Steve's unexpected Series 3 rebuild.

LincolnSteve said:

@Bobsticle @Disco1BFG How long do you think I should leave that paint to harden up before I a) start on the runs and b) start reassembling anything?

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IME, a few days should be enough, but a finger nail test on an inconspicuous area should tell you - the runs will take longer to "set" as per the advice above .. If it is dry outside, then exposure to the fresh air will move things along..

When they are hard. If they don’t harden in your time frame take a narrow scraper and remove the run then allow the newly exposed paint to harden before a sand down. This method can save a few days but may need a spot of filler or putty.

Try tapping the paint with your finger nails. If it sounds soft it is. It should sound brittle like French polish when it’s fully cured. This takes a long time with enamel.

I've got one of the door hinges that I painted as an experiment about 3 years ago. It's really good and hard but even I didn't really want to wait that long.

You will be assembling before it’s completely hard. Just be aware.

No rain forecast today in Lincoln so it can have a day standing outside. Hope the local scrap man doesn't come round today, he'll think it's Christmas.

Another tip for hardening off enamel and I’m not sure how it works is once dry, stand the piece outside on a cold rainy day. It does work, must be something to do with cold rain smothering the surface fast.

According to our forecast round here that could be Sunday. Another excellent tip. Thanks.

The bulkhead is back on. I've even decided to live with the runs inside the footwell. You would be hard pressed to find them if you didn't know they were there. Putting this little plate back on was really nice. Makes it feel like i'm getting somewhere when I start putting little detail bits on.

Heater box is back in. Lots of self adhesive foam to keep all that lovely hot air going where it should.

Look. It says Lucas SPORT. Does that mean it's going to go faster?

Looks nice in the sunshine.

Looking fantastic.

Be even better once it’s full of chit.

I've got a plan that it stays as clean and immaculate as it can until it's back on the road then after that I use it, enjoy it and start putting some of my own patina back on it. We'll see.

This might get a bit random now because that's very much how progress is at the moment. Start one bit then get held up because I find i'm missing some tiny vital part, do something else, get bored, start something else etc etc. No way to do it really but if it was too organised it would be like work and therefore no fun. So brace for various stuff.
Heater control. This had been laying around for ages and I had forgotten to paint it when I did the rest of the engine ages ago. I got the adapter screwed into place. But then thought I was going to have to take off the thermostat cover as I couldn't get the heater control to screw in without catching. Got round it somehow but then found if I screwed the heater control right down to the bottom then the inlet/outlet/nozzle/spout thing was pointing to the front of the engine and not rearwards like it should do. So I put some loctite on the threads and screwed it down as far as I could while still getting it pointing in the right direction. Now it's gone off it all seems solid and sealed. Really not sure if that's an acceptable way of doing it or if i'm going to end up with a lot of red hot water peeing all over the place when I turn the heater on. We'll see.

LincolnSteve said:

This might get a bit random now because that's very much how progress is at the moment. Start one bit then get held up because I find i'm missing some tiny vital part, do something else, get bored, start something else etc etc. No way to do it really but if it was too organised it would be like work and therefore no fun. So brace for various stuff.
Heater control. This had been laying around for ages and I had forgotten to paint it when I did the rest of the engine ages ago. View attachment 274458View attachment 274459I got the adapter screwed into place. But then thought I was going to have to take off the thermostat cover as I couldn't get the heater control to screw in without catching. Got round it somehow but then found if I screwed the heater control right down to the bottom then the inlet/outlet/nozzle/spout thing was pointing to the front of the engine and not rearwards like it should do. So I put some loctite on the threads and screwed it down as far as I could while still getting it pointing in the right direction. Now it's gone off it all seems solid and sealed. Really not sure if that's an acceptable way of doing it or if i'm going to end up with a lot of red hot water peeing all over the place when I turn the heater on. We'll see. View attachment 274463

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I did the same with my water tap Steve, no idea how the factory did it. (Lightweights get a tap on the block, the officer tells the squaddie to get out and adjust the temperature).

Wiper motor. Tested on a battery to make sure. Still goes round.
Mucky.

Clean

boguing said:

I did the same with my water tap Steve, no idea how the factory did it. (Lightweights get a tap on the block, the officer tells the squaddie to get out and adjust the temperature).

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That's good to know. Couldn't see any other way but glad it's not just me.

Petrol tank. Had a right to and fro over this as to whether to try to save it. At the beginning I was very cocky about it and just decided i'd get a new one when the time came so didn't take too much care over storing it. Fast forward years and the reassembly is starting to cost the earth so I had a think about saving it.

Didn't look terrible. Had a bit of a scratch and scrape at it and could see some shiny metal showing through in a couple of places. What about inside though?


Maybe not the end of the world? The cost of the new ones and hearing the stories of how they never fit anyway made me decide to throw a drop of Bilt Hamber deox c in. I thought if that would get rid of the rust on the inside I could face tackling the outside. And it worked a treat. I only used a couple of pints and tilted the tank to have an experiment in one corner but it was good. So I mixed up enough deox to fill the tank about an inch deep thinking I would let it sit for 24 hrs then tip it to one side and repeat going round the whole thing doing each internal surface. Brilliant plan until I came back next morning to adjust and found there must be a leak somewhere between the botton of the tank and that cradle thing that it's partly welded to. So the tank is a goner and I now have a very, very clean stripe of garage floor and drive just outside where it tried to drain away. Managed to salvage most of the deox though and the new tank is here. And it doesn't fit.

Fuel pick up pipe. Looked a bit of a state to begin with.
It's brass and you probably shouldn't but I put it in deox c. It worked a treat and got loads of crud out of the tube.
The filter gauze was completely ruined.
I don't think you can get them from the main suppliers without buying the whole pipe for something like 60 quid so I thought i'd get some gauze and make a new one then I found them for sale on ebay, https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/134233476257?hash=item1f40f04ca1:g:49kAAOSw0TxZaTCp&amdata=enc:AQAHAAAAoLvUdjKVNv1plT8tDKbjJleUBvlufnFFPOqZ8djv5zyvBe27tVHeoZyzUlrfg9uJfQNyFfVO1pxddwpge/KZ/WKXn3PiK4cb0DCgxDzOhziDT+O1auQPyAhIZc0CKRMnwqEYVeNsoJiEI9pStLltJRgkp4c4WxbjpIWMMMDOf5ZesqXQaqeTNtokl8jwh+ZgoV5Jzk7c2D3ze+2APewb9U0=|tkp:Bk9SR8z-0J7sYA
I still had a job soldering it on when it arrived. My soldering iron isn't hot enough and the little gas gun i've got is a bit too much. Factor in that i'm a bit too cack handed as well and you can see the problem. Started by getting rid of the last bits of the old one.

You're supposed to leave some solder on the tube and just heat the new in place and it just grabs. I got it in the end.