Frustration creeps in

Apologies for the long delay in writing this next "episode" but its been a very frustrating few weeks.
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After the visit from the auto electrician, and a few changes in the wiring, I tried to start the car but the battery just didn't have enough life in it. After an overnight charge I tried again, and voila - it roared into life. Roared was the operative word as it was VERY LOUD! I guess the turbo on the old engine had somehow reduced the noise or perhaps the tone, but the car now barked and crackled like a Morgan trike racer. Great for a while but somehow I don't think the neighbours will think much of it, and I'm sure the boys in blue would have a word to say too. Much grinning later and the engine was switched off. However, the following day the battery just wasn't up to it and it was obvious that a new one was needed. Fortunately my local Battery City had one so a swap was easily accomplished.
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Without an MOT I wouldn't risk running on the road but fortunately we have 100 yard long drive to the public road so I decided to try a few trips up and down the drive - clutch down - into first - clutch released - car stalled. I checked the cable adjustment and it seemed to be adjusted almost as far as it could. Head scratching began, followed by mild muttering and cursing. In the end it just required a bit more adjustment and it was OK. So, a few trips up the drive (which fortunately ends in a slight rise to the road so I could coast backwards and turn round) and I noticed that the temperature gauge was registering close to "Hot". Oh dear - switched the fan on and there was no noticeable difference on the gauge. I switched off and checked the engine - there was no apparent boiling. Was the gauge wrong? I needed something to check the actual temperature. Would the meat testing thermometer do the job? Would Mrs Rog find out? Oh well, in for a penny.
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In the meantime I had an MOT booked so drove the 8 miles to the Class 3 MOT station. By the time I reached the garage, the temperature had again reached a point close to "high" on the gauge, even with the fan switched on. As I had arrived early I had a short wait - some 10 minutes, but by the time I started the car to move into the inspection bay, the temperature was near the low mark. That seemed a bit odd after such a short time. Anyway, the usual casual inspection resulted in an MOT after 10 minutes, and I drove home - once again the temperature gauge needle gradually moved to hot. As I needed petrol I stopped at a local garage and filled up, expecting the fuel gauge to swing across to full. Sadly, it didn't but stayed resolutely stuck at empty. Another problem to investigate.
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Once home I snuck out to the garage with the meat thermometer and positioned it along the front of the radiator, noting as I did that the solder at one end of the radiator that attaches the nearside fixing bracket had become unsoldered - heat perhaps? After a few minutes of running with the bonnet off I had the proof I didn't want - when the temperature gauge read Hot, it was - 100 degrees C. Interestingly, when the fan was switched on the meat thermometer dropped to 80 degrees C, but the gauge stayed on high. It looks as though the gauge is not reacting as quickly as it should, but I do have a cooling problem so it looks like a supplementary radiator is needed after all.
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The fuel gauge was quickly sorted - a connector had "disconnected". The fuel gauge now registers as it should.
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As I had silencers with a removable centre, I checked one to see what baffling it had. Apart from a very thin layer of coarse fibres wrapped around the drilled through pipe, there was nothing else. All I needed was some additional baffle "wool" I thought and I could wrap that around the existing stuff and, hopefully, I would have a quieter car. EBay was the natural starting point, but nothing. I tried a general "Google" search and found three possibilities. One, a specialist exhaust company wanted £12 for a very small pack, but I eventually found another at £6.95 for twice the amount offered by the first. After going through the electronic checkout I was advised that this item was out of stock. Why do these Internet traders do this? Its so frustrating to go through adding all one's details, only to find the item isn't in stock. I shut the window and moved on, finding another company offering exhaust baffle that was supposedly in stock. 7 days later I'm still waiting for it. I know the UK post is bad, but it seems this is down to sloppy administration by the supplier.
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Back to the cooling. I've researched the availability of supplementary radiators and it seems that its either Mocal (oil cooler) of Goodridge who make an oil or fluid cooler. The annoying thing is that I'll have to get another water transfer pipe as I cut the last one I bought to reroute the water back behind the engine and into the radiator. I'll trawl EBay and see what I can find. In the meantime, I'm learning about JIC sizes so I can work out what to do to fit the additional radiator.
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Perhaps I'll get to drive the car this year - perhaps not.
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Roger

It looks finished.......

...but still awaits the auto electrician. In the meantime, some photos of the car with its newly painted bodywork.

Roger

Waiting, waiting, waiting.......

Its been a very frustrating two weeks with little I could do to the car as I waited for - the T piece for the temperature gauge sender; the painter to paint the two body panels; the auto electrician to arrive to check out the wiring.

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I'm still waiting on the auto electrician and the painter (my panels now next in queue), but I did get the T piece so fitted this today. Once this was done I mixed some water and anti-freeze and filled up. After about 2 litres of water/anti freeze had been added, a spout of water appeared from the top of the engine block. Dam - I'd missed this outlet and a corresponding small bore pipe outlet near the thermostat. I felt a bit like the boy with his finger in the dyke - no-one was around, so should I stand there like a lemon with a finger over each outlet, run for something to plug the two outlets, or shout for Mrs Rog? The latter option was tried and produced nothing so it was a dash for the garage and suitable plugs. However, as soon as I removed the fingers the "gusher" fizzled out so I was able to find something to plug them. The problem I now have is that I'm not sure if these two outlets should be directly connected - I assume they should so now need to start the hunt for information.

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In the absence of any serious work to do I resorted to cleaning the chrome wire wheels. I've never been an avid polisher before because I've never really had the time, but now I do have the time I feel I've become a rather sad individual!

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A little footnote about the engine swap and the stupid bureaucracy that now surrounds it in the UK. Apparently, DVLA now requires proof of purchase of an engine and ratification by a garage that it is genuine. This ridiculous requirement has been introduced to try and stop stolen car parts being sold and fitted as replacements. I've therefore had to email the guy I bought the engine from and ask for a proper receipt, otherwise DVLA will not update the engine details and I will not be able to tax the car - how pathetic is that?

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Roger

I hate brakes

Having cut down the mudguards I've now painted them black (Dupli-colour aerosol can) and refitted the torpedo type indicators to the top. Running the wires down the strut and back to the other electrics was very simple and quickly done, followed by a quick check that they worked correctly - which they did. Before fitting the mudguards I adjusted the offside wheel bearing as a small amount of play was evident.

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As the inside of the car was looking a little tatty still, and had suffered from a less than successful coating of Hammerite a while back, I sanded down the floorpan and gave it a coat of hammered silver. I still don't like Hammerite particularly and do feel that its not the same formulation it once was, but as I had a coating of it in the car already I didn't want to suffer the extreme frustration of a different coating reacting to the original, so used Hammerite again. Sure enough, the desired finish was not achieved - what once would have been a guaranteed, even, hammered finish, was anything but - brush strokes could be seen. Oh well, I suppose it will be covered with matting so does it really matter?

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Two other deliveries were received this week - the voltage stabiliser for the Stag fuel and temperature gauges, and the rubber matting - both courtesy of Ebay. The matting is ribbed rubber, not as thick as I had hoped but it will suffice. I really don't see the point of having carpet in a car that is likely to get wet, and the carpets I inherited with the car were very thin. So thin in fact, that every time I moved my feet, the carpet rucked up and moved backwards. I cut the matting using the old carpets as a template, and with a bit of subtle trimming, soon had them in place. I also removed the carpet that had been used on the vertical (in)sides of the car and gave them a new coating of adhesive before refitting. To complete the interior I cleaned off the seat squabs and back with a weak detergent solution. Having done this I realise that the handbrake looked very tatty, so must give this some attention soon. Not too sure what I'll do here as I cannot relocate my existing handbrake to a more forward position (as some have done) as there simply wasn't enough slack in the cable. Perhaps I'll make the handbrake lever a little longer instead - something to ponder on but hardly a necessity at the moment.

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With the arrival of the voltage stabiliser I soon had this mounted and connected to the relevant instruments.

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And so to the brakes - my Bete Noire. Whenever I attempt to bleed brakes I end up with a less than satisfactory pedal. I was already nervous about doing the brakes on the JZR because I had noticed a leak from the union on the master cylinder, and I also remembered the grief I had the last time I tried to bleed the rear brake cylinder. I tightened the union as much as I could and checked all the other unions - all seemed OK. With the help of Mrs Rog as pedal presser extraordinaire, we started, but not before I had sworn profusely at the rear cylinder and the position of the bleed nipple. I just couldn't get the bleed pipe onto the bleed nipple. Having tried for about 20 minutes I decided that I would have to just open the nipple and let the fluid pee onto the ground. (if there's one area that requires a design rethink, its the position and type of rear cylinder used) Having checked the master cylinder union I was pleased to see that it hadn't leaked so did all three wheels, and then repeated the exercise. The pedal went half way to the floor but pumped up. Blast! I checked the pipework and saw a pool of fluid under the car below the bulkhead. A quick check showed that the three way connector on the bulkhead appeared to be leaking. Nothing leaking from the inlet, nor the pipe to the front offside, and oddly not to the pipe to the nearside and back. What the ...? I then remembered that this three way connector has a fourth port - a bleed nipple pointing downwards. I have no idea why its there, but it is, and it was the guilty party - fluid was leaking from this totally unnecessary feature, although it hadn't been a problem in the past. By now it was 13.30 on Saturday and my local motor factor shuts at 13.30 so it will have to wait until Monday to get another three way WITHOUT a bleed nipple. Brakes - I hate 'em!

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I've been promised my bonnet and rear body section will be finished during the coming week,as well as the 'T' piece for the Stag temperature gauge sensor, so we're getting closer to a roadworthy car - brakes permitting.

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Roger

Panel work complete; wiring - work in progress

We were away last weekend and so I didn't have much to report. This week I've mainly been working on finishing off the panel work which includes the covers between the bulkhead and the dash, making an airbox, and a battery box.

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Having asked the JZR group what they were using as air cleaners, I got a mixture of answers, some of which I suspect were rather tongue in cheek (a cat flap being the obvious one). It appears that the JZR crowd have anything from "nothing", through a tea strainer, to a cut down proprietary air cleaner. Given that none of these seem to be a very satisfactory solution I opted to build my own. This comprises a couple of circular aluminium "pipes" that are fastened to the carb inlets with a jubilee clip. Behind this is an air box made of ali that has a mesh cover over a foam filter. Whilst not the most sophisticated fabrication, it should do the job.

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After much head scratching about the positioning of the battery in the passenger footwell, I decided in the end to restore the battery to its original position behind the passenger seat so made up an aluminium box to house it. Previously it had just been sitting on the floor, retained only by its leads.

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I've had a very frustrating time trying to find aluminium or stainless front mudguards. I tried one company who advertised an almost endless range of different diameters, widths and lengths in both aluminium and stainless. However, as is often the case with web site adverts, I received a reply that stated that they hadn't had stainless mudguards for years, and the size I wanted wasn't available in any material. Whilst I will continue to try to find what I want, I've cut down my steel mudguards (5" off the front) as I don't like the profile - they seem to drop too far over the front of the wheel for my taste. It was surprisingly easy using an angle grinder to cut a profile I had created with masking tape. I'll paint the mudguards black in the short term and continue the hunt for aluminium or stainless ones.

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I took the bonnet and rear body section up to my painter during the week so hope to have the repainted items back in a couple of weeks. Now that I've decided to use the existing mudguards (for the time being anyway) I'll get him to paint them black too.

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After a trial connection of the fuel and temperature gauges, I've discovered that the Stag gauges I'm using need a voltage stabiliser so I bought one on Ebay last night but won't get it for a few days yet. I've also order some ribbed rubber matting as I don't intend to replace the rather poor quality carpet which always disappeared towards the bulkhead when getting into the car.

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Roger

One step forward, one step back

The new Facet fuel pump

Modified dash

This has been a frustrating week as I've tried to complete various jobs, but have found that as soon as I make try to make some progress, a seemingly simple job becomes more involved. A case in point was the fuel gauge sender unit which is fitted to the top of the rear mounted fuel tank. The fuel gauge had always given inaccurate readings to I had bought a Triumph Stag fuel gauge (£4.50 on Ebay) and new sender unit so thought I would fit that instead. To reach the sender unit I had to remove a piece of plywood that acted as a cover and seal (to stop the rear wheel throwing water up the backs of the occupants). That was simple enough although one edge was trapped by a vertical piece of ply, so I had to cut it with a craft knife. The fuel gauge sender unit was attached to the tank with 6 screws, five of which came out easily. The sixth (its always the last one, isn't it?) seemed to be revolving without undoing, but after applying upward pressure to the now nearly detached sender unit, it came out. All I had to do was to lift out the sender unit - simples! Well, no, it wasn't as there was a steel ring sitting on the float and obviously, it was this that had held the sender unit to the top of the tank. As this was larger than the hole it was a complete mystery how it had been fitted, and indeed, how the fixing screws could have been attached to the as the sender unit when in situ would make it impossible to hold the plate in place. This situation was compounded by the fact that that the plastic float was also larger than the hole through which I was trying to withdraw it. In the end I settled for cutting the float and compressing it to withdraw the sender unit and accepted that the metal ring would drop into the bottom of the tank. Fifteen minutes with a length of stiff wire trying to remove it was totally waste effort, so there it will stay. I can only assume that the tank was welded up AFTER the sender unit had been fitted. I can't see any other explanation. I've now got another fabrication job to get the Stag sender unit (which fits easily through the hole) fixed to the top of the tank. Much filing was necessary, and swearing a lot seemed to help.
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After some further reading of the Honda and JZR manuals I realised that the missing neutral cable must be lurking down the back of the engine somewhere. Sure enough - there it was, so I was able to wire that in with much fuss. I also made a lead to connect the oil pressure switch to the warning light, and in so doing realised that I hadn't connected the main beam warning light. The old fashioned type of switch I had bought (picture - bottom centre of dash) is a bit fiddly as it has screw-in terminals, but I made a wire to run from the main beam feed to the warning light. Rather oddly, the warning light glows dimly on dip beam and then brightly on main beam. Must be some sort of earthing problem but I'll get back to that later on.

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I finally decided to attack the installation of the Facet solid state fuel pump I had recently bought. Having been advised that it need to push fuel rather than pulling it, it could only go in the area behind the passenger seat. With the back face of that area being the petrol tank itself (and not really advisable to drill into) I decided that the central steel frame was the best place. However, I first had to remove the earth strap which was fitted there. Easily said, but not easily done as it was only just possible to reach the head of the bolt from under the car, whilst applying a socket to the nut inside the car. Quite how someone with shorter arms would cope without third party help is a mystery. Given that I was once told that if my arms were any longer my knuckles would scrape the ground when I walked, I guess I had an advantage. Anyway, after one broken drill bit I had made a suitable hole to mount the fuel pump and managed to fit the bolt from the underside and tighten it up without too much cursing.

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I decided to fit a switch for the fuel pump as I know from past experience that having the ability to switch on the ignition without fuel being pumped is a very useful option.

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I also had a rather trying time attempting to get the flasher unit working as the unit I had purchased had letters to designate the three terminals but I had no idea what the letters meant and couldn't find anything on the world wide interweb that would help me. Trial and error seemed an option but the best I could obtain was one side flashing and the other on permanently. So I tried the old flasher unit which I knew was near or even beyond its natural life. This time I could get one side flashing and the other doing nothing, and with no warning light illuminated. I've now purchased another unit for which I have the cable connections so will try that next week.
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I finally found a suitable place for the rectifier - under the bulkhead on the passenger side - as this allows me to make the various connections quite easily and then run the remaining wires to the ignition switch.
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As I had bought the Stag fuel gauge (black face, white numbers), I decided to get the matching temperature gauge. However, this uses a different sender unit which doesn't fit the Honda "hole". I've therefore made up the bits for a T piece so that I can fit the Triumph sender unit into it- in the connector between the two top hoses. Just need to find a welder now...... ~

I had originally intended to use the Turbo indicator/flasher/horn switch, but it seemed far too modern so I opted for the traditional trafficator style switch and a simple press button for the horn. Fortunately, (as I hadn't made provision on the dash for these switches) I was able to fit them into a suitable place - middle, bottom of the dash photo.

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Roger

Windscreens and wiring

Wiring is a bit tidier now

Trial fit of the Brooklands aero screens

Despite a fair amount of time spent on the car this week, there doesn't seem to be a lot to show for the effort. I guess the main reason is that the wiring has taken a lot longer than I imagined. In part this is due to my inexperience of wiring, but also because I have chosen to make connections and not worry too much about the length of the wire whilst I check that I've done it correctly. Armed with my multimeter, I've connected each item and then tested that individual connection. When I had virtually finished the (non-engine) wiring I then set about trimming the cables to create a tidy loom (connectors being pretty cheap, it seemed a good way to go). Apart from the indicators, all other electrical components are now wired up and working so I can finish the aluminium panelling on the drivers side. Next week I shall start on the engine electricals.

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At the moment I'm confused about two things - where the neutral switch is and thus where I will find its lead, and also how the engine stop works as I will not be using the Honda ignition switch within which the stop switch is normally incorporated. I seem to recall being told that the stop switch merely ran to earth but obviously I need to check.

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As I intend to have the upper body panels repainted (the lower half is covered in stainless) I thought I should get the Brooklands Aero screens fitted so that I didn't start drilling the newly painted body. What I thought would be an easy job was not as simple primarily because there are few reference points on the bonnet from which to make measurements. In the end I positioned the screens largely by eye with the help of a piece of masking tape over the bonnet as a point of reference. I must admit that the screens look very tiny in comparison to their predecessors, but I'm very pleased with the effect. Not too sure that Mrs Rog is that impressed though as I received an "even less protection for me then" comment when I proudly displayed my work.

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I've also given some thought to the Facet fuel pump which I am assured is best placed near the fuel tank. As I've removed the front tank, this means locating the pump behind the passenger seat where the battery used to be. I've decided to relocate the battery into the passenger footwell as there is lots of room, and it makes life easier as it will be directly under the electrical connections and fuses. I haven't worked out how I'll fit this yet, but it will be enclosed in aluminium and bolted down (which it hasn't been previously). I'll probably incorporate a footrest for the passenger at the same time, as sitting with one's legs outstretched without some support can be very uncomfortable.

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I do need to make a decision about front mudguards soon as I favour aluminium or stainless and I've seen a couple of companies advertising what appear to be suitable items. I'm tempted to remove a front wheel and take it to the nearest supplier to make sure the radius is suitable.

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With a fine weekend my time has been limited as garden duties beckoned. After a day digging out footings for pathways, and laying bricks, my back is in no fit state to bend over the car anyway. However, as I am now fully retired I should be able to make progress next week.

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Roger