Baldrick's Winter Makeover

[Jerseygirl]

Work continues...

This weekend I got the bellhousing painted and will begin work on painting the transmission tonight.

I also began work on my replacement boots for the e-brake and shifter. I got the e-brake boot out of the armrest assembly. It's held in there by a cardboard base and some clips on the inside of the armrest. The cardboard will also need to be replaced along with the boot. It's too far gone to re-use. Some pictures so far:

The before shot:

The boot after removal and disassembly:

The two colors of vinyl I'm considering. The tan is actually a very close match to the new seat covers:

I'm still debating whether to do a solid color boot or get a little fancy and attempt a narrow stripe or two. Or maybe just a solid color boot with an embroidered Triumph logo...

 

[pbraun]

Looking good, girl!

 

[IanF]

Finally! Some forward progress. I installed the rear main seal housing and swapped the smoother feeling/sounding throw-out bearing & fork from the old bell housing to the painted one.

Looks like we MIGHT actually install the transmission on schedule this weekend.

Really wish that wiring harness would get here...

 

[Joe_Pinehill]

Looks great!

 

[Jerseygirl]

Well, yesterday was a busy day. We had some friends come over and we installed the new O/D transmission. Ian got a quick, unwanted lesson about the internal workings of the transmission. When he went to carry it out to the garage to be mated up with the bellhousing, a rod (don't ask me what it's actually called) slipped out of the gearbox. Fortunately, we had the old transmission so he was able to open them both up and reassemble everything. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/bow.gif

The installation went relatively smoothly, considering we had never done it before. There were a few attempts at getting the transmission lined up with engine, but all in all, not too bad. I had purchased a new overdrive mount and bracket to attach to the frame. We were pleasantly surprised that the everything lined up and no new holes were required even though the overdrive transmission is slightly longer. We were not so lucky with our Volvo transmission swap last year...

With the transmission installed, we installed a new overdrive switch (the old Lucas one was broken), the right angle drive for the speedometer cable, and the cable itself.

With all that done, it was on to the differential. This proved to be a bit more troublesome, but a little grease and some gentle prying, and I'm happy to report its in.

I mentioned we had some friends over for this festive event. Well, a couple of them were teasing me about the fact that I hadn't cleaned and repainted the rear spring. The spring itself is relatively new and I just hadn't really given it any thought. Well, that wasn't good enough. We found a left over can of black spray paint, cleaned the spring up, and our friend Manny went outside and worked his magic. I now have a nice shiny black rear spring that will be installed later today.

Work also continues on my e-brake and shifter boots. I've come up with what I think will be a unique but elegant two-tone boot design and I'm currently working on the embroidery that I want to put on the e-brake boot. I'm going to give it a test run today to see how it comes out. Keeping my fingers crossed I can make this work. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif

This morning, we are off to my brother's shop to cut out the pieces for my new dashboard. We're actually going to cut out a few dashboards. I figure if I screw one up, I'll have spares to work with and if I don't, maybe I'll make a few extras and sell them to pay for my unbudgeted new transmission! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/rolleyes.gif

The freshly painted and reassembled transmission:

Back in the car:

The rear differential back in the car:

My freshly painted rear spring (thanks Manny!):

 

[DrEntropy]

Nicely done!

...and proper Nitanny sweats as Uniform of the Day, too! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/jester.gif

 

[Soup]

Very nice job. I owned an 80 Spit for around 11 years and just sold it this past summer. Loved the car and it never left me on the side of the road. I let her go for for two reasons; I picked up my 72 TR and the Spit's body was really turning the corner. In other words it was going start needing body work and paint. I figured sell the Spit and put that money into the TR.

Until now, I didn't miss it. You've got a great looking machine there that is a lot of fun to drive.

Is a personnel website a must in order to post pic.'s??

Soup

 

[Bugeye58]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]
Is a personnel website a must in order to post pic.'s??

Soup [/QUOTE]

Not at all, Soup. Go to the help section, and under FAQ, check the one titled "How do I add an image to my message?"

Hope this helps.
Jeff

 

[guzzul]

I now have a nice shiny black rear spring that will be installed later today.

Robyn - just a reminder, don't forget to put some lubrication on that spring. Too clean (and too dry) can result in squeaks.

Spray a graphite lube in between the spring leaves. Hopefully it won't ruin the paint, but when the lube dries the graphite will stay in there.

Enjoying the saga. Keep posting.

 

[Jerseygirl]

Woohoo! I'm up to #2 on the waiting list for my new wiring harness!!! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/banana.gif

 

[Brosky]

You go, girl.....

 

[Jerseygirl]

The wiring harness (or at least the first half of it) and some nice weather finally arrived on Friday!!! Finally, work can continue.

Inspired by the arrival, we got a lot of work done on the car over the weekend in preparation for the great wiring project to begin...

The floor pans finally all scraped clean:

More cleaning with Marine Clean, treatment with Metal Ready, and finally the POR-15:

The trunk after the same treatment (carpet still to come):

One new shiny bit... the new header (to replace my original cracked manifold):

The first half of the new wiring harness (the fuse/relay panel and remaining wire ships separately):

We haven't had a chance to get started on the wiring yet. Hopefully sometime this week...

 

[mrv8q]

More cleaning with Marine Clean, treatment with Metal Ready, and finally the POR-15:

Hey, Robyn, I'm impressed w/ your progress! Would you mind sparing a few sentences on your POR-15 process: I'm guessing Metal Ready is completely compatible w/ the POR; is the POR brushed on, what quantity did you wind up using... many thanks!

 

[Jerseygirl]

Marine Clean and Metal Ready are both POR-15 products, so yes they are completely compatible. I follow the directions on each product but for those who might not be familiar with POR-15 here's a summary of what I did:

1. Scraped off all loose paint and the waxy/oily coating that was all over the the floor pans. This took seemingly forever.
2. Used brake cleaner and/or mineral spirits to remove the remaining residue from that coating, til visibly there was nothing left.
3. Used Marine Clean to remove any remaining traces of grease, visible or not. I diluted the Marine clean (30% Marine Clean/70% warm water), sprayed it on a section and then scrubbed everything with an old toothbrush.
4. Rinsed everything down with a spray bottle of water to remove the Marine Clean and remaining dirt.
5. Dried everything with paper towels.
6. Sprayed Metal Ready on all the areas that were to receive paint and kept the areas wet for about 15 minutes as directed. Resprayed additional Metal Ready if anything appeared to be drying out before 15 minutes was up.
7. Repeated the rinsing process again and dried everything off.
8. Allowed everything to sit overnight to ensure all the surfaces were totally dry.
9. Applied POR-15 the following day with a foam brush. I've applied it with bristle brushes before, but since I had the foam brushes handy, that's what I went with. Either one works fine from my experience.

For the floor pans, trunk floor, and a few other misc. little pieces that I painted, I used roughly one 4oz. can of POR-15 (there was a bit left over).

The nice thing about POR-15 is that it levels beautifully. I brush painted the engine in my Volvo last winter and the paint dried so smooth, you'd swear it was sprayed on!

 

[StagByTriumph]

Robyn,
How many little black dots did you get all over you?

 

[mrv8q]

Excellent, Robyn, many thanks for your reply; you know what I'll be doing in a couple of weeks.... Thanks again!

 

[IanF]

Robyn,
How many little black dots did you get all over you?

Don't ask... /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/blush.gif

BTW, does anyone know where I can get a bullet crimping tool? British Wiring has them on back-order and wont get them until mid-May. The car has to be done by then. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wall.gif

I'm planning to start on the wiring tonight... we'll see how it goes.

 

[Jerseygirl]

Robyn,
How many little black dots did you get all over you?

No little black dots, I'm happy to report. However, it really didn't help when, while painting the passenger's side footwell, I accidentally leaned back and got a nice big smudge of paint on my forearm from the driveshaft tunnel...

No short sleeves for me for a couple weeks 'til that wears off. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/rolleyes.gif

 

[IanF]

OMG... has it really been over a month since we last made substantial progress? /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/nonod.gif

Anyway, an incredibly busy May and June have passed and I am finally able to continue on the rewiring project. The power block portion of the wiring finally arrived in early June. Today, I was finally able to dig in...

I mounted the power block under the battery tray... although not without difficulty. The power block is HUGE. Bigger than the battery tray... so I had to make "mounting plate" in order to provide ample surface for mounting the panel. Unfortunately, there will definitely be reduced room for the passenger's feet...

The bundle of wires attached to the power block is thick - about 1" in diameter - and does not make the turns required through the underside of the dash easily. I think I have managed to make it fit, but it will remains to be seen when the rest of the dash goes together.

I took some pictures of the progress. Hopefully, Robyn can take a break from sewing bag orders to post some pictures.

 

[toysrrus]

Hi Robyn;

Hey; I have to give you a ton of credit: Your a Better Person than I`ll ever be! "Super Nice Job"! Best Wishes with your endeavors: Will she be ready for Jim Thorpe?

Hey Robyn; "IanF"; Is that the same Ian who has a Red TR4 in PA & is on this Forum? The reason why I ask is cause I see Croydon, PA in there and I belive "Ian" is from down that way somewhere: Just curious:

Keep on Motoring;

Regards, Russ