1973 44 No longer mine

[stefan]

Yes that wants cleaning up, the boot floors rot at the back bad enough as it is.

[pauldaf44]

Dont I know its already been replaced since ive had it. Brake fluid is cleaned more concerned about this noise I have never heard it before. I had a thought on it though my generator has been squelling for a while now and not charging properly. Could this noise be the iminant departure of the dynamo I hope not please any ideas?

[pauldaf44]

I shall check that but its for the other car as well. Started her up this morning no problem. I think I may have been experienced carb icing as all is now well

[spunkymonkey]

Dot 4 over here used to be silicone free, although it's getting hard to find anything that's completely free of the stuff now - they almost all have a synthetic base.

It's not as much trouble for most seals as people used to fear as long as you flush the system thoroughly and change to it completely - mix & matching the stuff really isn't recommended because the silicone fluid isn't hydroscopic. That means that any water that's been absorbed by the old stuff will tend to form droplets in the silicone which, inevitably, find their way to a cylinder. Cue (a) boiling under braking and (b) rusty bores chewing seals!

As for the noise, no idea off hand but should be able to narrow it down a little:

Alternator / dynamo is always a possibility for high piched sounds but only when the engine's running. The fact this happens as it winds down after switch-off and regardless of whether she's in gear or neutral narrows it down to clutch housing, propshaft or transmission primary because they're the only bits still turning then. Has an engine mount dropped and caused rubbing somewhere when the engine twists under torque maybe? Or something moved so it's touching the clutch drum in the same situation?

[pauldaf44]

In the local motorfactor and Motorworld and Halfrauds DOT 4 is pretty much all they sell. You have to order in anything else

[33grinder]

I have some DOT 4 which I put in Gavina recently (when her brakes were bled after replacing the hoses) and it says it is interchangeable with DOT 2 and 3. I thought pretty much they all were apart from the silicone ones.

Interestingly though, the Daf owners manual that came with the car recommends a different grade to my Autodata manual. The Dot 4 shows which it is interchangeable with and both numbers were mentioned on the bottle.

[spunkymonkey]

The DOT ratings below 5 doesn't actually specify what the fluid should be made of - only its minimum wet and dry boiling points (205 / 140 degrees C for DOT 3 and 230 / 155 degrees C for DOT 4). A lot of fluids to these specs (generally marked DOT 3/4 now) are now using synthetic bases rather than glycol but shouldn't affect old seals.

DOT 5 is specified as a silicone fluid with dry / wet BPs of 260 / 180 deg C.

DOT 5.1 is a glycol (or synthetic) based equivalent to DOT5 specified at 270 / 191 deg C.

All of them should be mixable except for DOT 5 but if changing it's generally a good plan to bleed the system through.

[pauldaf44]

Gladys has got me back to cov without incident today goody good. She did however openly protest before setting off excuse the pun. A bit of quick welding and it was repaired. I am a bit shocked as the area didn't appear to have rusted at all. It just sheared away cleanly. Has anyone had a similar experience before.

[spunkymonkey]

That'll be metal fatigue for you. The heat of welding it back in should have nicely annealed the area though, so you shouldn't have any more problems with it

Had similar with a rear shock mount on a Renault 14 back in the early 90s. It managed to punch about a 2 inch circle of not-rusty metal out of the top of the wheel arch. Given that the shock absorber wasn't seized it still surprises me that it could develop enough fatigue to do that.

But it was French.

[pauldaf44]

How does a boot catch develop that much fatigue? I suppose if it was a bit high and the boot lid was bouncing even slightly during driving it could produce the required stress

[spunkymonkey]

Yep. Fatigue fractures don't need high stress levels - low level alternating stresses will do just fine. It's more to do with how much, and how often, the metal flexes rather than the ultimate forces applied.

Even set correctly there will be vibration of the lid and the catch is the only anchor point on the back edge and won't be helped by the angle of the panel-work which will increase its ability to flex. Over 37 years or so that builds up.

[pauldaf44]

Gladys is in disgrace and she is certainly grounded untill she learns to behave. Tomorrow will make 3 times in a week ive had to do emergency repairs that had no warning they where going to need doing.

1. Complete loss of brakes pipe had come of at the back of the drum quick and easy fix but still very annoying when you put your foot on the brake and it sinks straight to the floor.

2. Problem with the vario again fairly easy repair but dramatic and annoying

3. Throttle jams open am able to partially free it at the road side but think im going stripping the assembly tomorrow and possibly the carb if the fault lies within.

I have resolved to not talk about getting another car anyware near her as she seems to be taking offence. At the moment she is most definally grounded untill she starts behaving and apologizes. I am starting to get somewhat anoyed as it seems to be one thing after the other recently and largely she has been fairly reliable up untill now whats changes aaaaarrrrrggggghhhhhhh

[spunkymonkey]

It's just one of those things, Paul. With cars of this age (even when they were new) it always pays to take a quick look over every few weeks to spot developing problems. Otherwise they all develop together ;D

[dafdaffer]

id be worried if a union had come out paul, they don't just come undone, and you would have noticed if it had come undone at least 3 turns as you would have had quite bad pedal creep.
in 20 years of driving i have never come across this, make sure your flat mates arn't messing with your car

[spunkymonkey]

Good point DD! I read that as a split flexi but that woudn't have been a "quick fix" I've also never known a brake union undo itself - in fact, they rarely undo even when you want them to!

[pauldaf44]

Started the evening with this


now have this

Ok then heres the good news I managed to free the cable up. ;D and found a pipe to the carb loose now back on.
Now for the bad news I then snapped the throttle cable and discovered the footwell under the matts is swimming It doesn't appear to have rotted yet but I cant for the life of me work out where its coming in.
and a little engine bay piccy just for the sake of it.


Paul

[Richard DAF Webmeister]

Might be worth emailing Steve. I think he has/had RHD throttle cables in stock...

[pauldaf44]

Ok on further inspection due to where the break is right next to the pedal I think there may be scope to reatach as there does seem to be quite a lot of slack if I cut a couple of cm of the end I think there would be enough left to reatach seems to have broken from the connector at the back of the pedal just a thought

[dafdaffer]

9/10 windscreen rubber for leaks, they leaked from new. when Onne got his 44 his carpets were full of water, biddy does the same and so did the estate.

[stefan]

my old 55 did it abit

[spunkymonkey]

Jan 24, 2010 19:53:50 GMT dafdaffer said:

9/10 windscreen rubber for leaks, they leaked from new. when Onne got his 44 his carpets were full of water, biddy does the same and so did the estate.

Sheila was developing regular swimming pools but a quick run round under the seal with silicone cured it completely. They even do it in black now, so you don't get that nasty "peeling clear stuff" effect

[33grinder]

This is a job that my Rover desperatly needs, except I made hay whilst the sun shone instead of getting on with it and now I need the weather to improve so I can do it before both glove boxes fill with water.

[33grinder]

Paul,

Have just posted throttle cable to you. Not tracked so let me know when you get it. Slight fraying but should see you out of trouble for a while.

Cheers,

Pete.

[pauldaf44]

Mr Grinder cable has arrived and that fraying nothing a blob of solder cant sort ;D

[33grinder]

Blimey!! That was quick!! Only posted it yesterday afternoon!

Glad you're happy with it and Gladys can return to the road.

You never did say what name you were giving the Triumph?!!

[pauldaf44]

Ok cant use this car again not serious this time a ruddy puncture, exceedingly annoying as its a brand new 2 weeks old and done about 150 miles not best pleased. In fact wondering if warranty claim against ATS is in order. Hopefully can be repaired as its not completly down but its ruddy low for a 2 week old tyre. Other than that weve been having fun Gladys is to be the founding member of the Coventry pub lunch club, open to daffers and other classics. First meeting to be arranged but looking at using one of the out of town pubs on the A4600 Sky Blue way. Any takers? I was going to post a driveway pic as at the moment the drive contains triumph 1300, VW Polo classic (modified), 67 Beetle and E34 BMW sadly no DAF 44 as Gladys has her foot.

Paul

[33grinder]

Piffle! Just sling the spare on and carry some of that expanding spray foam stuff, you'll be fine! Shouldn't let a puncture stop you Daffing! Even a lack of brakes hasn't stopped me (litterally)!! ;D

[Onne]

Surprisingly even new tyres can get punctures Paul, all depends whether you've driven through something...

[pauldaf44]

I will change the tyre as the spare is in better nick anyway. Dont hold with that spray foam stuff as if you use that you cant repair a tyre. The thing is I dont actually need to go anywhere so it can wait untill it stops snowing and is light again. I intend to be playing with a grinder sort out some rusty bits ready for my new welder arriving sunday. Oh and silicone every inch of rubber that could possibly ever develop a leak. Adjust brakes on both cars and swear at the Triumphs broken heater controls. Lots of tea will be consumed tomorrow and maybe even a photo report if I can remember to stop to take pics lol

[pauldaf44]

Onne the car has not been run for 4 days and the tyre was perfectly normal yesterday hence why I suspect bad fitting to be the problem. Also it holds some pressure just not enough