FHC resto nr. 142; Engine harness

With my road going TR7’s more or less sorted, I managed to spent another few hours on the my restoration project. It won’t come as a surprise that I continued where I left off; with the engine harness (RKC5511). After my previous post on this subject I had laid out the harness on a large table in the spare room. And every time I had a bit of free time I would perform one or two small tasks on it, like cleaning some wires or replace some of the single spade connectors. So when I started this afternoon most of the work had been done already. Only remaining jobs were cleaning the connector pins of the two main connectors and clean the plastic connector blocks;

Fit a new connector for the gear box harness. The first picture also showing one of the single spade connectors I fitted where necessary;

The connector block for the alternator. Luckily the connectors inside were still in good condition, needing only a good polish;

And the final job for the day, wrapping the harness with new (non-adhesive) wrapping tape. A before and after picturee:

Post MOT service DHC

With a fresh MOT for the DHC, it was time for her postponed service. Most important being the fluids (the hydraulics were ignored as these were changed last year) First the old oil filter and drain plug were removed, so the still warm old oil could drain from the engine. Pretty easy when you have access to a four post lift!

With the engine oil draining from the engine I turned my attention to the fluid levels in the gear box and back axle. Both turned out to be fine. Which was hardly surprising, as there were no signs of any leaks from both. This couldn’t be said from the engine’s front crank shaft seal (UKC 3344). This was leaking badly, though it wasn’t a fail yet! But bearing in mind it was fitted less than 5 years ago (together with a new front pulley), I can only conclude the seals quality was rather poor. So I decided not to use the normal TR7 suppliers, but my trusty vernier caliper and a specialised bearing supplier. Taking reference measurements from a spare front pulley and timing cover, I found out I was looking for an 1 7/8” x 2 5/8” x 3/8” oil seal. And I ordered a few of these, from a renowned manufacturer (Eriks) and reasonably priced.

And with the car on the four poster lift, access to the front pulley and the oil seal was easy, making it a straight forward, 15 minutes job. The biggest challenge (if it could be called that!) was putting in the new seal. This took a few extra minutes as access is limited by the fan shroud. What was obvious though, was that the quality of the new seal felt much better. The old one felt much harder. See if that was the cause for the seal’s short life span! Final job was cleaning the filth left by the oil leak.

Next in line, and final job for the day, were the custom-prop shaft’s union joints grease fittings. Greasing them was easy, but getting the surplus grease from between the yokes wasn’t. As the amount of grease against the gear lever extension clearly shows (I might fabricate a shroud to prevent this happening in future to protect the connector!?)

After which it was time to enjoy the car for a few hours. The most important point of attention here were the brakes. And I am pleased to say that they are slowly settling in. The pedal still is very light, but the feeling is starting to get confidence inspiring. Will do my best to add some more miles before September …

MOT Time

Some of my rather scarce spare time over the past month or so was spent preparing the cars for their biennial General Periodic Inspection (or MOT for the UK residents). First in line was ‘t Kreng. During her final check-up I couldn’t find much wrong. So I wasn’t surprised that she passed without any advisories. As always it was good to see that all the vital points were still spot on.

With a fresh MOT for ‘t Kreng she was put back in the shed. And the DHC was woken after a 9 months long hibernation, to be brought home. The engine did need some persuasion with a liberal dose of quick start in both carburettors. But after a few minutes on the road the cobwebs were already blown away. But the handling was a bit vague during the short drive. Hardly surprising as the tyre pressures had dropped a bit. From the usual 2,0 Bar all round to a random 1,7 to 1,8 Bar.

Another problem I found was a slight knocking noise while checking the LH front bearing for play, with the wheel of the ground. But I wasn't convinced it was coming from the bearing, as there seemed to be no play. There was also no noise coming from the bearing. First impression was that the captive nut for the shock absorber might be loose. Because I thought it was too hot for any physical work, I decided to try my luck and have the car MOT’ed.

But while turning of the motorway a few minutes away from the work shop I did smell fuel. And on arrival we soon found the culprit, another split fuel hose. For those who regularly follow these ramblings might have a Déja Vu! And another job for the up coming service.

Luckily the hose (supplying the rear carburettor) could be replaced within minutes. And the inspection could begin, starting with the emissions. And it immediately became clear that the engine was running a little better, compared to when the car was driven into the workshop. And the emissions were nicely within the prescribed limits too (CO ±3,5%; CO2 ±10,0% and λ ±1,0) They were actually more or less the same as ‘t Kreng’s.

All other inspection points were also passes without any advisories or worse! And the noise in the LH front suspension? That turned out to be a little play in the top cone caused by the fact the suspension wasn’t loaded, and as such not an inspection criteria. So another two year certificate of good health for both cars.

Pré MOT check DHC

But I’ll start with a belated happy 42nd birthday for the DHC, as she was first registered on the 6th of June 1980! As for this posts title: The initial plan was to fully service the DHC yesterday, in preparation for its upcoming biennial MOT. But with temperatures in the shade of almost 35ºC that wasn't an inviting perspective. So I decided to limit the work to the most vital bits and carry out the service somewhere after the car’s MOT later in the week.

I started with a check of the wheel bearings and a visual check of the other visible suspension bits. After which I moved my attention to the engine bay. Traditionally the first check is the water pump area. Always nice to see nothing wrong there.

Routing and condition of the choke cable.

The (6mm fuel) hose is there to prevent the cable from kinking.

Checking the custom throttle actuator rod

No play or funny noises on the viscous coupling and pulley bearing.

Clean connectors on the hi-torque starter motor

Checking lights etc.

And finally a few overview pictures of the engine bay. Certainly not concourse condition, but not too shabby either after 12 years of use since her restoration was completed.