GEARBOX FILL PLUG WRENCH

 I had a morning with nothing to do so I made a wrench to remove the fill plug. Made from 1/8" steel plate. I drilled/bored the hole to the hex flat dimension then just filed the flats until it fit. Band sawed the outer shape. I'll give it a coat of paint next.

 

WIRING

I'm about finished up with wiring. I have converted to 12Volts and an alternator. Since I am starting from scratch with wiring I followed the basic Morgan plan and modified it to my needs. I added a fuse box and a ground bus. I used cloth covered wires and found some cloth tape to wrap the wires into a loom.

GOOD NEWS maybe

It's all back together. I found nothing wrong inside the engine. All dimensions are within spec, on the tight side. The cam journals are the only thing that is at max spec.

Oil pressure is still 5# at idle when hot and 20-25# at 35 MPH. Not great but... A friend that races one of these has the same oil pressure and his car runs great so I'll just drive it and see what it does long term. 

Next is to finish up the wiring and get the car registered. More on that later.

BAD NEWS

 I am pulling the engine. The test drives showed low oil pressure and a very tight engine. I drained the oil after 10 miles of driving and it was black!! I dropped the pan and there was a thick black sludge in the bottom of the pan with sparkles. Not good. Better to do it now and maybe save some parts. It's all stripped down and I'll pull it out in the morning. I'll report back on what I find.

TEST DRIVE

I got it together enough to crank up and drive. Great day!! Please excuse my edit booboo.

Still lots of wiring to do and install of lights. I'll be able to get it registered and tagged then.

SIMON SAYS "TAKE A GIANT STEP"

Yesterday and today it finally all came together. The back body got sanded and buffed, near side door installed and the windscreen installed. Wow, I have a car now. Some simple wiring, some antifreeze and a steering wheel and it's time for a test drive. Oh, and a drivers door.

Speaking of doors. During a past restoration the doors must have been refitted on the badly sagging chassis. When I screwed on the passenger door the latch didn't reach the catch with the new flat chassis. I added a 1/16" shim behind the top hinge to pivot the door down and back. It just does catch now but I'll try shimming the catch or move the latch to get a better bite.

FUEL TANK

The tank looked nice on the outside but it had a couple of leaks along the front edge (usual spot). Looking inside with a borescope I could see the rust and decided to do a seal job on it. I chose the KBS brand sealer kit and it looks like it worked just great. Took 3 days to do the cleaning, etching and sealing with waiting to dry time. The sealer takes 4 days to dry so it's a week long job.

BONNET FINISHED

A big day today. I got the bonnet all buffed up and installed.

WINGS MOUNTED

Finally mounted the wings for the last time. Lucas 1130 sidelamps installed. I used rubber fender welting between the wing and inner wood panel.

WHEELS AND TIRES

I had the wheels sandblasted and then I painted them with VHT silver wheel paint. New Metzeler Block K Sidecar tires are mounted and we are back on our feet. I corrected the paint where it dripped and now for color sanding and buffing.

RADIATOR MOUNT

The rad is now bolted up with can installed so time for a little inspiration shot. The left wing and bonnet are just tacked in place but it is looking good!!! The wheels are back from the sand blaster and will get painted over the weekend and have tires mounted next week. I found more fuel tank leaks and signs of rust along the front edge so I'll have to do a tank seal inside.

COOLING FAN

I've added a 10" electric fan (thanks Bob L.). The mount is just some alum flat and U bolts to the crosstube. I added a bolt the holds the bottom of the flat at a distance from the X member to keep it from rotating. Seems to be a firm mount. I made a shroud from thin alum flashing sheet.

CHAIN LUBRICATOR

The parts for this build came with a chain lubricator. This is a cylinder with a leather cup piston pump with a cable/lever actuator and two check valves to control the flow. I did an overhaul on it and got it working so it is now installed. I have a 1/4" tube that will be fixed over the tranny sprocket.

DASH INSTALL

I had to make a glove box and finally figured out a way to do it. A simple donut cut from 1/2" plywood forms the opening and the plug removed is the front end. The wall is just thin alum sheet. Some vinyl for the inside and Bob's your Uncle.

The donut is then screwed to the back of the dash with 3 screws. The Dash is a piece of African Paduka and is a beautiful piece of wood. It was quite orange so I used some brown stain and an oil finish. now installing the steering.

 

THE MARRIAGE

This is a BIG event. Fitting the body to the chassis for the final time (I hope). I've started sanding the dust specs and run repairs.

PAINT-FINALLY

After much trial and tribulation I finally got some paint on the body bits. First attempts were poor with drips and sags and wrong mixed paint. After more primer/sealer, much sanding and practicing my French I finally got  a usable paint job. Still needs a bit of sanding and buffing to clear the dust particles but I'm on my way.

Tomorrow I'll start painting the wood frame and get ready to assemble the body. I'll do the body finishing in place since it will be more stable. The fun stuff begins.

LITTLE PROJECTS

I laid out some 1/8" peal n stick rubber strip on the upper flange of the chassis and cut out the bolt holes for mounting the body SOON.

I had ordered an 18 tooth sprocket for the '35 Sports but never installed it. Glad I didn't so it is now on the F Super. I found a use for my huge Monkey wrench.

SHOOTING PAINT

Finally! I shot the wings Tuesday and was disappointed with the results so I sanded them smooth and shot again today. Much better but still some dust specs in the paint but I think they will sand out and buff up. It will be next week before I can shoot the body with the Burgundy.

FRONT SLIDER 3

Last year a fellow in Oregon added thrust bearings to his front sliders of his F Super to reduce the friction and jerking while steering. I contacted him recently to see how they worked out over time. He gave a glowing report on how well the car now drove.

I got a set of these bearings and I'm installing them. Here are the part numbers. These were ordered from WW Grainger here in the USA.

The late F types have inner dust covers and these bearings are a nice fit on the dust cover above the spring.

Here are all the parts laid out along with the threaded rod parts for assembly. The sleeve at the bottom of the 3/8" rod is needed when the whole assembly finally drops into the bottom lug. The locked nuts are exposed so a wrench can hold the rod and allow the top nut to be loosened.

In Nev Lear's new book he suggests to assemble all the parts and stick the rod through the hole in the top lug and run a nut down to compress the springs in situ.

It is a little awkward because the bottom parts want to press against the lower lug and hang up. A bit of pulling makes it work. Then care is needed when the bottom of the dust cover meets the top of the slider. It is always off to one side.

I found that pulling at the bottom would open a gap between the top lug and the flange of the dust shield. I can stick a screwdriver into that gap and then the parts would line up allowing more action on the nut to compress more.

Finally the bottom nut of the 3/8" rod clears the bottom lug and centers over the hole. Done. Just back off the nut and pull the slotted plate out and install the spindle rod.

It is amazing how  much easier it is to turn the slider now. I think it worth trying on a twin car so I may attempt that too. It really needs something to help the steering.

SIDE LIGHTS

I haven't been posting much but every day I've been working on the body. It is ready for the high build primer now. I've drilled new holes for side lights and tail lights and filled old holes. A huge amount of work but making progress.

RADIATOR SUPPORT ROD

I see that most F Types don't have a support rod but I found that one was needed to hold the top of the rad in position. I made a bracket for each end.
I had to raise the scuttle end because it wouldn't clear the fuel tank. I notched the wood strip above the bracket.

ALTERNATOR

I plan to go to 12V electrics and so an alternator is a good way to go. This is a 40 amp unit, has an internal regulator, is cheap to buy and available most everywhere.

Chevy Mini Alternator Denso Street Rod Race 1-Wire 12180

 I made the brackets to fit. This is a borrowed unit I used to do the fit up.