FHC resto nr. 135; Brake pipes part 3

With the start of my Christmas holidays, I decided to continue where I left this job in mid-November: Bending more pipes. But first I had to collect the last missing pieces from the Shed (the fuel pipes). Luckily I knew where to start my search. What I didn’t know was that I had a full brake pipe set hidden there too. And these pipes turned out to be in far better condition than the set from the attic! So they were also taken home to act as template. Though they looked like a tangled mess on the drive!

With the templates sorted, it was time to get the next batch of pipes out for bending in their proper shape. To be precise the short fuel pipe between tank and back of right hand sill (PKC390), the brake pipe from the pressure reduction valve to the LH front strut (RKC1007) and the two pipes for the back axle (RKC1015 and RKC1036).

But as you can see they first needed a bit of straightening. For the shorter pipes that was fairly easy. Straighten them by hand as best as possible and roll them between two wooden planks. Same method was used for the longer pipes, though due to their length it’s not as easy as with the shorter ones. Took me about an hour to get them straight enough to start bending them.

With the pipes more or less straightened it was time to start bending them. Using the bending tool as a reference, all bends were marked on the template pipes.

After which these markings were copied to the new pipes, to enable positioning the bending tools in the correct place. Fairly straightforward, but rather time consuming.

But it is the only way to get a decent result! Though the eagle eyed will have spotted a fault in the picture above. Two of the male nipples fitted to the back axle’s pipes were too short. Actually the same happened while restoring the DHC over eleven years ago. But I had completely forgotten about it till yesterday!

Luckily C&C Parts, who are my preferred supplier for brake and clutch parts, are only a stone’s throw from where I live. So that was quickly rectified, and of course free of charge. And with the correct nipples fitted I was able to finish the first batch of brake pipes:

RKC1007

RKC1036

RKC1015

I have to admit that it was more time consuming than expected. I am clearly losing the hang of it 😵 But nevertheless rather pleased with the results so far.

Final job will be bending the three remaining pipes (fuel pipe along sill to engine bay and brake pipes from pressure reduction valve to RH front strut and back axle). Fitting them to the car might be postponed till the weather warms up a bit, as plastic clips are involved! And they have a tendency to break when they’re cold.

p.s. I forgot to take some pictures of the fuel pipe. So that will be for a future post …

Calendar Girls 2022

The cover:

My 3 registered TR7’s together in the shed for the first time

Time again for my traditional end of year post. As previous year, 2021 wasn’t a good year from a TR7 point of view. Not much work has been done on the ’76 car. And ‘t Kreng and the DHC both haven’t seen as much action as I would have liked. In total I covered only 1766 kilometres in my TR7’s so far, of which 1316 kilometres were covered with ‘t Kreng and only 450 kilometres with the DHC. At least I managed a few more kilometres with my TR7’s compared to last year. And maybe there’s an opportunity to take the DHC for a spin during the festive season, if time and weather allows! But I do hope 2022 will be a better year (famous last words).

At least one proper tour booked for 2022; Club Triumph’s 10 Countries Run. Actually booked is a bit of an understatement, as I’m part of the organising committee. Hopefully this event will go ahead in 2022. Time will tell! (here’s an impression of the 2019 edition)

But as last year my Defender again clocked up more than its usual annual mileage. Work again being the main culprit, including some wading action during the summer floods. And it was also used (again I should say) for a two week walking holiday in Süd Tirol.

Inspecting flood defences, Bergen (18-02-2021 NL)

Sewage pipe renewal, Hagendoorn Neer (18-06-2021 NL)

Placing part of a new sewage pumping station, Molenstraat Neer (22-06-2021 NL)

Trying to reach our sewage treatment plant in Roermond (16-07-2021 NL)

On top of the Timmelsjoch (10-09-2021 A/I)

Lovely sunrise on my way to one of the construction sites, Buggenum (28-10-2021 NL)

Finishing flood damage repairs, Ohé & Laak (17-12-2021 NL)

As last year these pictures didn’t make it to the calendar for 2022. But the few trips with my two road worthy TR7’s again didn’t supply enough pictures to fill this year’s calendar either. Luckily I was able to spend some quality time on various jobs on my TR7’s. This included a brief visitor to the shed that was donated by a friend and which I partially dismantled in the shed, before passing it on. This again resulted in a calendar which has a mix of a few touring pictures of the DHC and ‘t Kreng, supplemented with some pictures showing various jobs carried out on my TR7’s.

January:

Fitting the side/flasher lights to the ’76 car’s front bumper

February:

A Saturday afternoon in the shed, working on the ’76 car

March:

Dismantling the dashboard of the 1981 parts donor

April:

Swapping the back axle of one of my parts cars

May:

First tour of the year for ‘t Kreng,

Eikenbroeklaan Beesel (NL)

June:

Back in the shed after one of her few tours in 2021

July:

Second and so far last tour with the DHC,

Hillenraedt Castle Swalmen (NL)

August:

A few small jobs on the front brakes at a friend’s workshop

September:

Final tour for ‘t Kreng, the day after our “Nachtrit”

October:

Washing of the Nachtrit’s dirt at the local car wash

November:

Detail of the 1981 parts donor

December:

The shed

Seasonal greetings

2021 is quickly drawing to an end, and as previous year I am quite happy to turn my back on it. Welcome 2022! Hopefully it will be better than 2021. I know wishful thinking! But I nevertheless wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Glove-box-lock failure

During the final route check of our recent Nachtrit something inside the mechanism of the glove box lock broke. As a result of which the glove box lid couldn’t be opened anymore. The cause for the failure became clear immediately after I got the lid open. The back of the lock carrier was torn open.

This was most likely caused by the weight of the trip meter fitted to the lid for the past 20 odd years!

But it didn’t fully explain what really had failed. So time to dismantle the failed lock mechanism. It even took me a few seconds to work out what really was broken. Can you spot it?

The anoraks will have noticed by now that something’s missing from the rear of the turning knob/lock barrel carrier (bottom picture 2nd row left). The rear has been torn clean off (bottom picture top row 2nd from the right). And as such the cam at the end wouldn’t move anymore to operate the lock’s plastic latch. Now looking at alternatives to get the strain of the newly fitted lock. So to be continued.