DHC repairs #6: So it begins!

It is 2 years, 5 months and 4 days today since the accident with the DHC on the Passo di Valparola in Northern Italy. And I am pleased to announce that the repairs have finally started (sort of). Time for another episode in this car’s 45 years of life. Which meant the car’s original bodyshell saw the light of day for the first time in almost 18½ years!

For the first stage of the car’s revival, the body shell was dropped off today at a local company (Giessen BV in Heerlen). First job to be carried out will be paint stripping. After that all rusty areas will be lightly shot blasted to remove all structural corrosion.

Original plan was to have the paint stripped chemically. But after inspecting the body at Giessen they deemed it better to remove the paint and bituminous underbody protection by pyrolysis instead of chemicals. The most important reason for this is that the chemicals are not very effective in removing bituminous underbody protection. A problem that does not occur with pyrolysis. So we decided on that option.

And if all goes according to plan, this part of the work should be ready by mid-March (the carnival season is intervening here!). After which the body shell will be dropped off at a friend’s place for the body repairs and a few slight adaptations.

FHC resto nr. 168; A few small jobs

Over the weekend I spent some time in the shed. Mostly to do some work in preparation for the repairs of the DHC (more on that later). And in between I carried out a few small jobs for the ’76 car. Starting with the gear lever gaiter. This was refurbished over 10 years ago, but it was still missing the top finisher. This part was 3D printed already 4 years ago but I never got round to fit it. But that is sorted at last!

The next job was to trial fit a new reverse light switch. As the original items have the wires fixed permanently they are becoming prone to failure with age. This is caused by the aging wires breaking of where they are soldered to the switch. And the original switches are no longer available. So I went in search of an alternative, which I found in the parts list for LT77 equipped Land Rovers (part number PRC2911G). And as you can see it is a perfect fit. Now I only have to fabricate a short loom with two spade connectors on one end and a two pin super seal connector on the other end. Spot the difference!

It looks like old oil and grime is coming to the surface of the alloy casting!

And final job should have been fitting the mounting tube and bearing carrier for the steering column. But an inspection before started work revealed some serious distortions of the mounting tubes for the column switches’ shroud. Probably caused by excessive temperatures during the paint removal process (pyrolysis). So another job that is added to the to do list (cleaning and painting the sourced item from the shed.

FHC resto nr. 167; Steering column

Finished another small job today, the steering column to be precise. Actually this job started in the summer of 2017 when the parts from the column (together with lots of others) were sent of for coating. In this case e-coating for the two parts of the column itself and zinc plating and (black) passivating for the other parts of the column.

Time to search together all the necessary (coated) parts and assemble the column. Here the biggest problem was remembering where I had stored them. But in the end all were found in various locations. A few hours wasted there again I dare say!

And with the handful of parts back home in the garage the assembly of the column was pretty straight forward. Though putting the two pieces of the column together did need some persuasion with a light copper hammer. After which fitting the two clamps was easy. I even remembered to use the correct torque figures for the allen head clamp screw (20 Nm) and the lock nut (50 Nm).

And maybe you are wondering why the teaser picture at the top of this post? Well that picture is hiding something that is about to happen in the next few weeks if all goes well!

FHC resto nr. 166; Interior light

Or small steps at a time, to get the ’76 car finished! Several years ago I spent some time cleaning this early roof mounted interior light, which I found among my spare parts. This was removed from a parts car a friend broke in 2016. The light corrosion on the metal parts is clearly visible in the pictures below

Fast forward to September 2020 and I found some time to clean the light properly. For this I used the same method as for cleaning the connectors of the various wiring harnesses. Which meant immersing the armature in a solution of rock salt, dissolved in hot water and cleaning vinegar. After leaving it in this solution for 15 minutes it was rinsed of with clean water and dried. Final job was getting rid of any remaining oxidation with an assortment of small wire brushes.

The cover was cleaned using hot water and liquid dish soap. With a final polish with tooth paste and an old electric tooth brush. And as a finishing touch I painted the outside silver, using a Tamiya paint marker.

And while I was in the shed today, to check a few things for the repairs of the DHC, I thought it a good idea to fit the interior light to the inside of the roof. Mainly because I had it in my hands for the umpteenth time! A rather straightforward job. Although I took a little extra time to make sure I had the correct location, before cutting a hole in the custom made head lining!