spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Feb 23, 2009 11:55:26 GMT
Yesterday, Sian and I set off to collect my brand new, 1969, Triumph (not a DAF) 1300 FWD. About 13 hours later we arrived home with this: She's called Sheila cos I never knew a car like little Sheila... Man that little car is fine ;D On the way back, all we suffered was: Complete failure of wipers, all dash gauges and indicators in the first 100 yds or so - no fun for Sian who was following me and relying on me for directions Simple fusebox connection problem sorted at the first services. Brakes are interesting - they do stop the car, but there's obviously air in there and about 1/2 inch sideways play on the pedal pad. That'll be new bushes then. Gearbox is a little baulky but that really doesn't matter cos you get into top gear by about 20mph then just stay in it until you stop again - these things really pull from low revs! Clutch pedal decided it was going to detatch itself from the master cylinder, so the pedal started coming up to the dashboard - d**n inconvenient to get your foot on in the dark (but see the "stay in top" comment above ;D ) Oh, and she seems to have managed between 35 and 40mpg - not as good as a Daf but not as bad as expected (Motor quoted 28mpg touring in 1966) So, the work begins.......
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Feb 23, 2009 18:02:42 GMT
Sorry about photo - my typing mistake I've traced the slack in the steering today* - bottom joint betwen the column and the rack. The nice part - having taken about 45 minutes of cursing to "Undo the 3 pinch bolts and remove the joint" (Haynes manual instructions...) - is that the joint itself is fully strip-and-repairable. Not a rivet, weld, or pressed part in sight. I like cars made like that * I may have forgotten to mention that bit. Very light steering around the straight-ahead with a slight but noticeable sort of "going over-centre" effect as you move from turning one way to the other. Not enough to be uncontrollable, but enough to keep you alert....
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Post by veeruk on Feb 24, 2009 8:38:37 GMT
Huh? The Haynes book is not true? My whole religion is based on them. LOL, just kidding. Another nice little project for you there Joe. It looks good. The front end looks a bit like the Simca my brother used to have in the 70's. Good thing is about these cars that most parts can be taken to bits and reconditioned. I would expect that you can find parts for these easier than the DAF's.
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stefan
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Post by stefan on Feb 24, 2009 16:27:25 GMT
looks a solid enough car i have never had one of these but have had heralds, spitfires and dolomites.
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Feb 24, 2009 23:26:34 GMT
She does seem solid, although I haven't had a chance to really dig underneath yet - the ride height is way too low because previous owner decided to chop the back springs. On the plus side of that, he decided later it wasn't such a good idea and bought a full set of 4 new roadsprings, plus new rear shocks which were included in the sale. I just need to fit them! The filler on the wing isn't as bad as it looks. There's quite a nasty dent there, plus a couple on the roof and one by the wing mirror, because the owner before last only discovered it was still in side an old concrete garage after he started demolishing it!!! That's led to a few dents and some nasty paint scratches, but it's basically cosmetic stuff at the moment
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Bob Scrivens
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Post by Bob Scrivens on Mar 1, 2009 23:23:02 GMT
Hi Joe, did Sian go down in the Daf, if so it done well, or was it the Colt? Looks pretty good for the age. now to find out the truth?
Bob.
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Mar 1, 2009 23:56:20 GMT
Took the Colt down I'm afraid. I'm a little reluctant to take the daf that sort of distance until we've got a spare set of belts in the boot - pretty sure the AA man won't have any on-board Plus, Sheila was being bought unseen and there was a slight risk of needing a tow - would rather do that with a 1500 diesel than a 750 daf ;D Been busy over the weekend getting to grips with the niggles and spotting the bigger jobs. So far I've managed to tick off: Re-bushing the brake pedal - it was about an inch from the floor because of this:
re-bushing the gear lever. It had about 3 inches sideways play (in gear) because the old nylon bushes were completely missing. These should last:
making up bars for the back seat to clip in with - the originals were welded but I chickened out of re-welding with that 40-year-old hessian underneath!
adjusting the clutch - it wasn't biting till about 2 1/2 inches off the floor
temp bodge of a leak from the exhaust manifold till I can get a gasket set (same as the Herald so easy to get )
Make a battery clamp cos I didn't like the way it was wedged in with a bottle of water!
Fitted a radio
and, finally, started slowly cutting the paint back to see what I've got to work with.On the jobs-to-do list is: 2x rubber donuts for the drive shafts
Fit the replacement springs and shocks he supplied
patch and paint the hole in the bonnet
patch and paint the hole in the boot lid
strip valve gear to find out why it's tappety even with the tappets set right
rewire head- and side-lights. They're working but the wiring overheated a while back and he just fitted a fuse (originally they were unfused!!) instead of tracing the fault.
Find a spare roadwheel - rim's dented on the spare and it won't hold a tyre.
Find a replacement for the hubcap he lost on the M4 2 days before I collected it.
treat surface rust and paint as needed.Not a bad list for a £350 car with MOT and free tax ;D
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Mar 9, 2009 16:26:19 GMT
Finally had a chance to start playing bodywork over the weekend. It's a long time since I did anything with proper metal so decided to start with the bootlid - easy to take off and not too important if it all went horribly wrong. Incidentally, may have found the cause of Adam's headlight fire while I was at it. Someone had run the numberplate light wires between the two parts of the hinge and, no surprise, they'd chafed through :roll: Anyway, what I was faced with was this: along with quite a few gouges to metal in the paint generally. I'd already made up a patch to rough shape (had to guess the curves a little) so it was time to see if I could still stick metal with a stick welder - don't hold with these newfangled MIGs :lol: The answer is - yes, you can. Unfortunately my camera battery decided to pack up about now & I didn't have time to wait for it to charge, so I cracked on without any picks to prove that seam welding works as well . It's not spraying weather at the moment around here, so I've had to stop at primer and put everything back together:
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Onne
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Post by Onne on Mar 9, 2009 18:21:45 GMT
Well done, good job that
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Mar 9, 2009 20:09:54 GMT
Thanks The real test will be when the topcoat goes on - why do things look straight & true in primer then more wavy than a wavy thing when you get a shine on them??? ;D
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Onne
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Post by Onne on Mar 9, 2009 20:28:41 GMT
I know, the dreaded mirror effect... but it must be satisfying to make nice progress.
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Mar 9, 2009 22:17:50 GMT
It is but it's also frustrating being so dependent on the weather - I have to do everything outside and that means frequent shower-stops and occasional avoiding-hypothermia-stops at the moment!
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Mar 17, 2009 18:42:41 GMT
Thanks John - still not finished the lid but got distracted by the rear springs this evening which I figured was more important. Plus, leaving the lid for a few days gives a chance for any active rust to show itself before the topcoat goes on Ride height is now correct: She will be getting the front springs done as well, but lifting the back end has improved both so they can wait till I've got the front in bits to do the drive donuts. When it's in bits anyway it's a 10 minute job to swap the springs on the struts edited to add: People who have "good ideas" like this shouldn't be allowed near a toolbox ;D :
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Mar 18, 2009 19:57:52 GMT
Went back to the boot today. No closeups till I can cut the peel and a couple of runs back - that's what you get with a cheap HVLP kit - but it's celly so no worries once it hardens. Had a scary moment as I started cos that Valencia goes on as obviously green until the second coat gives it some body. Thought it was going to be a colour change to emerald :shock: This was before the final coat: And this is after the final coat, which it all went horribly wrong on: Like I said, nothing that can't be sorted with a little elbow work
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Mar 19, 2009 19:30:38 GMT
Had a look at Sheila's lights wiring this evening. Well, started to cut the paint back but found it was still too soft so then had a look at the lights wiring. The previous owner had suffered a small problem of smoke coming from the dashboard one day so "rewired" the lights to put it right. They're not fused on these Triumphs so he ran a new, fused, feed from the control box. So far so good - except he used 5 amp wire with a 15 amp fuse. 5 amps are not enough to run lights on. This was the result (although no actual short yet): To make matters worse, he'd actually left all the original wiring "reverse connected" back from the rear lights - including the faulty bit to the number plate lights that had caused the initial short! Yes, this is the same trainee mechanic who cut those springs All done now, and no sign of smoke. Also no front left sidelight - the holder's broken out the back of the unit and the bulb must be back on the road somewhere. But that's a job for another day
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Mar 21, 2009 18:38:27 GMT
Last of the forcast pleasant weather today, so made the most of it by avoiding my pending Law assignment with a little more car time. The boot is slowly getting there - still work needed but doesn't stand out like a sore thumb any more: For reference, this is how it was when I got it: Also, the essentials of some moosic to drive to with a totally period (honest!) r/c player: Finally, that front sidelight. This is what I was faced with, having drilled out the dead bolts holding it in: And, in the absence of an (apparently rare) replacement, this is the solution. A quick bit of tin bending and a little solder. I just love fixing rather than replacing stuff :
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Mar 25, 2009 0:08:53 GMT
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Post by howard on Mar 25, 2009 0:33:19 GMT
Nice to see Sheila - I still have many a NEW piece for Triumph 1300's (although no body panels or anything interesting like that) but I do have clutch slave cylinders. brake cables, throttle cables, wheel cylinders, and I think I have plenty of Lucas rear light lenses (and front indicator lenses) - and surely some other bits and bobs. Don't recall selling them on anyway! Let me know if you need anything - the worse I can say is "no".
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Apr 10, 2009 18:57:14 GMT
Will definately keep that in mind, Howard. Most of what's needed at the moment is, unfortunately, body related but MOT time is coming so never know what might come up Used the nice weather this afternoon to get a little more done towards her MOT - the hole in the bonnet is no longer a sharp edge. Had to work quite fast cos she's kept on road and I couldn't really leave her bonnet-less overnight, but had to get as far as some topcoat to seal the primer against Anglesey weather. Took about 3 1/2 hours start to finish. She really was looking a little sorry for herself: The corner cut out easily enough: and was a good fit to my patch: Luckily, the old paint is pretty dull so I didn't feel too bad chasing the rust-worms across it. Not like I was taking off anything shiny. All exposed metal has been treated with POR Metal Ready - not sure how good it is, but it did seem to leave a "zinc-like" surface :lol: : Then it was time to prove that you can arc weld bodywork no matter what the MIG salesmen say : A quick grind down, skim fill and prime: Finally, a couple of coats of topcoat to keep the rain out and refit till I have time to finish it properly. This is an honest pic of the result so far: And this is a slightly more flattering one by getting the light behind her....
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Apr 11, 2009 17:12:29 GMT
And there's more! Got down & dirty with a couple of donuts and some front springs today. The donuts really were past their eat-by date, especially the left one: The last owner had fitted these last year but they seemed to suffer fom a mix of oil, misalignment because of the ride height, and a mystery vibration. They're held by 6 bolts - 3 short and 3 longer. If you put the 3 long together followed by the 3 short it's out of balance. Right bolts in right holes now and the mystery vibration isn't a mystery any more ;D Was a little worried about curing the ride height when I got the first spring off and found it was still the same length as the new one. But all was explained when I did the other one. Someone had set it up for a right-hand circuit: Anyway, she's now starting to look like something that belongs on the road. Even her number plate's back where it should be 8)
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Apr 11, 2009 18:24:30 GMT
Unfortunately, Metalastics are now silly price - like around £180 + VAT each. And that's for old-stock ones cos they're not made any more so fair bet the rubber ain't what it was anymore. Sheila's new ones are £25 ones that came in a Quinton Hazell bag (so hopefully reasonable quality). Plus, they're the same as the GT6 ones so Sheila's little 62HP 1294 engine shouldn't exactly over-stress them
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Apr 27, 2009 18:23:26 GMT
Started with the jacking point this afternoon - about all there is left (that I'm aware of) before her MOT next month. It had obviously been repaired around that area before because the splash guard wasn't quite where it should be - in fact, it had a gap at the bottom so it was more of a mud scoop than a splash guard: Fearing the worst, I started to attack it and was pleased to find I didn't have to some replacelent kjkgo too far to find something like solid metal: An hour or so of metal bending and the new bits are ready to try: Not only that, they actually fit, except that the wing bottom refused to hover in mid air for the photo: The only slight problem is, I can't weld where she is (on the roadside) and I've got not metal bending kit where I'll be doing the welding (parent-in-law's drive). So, for now, she's had a tasteful (and fully in keeping with her image) patch-up so she doesn't raise too many eyebrows when I drive her:
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on May 1, 2009 22:55:04 GMT
Used the late evenings and sunshine for the past few days to catch up on some of the mechanical bits that need looking at. New clutch slave and gearbox mount, which both came with the car, were first on the list. The old mount was made of some sort of rubber-coloured oily blancmange / fondue and had developed a fairly annoying clunk when pulling away on anything but completely flat roads. While I was in there it seemed sensible to do the clutch slave and hopefully stop the gradual fluid loss. Only it wasn't just leaking from the slave. I only noticed when I tried to bleed it and found it was sucking more air than fluid. Having pumped about 4 resevoirs worth I decided to investigate and found that some previous owner ( ?) had replaced the master cylinder with a remote resevoir one and the pipe was attached to the resevoir by a cunning plan of wrapping something like a latex glove round the pipe, shoving it up into the stub on the resevoir then wrapping more latex around the outside and securing the lot with two blue tie-wraps Got that sorted and moved on to the timing. Found TDC on No 1, which confirmed that the timing mark on the ring-gear carrier (bolted to the crank pulley on these) was 1/6 turn out of place so undid the carrier, squeezed it round and refitted. That showed that the timing was set to around 3 degrees ATDC instead of 9 degrees before - might explain the fairly poor consumption (about 26mpg overall) I guess. While doing that, I took the liberty of removing the 4 assorted "penny" washers that were on the dynamo clamp bolt, happily grinding their way into the cooling fins on its pulley Then it was onto the tappety sound from the rockers. They were all over the place on gap, but I have to take the blame there cos I set them very quickly (with the engine still hot) just after we got back up here. One thing that worried me a little is that there seems to be almost no oil up there but I couldn't check that with it running cos when I went to start her I found the battery had finally given up after all this work with the radio on and only short runs to top it up. Battery is now on charge so hopefully tomorrow I can investigate the apparent lack of top-end oil ;D
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on May 7, 2009 18:10:35 GMT
Got what I hope is the last bit of work for Sheila's MOT finished today. Despite appearances, the only bit of rot worth worrying about was that jacking point (and a small patch on the sill behind it and one on the o/s/f suspension turret but they were small and easy ). So today it was just a case of taking the wing bottom off again and gluing it all together. The welds aren't all that pretty but I do insist on still using a stick welder - so much less fussy about wind, underseal and paint than mig : The main thing is, it's strong enough. Don't like using jacking points on cars this old anyway but there's no point having one if it can't be used (the stand has no weight on it) : and it all looks so much better with the wing bottom back on and a little light sealing: As for that wing bottom, for a bit of home-bent tin it should fill over and spray up ok ;D
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pauldaf44
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Post by pauldaf44 on May 7, 2009 18:19:07 GMT
if you don't like using jacking points where do you put the jack if say you get a Flat Tyre
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on May 7, 2009 20:05:11 GMT
At the moment I don't - she came with no spare wheel and no jack ;D Once I get a wheel (hard to track down for these!) I'll pick up a hydraulic bottle jack to use where the stand is in the photos (handy subframe mount) ore similar at the back
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on May 10, 2009 22:56:06 GMT
Thought I'd finished the MOT prep today with a lights check, handbrake cable adjustment, few extra spots of rust treatment and a late evening trip to align the headlights at our local Morrisons (they have a temporary wall in their carpark that was just perfect.
No such luck. On the way back from doing the lights, the o/s/f indicator and both front sidelights decided that they weren't going to work despite being perfect this afternoon.
Test is booked for Tuesday morning so no prizes for guessing what I'm doing tomorrow ;D
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pauldaf44
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Post by pauldaf44 on May 11, 2009 7:41:38 GMT
going to Alton Towers and hitting the Pub to drown your sorrows tonight?
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on May 11, 2009 11:02:09 GMT
How did you know? ;D
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pauldaf44
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Post by pauldaf44 on May 11, 2009 18:49:00 GMT
I have the ability to remotely read minds.
mwhahahahaha
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