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Decided to cut out anything with a crack, deep rust or previous repairs, took a while because it was mostly solid. Ended up with this.  Other problem I noticed is the trailing arm holes have elongated by approx 15mm.  I will have to turn up some top hat washers and weld them in. |
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Jan 12, 2019 17:21:19 GMT
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As it is fairly warm outside I decided to do a couple of jobs on the streetka, firstly fit the washer bottle, cowl off first.  Then removed the wiper mechanism and bottle.  And put it all back together with the new bottle, only problem is the lh cowl cover is broken.  So using some old windscreen pu glue and strips of alloy I patched it back together.  Initially this was intended to be temporary but if it works it will probably stay. I also fitted a longer exhasut rubber so the tailpipe isn't hitting ths bumper, didnt fix the clonk though driving it with my wife later she was convinced it was comong through tge floor under her seat which makes me wonder about twist beam bushes. |
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Jan 13, 2019 19:58:59 GMT
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Fitted the scuttle back to the Ka, can't tell its been repaired so I will call that fixed. Had a look at the twistbeam bushes, I think it might be these that are knocking, there seems to be loads of play in them but ive no idea what they should be like, I'll order some bushes and dig out some scrap to make a puller from.
Went over the Range rover prior to MOT on wednesday, just a couple of things, the wiring I had put in for the aircon needed tidying up and only one side of the upper tailgate latched. This seemed to be the fault of the pattern latches which came with the alloy tailgate, the claw is the wrong shape and the striker just falls out even in the latched position. Fortunatelly I had kept the original so I cleaned these up and fitted them, still needs a bit of a slam because it sits a bit low (is as far as it will go up so something else to look at later)but it does shut now.
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Jan 16, 2019 15:14:02 GMT
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Range rover passed MOT, one advisory of weep from PAS system I think its the Pump which has been weeping for years but not enough to notice any drop in fluid level, I've had the new seals on the shelf for a couple of years, may have ago at it this summer.
emissions were good on LPG to 1.14 CO and 195 ppm HC which is pretty much bang on where they recommend you set up the BLOS (I did it by setting to the weak end while maintaining the highest idle speed).
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Last Edit: Jan 16, 2019 15:22:36 GMT by kevins
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Jan 20, 2019 21:57:42 GMT
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Spent yesterday playing on the lathe round my dads, firstly made a mechanical door bell push out of scrap, then started on the cars. For the minor I made up a new fuel pick up.  Still need to solder the copper tubes in and trim it to length when I fit it, it will be fitted through a hole drilled in the sender unit. Also turned up these.  A pair of washers stepped on one side and tapered down to 2mm on the other, they are to weld in to repair the damaged holes where the rear trailing arms mount on the TR. Didnt do anything on the cars today, spent some time tidying the workshop instead. |
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Last Edit: Jan 20, 2019 22:06:16 GMT by kevins
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Got a couple of hours to fiddle with cars yesterday, so decided to fit the fuel pick up to the minor so I am happy driving it again. Pulled the gauge sender out, drilled a M12 hole in it and trimmed it to length, fitted an old TR7 pick up filter an voila.  Popped it in drilled a hole in the boot floor for the fuel line, connected it up Blanked the original off and took it for a test drive, no problems so appart from turning up a more permanant blanking plug for the old pick up its all done. |
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Feb 10, 2019 19:15:17 GMT
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Started to weld the TR back together . Over the past couple of weeks I have tidied up the damaged area, welded up a couple of nicks I had made in the parts which are staying and painted all the areas which will be inaccessible.  Then I made the main repair section, decuded to do away with the seam at the bottom which is where the cracks started.  Then I welded it in  That was it for today, next up will be the top part then some reinforcing plates. |
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Feb 16, 2019 19:03:35 GMT
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Saga of the TR goes on. Today I hoped to finish the welding and get it painted leaving me only the topcoats and reassembling to do. So I jacked it up supported it under the sills and removed the lower, I had feared this might be rusty but it was actually pretty good. Then it started to go wrong, pulled the spring off to find this.  Then started cleaning up the arm attachment on the axle to find this.   |
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Feb 16, 2019 19:22:29 GMT
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I decided to ignore all that for now and focus on the original intent. Welded the upper part in the bulkead to finish the interior.  Then on the outside I used a die grinder to open the slots (should be round holes) out to a larger diameter than the sleeve on the bush.   I had previously made these stepped washers to weld over the damaged area.  Welded these in along with seam welding the bracket to the bulkead.  And finaly welded a reinforcing plate on the bottom to further strengthen the joint. It was all the given a coat of etch primer.  Back to the new issues Robsport do similar springs so they are on their way, and the axle won't be too difficult to repair, hopefully I can then put it all back together. |
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Feb 23, 2019 21:33:02 GMT
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Progress on the cars has been slow as I am currently laying a Patio, did get some time this afternoon though. Fitted a new radio to the lotus, its a £12 chinese blutooth deckless job but works suprisingly well and is of the older style.  On the TR £48 got me new pair of springs, 200lb rate and 1/2 incj lower (any lower than this and it just crashes into the bumpstops.).  I have also repaired the axle and bump stop bracket this thickness of metal is nearing the limit of my welders capability so I ground a taper on the edges to help. Hopefully now all that is left is painting and reassembling.   |
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Feb 25, 2019 22:24:54 GMT
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Spent half an hour painting the repairs on the TR yesterday, also tidied up a couple of areas of loose underseal, which revealed this  Fortunately it was very localised  And all cleaned up to this.  Only problem is part of it goes into the boot and the boot is full of all the carpet and trim. So I will push on and finish the interior before welding this. So the previod repairs were given a coat of epoxy, topcoats to follow.  |
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Started on the elan today, firstly one headlamp had stopped working, turned out to be an easy fix, the connector on the bulb it looks like an ogiginal bakerlite one, drilled the original rivet out, cleaned and closed up the connectors, then put it back together using a nut and bolt. Next up was trying to get some warmth out of the heater, drained the coolant out, flushed the heater backwards which pushed some muck out and put it back together, now it seems to be working. Finally I fitted a cheap catch can to the breather outlet on the cam cover which has always been blanked off, plan is to see if it reduces some of the oil leaks.  On the TR I painted the inside and stone chipped the outside of the repaired area then fitted the rear suspension.   On the other side I took the arm off, fortunatelly none of the rust problems, so just a case of cleaning up and putting back together.  Only problem is the springs seem like they can fall out on rebound, I`ll wait till its all back together and decide what to do. |
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Got an hour or so on the TR last night so I decided to finish the welding. Firstly welded a new flange on.  Then after the paint had dried fitted the missing part of the inner arch.  To do this I had to clear the boot out, a new problem is mice have been nesting in there, cleaned that up and fortunately the only damage is a bit of chewed felt. The other thing I did was take the rh axle reinfocing bracket out of the electroysis tank, when it went in it was covered in thick scaly rust. The results looked like they could be promising  Took the part out, a quick going over with a wire brush and this is the result.  This has got to be one of the easiest rust removal processes I have found so far. |
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On the TR spent most of the week watching paint dry, just the stone chip in wheelarches left then it can go back together. On the Lotus the new temp sensor arrived, genuine lotus part for £8.  On the Range Rover I decided to do a job which has been bugging me for ages, some gorilla had torn a big lump out of the bottom and broken most of the fixings hence it rattled all the time. Virtually all of the damage was on the lh half, so i started by forming a piece of steel to bridge the hole and fixing it with temporary screws ad epoxy.   Once this had dried the screws were removed and filler used to build up the damaged are, this was then sanded and polished to give this.  I did think about painting it but have decided to leave it as it is, you can't see it unless you look under the column. The tab inside is the fixing to the column which was broken off. Next up was the end broken out of the lateral screw holes  After a lot oflooking around I found this in the bosses handbag  Glued in place with supeglue, there is also a washer in the base.  |
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Last Edit: Mar 9, 2019 22:50:48 GMT by kevins
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Mar 18, 2019 22:00:52 GMT
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Tr rear suspension is allback together, ride height looks about right at about 1/2" higher than the front.  Also fixed the handbrake light by replacing loose rivet/contact with a brass m4 bolt, couldnt do any more as I had forgotten to bond the floor bung in and this would need to dry before the carpets go in. New temp sensor was an easy fit to the Lotus and now works fine. Column shroud is ready to go back on range rover, hopefully tomorrow. Also pulled together enough scrap parts to make a rear beam bush puller for the ka (piece of tube, a drive flange off of something, a alternator pulley some studing and a stud joiner), need to do thid soon as the knocking is getting worse. Finally on sunday we went to nsra swapmeet at North weald, main thing I bought was a in line servo to fit to the front brakes on the minor. |
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Last Edit: Apr 2, 2019 9:28:59 GMT by kevins
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I have also bought a spare wheel for the minor, on taking the tyre off I found it to be extremely rusty inside, after 24 hours in the electrolysis tank I had this  Last night I took it out and scrapped the remains of the rust off, it looks suprisingly recoverable, It may need a tube due to some of the pitting but will be fine for a spare. |
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Apr 13, 2019 21:38:59 GMT
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Been on holiday for a week to Mellorca, nice place, driving ruined by vast tribes of cyclists many of whom seem to have no knowledge of the rules of the road let alone any common sense, a few old cars, saw a tidy austin 1100, several renault 4's but not much else, got ripped off by the car hire company, 30 euro to deep clean it because there were sandy footprints in the footwells! Back to the hobbies today, before I went I stone chipped the LH sill.  After this I flatted beck a few rough areas gave the sill and lower 2 or 3 inches of the door and wings a coat of epoxy. This morning I flatted it all down with 600 grit and cleaned up the whole area with panel wipe. After that it got 5 coats of cellulose top coat up to the sloping festure line.  Not perfect but tidy enough and in keeping with the rest of the car!. Afterwards I turned it around ready for the next phase. Things to do are: Replace front discs/pads. Fix divers outer door handle, pivot seems to have worn through. Replace brake fluid. The above need to be done before the MOT runs out on may 10th. After this Replace leaking valley gasket. Fit blos lpg mixer. Fit mixer by pass. There ate also some paint issues mainly on the bonnet but they will have to wait. |
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Last Edit: Apr 13, 2019 21:40:20 GMT by kevins
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Apr 22, 2019 21:14:52 GMT
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Started the TR up and turned it around, started first pull on lpg after sitting 4 months and a complete re-wire!
Started on the front, plan was to change both front discs /pads and the brake fluid, found a couple of other issues though, one steering rack gaiter split and one bottom balljoint gaiter in shreds, nothing to serious and I have the parts but it has slowed progress over the weekend. Current state of play is everything is appart except the ball joint, I have several splitters but I think only the fork type will work here and I can't find mine, I'll borrow one tomorrow.
On the ka I have been looking at the rust in the bottom of the door, it all cleaned up nicely, treated it with converter and then etch primer. Took a close look at the other side and it is begining to go the same way seems pinninfarina welded a T shapped section to the door which I think is meant to lock the door to the sill in a side impact, this prevents the clinch seam being sealed properly and hence the corrosion, hopefully I can keep it at bay for the time being with this and subsequent wax treatments.
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Apr 26, 2019 21:18:59 GMT
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Tr all back together.   Also found some holes in the downpipe  I've welded them up but I'm going to have to think about a new ones soon as they are getting pretty crusty. Bled the brakes and all seems fine from driving 20 feet up and down the drive, on the 1st I'll tax it and then hopefully get it MOT'D before it runs out on the 10th. With this in mind I went through all the re-fitted electrical system only a few minor issues, lh side lights were dodgy fuse, fog lights the switch (currently soaking in vinegar) and I still need to find out why the indicator stalk fouls the shroud. |
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