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The start of something big. Frame off restoration

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I almost have the pedal box done. I've got the clutch and break pedals finished so that they meet up with the master cylinder push rods properly (and I'm actually probably going to leave the break pedal bolted like that instead of welding it, so that I can adjust it in the future till I'm happy with it.) Right now i'm using locking shaft collars to keep the pedals from moving side to side, but I'll probably push bushings in there instead when I'm done. On the right hand side where the last shaft collar and empty space are is where I need to trim down and rebush one of the break pedals to turn it into a throttle pedal, which I will then use a cable linkage the whole way over to the carbs, getting rid of the clunky TR6 stock mechanical throttle linkage.

The break pedals , if you actually look at them, are not straight and instead bend to the right significantly. I may have to trim the edge of the pedal box to keep the pedal that I'll be setting up as the throttle from rubbing / binding on the pedal box.

Thanks to Paul Rego for selling me his spare pedal box so that I could get a 2nd clutch pedal to create the off-set from break servo pedal linkage.

pedals.jpg
 
I got my new steering wheel in the mail this morning, a nice wooden one that matches my dash. Then in taking my old wheel off... i totally stripped the threads on the steering column *sigh* I took the steering column out and ground the stripped head down to 1/2" and re-threaded it for a 1/2-20 nut. This seemed to work fine, but at some point while I was doing so, I managed to kill the top bushing in the column so now it's sloppy and lose. ARGH!! I tried to see if I could make a bushing for the top, knowing that the inner diameter is 3/4" but I couldn't find anything that matched the outer diameter properly It looks like the diameter of the tube itself is about 1.25 inches outer diameter, and about 1/16th inch thick. Hopefully I hear from Art Lipp if he's still selling his Delrin bushing for our columns, if so, that will solve all my problems.

I got the flange bearing mounted in the firewall, on an aluminum plate which is then bolted through the fiberglass. Because of the way the steering column is, I had to cut an oversized hole in the fiberglass so that I could mount the flange bearing forward a bit so that it wouldn't interfere with the pedals. There's very little space down there, and the steering column goes right between the break and gas pedals. The steering wheel I got matches my dash just right, so I'll be happy when it's finally on. Just need to solve this bushing problem and then I can put together the steering column for good.

I found that the windshield to cowl gasket from a later model Austin Healey sprite (65-79) fits perfectly for my windshield, with one caveat. My windshield doesn't have the slot on the bottom side to hold it in place. I need to figure out how to get the gasket to stay firmly in place without making a mess of things now.

Tracking has my new throttle cable scheduled for delivery tomorrow from Summit racing.

I got my new choke cable today as well, my old one was battered and almost impossible to pull. One problem... the stock length for the choke is about 6 inches shorter than I need my cable to be... D'OH! going to figure out if I can do something to extend this new cable by some inches so that I can use it.

Keeps feeling like I'm making 1 step forward, 2 steps back at the moment!
 
Got the bushings today. Only installed the top one, so that I wouldn't have to remove the rest of the steering column. My bottom bushing is still ok, so this got rid of all the wobble in the end of the steering wheel.

Here's a rough phone pic of my new steering wheel. The only problem with it is that the hub adapter scrapes just a little bit on the surround behind it. I might stick some felt on the back of the hub adapter to get rid of the occasional scrape noise when steering. It's a 13" wheel which gives me a lot more room to get in and out, and the mahogany more or less matches the dashboard.

IMG_1775.JPG
 
Justin, I had that same scraping noise on the 4A with a Momo wheel and adapter. It eventually "machined" the metal steering column surround and the swarf created a contact between the surround and the hub which turned the horn on when I turned corners! Suggest you adjust the wheel out a little on the telescopic part of the steering shaft to avoid any contact with the column surround or you may have the same problem!
 
I ended up just taking the hub off and grinding the back away on my belt sander till it didnt scrape anymore. The hub is pretty soft aluminum .

I've got the car partially wired but haven't dealt at all with the mess under the dash yet. I need to make some more sturdy dash board supports and drill a few holes in the dash for some switches still too.

I might have to re-fabricate the passenger side door. I measured and re-measured, and it shouldnt be off by as much as it is, but when I try to shim the rear part of the body to change the door gap it just gets worse all around. The driver side door fits perfectly but doesnt sit flush, but when I get that door just right (aside from the flush fit) the passenger door fits at 3 corners, but the 4th has a centimeter gap at the rear of the door.
 
Is that a kit you used to replace the rear lever shocks? Where from? Did you have to re-tap the threading in the rear frame member? Looks like a good setup, maybe better than the old lever shocks, but where is the coil spring--maybe I see it faintly in the picture?
 
The kit is the KYB rear shock kit that I picked up from VB, it comes with grade 8 bolts that thread right into the rear frame member. Coil spring is up front and faint in that photo.

I still need to drill holes for, and finish making the brackets for the rear bumperettes, but I realized in all the photos in the thread there are no pics of the rear of the car, so here's one

IMG_1785.JPG


I also got a set of 'cats eyes' and eyebrows for the headlights, I like the look of the cats eyes, but the eyebrows not quite so much, here's the front with the cat's eyes.

IMG_1786.JPG


Wiring continues, slowly, bleah.
 
I got the bonnet latches mounted, and the windshield wiper wheel boxes and motor mounted up. I think, with the exception of 2 holes in the back for the rear bumperettes, I've now drilled all the external holes in the car that need to be made =P

I still need to make some hooks for the inside of the car for the bonnet latches to catch on to however, the simple Jhooks used on spitfires orignially are actually NLA from any of the supliers, so I'll just have to bend and make my own (like so many things on this car)

I only had one wiper arm. I think it's from a TR3, so I went and ordered a new pair, as well as new wiper blades. While I was at it, i ordered a new wiper switch and headlight switch. Mine were both rather poor in operation, and the original (recalled by british leyland) clear hooters manufacture. I have been unable to find any of the indicator light gems from the early TR6s, so I may use the locations where those holes are currently in my dash for my on/off/auto fan switch and my hazard switch. I also need to figure out where I'm putting a switch for the fog-lights, or if I will have them always on when the low beams are on and not have a switch. This whole wiring thing is turning out to be a little more tricky, since a lot of the stuff is different than a TR6.

For example, my front turn signals are only single filament 21 watt bulbs instead of dual filament, which means I can not use the wiring trick to get the side marker/signal lights to blink synchronously since I cant tie the indicator ground to the turn signal feed, and I think I need to get another relay so that the indicators on top of the wheel well blink at the same time as the indicators in the headlight buckets. I'm also not 100% sure what I need to do to stay street legal for my reverse lights. Each of the tail lights are dual filament bulbs, and I think I can tie reverse to the 2nd filament of the rear turn signals so that both fixtures light up when I'm in reverse, but I need to do some reading up to see if I'm allowed to do that since it'd be yellow not white. I need to solve these various problems before I can really finish terminating a bunch of these wires.

hunter.jpg
 
justin_mercier said:
I still need to make some hooks for the inside of the car for the bonnet latches to catch on to however, the simple Jhooks used on spitfires orignially are actually NLA from any of the supliers, so I'll just have to bend and make my own (like so many things on this car)
Click to expand...

Justin,

Looking great!

Regarding the hooks, why not get some used ones off of a parts Spitfire?

Scott
 
Today I learned how to waste an entire day in the shop! I got my new headlight and wiper switches in the mail yesterday so figured I'd get them on the dash and finish wiring the front end of the car... Well... I kinda forgot to have the holes for the switches done ahead of time. Dismantling the car enough to get the dash out, cutting the holes for the switches, remembering to put the hinges on the glove box door with the dash out this time, and putting it all back in took me all @#%@#% day.

As you can see in the photo, I still dont have that gas pedal mounted yet either. The position of the firewall is different relative to the pedals in this, so I need to make an adapter plate, or just bolt it to the side of the TR6 pedal box, to get it in there.

DSCN0034.JPG
 
Hrm, I realized just now while finishing up a custom wiring diagram for my roadster... that I'm short 4 indicator lights on my dash! The new smiths electronic tach and speedo dont have the oil and ignition warning lights, and high beam and turn signal indicators respectively. Now to figure out where to put those indicators, bleargh! Since I have the two warning light jewel holes up top already, which I was originally going to use for my brake and oil pressure warning lamps, I'm thinking about tying my hazard and turn signal indicators together and putting a green gem there for that, tying the oil pressure and brake fauilre lamps together with a red gem next to it, and putting a blue gem below the two in the center for my high beam indicator. That'd still leave me with no ignition warning lamp though, hrm. I'll have to figure out what I want to do for warning and indicator lamps.

Since my front turn signals are single filament not dual like a TR6, I only have one set of front markers/parking lamps, which are the parking lights on the front wheel wells. On the same token, there are no 'reverse' lights on this body, but the rear turn signals are dual filament not single, so I will tie the reverse lights to the 5w side of the rear turn signals, while the turn signals are the 21w side of the bulb. Most of the switches in the car are from my 76, but my wiper switch is an earlier model switch, and my engine itself is from a 71, so I could eliminate the balisted resistor circuit, and my ignition switch is from a 69 TR6, so it's simpler in function than the later switches as well.

I'm going to have a small switch panel under the dash to the left of the steering wheel where I put my fan ON/AUTO switch, my hazard switch, and the spedo trip meter reset button. They dont need to be on the dash. I thought about putting a dimmer dial down there too, but I have never actually used one in any vehicle I've ever owned, I've always had the dash lights turned to max at all times. I need to find the best spot to put my inertial cut off switch for the fuel pump still too.

The only circuits that I have not made allowance for as of yet are my fog lights, and I have 2 seat heater kits that I may install in the seats as well. Everything else should be accounted for in this diagram. (well, with the exception of an external amplifier for a powered subwoofer at some point in the future!)

hunterAAW.jpg
 
Sounds like another whole day to me Justin.. Good thing your not charging yourself shop time.:greedy_dollars:
 
gubba said:
Sounds like another whole day to me Justin.. Good thing your not charging yourself shop time.:greedy_dollars:
Click to expand...
Hah no kidding... And yeah, I did 2 whole days worth of work yesterday (and I need to keep doing so till I'm on the road!!) The dash took all day from 8am till 5pm... and the wiring diagram took from 8pm till 2am... >_<
 
BLEARGH. Dumb mistake that I think I'm just going to leave >_< on the rear beehive lucas L594 lamps, I have dual filament mountings and bulbs inside each one. I put 18 inch leads to the inside of the housing in black red and green... I had intended to wire each such that the red wire was the low wattage side and the green wire the high wattage side, to match the red wires to the marking lights and tail signals from the main wiring harness, being low wattage, and to match the green/red and green/white wires to the turn signals... Well... I wired every one of the beehives backwards so that my red lead is my high wattage side, and the green lead is the low wattage side *sigh* Getting those lenses and surrounds back in the ruber boots on those beehives took half an afternoon. I guess i'll just label it and live with it. Ah well!

IMG_1783.JPG
 
Ok, it was probably a waste of time... but I went and rewired all the behive lamps to match my diagram. Red wire for the low wattage side of the bulb, green for the high.

After having spent a long time making that diagram... I wanted it to be accurate!
 
On a very happy note... My horn circuit should be one of the most problem free triumph horns on the planet now =D When I put in the new steering column I put in a flange bearing at the firewall, and cut out a larger than needed hole to pass everything through. I then mounted the flange bearing to an aluminum plate which was then bolted through the fiber glass. On a whim I took out my multi-meter and checked, and I get a fantastic ground right through the aluminum plate if I run a grounding strap from one of the bolts holding the flange bearing to the engine block. I'll have a much more reliable ground than the flimsy little wire attached to the steering rack that always causes problems with Triumph horn circuits. The horn push itself is giving me problems right now though. I'm trying to get a better connection to the horn brush and through the hub to the contact plate, because right now it seems that the horn push doesnt keep enough pressure on the horn brush, or the spring in the brush is too weak.

I wonder if I'm going overboard by individually checking each circuit with a meter and battery, it's certainly taking a long time to wire anything... but I feel confident that things are going to work and stay working =)
 
So I spent all my time today trying to get the doors better. It's not what I had planned on doing, instead I was going to take the seats out to run some wires and to put carpet down, but plans change. I shimmed, re-shimmed, shimmied, and did everything that I could and now the fenders line up perfect, the driver's door closes more or less flush now (the top rear corner sticks out a little, but that side of the door is a lot less noticeable, sticking out maybe 1/8 of an inch at the top rear) getting rid of the big gap I had at the front of the door. The problem is... with everything else perfect... the passenger side door is still way out. It's basically flat now with the body, but if I line up the front 2 corners, and the rear bottom corner, there's a huge gap at the top. I think the best thing to do here is to leave the rest of the car as is, and just work on the door itself, and maybe chop it up a little do some fiberglass surgery and extend it with a wedge. If it wasn't for the fact that the bottom rear of the door, and the fenders line up perfect, I'd almost think that the rear half of the car was twisted a little bit and that I could pull the whole passenger side in a bit, but everything looks straight, not twisted, and I measured everything else to be the same between the two sides.

So here's what the door looks like (from the inside where you can see better the problem and the plan that I think will probably be the easiest fix for the passenger door.
doorplan.jpg


While the seats are out, I need to drill holes for eye-bolts for the seat-belt anchors One will go through the Tshirt area, but the other one I may have to mount directly behind the seat so that I can get the eyebolt through the trailing arm wing of the frame. It wouldn't be good to have one of the eye-bolts just mounted to fiberglass and to get in an accident.

Also while shimming the car, I noticed that I missed putting a copper washer on the brake-line fitting from the flex hose to frame line on the rear passenger side, so I need to fix it before I fill the lines with fluid. I'm going to re-check all the other connections again while I'm at it, because if I missed one, I might have missed another, but I think that the rear flex lines are the only place that needs a crush washer in the first place, all the other fittings meet at a taper if I recall.
 
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