine and the wax.

I have also received the mirror screw covers, I was going to buy the screw-on caps then found a type that are just the caps minus the screws that can fit on any screw so I bought a pack of 20 of these and hopefully the chrome finish will not rub off when washed.

I have spent most of today trying to sort out the electrics, the 2 pin waterproof connectors arrived and they are very good but a little too fiddly for me. So I went to the local car electric shop and bought a load of nipple type connectors much the same as the Lucas type fitted to the car, just put the wire ends in and crimp, much easier. I shall use the 2 pin type when I am not sitting under a car.
I have managed to get the headlights and the driving lights wired up, Firstly I carried on with the machine polish and waxed before fully fitting the headlights.

I have wired up the dipped lights as normal and the main beams have been wired up with the driving lights.

I have had a go at getting the indicators and the sidelights working but no joy at the moment so I have had a word with the electrician at the paint shop and he is coming around tomorrow after work to sort them, no doubt its an earthing issue but he said no problem.

So not much done, I have lots of little jobs I can be getting on with when I am allowed to play so shall get on with them.

see ya Paul