DHC report nr. 103; Finishing touches part 4

List of things to do or get sorted is getting shorter by the day. Although a few new items have been added. Most important for its topless use is that the hood cover was fitted last Monday. Turned out it also needed some slight adjustments to the front to get a proper fit without fouling the side windows. And with the cover fitted it was time to enjoy the car a bit. As I didn’t have to keep an eye on the hood (it would raise at speeds of 90 kmh and over) I could concentrate on the driving. Was very good fun indeed. First impression is that the handling is much more precise than expected, but combined with a very comfortable ride. Was an enjoyable afternoon indeed.

Over the week I busied myself with some of the simple things on the to do list, like sorting the dashboard lights for the heater switches. Turned out that one bulb was burned out, one fitting was molten on the inside and one of the wires turned out to be broken, probably during fitting. So what should have been a 10 minute job took me well over an hour and a half to get sorted properly.

Next I fitted a protective sleeve over part of the wire running to the starter motor, to prevent damage by chafing on the heat shield. When I installed the wires they had enough clearance but after a few kilometres they were already chafing against the heat shield ...

Replaced the temporary tape over the hole in the bulkhead (near the battery tray) with the correct grommet I found in my spares stock at last ...

Adapted the inlet tube on the oil catch tank to get more clearance between the breather hose and the exhaust manifold, to prevent the hose from getting burned away...

And while at a petrol station, I found out that the fuel filler cap wouldn’t go of easily. Turned out it wasn’t vented. Luckily I had the necessary part, to make it vented, lying around. And fitting this to the filler cap was only a few minutes job.

Spot the difference ...

In the pictures the plate on the left is vented, and the one on the right is of the non vented variety.

Also sorted a broken interior door lock surround, fitted some new and heavier cable ties in order to take some strain from the carburettor’s rubber mounts and washed away a fair bit of excessive wax oil where visible.

And due to the rather fine weather over the past week the car has clocked up some 700 kilometres since she came back on the road. Still nothing really wrong so far. Water pump is still weeping very lightly, but no visible coolant loss in the header tank. The rest of the mechanics still work as they did before the restoration. Only the clutch doesn’t stick anymore.

Now waiting for the front badge to arrive, so I can officially finish the restoration, and go for a little photo shoot.

DHC report nr. 102; Finishing touches part 3

Haven’t spent much time on the DHC over the past week. After having spent so much time on her over the past year and a half, I have enjoyed a few free evenings. But as the weather forecast for yesterday wasn’t great I asked Robbie if I could use his workshop to sort a few of the remaining jobs on the car.

First thing to get sorted was the permanent burning low-coolant-light. Knowing that you can’t trust the coolant light on these cars even gets me slightly nervous. As mentioned a few days ago I suspected my own work on the main wiring loom to be the cause of this problem. So after raising the RH headlamp, disconnecting the connectors I could pull the loom clear for inspection. Sounds easy but wasn’t as I did a pretty thorough job of wrapping up the loom. Took me well over half an hour to remove enough of the wrapping tape to find the two suspect wires. I indeed had just cut of the (unused) connector, isolated the wires and wrapped them inside the loom. Luckily sorting the problem was easy with a spade connector and a crimping tool ...

Before re-wrapping the loom I applied some heat-shrink tubing over the connector to isolate it. After which it was fiddling the connectors back through the front panel’s hole (not easy with the headlamp motor in position) and reconnecting everything. A quick check revealed that the lights still worked but also that the coolant level light now switches of as it should.

As the car was on the lift in Robbie’s workshop I used the opportunity to check underneath the car. This actually was the first time the car was on the lift so a good opportunity for some pictures ...

First I went over all the suspension nuts and bolts. Most needed a little bit of tightening but nothing worrying. Only the nuts for the front struts lower ball joints needed more tightening. This is probably caused by the fact the struts themselves have been powder coated. And as this coating is wearing of through use, this gives some play between the ball joint’s stud and the mounting point on the front strut. Something to keep an eye on for the next few miles.

Last thing I checked was for leaks, there were none ... yet. Only the water pump is weeping very lightly. Hopefully that will go away after a few more miles.

And, clearly visible in one of the pictures, the fact that the centre exhaust box (still) has a tendency to slowly rotate under engine load.

DHC report nr. 101; Finishing touches part 2

After having covered some 200 kilometres so far, I went over the car this evening to make a list of things that still have to be done or which need sorting. Didn’t find anything really worrying, the list so far;

• Fit the stud sockets to the custom made hood stowage cover and apply the badges. Ordered these parts from S&S and they should be with me for this weekend;
• Coolant warning light remains on all the time. As I can’t find anything wrong I think I made a slight mistake when refurbishing the main wiring loom, removing the connector from the spare (TR8) coolant wires on the right hand side of the engine bay and taping the wires away inside the loom, thus separating the wires;
• Under (hard) braking there’s still a slight knocking sound, also felt in the steering wheel. So another check of all the front suspension nuts and bolts (including the front shock absorber closure nut) is prominent on the to do list;
• One way or another only one of the four lights above the heater controls is working, new bulbs ordered;
• Fixate the speedo cable and the header tank’s overflow hose with some cable ties;
• See if I have a spare LH finisher for the top of the door seal/header rail. The one fitted at the moment has developed a nasty crack;
• Fit some protective covering to the RH engine mount, to prevent damage to the lower radiator hose;
• Fit a protective cable sleeve to the wires going to the starter motor. Also to prevent future damage, as their clearance is to minimal for my liking;
• Re-align the bonnet slightly together with the lock and striker pin;
• Find a grommet to fill the (temporarily taped over) hole in the bulkhead near the battery tray;
• Make a banjo connector for the oil catch tank, to prevent the engines breather hose from getting burned by the exhaust manifold.

DHC report 100; Finishing touches part 1

First of all over the past week I have been keeping an eye on the pressure in the right hand front tyre. When fitting the steel wheels this one had lost nearly all of its pressure, with only 0,5 Bar remaining. As sticky valves are not uncommon I decided to pump it up to 3,0 Bar and see what would happen. But after half an hour the pressure had already dropped by almost 0,1 Bar, at which pressure it seemed to settle, remaining steady for nearly an hour and a half. So I put the wheel on the car, dropped the pressure to 2,0 Bar and drove home. After that I have been keeping a close watch on the tyre’s pressure, but it has remained steady since. Looks indeed like a sticky valve.

On Wednesday really was the most import day so far, It was time for the verdict from the expert. 17 Months of work were to be valued by a sworn valuator. This is necessary to get the car insured properly.

Right from the start my aim has been that the cost of the restoration shouldn’t exceed the cars value. And it looks like I have succeeded, and with quite a margin. Considering the amount and quality of the work done the valuator would only give an indication of its value. Because it was so high for a TR7 he first wanted consultation with a few of his colleagues, before committing himself. Looks like the valuation will be a fair bit higher than the cost of the restoration, well pleased with that ...

After that it was time to give the car a good wash in preparation for the finishing touches. To start with a few flaws in the paint were polished out (dust particles and silicon faults). Turned out to be easy but rather time consuming. First the blemishes were polished away by hand with a little cutting pad ...

Giving a rather unsightly look to the paintwork, in this case the boot lid ...

After which the paint was cut back in three separate stages ...

With the paint polished the seams between front wings and nose panel, rear wings and rear deck and spoiler to front wing were sealed with a special sealant. I opted for this approach as it gives better protection compared to painting over the sealant. This way there is no risk of the paint cracking and trapping water underneath.

To prevent the sealant from making a mess of it, the seams were first taped of ...

After which the sealant was applied and washed in ...

Only two things remain now, the badges and the hood stowage cover. I Managed to make a mess of the front badge. So we removed that one immediately. Will have to order a new one. Hopefully I can get a better quality one from one of the (TR7) suppliers.

But I can and probably will take my time for that, as I received the cars new licence papers today. So it’s fully road legal again, about time to enjoy it.