DHC repairs #8: Gathering parts for the body repairs

A few weeks ago the DHC’s body shell was dropped off for some much needed welding. A few days later the body was fitted to the rotisserie, which should make the work a lot easier. After which it was time to gather all the parts and panels together that will be needed for the shell’s repairs, including a few parts needed for some (non-original) adaptations. Starting with the removal of the early boot lid stay bracket from the damaged shell, and cutting part of the inner frame from a very rusty door to adapt an early door for the later rectangular locking knob.

Another (less easy!) adaption will be fitting an alloy fuel filler cap. This was actually planned to be fitted when I restored the car about 15 years ago. But I forgot that it meant a fair amount of cutting and welding around the filler neck area. And I only realised that when the shell was painted. So at the time that plan went down the drain!

And of course this set, of new wings and nose panel, will be transferred to the work shop too. That is planned later the coming week. And this will also give me the opportunity to inspect the shell’s bottom properly. The spoiler is included to check the distance and alignment between the lower front parts of the new wings.

Last part that needs to be dropped off at the workshop will be the donor body. This should provide good condition sills and other patch panels. (The reason I don’t use this rust free US shell is because of extensive and badly repaired accident damage to the LH front).

DHC repairs #7: Paint removal and shot blasting finished

Yesterday, Wednesday the 12^th of March, the first stage of the DHC’s repairs were finished. The paint was stripped from the body shell after which the shell was lightly shot blasted. I have to admit that I was very curious as to what I might encounter in the transfer hall on the site of Giessen BV. Visions of the remains of a completely blasted away body shell sprang to my mind. But I needn’t have worried. There was still more than enough left of the body shell. Even though I already knew for years that it had some patchy, but well hidden, rust repairs. These rust repairs were carried out somewhere in the first 8 years of its life.

After loading the car onto the trailer it was time for a quick inspection of the shell. A few pictures of the worst affected areas!

With the inspection completed it was time to hit the road and drop the shell of for the next stage of the car’s resurrection. Welding!

FHC resto nr. 170; Fitting the steering column

Another job that needed redoing was coating the steering column’s outer tube. Actually I had to find a spare one as the original item that was powder coated got seriously distorted in the process. And with only one part to do I decided on a traditional line of approach: Cleaning the dirt from the tube and bead blasting it. After which I used primer and satin black paint from rattle-cans to coat it. Looks quite good for a piece that will be completely hidden from view!

Next stage was rather straightforward; fitting the two new steering column bearing bushes to both ends of the tube and adding the steering shaft to the outer tube. Decided to use a silicon based bearing grease as lubricant between the bushes and the steering shaft. Feels quite tight but also very smooth. Will see ones the car is back on the road!

Final jobs were fitting the steering/ignition lock and fitting everything to the car. Though while fitting the lock mechanism to the outer tube I found out that I prepared four Allen head bolts with an incorrect thread to replace the original shear bolts. I thought they were metric M8. But they were 5/16”. First idea was to drill out the holes and use a metric thread repair to get the necessary M8 thread. But I decided to try out a little bodge first. Changing the 5/16” thread with a M8 tap. The result was actually far better than expected, with smooth threads. And I could even torque down the bolts pretty tight without stripping the new threads. And much tighter compared with the original shear bolts which still had their shear heads in place. So more than good enough for a non-structural part!

The two M10 Allen head bolts, I prepared for mounting the steering column to the support rail, were a perfect fit. So no issues there.

FHC resto nr. 169; Gearbox extension take 2

One of the two jobs I unfortunately had to redo recently; cleaning the gearbox extension. I put everything together after I cleaned the alloy part in question thoroughly in 2018. At least that was what I thought. Fast forward 8 years and I found what looked like old grime and oil was coming to the surface of the alloy gearbox extension.

Time to redo the job and hopefully this time with a better end-result! First step was thoroughly washing the casting in very hot water with a good degreaser and a collection of different brushes. This removed a fair amount of grime and oil. Actually much more than expected. The water was pretty black afterwards. Needless to say, the extension was rinsed of with lots of clean hot water. After which it was time for an extra treatment, blasting the alloy parts with glass beads. Well pleased with the end result! Hopefully this time I got rid of all the oily muck in the casting.

And the final step was fitting all replated steel parts back to the gearbox extension. All rather straightforward. I only have to adjust the reverse gear baulk plate to its correct position. But for that the extension needs to be fitted to the gearbox.

Edited on the 8th of March 2025: added the finishing touches to the gearbox’s extension today. This meant fitting the new reverse light switch plus a nicely bead blasted and blackened lock nut and fitting a plastic cover over the wiring harness clip.

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!