DHC report nr. 96; More checks and front screen

Carried out more checks today. Turns out that the centre console lights safe one have decided to go on strike. At least that’s no MOT failure. So something for next week or so.

Next on the to do list was re-filling all remaining fluids. The back axle was easy, but the gearbox wasn’t. I have the impression that this exhaust manifold runs slightly different, because access to the ’box’s filler plug is pretty awkward indeed. I’ve made a mental note to make an inspection opening in the transmission tunnel of ‘t Kreng when I start on that cars body. After that I filled up the cooling system. Only interesting thing there was that I needed 8,5 litres of coolant to fill the system compared to 7,5 litres for the original system. Clearly the capacity of the alloy radiator is much bigger than the standard one, definitely an added bonus.

And last but not least, I put 5 litres of fuel in the tank. After which it was time to start up the engine, at least I tried to. As there wasn’t a hint of combustion I presumed that there wasn’t any fuel getting to the carburettors. Probably that 5 litres isn’t enough to prime the fuel pump. At least I could see that the low-fuel warning light worked. So of to the local filling station with a few cans to get some more fuel. And with that in the tank the low-fuel warning light switched of, and after a few turns the engine spluttered into life!

I let it idle for some 20 minutes to see what happened, not much really. Temperature was fine, coming up the scale and remaining in one position ones on temperature. But it will need a bit of fine tuning.

With the engine on temperature the last thing to do was change the oil and the filter. As the engine had been standing some 16 months I thought it better to start her up on the old oil to wash out any stuff that had come into it while in storage and put new oil in after that.

And before I put the car back on its wheels I checked for leaks, which I found, but only one. The front of the rocker cover. Due to the temperature and the oil the new cork seal had softened as a result of which it didn’t seal properly. Easily sorted by tightening the nuts and bolts a bit.

This evening we tackled the last major job, fitting the front screen. Last time we did one in a TR7 was on ‘t Kreng in 1996. The process was still the same only the materials and tools have evolved a bit over the years. I decided to use one of my top spare parts, in this case a brand new, original Triplex screen I have had lying for many years now ...

First it had to be cleaned a bit ...

After which the screen’s edge was treated with a black primer ...

And the wind screen surround with a transparent primer (not very visible) ...

After that the sealant was applied to the front screen ...

And the screen was fitted to the car (note the spacers along the lower edge to centre the screen)  ...

I was a bit too quick here as a result of which I will have to live with a bit of visible sealant for the next few years. With the front screen positioned correctly last thing to do was fit the front screen finisher. Note the cardboard wedges at the bottom of the trim pieces ...

A day well spent!