Not quite there yet.....

So, we're back from Disney. The kids had fun, but I've had enough of the crowds and the running around!

As soon as I was back, I convinced my wife to dive into the braked with me and bleed them. Unfortunately, I had a continual stream of bubbles in the system. This happened with the rear brakes and the front brakes as well. I dropped it off the stands, but the brakes were terribly soft. At that point it was time to figure out the cause of the bubbles.

I checked all the connections and found none loose. However, there was a little brake fluid under the PDWA. Not a good sign. I tightened the connections and wiped up the mess. Afterwards, I decided to check the bleed valves and the passenger side front valve stripped!!!! All of a sudden, I had fluid pouring out on the floor. In a moment of creativity, I plugged the bleed kit on it and just let it run.

After that, I called it a night.

The next morning, I came out and sure enough, the system emptied itself into the bleed canister. I did some research and found that the bleed screw for my car (16PB calipers) is a M10x1.0 bleed screw. I also found them available at Autozone, so this morning I picked one up. Its a good fit, and the caliper does not seem to be terribly stripped.

Next up, I topped up the resevoir and promply found more fluid under the PDWA. The source was in fact the PDWA itself. The seals on the piston have apparently given up. I don't have a PDWA repair kit, so I plugged the PDWA. This is an ok way of handling the problem in the short term (the brake warning light did not work anyway), but I will order a kit in my next parts order.

Hopefully, tomorrow, I'll get my wife back in the garage for a bit and get the brakes bled and my '73 back on the road!

Nearing Back On The Road

So, its nearly back on the road. Just one final step and she's ready to go.

So here is my list...

Rear drum brakes - stripped, repainted, new wheel cylinders
Rear Trailing Arms - Helicoils in all studs
Front Brakes - Stripped and Painted Calipers, new brake pads
Master Cylinder - Stripped, repainted, rebuilt
Wheels - Wheels and Centers stripped and repainted
PVDA - Stripped, polished and clearcoated
Steering Shaft - Stripped and Repainted

All that is left now is to bleed the brakes and she's back up and running.

More of the Good, Bad and Ugly

So there is good news in this story.... (see earlier post for the story)

The good news is that there is nothing wrong with the threads in the trailing arm. Not stripped, not even worn out. Everything threaded back together nicely.

However, I've decided to put steel inserts in the trailing arm to reinforce the holes. I did the driver's side years ago, and now its time to do the passenger side. To make the job easier, I'll be using the jig from Patton Machine. Sixpack member Poolboy offered to ship it to me to let me use it. Should make the job easier than when I did the driver's side.

I'm now waiting for the parts to install the wheel cylinders (one set was completely missing) so I'm going to pull a few other things off the car and work them over to get them right.

In the meantime, I've painted up the drums, stripped and painted the backing plates for the brakes, and have most of the car ready to go back together.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Again!

I've been thinking for some time now that the rear hubs in my car were coming apart or at least seriously worn out. This is something that happens with TR6's and definitely with 40year old TR6's, of which they all are... The car had been wobbling in the back end when I'd go over any crown in the road. As I mentioned, the back end was wobbling.

The bad news is that I replaced the hubs approximately ten thousand miles ago. They should not be bad by now.

So, the other day, the car began to clunk when going over bumps. I knew the sound was the sound of loose mounting bolts holding the lever shock in place on the right trailing arm.

I pulled the wheel off to tighten up the mounting bolt, but found that the wheel was wobbling terribly. A very serious flopping...

So after tightening up the lever shock, I grabbed the drum and wiggled it. However when I did, the backplate wiggled with it..... Yikes. I decided to pop the drum off and put a wrench on the nuts/studs that hold the hub in the trailing arm - and as the drum came off, something fell out of it. Definitely an ugly sign.

I checked and quickly found the hole the stud came out of. I tried to insert the stud, and there was nothing to bite on - Uglier yet.

The good however was/is that the rest were just loose. I tightened up each of the remaining studs and the hub was then completely tightened up. Not perfect, but still significantly tighter than before and perfectly usable.

So now, its time to get my hands on some helicoils and fix the trailing arm. I thought I had done them all years ago, but apparently not all of them.

Cool It!!!!!!

When I rebuilt my '73 back in 1990, we went back original with pretty much everything. We even went back with the fiberboard radiator shroud that the car had when new.

Unfortunately, just like the original, water damage from daily driving destroyed, warped, wore the fiberboard construction of the replacement shroud we put back in. It lasted probably 6 years and then I removed it. No radiator shroud since.

After seeing all the good looking shrouds in forum posters' cars, I really wanted to put one back in there. I looked all over for fiberboard and other appropriate materials, and then while drooling over Francois' shroud that he used to manufacture, I thought I saw that it was made from corrugated/fluted plastic sheet, with his gorgeous stainless shield on top. (still not sure I saw that right).

The common name in the US for that product is Coroplast. Its what you usually see in realty and election signs. Most are done in white, but it comes in a full range of colors. I know its tough too - many of my flying friends used to make radio controlled combat aircraft out of it and 'destroy' the competition with their planes.

I figured I oughtta give some a try, and by chance the plant I run shares a roof with the local Coroplast distributor. Ended up that I was able to get an 8x4 sheet of the stuff for $12.50. That sheet will make about 6 shrouds by the look of it.

With a ruler and a vague memory of what the original shroud looked like, I set to work. I first measured the 'top' of the area where the shroud would go. After cutting the top, I was able to cut a piece for each side, and after 5 mins of trial and error, I had a workable part.

For this first one, and since I have so much extra, I decided to give it a try with some tape to hold it together and to see if I have the fluting going the best direction. I may try another with the top fluted in a different direction.

I also need to come up with a way to join the top and sides, so will likely use some thin L bend aluminum and rivets/washers to hold it together. Polish the aluminum and it should look really good.

Like I said, this is just the first effort. The next one should look much better. When I get my final version done, I plan to use some of the graphics from the site Bobby D put up the link to and have my local sign guy knock something out in chrome for the top.

On another note, I've done a ton of work on the car in the past few days, but it has only involved about $10 worth of parts!!!

What on earth could result in that much work from such a small dollar amount? Grommets and Bulbs.

Grommets are generally cheap, but they make a huge difference in the appearance of the car. Even bigger yet, they keep the interior fume free! With the goal of eliminating the fumes in the car, I've replaced almost all the grommets in the firewall, and now the grommets in the kick plate/parcel shelf as well. Hopefully that will help with the smell.

As for the bulbs, my instruments were a bit dim, just a bit hard to see when the sun went down, so I decided to replace as many as I could while I had a few things out of the way to give access. Its not dark yet, but so far, they do look a bit brighter. Should be a big improvement!

Devil Is In The Details

As the title, the Devil is in the details! Its the little things that make all the difference.

A little shiny paint is a big attractor. It makes your car look good, but if you paint all the wiring grommets and the wiring harness, it begins to look like crap. Small parts that are dirty and chipped look terrible. And a large group of small chipped parts looks like a large chipped, rusty mess.

So for a couple months now, I've been pulling off at least two parts a week and reworking the. Strip them, prime them and repaint them. Get them all right, and over time, the engine bay begins to look great. Same for the rest of the car.

Here are some of the parts I painted up this weekend.

The parts are starting to add up, and as a result the engine bay is really starting to look good!

University Motors - John Twist

Great video from University Motors - John Twist. John takes on a testy TR6 and brings it back up to tune.