FHC resto nr. 137; Brake pipes part 5

Who said it would be easy! I went to the shed today to trial fit RKC1038, the brake pipe running from the pressure reduction valve to the RH front calliper. I had hoped that despite it being roughly two inches too long, I’d be able to adapt it a little so it could be made to fit. Sadly it wasn’t to be! So a visit to my local brake specialist is on the cards somewhere this week.

But while I was there I decided to check the underside of the nose section in more detail (see picture above), as there was some doubt lingering in the back of my mind. And when I dismantled the car the (badly corroded) brake pipes were discarded without giving them a second thought. Wrong! As the picture below of the same area in my DHC (before restoration) proves;

Clearly visible are the extra holes for the two middle clips, lower down the nose section. Probably a result of the introduction of the TR8, which uses the same shell, but has the radiator further forward in the nose.

So I have to decide whether to drill two extra holes (with visions of a drill emerging through the nose 😜) or make up a pipe along the original pattern (which I threw away!). Choices …

And with nothing better to do I decided to fit the necessary brake pipe clips and start with plugging some holes. In this case a combination of aftermarket clips and original ones, as long as they are black! Unused holes on the sides and on top of the chassis legs were plugged with modern rubber plugs;

Hopefully I can soon report on fitting the brake pipes and flexible hoses. And there is the unfinished business with the fuel pipe!

FHC resto nr. 136; Brake pipes part 4

I left you here last year, with these two pipes to go. Part numbers RKC1038 (or RKC1005) and RKC1033 to be precise. And as expected, due to their length and form, they turned out to be rather challenging (read time consuming) to bend properly. I started with the latter, the pipe running from the pressure reduction valve to the back axle.

As expected it took me a good few hours to get this one finished. It looks quite good alongside the original one. On the original pipe I encountered a few what looked like non original bends, probably caused when pulling the pipe from the car or while in storage. Luckily I had a second template for cross reference. But I expect some fine tuning will be necessary when it will be fitted to the car.

RKC1033

The final pipe was also the longest of them all, running from the pressure reduction valve to the RH front calliper. As with all the longer pipes I didn’t work from one end to the other, but worked from both sides. Starting at one end and working to a spot that leaves the most adjustability in case the pipes are too long or too short. And then work from the other end towards that same spot. And glad I did. As you can see in the picture below, the straight part running across the nose of the car is longer as on the original pipe. But it looks like there is enough room available for the necessary adjustments. Time will tell.

RKC1038

Next and final  job on the brake pipes will be collecting all grommets and clips and fit everything to the car.

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