Mike D

Got a little time on a four post ramp to check suspension nuts and bolts today

Didn't get much movement on anything, but you can't put a price on the peace of mind it gave me. 

Back to pootling around in it to bed everything in before giving it a bit of stick. 

MOT and tax sorted. 

Finally back home after 4 years away.   

So, plugs replaced, dizzy in and new coil installed with LT wires connected. As the Cortina has ballast ignition, the new dizzy requires an ignition controlled live. Happily, multimeter confirms such a supply in the engine bay already which I can take a feed from.

Back has had enough for today so hopefully will get time tomorrow afternoon after seeing Top Gun Maverick with Wiblet senior.

I'm back to start again, with the glass loose top and bottom in its frame after several failed attempts sit it on the car. In the first instance, I wanted to go to a classic car auto-jumble and show on Sunday, and so didn't want to take the hood off.  I just wanted to tilt the hood frame forward to fit and measure the backlight to windscreen dimension.  That in turn would indicate how much I could squeeze the fibreglass frame to tighten the glass by 1/4".  
   
^ I hoped the backlight would fit around it once the rear deck trim, with its lift-a-dots and webbing straps on it, was removed. But then, quite typically - two of the rivet nuts turned and had nuts under those so I could get a socket in from the underside. Bottom line being that the rear trim had to come out too.
While at it I felt around for a petrol-tank-breather, as there's often the smell of the fuel around the back of the car and in the boot. I couldn't find one, just a vented cap.
The backlight did partly fit over the hood frame (this being the frame off a TR6 with its side rubbers) but the backlight wouldn't go down to sit on the deck ..so off with the hood frame.
Even with that out of the way, the backlight wouldn't go down. It was if the studs fibreglassed to the underside of the frame were 1/2" too short.  I giggled and poked, pushed and thumped, but alas no, the darn thing was not going to play nicely.  Certainly it seems that the surrey top and soft-top hoods are not just a five or ten minute job to swap. 
Indeed, by the time I realised what was going wrong - I'd been at this for two hours.  I must be on the wrong diet because my brain has been quite sluggish ..these past twenty plus years.  
  
^ comparing the bonded on stud with the screw that held the hood's rear trim plate on and they're the same size, indeed the same 1/4" UNF thread.   Because two of those trim retaining screws went all the way through the (stripped out) rivet-nuts - it simply hadn't occurred to me that the rest wouldn't.   Duhh !   
 
  
^The rivet-nuts looked like this, and it turns out they are made in aluminium.   ^^ And they now look like this !   That should give enough room for the backlight's studs to drop through.  First though.. to paint the metal, and while that is drying, to have a late lunch and to refit again the, now pulled out again, glass back into its frame. 

^ Btw, I held the rim of the riv-nut with the needle nose vice-grips and then using a countersink drill-bit I cut into that aluminium rim until it came broke loose.
Talking of backs, yes it's aching from lifting while reaching over the car.  It's a pain getting old. !
Hopefully a little more later.
 
Later ..Retry fitting the backlight . . .

After fitting the glass back into the frame along its bottom edge, using a telescopic awning pole to hold the front corners apart, and a bit of wiggling (the frame not me !) things looked promising.  

^ masking tape held the body seal in place as I shuffled things around to get it to sit down, and while I fitted washers and nuts onto the studs, under the deck.  The two studs half way along the sides missed the metal at the side, so I cut some aluminium angle to use as clamps. That worked well on one side but the other side's stud is too short ..at least until things settle. 
I then worked the top of the glass into the seal, again by finger power and I finally got it to just lipped in all the way across. The tape on the glass below that top seal is half inch away from the glass edge, so I really would like a little higher. or indeed the backlight frame a little further back.  To that end I thought I'd fit the fabric Surrey-top's spidery frame. . .
   
^ Its beginning to look like a roof !   ..but there's a few details I yet need to investigate (research) how it should / might work.  A bit of rubber fuel hose in the hole is temporary, just to judge the metal frame's length.   The rear legs to this spidery frame have what look to be new threads welded into the end of the tubes. Horridly coarse threads and hacksaw cut ends which yet needed to be chamfered, and I suspect their length is now too short.   The threads match the brass screw adjusters Roger very kindly let me have, so they are correct ..just horrid to push over a rubber seal and into fibreglass holes in the backlight.
   
The fabric Surrey top is presumable from a TR4 as it intends for its front edge battens to be pushed back under the windscreen's cap rail. However Katie had a Tr6 hood and windscreen cap rail.  The question I'm now faced with is whether to change the cap rail or the fabric Surrey top. ?    If anyone has a spare TR4 cap rail, or a TR6 adapted fabric Surrey top then I'd be most interested - thanks, even if it / they are only in such condition as to only make do.  ie., allow me weather protection until I get something better sorted. 
 
^ Passenger side door glass fitted against the door / weather seal on the backlight very well.  Not so on the driver's side. The glass sticks out by half an inch or so.  I'll have to investigate that ..as I'm keen to block other vehicle's tyre noise from coming in so readily.  
Regarding the glass in the backlight, well it's in ..and to be honest I think if water sealant (perhaps clear silicon ?) is applied then it'll probably work without dropping out. There's only a couple mm overlap of the seal onto the glass in the middle, but there's double that in the top outside corners, and then the glass is tight into the bottom corner, along the sides and and all around the back. The chromed plastic wedge strip is now fitted but it's not sitting nicely. Perhaps a new one might be a better fit and actually do something to better secure the glass.  The plan is to work the glass when everything is hot from the sun, to see how things settle further (..sun tomorrow please), and to rework the fabric's spidery frame to be a tight fit, which will push the grp frame backwards. 

^ I wonder if.. the top seal has been bonded on all the way across the top and most of the way down the B-post sides. But if that was hard pushed right the way forward when it was gooed, then to release it may enable the glazing seal to come back two or three mm. ?  
 
All things considered though - I'm really very pleased that the glass went in (..again) and the backlight is now fitted onto the car, albeit loosely.  That is A BIGGIE  for me ..in terms of the TR I sought to own and drive. 
Step by step, we're getting there (..i think ? ) 
Pete
 
p.s.  yes the backlight is painted primrose yellow. Hey what can I say but that ..I'm adding flower power  !

Katie  alongside a Gloster Javelin F(AW).9R which was built in 1958 and saw service until 1966, the year before Katie (amongst the last of her line) was first registered.  
80 mile round trip from home, country village route, and in this weather very a pleasant trundle. Flixton had a good crowd today as the Copdock bike club also visit with around about 120 bikes, and there was also a contingent of amazingly spotless classic Honda (Owners Club), and then again a few of the 'Distinguished Gentlemen' motorcycle club on their way back from a charity run. One of the bike's there was a limited edition (just 500) CCM 600cc single street style bike. There was a flying model club too and also static model attendees too. I enjoyed a good banter with some of the museum's volunteer staff, and some other old gaffers who came to visit this extraordinary museum.   

Otherwise, classic cars spotted included a couple of early short wheelbase Land Rovers, a Morris Minor 1000, a plastic bumper MGB-GT, a Rover P6 2000, and what looked to be an early 1960's Bentley Continental coupe.  Very nice too.  I also pulled into the petrol station next to a positively huge black Ford Thunderbird, which sounded fabulous just ticking over.
On the way back, just a few miles down the road, I dropped in at Billingford Mill . . .

The mill was built in 1859-60 to replace a post mill that had succumbed to excessive winds.  The mill closed down in 1959, which is somewhat amazing in light of that being in the  Javelin's era ..and its twin turbo-jet with 13, 390lb of thrust (with reheat).
The mill is now in the capeable care of 'The Norfolk Windmill Trust' ..and friends of the windmill, who raised funds for restoration between 2017 and 21.  It's a tranquil place to visit and perhaps stop for a picnic.
Katie, behaved very well, although I was shocked when I stopped for petrol and 30 litres cost close to £60.!  Aside from that things are settling (I've done 300 miles these past 7 days) and I'm getting a few squeaks so perhaps tomorrow I'll wander around and check that bolts are pinched up.  I'll also drop the tyre pressures again, things jiggle a bit on the old Suffolk back roads that may appreciate a little more compliance.  All in all though confidence is building
Bidding you a pleasant summer's evening. 
Pete
  
 

Hi again all, seems to be a good'un...

https://youtu.be/SWMpb-VExsk
...all back up together and running very nicely.  Still pumping out a bit of residual oil from the exhaust, I either need to run it lots, or take the exhaust off and hang it up in the shed for a week I think.  Makes me wonder if the fairly new cat will be ruined...

Anyway, very quiet and smooth, and I'd forgotten what a well sorted wee car this is.  Will see how the exhaust looks during this coming week and get it in for the test if/when it clears everything out.
Think I'm done working on cars for a bit...

To be honest I wasn't impressed with the handling at all.  Indeed considering the chassis modifications, the amount of investigation and checking, adjusting and checking again of the rear suspension back in October, and the work I put into the steel gearbox tunnel and getting it to fit well to stiffen the car ..you might well say I'm pretty disappointed. . .
I lowered the front tyre pressures from 30 psi to 27-1/2 and that settled the overly quick response of the steering.  And then I adjusted the track rod end to add a little more toe-in to the front wheel geometry,
That again noticeably improved the feel of the car and its steering.  But still she was over-steering, and feeling as if there was too much roll, and that the tyres were about to loose their grip around even quite modest country lane corners.  That's not a reassuring feeling.   I couldn't understand it.  Something was wrong, but what ?  I thought I'd been through everything..
And then in the evening it clicked..
Subsequent to setting the rear suspension's tracking, camber, and ride height, in October, which itself was interrupted by an intrusive hernia op -  I turned my attention to the front suspension and then to the broken-off grease nipples on the half shafts, the insecure fuel & brake pipes, the exhaust run causing the pipe to clonk against the chassis, and the  #@$%ing OIL LEAK !!!  from the gearbox and O/D. Plus water dripping from the engine-block drain plug onto / into the starter motor, and the dynamo giving up its ghost, all inbetween my repeatedly getting rained upon .. which then set me about extending the car's polytunnel..   
.. and before I knew it, it was November and I was replacing the RHS trailing arm.  < November 6th - here > 
 
Quote  "There are quite a few detail differences, and the castings were clearly re-tooled, so it may be that the new one may be from a later car,  ie., a TR6  (edit ;  that was incorrect - its not from a TR6).  Aside from the fact that Katie's  had a big STANPART cast into it, whereas its replacement doesn't - the most obvious difference is in the stiffening web between the coil spring cup and the tube which encloses the half-shaft.  I haven't run a tape measure over them to compare but as the part numbers are the same (marked onto each of these arms) I'm guessing they are dimensionally interchangeable.  I flipping hope so anyway !"
After fitting those, I immediately moved over to dealing with the loose steering and torn rack gaiters, the seized lower-wishbone trunnions, the brakes and seized hand-brake adjusters. There was no break.. it just went on and on until I found myself pulling the gearbox out ..to correct its stripped threads.. 
What I'd neglected to do, back in mid-November, was to recheck the rear suspension's geometry ..post my swapping out that trailing arm.
 
So that's what I've been doing ..and correcting, yesterday afternoon and today. 
There's really not a lot to show you that I've not already posted, last October, but yesterday I corrected the rear wheel toe-out tracking by removing the two shims under the outboard trailing arm bracket. It was toe out, whereas it should be zero to 1/16" toe in.  After a road test.. Yes, I could again feel the improvement - very much better tracking on straight but undulating roads surfaces, and less under-steer around corners ..but still things didn't feel right.  What I was doing was in the right direction but not enough.  
Today, I checked the rear wheel's camber, not by loading bricks onto the leather seats, but simply as a comparison between the two sides. 
The chassis was 1/2" lower under the RHS chassis rail (by the body mount) and the RHS rear wheel's camber measured +1.81 degrees (a 10mm difference between a vertical spirit level to the top & bottom of the rim).  As this was in an unladen state, I didn't know what it should be, but for direct comparison the LHS rear-wheel-camber measured +0.34 degrees, in the same state.  When the car is loaded (persons in it, etc., and around corners) the trailing arms turn to negative camber, which in turn helps keep the tyre's contact patch flat to the road ..and the car's handling feels a little more surefooted.  
 
I knew one of the trailing-arm brackets would need to be changed, and the inboard bracket already had it polybush pivot in the lowest position. So whatever I did.. it would have to be to the outboard bracket (by the sill). This was a two-notch bracket fitted with those notches down.  Referring to the model and the charts I draw back in October I opted to swap that bracket for a one-notch, with its notch down. This would alter the pivot-axis (raise that polybush) by 1/2" . . .

^ The yellow line in the middle shows the angle the polybushes were. The magenta line shows the angle I was adjusting things to.  That angle does look sorta radical (as it is drawn to scale) but drastic measures were clearly needed. I also knew this bracket change would raise the suspension's ride height on that one side, but as it was now sitting low again (with this trailing arm). lower than the passenger side anyway - I chose to accept it. 
 
^ Again to avoid torturing the polybush with twist (which is also a pain when fitting) I slotted just one of the bracket's mounting holes sideways to allow it and the polybush axis to align with the inboard bracket and its polybush (..I've illustrated this across the bottom of the previous drawing)  

^ Yes, the bracket could be swapped out, and refitted, without dismantling anything else off the trailing arm.  In fact all else I needed to do was to slacken the two chassis-fixing-bolts of the inboard bracket to get the twist I needed to remove (and refit) the outboard bracket's bolts.

^ to get the outer bracket's pivot (polybush) bolt to align, and back in (finger pushed in only), I did have to ease the trailing arm forward.  against the tension of the spring pushing it backwards.  I simply used a block and a wooden wedge between the rear of the trailing arm and the chassis rail to do that.  I say 'simply' but the awkwardness of this is in doing it on your own and not being able to see as and when the bolt hole aligns (hence the wedge to progressively work the block outwards, which in turn swivels the arm and that polybush forward. 
 
My test drive was limited by numpties driving slowly ..whenever I wanted to push Katie  faster around corners ..but first impressions of this setup are that the car now handles very much better. 
Upon our return, and with the suspension settled, I checked the camber of each rear wheel (again without  driver / passenger's weight but..) as a comparison against each other, when measured from the vertical spirit-level to the wheel rims.  Each are now the same with just 2mm difference (0.06 degrees positive camber) between the top and bottom measurements to the rim.  
Suspension ride height (underside of chassis to level floor) is now around about 6-1/8". That's a little more than I would have preferred but more importantly.. they are very close to being the same   It is no longer sagging on the driver's side (..until I get in ! )
And the rear wheels tracking on both sides.. is also now the same and good to go.. 
I cannot say why this replacement swinging arm, with the same part number, should have been different enough (production tolerances that slack ? ) to necessitate these changes, but that's immaterial because the IRS suspension's design, via the selection and orientation of those polybush brackets, easily accommodates them.
Job done. 
Hopefully more enjoyable driving from now on.
Bidding you a good evening,
Pete
 
 

I've posted this previously on the 'cars that you never knew existed' thread and also on the 'ambitious towbars' thread but I think that it is time it got its own thread.
Introducing my 1975 Turner Ranger tractor! Four wheel drive, four wheel steer, mid mounted 1098 A series in longitudinal configuration (gearbox in sump) but mounted transversely driving the front and rear axles through a Triumph differential. Steering box from an A30/35, hydraulics from a Leyland 154 tractor, drum brakes and rubber cone suspension from a mini. Very small, very unusual and very fun 😀


I saw this on ebay a few years back and being a mini nut I had to get it. I've used it for light duties since, namely moving trailers and a caravan. Road registered thanks to the Friends of Ferguson Heritage club and absolutely scary to drive on the highway. 

The history of this design is quite odd. It started off as a Harry Ferguson design through his Ferguson Research company. They were originally designed to run on Calor gas and were sold as Calor Ranger's. Turner Engineering (who made the Calor Ranger's) also started selling the petrol versions badged as Turner Ranger's.
The rumours are that about 250 were made. Since acquiring one I have become obsessed and have done plenty of searches to find as many survivors as possible. I've found 26 examples (including mine) including one of the original prototypes which has a shorter wheelbase than the production models. I've also found various brochures and literature related to these odd machines.

Having seen his success on the Invacar thread and the '93 Mondeo thread then I might have to employ the services of @LightBulbFun to work his DVLA magic to find some more examples 🙂
Also, a few videos of this on my YouTube channel. Just one link below as I don't want to spam you!
 

what's next ?? .. indeed . . .

Take her for a drive, away from demanding traffic conditions in the Suffolk countryside ..and then stop to check that all is well (it was).

^ the sill is yet to be repainted, and there are a hundred other jobs still to do, but hopefully now Katie  will be a driver on which I can spend a few hours here and there to potter around doing, inbetween my finally enjoying driving a TR4.   I like not having the bumpers on and the pressed steel wheels.  To my eye's she looks a purposeful British sports car ..and less a boulevarderie.  In response to Katie's  mid-life crisis - I think she looks fabulous !

^ the interior now has the MX-5 seats with their adjustable seat backs which are surprisingly firm but very much more acceptable than the TR4A seats previously fitted.   I like the colour of the carpets and the black seats, but each look better in the evening than in the bright daylight.   I also like her black dashboard and warning lights, and in driving - my revisions to which switch does what.  Relative to the B-posts (which I have not moved !) you can see how far back I now have the seats. Alas, the hood frame will soon have to go, to get its hinged joint out of my shoulder.
 
^ Under-bonnet is nothing special, but at the same time it's uncluttered, purposeful and clean.
The car's handling, still needs a little fettling, or is that just me not used to the narrow track of a 1960's car and such quick steering.?  Possible the suspension will settle a little, but in the meantime I'll lower the front tyre pressures a couple of psi. I'll also recheck the tracking.   Noise levels and rattles when driving are now exceptional, a contradiction to what they were, and in stark contrast to my friend Rich's TR4 or Mike's TR4A each with their distinctive exhaust notes.
I'm very happy with the new LED lights, together with the sidelights I've added into the headlamp bowls ..and I ought now trust the wiring is going to behave nicely.  While driving, the ammeter shows reads a charge of about 5amp, and so I'll charge the battery to see if that settles down a little.
An oil drip from the bell housing (rear crank scroll I guess) and a a couple more from the overdrive are annoying.  It's on the job list but hopefully they'll not become a more serious issue.  Condensation in the engine I'm anxious about and so I've bought a pot of K-seal to see if that resolves the issue.
. . .
BIG THANKS to everyone who has supported me, both with advice and experience, and just through being there through this forum.  It's no secret that I've been at the end of my tether a number of times.  Even my neighbours know only too well when things are not going well !  But I now hope to just drive the car ..very often, to become familiar with her, and to steadily work through any further teething problems.
Thank you.
Pete
 
 
 

Although it may seem that I jump about all over the place, doing jobs that might otherwise wait, instead of just dropping the seats back into the car and driving her as if there were no tomorrow.. there is indeed madness in my method, insomuch as I know a number of these jobs involve a massive Bfg inversion.. whereby my arze would not only over my tiz, but my head n' shoulders would be back down in the foot wells.  Yesterday's task was another of those . . . 
 
I've observed how panel alignment, door gaps, and the adjustment of the door-glass window, are a recurring theme on old car forums, not least on the Triumph ones. Rarely, if ever, do I read much about windscreen adjustment ..although there is of course volumes on the difficulty in fitting the glass into frames (both windscreen and backlight).
When I bought Katie, her door glass to windscreen gaps weren't too bad, in fact if I recall the angle was very good on the LHS of the car, although the height of the glass needed its stop adjusting.   However on collecting the car, subsequent to its body-off chassis replacement, the glass to A-post angles were pretty atrocious. . .
     
^ On the LHS ; the top of the glass hit the A-post hard enough to chip the paint and to kick the glass sideways, and the top corner of the RHS glass has a chip out of it and a through 'ventilation' gap at the bottom (measured horizontally, there's 1" between the glass and the A-post).
Because they were not nearly so bad before, I might reasonably conclude the windscreen had tilted back.  The hood fit was always ridiculously tight to pull forward, but I suspect that's the TR6 hood frame and cover not fitted as well it might, its hinge pins are worn, and that the vinyl hood has rarely seen the light of warming daylight ..and so has not stretched to shape in the hot sun. 
The hood needs to be fitted to a car, only once the windscreen is in the right place.  I had asked (in a previous post) - if there was a measurement or angle for the screen ?  I received no reply to that, so I guess Triumph's build tolerances, and the distance between the rear deck and the top of the windscreen, are too varied on a soft top car to make much sense of a definitive dimension.
OK, so what are the reasons behind Katie's  windscreen having changed angle ?   Well quite probably the answer is three-fold.  1. Its fixing bolts are loose,  2. the windscreen frame has been used as a handle to push the car back n' forth in & around the garage / workshop,  and/or  3. that the top corner of the windscreen is the most convenient hand-hold when lowering oneself into, and for lifting oneself out, of the car  ..&/or when man-handling a heavy gearbox.  I put my hand up and say that I might well have contributed to the issue insomuch as I do use the top corner of the windscreen frame as a handle when lifting myself out of the car ..if only the angles weren't so bad when I collected the car after its chassis change.  I think by then the windscreen had already tilted back as far as any slack in the holes &/or adjustment might have allowed. However, it doesn't matter who or when ..other than learning not to do it again - the question now is how to correct it.
 
Considering the first point ; 1. The bolts are loose, but I was to discover worse. . .
  
^ These are the securing ..and adjustment, bolts that secure the top of the windscreens clamp bracket.  The drawings in the workshop manual and parts book are each misleading (and therefore confusing) insomuch as they show these fastenings aligned vertically one above the another, whereas on my car - the rear bolt of the two is positioned up at an angle from the horizontal.  Hey ho., don't believe all you read ! 
The forward of these two bolts is also  used to secure the flange of the front wing.  Each, like the securing bolt at the bottom of these brackets, are 1/4" UNF hex-head set screws.  And each screw into a captive nut.  The captive nuts for these top two fastenings are welded onto the back of (item 19) the windscreen mounting bracket.  And the captive nut for the bottom screw is within the box section of the A-post.  You can see where I'm going with this train of thought can't you ! ?
Anyway, that's a step away, because first I needed to secure the angle of the windscreen, relative to the door's glass.  I did this with a length of 4x2 timber, a screwdriver, a G-clamp, and a bundy cord . . .
  
^ It's not elegant but it works !  The screwdriver's blade is poked into the hole where the hood's turnbuckle goes, the G-glamp adjusted the tension in the bundy-cord so that the screwdriver pulled vertically. The timber (49-7/8" / 1267mm long ..for this car) was the wedge.. to angle and hold the top of the windscreen forward.  The bolt in the middle of the trim piece, across the rear deck, was already there. I just loosened it so that the timber had more to latch against. 
The timber then served the secondary purpose as a jib to hoist myself in and out of the foot wells ..numerous times. I also used it, when laying within the car, to pull down on the windscreen as I tightened the fastenings up.  
With this setup, and the windscreen clamps already being loose - the door's glass readily resumed a very good angle with the A-post.  "All" I needed to do was to tighten the bolts to hold it there ..so I would have to drive around with a lump of timber through my or a passenger's head.
 
^ So again with my head in the passenger foot well (..which is why I couldn't do this after I'd fitted the seats), and a torch to guide where to point the camera and allow it to focus - this is what I could see (for the 1/60th second of the flash).  The (1/2" AF) nut on the bottom of the windscreen's leg I've already loosened, because it was missing a washer.  A thick plain-washer with 5/16" ID hole and 3/4" OD is required here to pull the screwed-threaded-end of the windscreen-post down into the bracket.  Oddly the nickel-plated nut looked brand new.  Just besides that, you can see (painted over with pink primer) the head of the bracket's bottom securing screw.    My 7/16" (with 1/4" drive) socket isn't quite long enough to get the ratchet on, over the tube. And my extended 7/16" socket was too long to get the ratchet head between it and the face-vent ducting !   What an awkward little "conundrum".! 
After much ado, I found the captive nut on the inside of the A-post has a stripped thread.  That's a hidden, middle-finger-tip reach up inside the A-post.  Anyone restoring a car would be wise to check these are good n' secure before paint work, refitting the wings &/or reassembly. 
With a good deal of patience, I managed to remove the screw and replaced that with a new one  ..and while at it I fitted an 1/8" thick spacer-washer under its head to bring it a little further out from behind the tube, so my short 7/16" socket might better reach.  Again the screw's thread turned within the out of sight captive nut.  I couldn't get anything in there to grip and rip out the old captive nut, but with divine intervention I somehow managed to get another nut onto the end of the (1" long) screw I'd fitted, and then also to get a 7/16" spanner inside the box section to tighten it up.
  Mental note ..for when the wing is next removed ;   drill a hole big enough through the outside face of the A-post, to get that stripped nut out.  As my friend Steve pointed out, if I'd found this unreachable bodge done by someone else, then I'd be seriously cussing his socks.  I hold my head in shame, Yes I would. But what could I do without delaying things even further, by stopping to remove the front wing and cutting my way in there ?
Fortunately, the bolt in the top of this windscreen bracket, the one which also secured the top-rear-corner of the front wing was OK. That pinched up OK from inside the door shut.  However the rear of those two top fastenings .. well here we go again !
That captive nut, supposedly welded onto the bracket, turned.  And it was too far up in the gap inbetween the face vent and the dashboard and the A-post to get a spanner in there.  Well I could, but because there was not a straight line (not flat enough) - I couldn't get it to lock onto the (square) nut.   I couldn't drop the windscreen bracket out to repair it ..because the loose captive nut wouldn't allow me to get its bolt out,  so . . .
   
^ it was out with the glove box. And then, with my camera in where the glove box was, I could almost see over the face-vent to the two captive nuts.  I still couldn't get my long-nose grips in, nor a spanner to hold, but I did managed to get it loose and then out with the aid of a long slender screwdriver, forceably poked in, between the square captive nut and the generous hole through the bracket.  
 
^ sort of like this.  
But now I was faced with how to get a replacement nut onto the end of the bolt when it was refitted, and to hold that well enough to tighten it ?
  
^ I swapped the original bolt for another.  I reasoned ; a step up in size (from 1/4" UNF) would offer greater clamping force and also take up much of the slack (adjustment), which in turn would better hold the windscreen at this angle.  And a  5/16" UNF bolt happened to fit in through the holes of both the body's A-post and the windscreen bracket, without my needing to open either out.    This was the longest bolt of that thread I happened to have, which was used to reach over the face vent.  I cut a steel tube (compression-post) to fit over it, so the washers and a nut were within reach of a standard socket.  ^^
As it happens - I could have done with an inch longer bolt, but then I'm not sure that would have fitted in passed the door skin. 
  
^ Although still a reach, compared with the others, reaching to get the plain & lock washer and nut onto this was a doddle. It all pinched up nice and tight. 
 
In resetting the windscreen angle - I'd also undone the three clamps at the base of the windscreen frame, on top of the dashboard. . .
   
^ Two of these clamps had oversize holes in their washer, and the third had no washer at all, just its thin aluminium trim plate. Again thick washers are required with the right hole diameter, so that they don't dish in when tightened or pulled against.   I've used a thick washer under the trim plate, a thick washer and also a thin plain washer under the domed head (nut on a stud ?).  Then these also pinched up securely to hold the front edge of the windscreen frame down.
Next..? 
... the other side .
 
^ Again no washer under the nut at the bottom of the windscreen post ..which was easily resolved. On this (RHS) side of the car, the visibility was much better. I don't know why that should be so, but as you can see it was.  And each of the captive nuts did their job.  I found an 11mm six-point socket with 1/4" drive that was 1/8" longer ..and that was almost enough to clear the windscreen bracket's tube which looks to have been welded. That socket worked well enough, but its still an awkward task, not least because I'm right-handed and working in the rear top corner of the right side of the footwell.
The timber wedge / brace was of course swapped to this side of the car, but its set up was exactly as before.   I also made a point of pushing the base of the windscreen back as far as I could to try and close the 1" gap between the glass and the windscreen frame. 

^ you can just about see the previous scuff marks, of the edge of the windscreen rubber, some 1/4" further forward than where the windscreen is now fitted.  That helped, but then I also fitted spacers in behind the door glass runner's brackets to push the door's glass forward another 1/8". 
 
Results ;
   
^ RHS, with hood off - although a noticeably larger gap than on the LHS of the car, the door glass now sits at a good angle with the A-post, and ought to offer a reasonable weather seal.  And with this very taught (drum tight) hood, the top of the windscreen similarly pulls back, by about 1/4" but the fit against the door post's rubber seal still works fine.
 
   
^ LHS, with hood off - the door glass now fits very nicely with the A-post. It ought to be a good seal.  And with this very taught (drum tight) hood, the top of the windscreen pulls back by just 1/8" ..but the fit against the door post's rubber seal is still good.  I've fitted an 1/8" body washer behind the front glass runner bracket to pull the door's glass back by that amount, and also adjusted the door glass's stop to prevent it winding too high.  My fingers, hands, and my forearm are just too big to get inside the door (read; quite painful ), but it needed to be done
Windscreen angle / door glass adjustment.    Done
Although on both sides the hood-frame's screws into the B-post are loose, it is really too hard to get it to pull forward, shorter &/or lighter persons would struggle even more, so I'll have to see how to adjust that. That may be just a matter of the webbing straps (particularly on the RHS) being too tight ..evident perhaps because it's torn in two places and about to break.  In any case, I'll be taking this hood and frame off very soon (but not today !) to replace it with the grp Surrey-top back-light I picked up last year. 
I'm also ordering new door-glass felts, weather strips, and clips, and the LHS door needs welding.  That door is also 1/8" too far forward but there's no room to do this without pulling the B-post back by 1/4".  M&T did a great job in improving the unevenness of this door's gap, but they really didn't get the length between the A and B-posts quite right. 
The job list isn't getting any shorter because for every job I do, I find two others !  Still, those ought not to involve me inverting into the footwells, so I must be closer to getting seats back into the car. 
Bidding you a good weekend.
Pete
 

^ Stepping back in time to Christmas / New Year holidays and my planning to give a pair of cheapo e-bay MX5 seats a try in Katie < here >  ..and then back in time to now. . .
The Mazda seat's squabs are a light grey colour, which is nice and light and therefore airy in a small car, but to my eye they look incongruously modern in a 1960's Triumph.  And so when I bought them I had the idea of toning them down by repainting them all black ..but for the neat white stitching around the bolsters.  Since trial fitting, modifying the runner's brackets as well as Katie's  rear inner-wheel-arches (to move them further back for maximum leg room ), and also cleaning them - all of which task I was happy with.. other things happened which knocked my mojo into dark places, and with it my self-confidence to tackle such a task has been lacking. 
And then, as tends to happen.. the longer I leave what appears to be a 'challenging to do well' job.. the more that anxiety grows into a ugly loosely-shingled cliff face in the dark.  
But then what happens in my crazy head is, as time goes on - I become less n' less interested. I literally trudge-on to do each task, simply because that's the better option than having yet another unfinished project in bits to continually pull me down. The importance (of pretty much anything) becomes less and less, until I get to the point where I pretty much don't care a jot (..or whatever word springs to mind) any more.  Too many times I have I considered an untimely and ignominious end to Katie ..just to get rid of her endless job list. 
Another month of the car not being on the road, so what's a day or two more to get this job off my list.?  
    
^ Moving on from where I left off, quality assurance picked up on my not having cleaned thoroughly into every corner.  Out with the toothbrush and washing up liquid to clean that out. After all fresh paint wouldn't stick to it.
 
^ Masking tape along the edges of the squabs and also over the white stitching, as I didn't want black painted finger marks over those.
You might also note the strange bum-shaped lighter patches on the front of this (driver's) squab. When I cleaned the seats it emphasised those. Around each of the 'ventilation' perforations the leather raised like little volcanoes. I took these down with 240-grit wet n' dry, so the face of the leather was flat, and in doing so it removed the grey paint to reveal a light fawn colour of the base leather .
  
^ The kit's product range, plus plastic tubs I provided, and leather binder and an alternative hue of black, which I ordered from Furniture Leather.  Despite being a Bfg I find oversized cloths and sponges (clean white cotton, a round sponge and a scouring pad) awkward to handle in detail - so I cut those down to a size I thought easier to handle.  The 1" thick sponge was round and so cutting a piece off it left me with a wedge shape for getting into the seat's creases and a flat for wiping the paint over a flattish surface.
First product to use (after the seats had been cleaned) is the Leather Prep, item 4. in the instructions provided ..which smells like cellulose thinners.  This spirit cleaner is applied to a cotton wool pad (also supplied with the kit) to hold the cleaning fluid with the scouring pad wrapped around it.  
 
^ The difference, seen above on the RHS of this squab, is to remove the sheen, ie. the paints original sealing coat and perhaps just a little top surface of paint. You can see on the scouring pad a light deposit. The leather feels a tad softer and my vitriol gloves found the exposed paint have very much more adhesion.  I might try that on my motorcycle's tyres some time !
I lightly rubbed the surface until the effect was apparent, and then wiped the excess (removed paint and any silicons or grime) with just the leather prep on the piece of cotton wool. I then did the same, to wipe further excess off, with leather prep used on a piece of clean cotton.
I've seen on YouTube where the person has cleaned almost all the paint off the leather's surface.  That would take a lot of effort and far more Leather Prep  than was supplied with this kit and so I opted not to follow suit.  I reasoned that ; if the paint already on the leather is good then why remove it ? ..just make sure there is a good key for the new paint.  I think the cleaning spirits and scouring pad do that well enough.  Well, I certainly hope so.!
 
^ Next up, item 5. was their Alcohol Cleaner, which I used on another clean piece of white cotton rag, just scrubbing what I could from the surfaces and out of the creases. Not much evidence of anything much coming off but its supposed to remove other oils and silicons from the leather to be treated.
 
^ bought in addition to the kit was this Leather Binder.  I telephoned the nice lady in their sale office to ask when in the re-colouring process I should use this, and she said at this stage (after the alcohol cleaner).  My reason, concern if you like, is from having seen leather seats with perforations split between perforations.  And as the one seat squab had the raised dimples and exposed leather, I wanted to give it a chance to standing up to my size of person sitting and swiveling around while get in and out of this small (for me) car.
Using another segment of the sponge supplied, I generously rubbed the binder fluid deep into the perforations, the stitched seams, and any other creases, before wiping off the excess. I did this three times, letting it dry inbetween times as I worked in rotation through the four squabs.   This was done last night before going to out local TSSC club meeting at the Sorrel Horse, and so by morning it was thoroughly dry and ready for the next stages.
However, the nice lady in the sales office also recommended I redo the Leather Prep stage after using the Binder had dried, so I did so.   It strikes me that the scouring pad and the clean white cotton (white I think so the cloth's colour doesn't run when applying spirit cleaners) are for surface wiping and cleaning, whereas use of the sponge is to get the binder, and later the paint, to penetrate deeply into the leather's grain and any perforation, crevice or crack.  So going over the surface again, I used the Leather Prep on clean white cotton rag, simply to remove the binder from the surface, so that the new paint to be applied has a good key. 
Once that had dried for an hour, to allow the spirit to evaporate away, it was time to move on with doing the scary part - re-colouring what were perfectly usable and attractive leather seats !

^ at this point you exasperate something to the effect of "oh deary me, that's not looking very good is it !  Perhaps it was a mistake in my trying to tackle this"  (..feel free to substitute your own words !! ).
The instructions say to apply "a thin coat of colour".  I might only imagine that what may be 'thin' to one person does not mean the same to the next.  I smoothed the streaks out as best I could but my heart was in my socks. 
Following instincts, rather than knowing what I was actually doing, the next and subsequent coating of the other squabs was progressively 'thicker' and more confidently applied.
  
^ sponging it on hard and fast ..as if rubbing butter into toast ..with a sponge..  around the edge-crease first and then applying the colour in downward strokes, before finishing off across-wise as evenly a sponged brush stroke covering as I might ..and in the meantime, wiping off heavier build ups, wherever I could not see through to a little grey.  In short, I applied the colour, as best I might judge, in coatings of 1/3rd the opaqueness required to cover the grey in three coats - the number suggested (despite the instructions not knowing from what colour I was trying to change, nor indeed to what colour I sought).  That worked very much better.
  
^ After the three coats the coverage was good but, as suggested in the instructions, there were still some streaks. These are to be covered by a coat of the same paint - to be sprayed on, with the model-maker's spray gun and aerosol propellant. . .
I'm feeling happier that these are not going to look so terrible after all, but then also a little anxious because I have not sprayed anything for years.
"In for a penny, in for a pound" as the expression goes . . .
  
^ My "spray booth" consisted of working in the poly-tunnel, to the gentle pattering sounds of rain showers.  I clamped a piece of timber vertically, in the B&D workmate, so as to prop the seat-part up, which of course could then be rotated 90 or 180 degrees ..as might seem easiest when spraying into the crevices of bulbous squabs.   ^^ The spray equipment supplied and my first and only practice shot (I was encouraged by the paint not coming out too fast nor in a splatter). 
Hey ho., it didn't start off very well at all. . . 

^ spraying a mist of black paint onto the same colour black surface isn't as easy as when one sprays over something a little different, and in this case I sprayed until I saw the sheen of wet paint.  While doing this,  the coil of plastic hose to the air gun, pulled and toppled the tall, thin aerosol canister of propellant over. No damage done ..except that freezing-cold spray then spurted out of the trigger's plunger. !  
It transpires (I learnt when I inadvertently managed to repeat the incident later on) that when the aerosol topples over as the trigger is being fired - the liquid propellant goes into the long tube ..and subsequently spurts ice all over the place.  And if you don't spray for long enough, at the piece of cardboard being used as a masking shield (..which saves having to mask / cover all the seat's bolsters) to clear this - then droplets of propellant, from said long coil of tube, land right in the middle of your painting.  
Two lessons learnt, 1. was not to apply nearly so much paint, in fact just spray enough to 'dust the surface' ..as you follow a systematic spray pattern over the squabs.  Then once that was done - rotate the squab (against its vertical prop) and do the same again.    And 2. was to clamp the aerosol canister down !  In my case I used the other end of the B&D workmate to hold the can upright.
With the first squab ..with splatters, I used a piece of clean white cotton to wipe the paint back off again, and then a hair drier to dry any residue.  ie., I started again.  Second attempt (light dusting and systematically following a spray pattern) I was successful - phew ! . . .
Note.. on two occasions while spraying, the amount of spray coming out noticeably diminished. This was the caused by the propellant in the canister or its nozzle freezing. I stopped spraying, propped the spray gun where it wouldn't topple over, and placed my hands around the canister for their warmth to unfreeze it.  It only took half a minute to do so, and then the spray pressure was restored.
 
   
^ Ok colourant is now evenly applied, no streaks or patches showing through, and no blotches of propellant, rain, nor dust either.  We're getting there.!
And now to seal the surface, and its new colour in.

^ Leather Finisher  in Gloss and in Matt. Both come with the kit and they may be used as they are or mixed.  So the range is described with percentage of each mixed together as Gloss 100%,  Semi-Gloss with 75% gloss and 25% matt, Satin at 50/50, Semi-matt as 25% gloss and 75% matt, or simply Matt @ 100%
A tiny and very difficult to read measuring cup is provided.  I went for the semi-matt finish, I mixed 10ml of gloss with 30ml of matt, and tried it on the painted seat squab, out of sight.   
I let that little sample of Leather Finisher  air dry.. to see the effect, and decided it'll do.  It looked a little too dull but I reasoned - I can always feed &/or polish the leather seats later if I want them more glossy, and of course clothes will tend to polish the leather as well, but if they're too glossy - how do I then dull them (evenly).?
These components are part of a water-based two-pack system, and so a tiny (15ml) bottle of activator (which they call 'crosslinker eco'  is supplied to be mixed in, at a 8:1 ratio (by volume with 1/8th activator ). 
Here I made two mistakes in reading the instructions it reads " for reference, add 15ml of Crosslinker to 125ml of Finisher".  My mind, then pre-empting the volumes ..that my poor old peepers could barely read on the measuring cup, absent mindedly thought I'd mixed 100ml of the two (gloss and matt) Finisher fluids, so I added, as best i could read, 12.5ml of the activator.  Only then did I realised that the spray gun's tiny bottle holds less than half this amount of fluid.  Without knowing how long the working time was, after the activator was mixed in, I filled the spray bottle up, and placed the remainder of the mix in the fridge (..yep I'm still single for some reason !) to slow its setting time.  I'd done this with 2-pack paint and it worked, so I had nothing to loose by trying it.
Of course, 10ml of gloss with 30ml of matt, add up to just 40ml of the Leather Finisher (gloss & matt fluids) and so I should have just added 1/8th of that volume.. 5ml of the activator.!  (..not 12.5ml ) Oops !   What was that word I used to describe myself ?  " You Twtt Pete ! "
Hey ho, I hadn't realised ..and so I didn't worry about it.  Until the following morning. And thankfully nothing untoward has since happened to the leather or paint.  Phew, again !!  . . . . .
 
Spraying the seats squabs with the Finisher was the same as applying the colourant, save now your spraying an almost colourless fluid onto a black surface.  Again I just dusted the surface with the spray, following the invisible but systematic spray pattern.  I turned the seat part over 180-degrees and did it again.  Put that aside and did the next piece.  
Once each were done, I again using a hair-dryer to speed the drying process up, and then repeated the same light spray until each squab had been coated for a second time. . .
 

^ With the masking tape carefully remove.. I was very close, but not quite there.
As you can see, because I was lazy in my masking, there's an over-spray edge showing on each bolster. That's fine, I removed the overspray with leather prep on clean cotton rag.
 
There were also spots where the masking tape into a corner crease prevented it from being painted. These were soon resolved by touching in the colourant with a fine paintbrush. 
     
^ And then again there was some restoration required of the bolsters.  (NB. it's colour looks very black in comparisons with those from today, because this photo was taken with the flash). 
So again a little cleaning, recolouring and sealing was required . . .

^ Better, and not bad for an old and worn seat off of e-bay.

^ Q.A. inspector has said "That'll do - move on"  
Thank you. It took me a whole day but I'm pleased with the result. And judging by other TR's I've seen with this model of seat, I think they'll look very smart and be much more supportive than the original TR4A ones.
I've bought a fresh tub of Connolly 'Hide Care', which is the product I used to revitalise the exceedingly dry leather of my old Jaguar's seats. I was very pleased with the results so plan to feed these seat too.  But I'll leave that for another weekend.
For the time being  another job off the list.
 
Very sorry for the long length of this post, but I hope it will be useful to anyone else who is 'anxious' about tackling such a task.
Pete.
 

On Saturday I popped out to the storage container to pick up the oil pump from the engine I'd started rebuilding last year.  I wanted to try the 'upgraded' spindle and rotor assembly bought new from Revington in Katie's  pump body ..to see if how much it was worn.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that the spindle was a little tighter in Katie's oil pump body than in the one from other engine   (..and that one I'd regard as 'good'). 
Having accepted (TR forum's) Peter W's very kind offer for a NOS spindle and rotor assembly, I hope they will be even better for the engine I started rebuilding with new bearings, bores, pistons, camshaft & new valves, guides, followers and springs, as well as the lightened flywheel and balancing.  Naturally with that sort of investment - I'll be glad to have the best possible pump I can fit.   BIG Thanks to Peter.
As for Katie's  well., Revington's spindle and rotor assembly are a good fit, well within tolerances and so with a little rework of the end cap faces, it ought to be a very good oil pump. . .
   
^ Work in progress, redresssing the top of the pump with emery paper, 240 grit to start with and then 1000 grit. You can see from screen in the first photo that the surface wasn't flat, but carefully dressing that down tightened the tolerances between the cap (similarly redressed to be flatter / smoother) ..so there's now less than my 0.001,5" feeler gauge tolerance between the outer rotor and the top level.  That same feeler gauge is a 'fair - good' fit between the spindle's inner rotor and a straight edge across the top face.  As far as I'm concerned one thousands of an inch (just enough for a film of oil under pressure) would be excellent, but this pump is now very good indeed. 
The pump's pick-up strainer needed just a minor repair . . .
  
^ around where the strainer gauze is soldered to the end of the pick-up pipe, the wire of the gauze had (most likely vibration) fatigued and broken.  Although I have little confidence in such a coarse gauze, I know that if I left it - it would just continue to get worse. It needed reinforcement (larger area of support) which came in the form of 1" off-cut from copper pipe (1/2" dia).  I cut and opened it up, reformed its curvature (around an appropriate size of socket) and drilled a hole (for plug welding to the original solder on the pick-up tube). After a thorough cleaning, with the wire brush, I tinned the parts to be joined. 
  
^ job done. reassembled onto the pump body, which in turn was refitted to the engine.   
Slowly but surely moving forward..  And I'm now both pleased with this pump and the prospect of an excellent one for the other engine.  I know it takes all sorts !

^ these thicker, larger diameter washers fit nicely between the pressed reinforcements. The bolts were cleaned, cut to length as required and a set of lock washers sorted ready for fitting. . .
 
^ I don't go crazy with the Welseal gasket cement, and I make sure it's wiped away from the inside (of engine) edge.  The dark-grey doughnut thing in the bottom of the sump is a magnet which now resides in there.  The cork gasket I made is a lovely fit,  and with 7mm holes the 5/16" set-screws just hang there ready for the sump to be offered up, even the four awkward to reach (short) ones across the back (because of the close proximity of the bell-housing) are ready in place.  Naturally the gasket cannot be knocked out of position as I refit the sump. You might note that just three screws are further in than the others. They're ready to index the sump with the holes in bottom of the crankcase. 

^ To refit, I simply used one hand to hold the sump up, and then with the other hand used a 1/2" with 1/4" drive socket on its screwdriver to get those first few screw's threads in.  Then with both hand free it, and all the screws together with their washers already in place - it was a doddle to screw the others up by hand. Once each had a few turns on their threads - I used the cordless drill, with the same socket, to evenly but loosely pinch them all up.

^ with the correct washer to locate the bottom end of the filter (to hold it straight in the canister).. refitting the oil filter was quick and easy.  Albeit care is still need to ensure the top of the filter goes cleanly onto its locating boss in the filter housing.
Getting there, but I'll not refill the engine oil until tomorrow.  The sump is on evenly but loosely for tonight, which gives the Welseal a chance to set before those screws are pinched up a little more. Although it would be nice to get on and finish the task, doing things this way helps avoid the gasket-sealant from being squeezed out. 
So that's (almost) about it. . .


Have a good evening,
Pete
 
 

Still waiting for a suitable time slot to get an MOT on this - but in the mean time, a small package arrived from the U.S. of A.

They're the right colour, and almost the correct size, so got some stuck in position. 



Should hopefully be back on the road in a week or so. 

V6
https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1449522

Sounds totally fucking fucked mate, big time. 

Sounds totally fucking fucked mate, big time. 

Sounds totally fucking fucked mate, big time. 

Sounds totally fucking fucked mate, big time. 

Sounds totally fucking fucked mate, big time. 

Sounds totally fucking fucked mate, big time. 

Sounds totally fucking fucked mate, big time. 

Sounds totally fucking fucked mate, big time. 

Sounds totally fucking fucked mate, big time. 

I could re-bush it in engineering shop here - it's worn in other places, and the acc pump is seized/ragged in place. Been soaking for 2 weeks now....

Welding is all done and the front struts were taken off this morning so I could paint inside the turrets.
Top coat it all tomorrow and fit the new suspension on the front.