Dicky’s Disastrous Debris - a WEDGE joins the fleet 4/8/24

[somewhatfoolish]

AD did say he intended to have flashing orange bulbs in the sidelights.

[ETCHY]

As much as I like trafficators (they are cool), I do rather like period conversions to flashing indicators. They were done to keep the car usable as it aged & (IMO) they just add to a cars history.

It's the kind of mod' somebody stuck on when it was just an old car & they wanted to keep it going. A lot of the classic car brigade get all bent out of shape over a flashing plastic indicator on an old car but if done years ago I think it adds charm (yeah i'm weird )

 

[Rusty_Rocket]

It needs proper indicators imo. Why would you trust the average zombie driver to notice the tiny and hopeless trafficators? Asking to be crashed into. 

I recently fitted a really decent modern LED setup that flashed the sidelights orange when you indicated and then reverted back to solid red or white sidelights. It was a kit from bettercarlighting.co.uk or something similar. This was on a 1950s Bentley R and made it much safer. I think they do positive earth kits too (but I'd still recommend a conversion to neg earth...) 

Ps- the whole conversion was totally invisible - highly recommended! 

[vulgalour]

Look at you with your opening quarterlights and rear window blind.  My car doesn't have those things because it's modern and forward looking.

[Angrydicky]

I'm still in two minds over them. The kind of mileage it's going to be doing, I could get away with just having the trafficators. It's more to do with that I don't like the indicators when they've drilled holes in the bodywork to fit them, like here.

But yeah, they have been on there for most of its life, and they're all there, I could probably get them working with a good clean up and some new bulbs, I dunno really.

I've got a long time to think about flashers before it hits the road!

[Noel Tidybeard]

5 hours ago, beko1987 said:

+2 on paint but wear some of @captain_70s clothes as you do (don't get paint on and take a photo on a 1980s camera but with modern cars visible and cause future confusion within the service history by slipping it in somewhere

Could probably hide some filler here and there more easily too, then level it off with a yard brush for the patina before you paint it

A nice striking red? 

RED!🙄 wash your mouth out! this car comes from a time when everthing was still in back & white!🤣

[Noel Tidybeard]

34 minutes ago, Angrydicky said:

I'm still in two minds over them. The kind of mileage it's going to be doing, I could get away with just having the trafficators. It's more to do with that I don't like the indicators when they've drilled holes in the bodywork to fit them, like here.

But yeah, they have been on there for most of its life, and they're all there, I could probably get them working with a good clean up and some new bulbs, I dunno really.

I've got a long time to think about flashers before it hits the road!

period drilled indicators are far moar preferable to *shudder* motorcycle unit attatched to the bumpers 🤮

[Angrydicky]

13 minutes ago, Noel Tidybeard said:

period drilled indicators are far moar preferable to *shudder* motorcycle unit attatched to the bumpers 🤮

What, like the ones on my Somerset you mean?

😄

[Angrydicky]

8 hours ago, 406V6 said:

the semaphores. From a safety point of view I’d politely question the wisdom of this. Nobody on today’s roads will be looking for a semaphore and I’d hate this lovely old car to get hit by an impatient Audi or BMW driver when you’re about to attempt a manoevure. Then there’s you, the driver, without a seat belt liable to be thrown all over the place if the car gets hit. On Autoshite we care.

 

I was thinking about a neater, hidden or removable flasher installation actually. And if you look through the photos you'll see there are seat belts fitted.

[plasticvandan]

I've seen conversion bulbs that flash to go in trafficators,might be a compromise?

[vulgalour]

Aren't those front indicators using the original sidelight holes?  You could probably revert to those and with modern LED tech, install some clear/amber dual function bulbs in them then.  Original looks, modern functionality.  Rich over on the blue recommended this to me as a solution for the Lanchester and is the route I'll be taking with that.  That combined with PVD's suggestion above makes for maximum visibility within the limits of original appearance.

[jonathan_dyane]

It’s a difficult equation. My Javelin has been converted to flashers using BMC combined front indicator and sidelamps and VW rear lights. I don’t particularly like the look of the VW rear lights but it was a popular period modification and fits over the existing holes in the rear wings for the original stop and tails.

On balance I’ll probably leave the modification partly because it’s already there and safer and partly because my trafficators have been lost and I suspect replacements would be prohibitively expensive. Had they still remained it would have been more of a dilemma.

[Angrydicky]

Nice weather today. Spent most of the morning fighting to remove the seized throttle linkage from the bulkhead.

Its only two nuts and bolts and two bolts that hold it on, trouble is that due to the angle of the accelerator pedal, and the tiny slot in the bulkhead for it to go through, it was clear that the whole linkage would have to be rotated upwards 90 degrees to stand any chance of getting it out. And even then I wasn’t sure if it was going to clear the steering column. It was obviously one of the first things Austin fitted to the body, almost certainly before it was dropped onto the chassis and running gear, and I’ve never had to remove one before.

To rotate the throttle linkage the required 90 degrees, lots of things had to be removed:

The main feed cable from the starter solenoid, the oil feed pipe to the gauge, both heater hoses, the handbrake cable, the coil, the wires to the headlight dip switch, basically everything that ran over the linkage.

The dip switch wires were particularly difficult to remove. The screws were too close to the bulkhead to get a screwdriver onto them, knowing how rusty they were. The only option was to remove the two screws holding the dip switch on, and push it into the cabin and tackle the three screws holding the terminals on once I’d got it hanging in the footwell where there was more space to work. However, as water had been running down the bulkhead for years, all over the dipswitch, both securing screws were extremely rusty. It took loads of penetrating oil and every trick I know to get the bastard things moving. Due to limited access by the side of the engine, it took probably 40 mins to get just this switch off and disconnected.

I don’t know if it works as I haven’t been able to test the lights yet, but surprisingly enough it isn’t seized, but I might as well strip and clean it while it’s out.

Both clips on the heater hoses were really rusty, I had to break one to get it off but the other I eventually managed to undo. Some very old, stagnant water which had been in the heater matrix dribbled out. The radiator appears to have been drained down. I think it’s actually a recon, and the fact the heater matrix was holding water must be a good sign.

You can see the linkage down there where it runs behind the engine.

Eventually, success! It just fitted.

You see that little aluminium bracket with the two holes? That’s fixed to the bulkhead and the steel tube is supposed to turn inside it. Not this one, it’s rusted solid. Going to take it into work where there’s better equipment and we should be able to free it off.

I’m still fighting to access the seized light switch, choke cable and instruments. They are hidden behind this dashboard facia panel, which is held in place by two screws, and six ultra fragile and unobtanium knobs. The knobs have little spring loaded plungers underneath you are supposed to depress with a small screwdriver or something. I’ve managed to get all of them moving but despite regularly blasting them with penetrating oil, I’ve only managed to get two of them to shift. The rest currently don’t want to know.

I don’t really want to wade in with tools as I’m liable to break the knobs, that really would be a last resort. I’ve sprayed a bit more penetrating oil on them and I’ll let it soak in for another week.

[somewhatfoolish]

Maybe try very gentle heating with a hairdryer?

[vulgalour]

Good luck with the knobs, I don't envy you that task.  Your dashboard seems familiar...

 

 

[Angrydicky]

10 hours ago, somewhatfoolish said:

Maybe try very gentle heating with a hairdryer?

That’s a good idea. I don’t own one, I don’t have the hair for it but I’ll see if I can borrow one!

[eddyramrod]

Just go to Tesco or Asda, they're bound to have a cheap one available!

[somewhatfoolish]

18 minutes ago, Angrydicky said:

That’s a good idea. I don’t own one, I don’t have the hair for it but I’ll see if I can borrow one!

Along the same lines, when googling about Iverine it said one means of identifying it was to warm it with warm water(30-40C) and it releases a camphor smell(because it contains camphor); although having expended effort drying the car out you may not want to start pouring water everywhere.

[RoadworkUK]

Only just catching up with this thread; this kind of miraculous resurrection is pretty fitting on Easter Monday, Autoshite being my church and all that. Warm sentiments of congratulation and support from this callsign.

[2flags]

That interior is a thing of beauty. It must be such a nice place to sit. Has your Somerset got the same interior? Best of luck with the dash switches. Thinking of applying heat, what about a cloth soaked in hot water? It is just the heat you want, so you can wring a lot of the water out? 

[Angrydicky]

I’ve been thinking about the paintwork and the more I think about it, the more I think coach paint is a really good idea. I’ve never hand painted a car before and don’t want it to look totally shit and full of brush marks. I’d be tempted to do just the bonnet, roof and the worst of the rusty bits. I guess, clean the surface rust back to bare metal, zinc primer, then paint over the top of that?

I really like patinated cars but when’s you get to the stage of having great big patches of surface rust where the paint has fallen off, it’s maybe gone just that little bit too far.

Does anyone have any objections to this plan? I’d hate to upset @barrettand the oily rag society!

[barrett]

I think 'honest' repairs, with no attempt to hide them, are perfectly acceptable. That bonnet would look much better with fresh paint tbh, but if you can save as much of the old paint as possible even better. You should do some research when the time comes - there are ways to give new paint a much flatter look by mixing it with cutting compounds (?? I think) and then not polishing it to a true shine, but I guess it depends how well the old paint comes up , and then try your best to match that?

I'd say this one was 'beyond Oily Rag' tbh, and I know you're not going to re-trim it in vinyl or anything so I reckon you're alright to crack on with the paint when the time comes

[Mr Pastry]

3 minutes ago, Angrydicky said:

I’ve been thinking about the paintwork and the more I think about it, the more I think coach paint is a really good idea. I’ve never hand painted a car before and don’t want it to look totally shit and full of brush marks. I’d be tempted to do just the bonnet, roof and the worst of the rusty bits. I guess, clean the surface rust back to bare metal, zinc primer, then paint over the top of that?

I really like patinated cars but when’s you get to the stage of having great big patches of surface rust where the paint has fallen off, it’s maybe gone just that little bit too far.

Does anyone have any objections to this plan? I’d hate to upset @barrettand the oily rag society!

You can get very good results with coach paint.  If you thin the paint so that it flows well, and brush it out properly, there will not be any brush marks or runs, and you can get a superb finish.  For this reason you must prep the job properly, much as you would when spraying - filler, undercoat, flatting and masking.  Otherwise all the blemishes will show through.  It is quite a slow process and you need reasonably warm and dust-free conditions,  I have coach painted a couple of cars and was pleased with the results, but both times I wished I had spent a bit more time on the preparation.  

[junkyarddog]

https://www.craftmasterpaints.co.uk/products/coach-enamel/

I think coach painting this is the way to go,it would look very authentic and cared for.

[puddlethumper]

If you do brush paint it be sure to get some good brushes. I would recommend Hamilton Perfection pure horsehair ones. A 50p chinese pig hair brush is guaranteed to make it look shit.

[barrett]

You're not far away from Craftmaster Paints are you? I'd pop over and speak to Adam there, who can supply everything you need. A nice guy who really knows his stuff, although it's not particularly cheap. We did all the Palladium chassis in Craftmaster coach paint and it's come up lovely

[captain_70s]

I'd deffo advocate painting it purely as so much original paint is missing and flaking off in chunks that there is little left to preserve, matching new paint to old will be a major pain and the remaining old paint is going to be doing a poor job of actually protecting the metal underneath.

I believe @sdkrcis having a similar issue with the sun baked Galaxie where patina that'd last 40 years in Arizona will last 5 years exposed to UK weather and start compromising the metalwork.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

1 hour ago, puddlethumper said:

.... A 50p chinese pig hair brush is guaranteed to make it look shit.

Those are just about alright for applying solvent or soldering flux....

[vulgalour]

Best candidate for learning on has got to be that rotten wing you've got a replacement for.  You'll be familiar with the shapes etc. and how the paint behaves on it.  In my limited experience, black is certainly the most forgiving of the coach paint colours, for some reason it just seems to level out and behave more like a nice oil based paint than any of the other colours.  Buying the absolute best quality tools and paints you can and spending a lot of time on prep is the key to a good result.  The cheaper you go with paints and brushes, the more labour you have to spend to get good results.  Don't worry too much about brush strokes either, one of the beauties of coach paints is you can flat them back and polish them to get rid of imperfections without worrying about it.  Red oxide primer is usually best under black too, it gives you an instant visual indicator if the black is too thin and it seems to make the black look richer than over grey.

[juular]

Following with interest as I am seriously considering handpainting my Volvo, much as it might trigger every purist in the land.

The good jobs I've seen have been far superior to the average spray and the depth of colour has been stunning.