FHC resto nr. 164; Trial fitting the carpets

Slowly preparing to get back to the ’76 car’s interior. As both the inner sill carpets of the custom carpet set were slightly to long, I decided to trial fit the carpet piece for the transmission tunnel. The carpet piece did fit, though a small alteration was necessary for the hand brake lever cut-out. But I also found out that the alloy extension for the throttle pedal was sitting to close to the transmission tunnel. As the pedal was rubbing the carpet, there was the risk that the pedal wouldn’t return completely when the throttle was released. Luckily there was some room for adjustment! Below two before and after pictures taken a few minutes apart. Spot the difference;

But while moving the pedal extension, I noticed a lot of light grey dust on the floor of the car. This turned out to come from the carpets backing material.

Not particularly impressed! Especially as the backing material for the floor mats that go over the foot-well carpets is made from the same material. Luckily the solution for this problem was fairly easy, a brush on rubber seal for flat roofing etc. But first I used a left over from one of the sill pieces to test it. And after drying for 24 hours it remained flexible, with good adhesion too. Mission accomplished.

But most importantly the dark sealant doesn’t shine through the light carpet material. And it will add an anti-slip layer to the back of the carpets, and maybe even a little extra sound proofing.

It's definitely leaking again

It’s already been well over a month ago since I pulled ‘t Kreng from the shed and enjoyed her on a short trip and parked her under the carport. This way it would be easier to do some routine checks and maintenance on the car. Though immediately after switching off the engine I lifted the bonnet to check for any leaks. And sure enough after a few seconds coolant started to leak down from what looked like the hole underneath the water pump.

Fast forward to today and I finally found some time for a proper check under the bonnet. And what I had feared turned out to be true. The level in the header tank had dropped considerable. Time for the next check, the connecting tube between inlet manifold and water pump cover. This turned out to be dry:

This couldn’t be said of the slot underneath the water pump. That was pretty moist. This left me with only one option to check it. Fill the header tank and see if it was still leaking.

And as you can see in the second picture it sure is. Will check tomorrow how much it is leaking over approximately 24 hours without pressure in the system.

But it looks like I have to bite the bullet at last and take out the water pump again after almost 17 years of service (not too bad for a rubbish design as some call it 😛) . A job I have so far successfully postponed since the summer of 2017, when the first drops appeared. And the fact I haven’t used the car as much as I would have liked certainly didn’t help here!

In preparation of the job of repairing or replacing the water pump, I spent some time in my parts store(s) to see what I have lying around for repairs. And it looks like I have all the necessary parts in stock! Even found a set of stainless steel bolts for the inlet manifold and thermostat housing, to reduce galvanic corrosion.

Edited on the 12^th of May 2024: I did another check of the coolant level this evening. And after well over 30 hours the level in the header tank has dropped. But only marginally. And all the coolant that leaked from the pump wasn’t enough to escape from a single folded tissue paper stuffed in the slot …

Maybe it’s time for my proven leak repair solution! Drive the car more and see if that (again I should say) solves the problem. As it might well be that due to its long period of inactivity some corrosion started on the sealing surface of the impeller. And some use could get rid of the corrosion. Hopefully soon to be continued!

FHC resto nr. 163; Spreading the load

Or strengthening the rear of the armrest. With the facia switch panel back to its former glory, it was time to switch my attention to the rear of the interior. The Armrest to be precise. For those who have owned or worked on a TR7 that has had a hard life (read careless or incompetent owners) will know that the armrest mounting points can suffer. And all armrests in my spares collection had suffered! Luckily there was one item with only minor damage. But better safe than sorry. So I decided to fabricate a few small steel plates to go over the affected areas. The idea behind it being, that by spreading the load over a larger area, the mounting points will be more stable and further damage will be prevented.

The first stage of the job at hand was measuring the dimensions of the affected areas and putting them in a digital format.

This was than printed out in full size on paper, cut out and glued to some left over 1.30mm thick steel pieces (see picture above), to act as pattern for cutting and drilling. This gave me these three pieces (see pictures below). The first picture was taken after cutting the pieces from the steel left overs, with the remains of the pattern paper still in place. The bottom picture was taken after the paper and glue was burned away with a gas torch and the edges were finished with a grinding wheel.

And in their designed position, after adding a bit of black paint from a rattle can:

Trial fitting the two plates to strengthen the mounting points to the rear bulkhead.
One plate needs to be flipped through 180° in the picture above,
when the arm rest will be fitted to the car.

And the strengthening plate for the mounting area

where the arm rest lid is fitted to the cubby box.

FHC resto nr. 162; Facia switch panel finished

I left this part of the car’s restoration a few days ago with an illumination strip that needed some of the lettering filled in with paint. And after the enamel paint had hardened, the excess paint could be gently scraped off with a surgical knife. With the final job being polishing the visible transparent illumination strip. For this I used another proven method; gently rubbing toothpaste over the surface to give a smooth and clear finish.

And this brought me to the final part of this job; assembling the facia switch panel, using all previously prepared parts including the front panel refurbished well over a month ago. When it was changed from light grey to black.

The actual assembly was rather straightforward, with the most “difficult” part being the application of the black tape that is used to prevent light leaking from the bottom edge of the illumination strip. But within only a few minutes after starting the re-assembly the switch panel was finished. So to end this short post a few pictures of the finished switch panel:

Next planned job for the '76 car will be fabricating something completely different and pretty small! Oh ... and there might be an issue with ‘t Kreng’s coolant system (a leak!?)

FHC resto nr. 161; Facia switch panel

The connector blocks of the four dashboard switches.

As they will be fitted to the car from left to right;

the light switch (TKC3963), heated rear screen switch (TKC3965),

fog light switch (TKC3964) and hazard light switch (TKC3962)

Almost finished the dashboard switch panel. In my last post I got as far as dismantling the switches and making a start on cleaning and refurbishing them. Today I managed to finish the switches. First job being cleaning the connector blocks.

At first I thought it would suffice to polish the contacts with a fine sanding brush on my Dremel drill. But there was to much grease on them. So the connector blocks also got my standard cleaning treatment (hot soapy water and brush) to get rid of the grease residues. After which the various contacts could be properly polished.

Light switch (TKC3963)

Heated rear screen switch (TKC3965).

Now with matching purple lens!

Fog light switch (TKC3964)

Hazard light switch (TKC3962)

After which the various contacts were lightly greased were necessary, using various types of traditional switch gear greases depending on function. So Vaseline for protecting the surfaces from corrosion and high temperature non-conductive grease to lubricate the toggle pins and springs. This turned out to be more time consuming than expected. But eventually all switches were reassembled and could be fitted to the mounting plate.

Final job should have been fitting the illumination strip and the facia panel. But after cleaning the illumination strip, I noticed that the paint on some of the lettering had come of and needed filling in. Luckily I still have some fine paint brushes and white enamal paint. Now waiting for the paint dry, after which the excess paint can be polished off and the switch panel can be finished.