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.

A suspension check

After the recent edition of our Nachtrit I decided it might be a good idea to give all suspension pick up points from ‘t Kreng a thorough check. This was prompted by some knocking from various parts of the suspension, mainly from the back of the car and at low speeds.

And to carry out this check properly I (again I should say) used a friend’s work shop, and one of his 4-post lifts. Makes life so much easier, as it gives much better access to all mounting points.

I started with the back axle, unscrewing all eight mounting bolts. A few turned out to be slightly loose, but nothing worrying. More importantly, none of the bolts had seized inside the (poly) bushes’ stainless inserts. The insulation paste I added well over 10 years ago had clearly payed off! And after moving the bolts around a bit they could be torqued down again. The back axle’s wheel bearings also turned out to be fine with no play in axial and radial direction.

It also gave me a good view of the bottom of the car. And yes, it won’t win any prizes at a car show. That was never the intention. But glad that everything is still in pretty good condition and solid. Also no visible cracks around the mounting points, nor any visible deterioration or damage on the various poly bushes. And that despite nearly 25 years of (sometimes pretty hard) use!

Next in line was the front suspension. As with the back axle, the wheel bearings turned out to be fine. And there were no problems with the various mounting bolts either. Though the lower sub frame bushes (Triumph Tune 70 shore rubber items) clearly are showing signs of wear and old age. So these will have to be replaced over the winter. As can be seen in the pictures below the rubber bushes between sub frame and the chassis leg have already been replaced with solid alloy ones, and the TCA bushes have been deleted many years ago for spherical joints. And this of course results in all kind of irrelevant noises being directly transmitted to the cars interior!

Final check were the suspension’s coil-over top mounts. No further action needed! Forgot the pictures though, so I’ll bore you with a recent picture 😜

FHC resto nr. 134; Brake pipes part 2

Another small step in the car’s restoration today. I started bending the brake pipes. And to “warm up” I started with the two smallest ones, the pipes between the brake master cylinder and the pressure reduction valve.

Being small means they are easy to handle while trying out the new bending tool. But the disadvantage is that with the compact size and the right angled connections, they need to be shaped spot on. Otherwise the pipe's fittings will be difficult or impossible to engage in their destined threaded holes. Both needed some tiny adjustments for a proper fit.

And while I was in the shed with the correct tools at hand, I decided to fit the safety hooks to the bonnet. A few more parts that I no longer have to worry about.

Always rather satisfying to fit new or reconditioned parts to a car! Now thinking what to do with the rubber buffers (ZKC 287) for these hooks. The early ones seem to be no longer available and the original ones that came with the car are really not good enough to be reused. Choices!