FHC resto nr. 62; Heater rebuild Part 3

More small jobs over the past few weeks, this time heater specific. With all parts back from coating, I started with cleaning the parts that didn't need or were not fit for coating. Like the heater's wiring loom, which was cleaned, tested with the multi meter and given the OK;

The same applied for the heater's fan and motor assembly. A quick check with a 12 volt feed showed the motor to be running OK. And after an hour's worth of elbow grease it looked presentable again. Especially when compared to how it looked when it was removed from the heater. Almost a shame it'll be hidden from view deep inside the heater unit!

Next on the heater's to do list were the control levers. The mounting plate with which they are mounted to the heater was powder coated. But the two lever assemblies could only be cleaned up, as they can't be dismantled. And coating them would almost certainly render them useless. Luckily they'll be hidden from view once fitted to the heater and tucked away behind the centre console;

And finally I cleaned the flap assembly for the front screen demister and put new foam rubber padding to the two flaps. Time for another before and after picture!

Hopefully I'll be able to start on the reassembly of the heater soon!

FHC resto nr. 61; Various small jobs

Not only were all (I hope!) parts coated or galvanised over the previous months, I also received the refurbished or new brake and clutch parts back from local brake specialist C&C parts. I dropped of all hydraulic parts at their premises a few months ago, with the brief to overhaul or replace them. Whatever was the cheapest solution. Well the only thing they overhauled was the brake servo, as it turned out the internals were as new. All other parts were replaced by new items as it was cheaper to replace them. Some were NOS, like the brake master cylinder (they even found the correct brake fluid reservoir !);

Others were produced locally like the clutch master cylinder;

And as they take less space when fitted to the car, that is exactly what I did, together with the coolant's header tank;

Another item that got the same treatment (store it by bolting it to the car) was the refurbished fuel tank, together with newly powder coated tank straps and the galvanised and black passivated studs;

Also used some of my (current rare) spare time to finish the newly coated fresh air duct. The duct itself was powder coated, the clips were galvanised and black passivated, whereas the rubbers are a mix of second hand original ones from my spares collection (like YKC320);

Combined with locally sourced replacements;

And the final item for this post is the reassembly of the gear lever extension. With all parts cleaned and coated that was the proverbial piece of cake. But still rather rewarding and relaxing to do!

FHC resto nr. 60; Parts galvanising Part 2

Due to René's illness and untimely death there was no access to his house and thus the FHC over the past few months. Not that my mind was up to that! And of course there are all the parts I have stored there (including the '76 FHC itself), that will have to be moved to another storage as soon as possible. So that has first priority at the moment.

But there has been some progress on the '76 FHC, though it took some time before I got the motivation back a bit. Over the past months most of the smaller parts needed to start reassembling the car (plus a few spares!) were thrown together, for a good clean and shot blasting. About one thousand in all;

And after all the old paint and oily grime had been removed they were dropped of for zinc plating. As with the spring steel (containing) parts this batch was also dropped of at Glanszink in Kinrooi (Belgium) for zinc plating and (black) passivating. Dropped them of before the Christmas period. Sadly, for me that is, on the last day of the year that they were open for business. So I had to wait till last week to pick them up;

Overall looking rather nice, though due to the plating  process some parts aren't as black as they should be! And I can now start in earnest with the re-assembly of the car at last. Ones the car is moved to it is new home that is ...

R.I.P. René

It has been rather quiet on my blog including the work on my TR7's. And there has been a reason for that. René, a very dear friend and long time Triumph Dolomite enthusiast, died on the 30th of November 2017 at the age of 61. He died  from the Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. He will be sorely missed, but he will be remembered as a very kind, friendly and helpful person with a great sense of humour!

He had a love-hate relation with his Triumphs which started with a Triumph 1300 (his wedding car which burned more oil than fuel!) and evolved to the Dolomite 1850. Of these he owned and drove a few over the past 30 or so years, including one that covered 300.000 km in 10 years with only minor maintenance! Needless to say that the Triumphs were used mostly for daily duties! But they were also used for touring and holidays, including Club Triumph's 2014 RBRR, the 2015 Border Raiders and the CT's 2015 edition of the 10 Countries Run.

But most Triumph enthusiasts will remember him as the main organiser for the annual "Nachtrit" in late October/early November. An event which used to attract a few CT crews over the years and still attracts a fair number of classic car owners (mostly Triumphs).

As a result of René's illness I had to put a fair amount of extra time in the 29th edition of our annual night time rally which again took place on the last Saturday of October.

One thing's for sure, the 30th edition of the Nachtrit in 2018 will be dedicated to him!