Project The Austin 2dr 1100 story - Part IV - Now in sharleys hands

[SiC]

Hitting it with a mallet I can see it moving slightly. I thought it looked a bit like it has siezed on the studs?

 

Good to know that it's a common thing. I did wonder if the housing has ever been removed. As there is no temperature gauge on the dash, I wouldn't be surprised if the thermostat turns out to have been buggered for years.

[Guest Hooli]

Every BMC lump I've ever worked on has had that part seized to the studs.

[SiC]

I better put the pry bar away and avoid the temptation of sticking it in the housing then levering...

[Guest Hooli]

I have seen tools made up that are thin tubes that fit snuggly over the studs. The end is then sharpened with teeth & its used to cut the corrosion but pushing down & turning with it over the stud. Looked a faff but if you have a handy bit of tube it might work, needs to be thin so you don't try to cut the housing which would take forever.

 

I'd suggest getting the studs out, but chances are they'll snap.

[SiC]

Oh ffs.

 

Looking down here reminds me why I need to get this cover off. Far easier now than when in the car.

 

Right. This means war!

 

Let's give it some.

 

Giving it some more.

 

Thermostat out.

 

The remnants make a handy stud remover. I just whacked the remainder around with a hammer.

 

Done! Stud removal bonus.

 

Stuck the drill on the studs to remove the remaining ones.

 

One came out but the other refused to budge. I didn't want to try any more and bugger up the thread. I'll be in much bigger trouble then.

 

That concludes today's hitting stuff with a hammer.

 

I always wondered why the Mini thermostats often came with a replacement thermostat housing.

[purplebargeken]

Well, I guess that is one way of getting it off lol. Lob a nut onto the last stud and dab a blob of weld on it to secure the nut to the stud. The nut and heat might be the way forward to remove it without tears and anger.

[mrbenn]

Could also try putting two nuts on the stud, tightening them up to each other then undoing the lower nut.  If you're lucky, it'll undo the stud.

[SiC]

You know how sometimes you do something against your better judgement and you know it's not just going to end well?

 

It's then a massive delight when it does end up ok.

 

I cleaned up the thermostat with some carb cleaner. The whole point of me removing this thermostat body was to clean it out and replace the thermostat. However the thermostat doesn't look that bad. Not test yet, so no doubt will be buggered after this.

 

I drilled a 1.5mm hole in the ring to make bleeding a bit easier. Should be small enough that it shouldn't affect cooling.

 

Put some new studs, washers and housing on. The shiny new housing looks a bit out of place compared to the rest of the grubby block, but I didn't really have a lot of choice in this job.

 

Patted myself on the back for a job well done.

 

Then noticed this on the shelf...

 

FFS.

 

Let's repeat the job I've just done then.

[SiC]

Got fed up cleaning the tank up. This is how it was before paint.

 

I reckon that's the best I'm going to get it. Worried if I'm any more aggressive on the metal, especially rusty bits, I'm going to get holes in the tank.

 

Roughed the surface up with sandpaper and gave a coat of primer.

 

Currently painting Aldis finest enamel on to. I've decided I hate brush painting. I'm shit at it and it looks shit. I should have bought some rollers instead. A lot cheaper than spray cans though and this won't really be seen once back under the car anyway.

 

No pictures of it partially painted as yet as not finished and I'm hoping when I am, it'll look a bit less embarrassing than the dribbly, patchy and inconsistent mess it is now.

[SiC]

Oh yeah, I've forgotten the best bit! No pictures as I forgot to.

 

Took the Hydrolastic valve cap off and it's still completely dry! Yay! Means no more leaks through that valve and one big less faffy job.

 

As we've got the house on the market I decided to invest in a high quality car cover, as not everyone may see the beauty in this beast.

 

Actually looks presentable for the first time in years. Could be some super rare exotica under there! Or just a rare rusty worthless old banger.

 

Yeah like I said, it's a high quality cover. Only the best covers rip holes in them out of the packet right?

 

I was worried about the cover blowing around in the breeze and scratching the paintwork. Then I remembered it looks like this.

 

Might actually save me one job by sanding the paint down for me.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

I feel your pain at reassembling the 'stat housing, only to find the key component is still sat staring at you.

As for the cover, it looks better like that. It's got one of those faces only a mother could love, poor old girl.

[vulgalour]

Duct tape both sides on that tear and it'll be find for at least a couple of weeks.

[purplebargeken]

I've never, ever, ever done anything that silly in my life. Nope, not ever**************************.

 

Hahahahahaha.

[egg]

Just caught up on a month's work on this thread. Like the shitestang and Invacar this deserves a mention in the end of year awards* for sheer bloody perseverance. Particularly when you think how much work Vulg has done on this too!

[Squire_Dawson]

Did you lather all the studs with copper grease?

[SiC]

Yes! I used them as a mixing stick in the pot of copper grease.

[D Spares & Tyres]

 

on those rear brackets, I didn't actually touch either of them so that bolt must have been loose for quite some time. 

Catsinthewelder needs to change his user name to loose bolts, this is becoming a common theme...

[SiC]

Another job that wasn't on the list and didn't really need doing yet is the pedal box. Brake fluid dribbling on it over the years has taken the paint off and rusted it.

 

Especially visible to the right of it here where the master cylinders bolt on.

 

I reduced it to the component parts. The brake pedal isn't moving terribly freely, so I'll give the bush a good wipe and grease the shaft it sits on. Took quite a bit of hitting to get the bolt out that holds the pedals on. Years of dirt had gummed it in.

 

2 evenings worth of scraping cold, with paint stripper, abrasive wheel on the grinder and finally sanding has got the paint off. I wore a mask for it (except hand sanding) however I suspect it didn't fit properly as my snot is black+gunky and I have bit of a sore throat.

 

Cleaned down with kitchen roll and brake cleaner. Tomorrow I'll give it a few blast over with a rattle can. You won't see this bit once in, but at least it will look nice hidden!

 

Also could do with some new pedal rubbers. Anyone know if they're pretty common size to anything/everything BMC/BL?

[Noel Tidybeard]

mini pedal rubbers pre '76

[SiC]

Brilliant thanks. Shame they don't have the BL or BMC logo on.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

C'mon, this weather is a window of opportunity to get the shell stripped, blasted and in primer! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

plus I want to see the fucking great holes

[somewhatfoolish]

Rubbers with the Bathplug of Quality* should be a relative doddle to 3D print, there's a good range of rubbery polymers available now, especially with MorrisItal's funky drawing book scans on the Grin thread to provide the bathplug. Alternatively knocking up a mold for homebrewing with polyurethane should be within the realms of the not ridiculously hard.

[MorrisItalSLX]

I'm sure flying plughole rubbers can be made to fit, just trim the pedal to size.

[SiC]

Painted. Satisfying when things like this are done. Amazing how a bit of paint can make things look so much better.

 

Pulled apart the spare/upmarket dash clock too. Anyone know how I can quickly advance the milometer as I want it to match the existing one. I need to add another 12k miles on it to match the original.

 

Never seen in one of these, so quite interesting to pull it apart. Looks like the speedometer is done through inductance as the shaft spins quicker. Didn't know that, I always assumed it was some form of gearing.

 

It was a bit of a fight to get in as all the rubber and foam seals were knackered. No idea if they're still available either. I suspect so maybe?

[dozeydustman]

Connect the speedo cable to it and put the gearbox end in a drill. It will take a little while though, so maybe see what speed your drill does in MPH, divide the 12k by that, and you'll get the number of hours it'll take. 

 

Only worth doing if you can get it up to around 60mph, which will take 9 days if you ran the drill constantly.

[mrbenn]

On the Minor I was able to push each rotating tumbler in turn to the side and rotate it to show the digit required. I imagine the same would apply here.

[vulgalour]

The norm is to stick the end of a speedo cable into a drill and wind for a while.  12k, however, will probably kill your drill and your will to live with how long it'd take.  EDIT: beaten to it by Dozey.

[Mally]

On the Minor I was able to push each rotating tumbler in turn to the side and rotate it to show the digit required. I imagine the same would apply here.

 

I've also done that on a Minor.

[SiC]

I tried that but they wouldn't easily move over. Wouldn't be surprised if it's simple countermeasures to prevent clocking. Don't really want to pull it apart as I think there is a fair chance it won't go back together again. Or not count at all.

[richardthestag]

lucas speedo in the staaaaag the tumblers just move to one side and rotate to whatever number you need.

 

extra points if your write on the back of the speedo "oh no! not again"