Getting back on the road

Little update today. Car is running well these days. Only item that's been getting worse was slow turn over on the starter when warm.

I had a spare starter that came with the car so I thought maybe it's time to replace it.

First of all I tested that it was indeed the starter by using a jumper cable to the output of the solenoid. Motor was still slow. Not a resistance in the solenoid then.

I drive the car onto ramps and chock the wheels. Start to loosen the positive cable terminal on the back of the inertia starter. It's then that I notice the nut between the cable and the motor housing is loose. I removed the cable and tightened up the nut. Reconnected and turned her over. Success! For once I didn't have to swap something.
 
Its been a while since I've posted about Beryl. So, I decided to make an uprated anti roll bar for her. Living in the States and having access to a machine shop I thought I'd have a go at making my own. I went for 1" hex 4140 steel bar as a basis for the bar. Measured the old bar across flats hex (17mm) and clearance I'd need to get through the base unit holes and clearance for the pivot bush.

After I had machined it I found a heat treatment company that tempered the bar to 60-62HRC (195-205KSI yeild). Fitted the bar Saturday. All I can say is, WOW! What a difference! The ride is still pretty supple, but body roll is greatly reduced and and handling is far better. I was concerned I would promote too much understeer with just the front bar, but she feels just as neutral in the turns, with more feedback of when she's getting close to the limit. I used new Grade 8 high tensile bolts with a drop of threadlock to secure the end clamps as I'd heard of some folks experiencing the bolts backing out over time.

Next I think I will turn up the adjustable Konis at the back to full firmness, see how that changes things.

Of course, the next day she decides she has had enough fun and the seal on the clutch slave cylinder failed. I have a new cylinder (I'd noticed a weep from there a couple of weeks back) and rebuilt the master as I had things drained. All back together again now.


I know a company in the UK makes these, but I wanted to save a little on shipping and also wanted to see if I could make one myself for the hell of it. ARB.jpg
 
So, last weekend I drove Beryl up to Lime Rock Park to help as a corner worker for the Vintage Sports Car Club races. The new anti roll bar made the country roads up there even more fun than before! It got even better that a friend gave me a Moto Lita 15" steering wheel in return for me rebuilding a spare heater unit for him. The drive back with the smaller wheel was ever better! She preformed great over the 200 mile round trip. The engine seems to be getting smoother as the miles grow. I think it's probably at about 3000 miles since the rebuild and it's feeling good. Got home and as I drove into the garage I noticed a slight noise from the clutch release bearing. Nothing there next time but I will keep an ear open for it.
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SydneyRoverP6B said:
Give that a go for sure, but from my own experience, the Rover rides and handles best when the rear shocks are softer, and the front shocks much firmer.
Click to expand...


Intestering, I read the opposite somewhere else. The fronts are pretty firm already and the rear feels a little soft if I'm honest. Now I have a quandary on my hands :)
 
Well, update on the handling first. I started with medium hard rears and front shocks. Rear felt a little soft and front inside wheel was close to lifting on hard cornering. I've set rears a little harder to reduce cornering induced rear roll and that's helped front inside lift considerably. Ride is still very nice with a little firmness, nothing excessive though. Front ride height is still a little high, Beryl was originally an AC fitted car and I know they shimmed the front spring seats to account for the extra ~ 60+Lbs of weight from the compressor, dryer and condenser. I'll be pulling the front end soon to replace the top arm busies (only ones left to replace). So I'll probably see if indeed there are shims.

Flat Bed of shame.
We went down to Ocean Grove on Saturday. Car ran ok on the way down except for a slight misfire at higher revs. Problem was I couldn't replicate the symptoms on the side of the road. Examined the car when we got there and nothing to see. On the drive back we decided to take local highways (think A roads) instead of the Garden State Parkway. As we pulled into rt. 18 the car lost power completely. Much to Kim's surprise I was happy! I could find the fault now. Rear carb had no fuel, I pulled to two bells on top and the rear was dry with a yellow powder showing, front was wet. Flat bed truck was called and we had a drive home in the cab. Next day I stripped both carbs, front was spotless, rear was dirty. I'd rebuilt both carbs about two years ago and the inline filter I'd fitted (a week previously) was clean. Refitted carbs, ran her up to temp and all of a sudden I was down to two cylinders again.

Next stop pump, took dome off and sure enough the pump was full of the yellow crud. Looked like it had been there for yonks but had started to move recently. I had a good spare on the shelf in the garage. Fitted that and all is good again. Weird thing was that the pump only failed when it got up to temp, I think the valves stopped sealing then and that it could only pump enough for the front carb (its first in line for fuel). All seems good now, she's running a lot better too.
 
So, I've bit the bullet and pulled the interior on Beryl ready for the new carpet set. Of course I found some rust, nothing too bad but enough. I pulled both sill covers to check a little deeper. The drivers side had a surprisingly good quality repair in the past. The passenger side has some nasty stuff, the box at the base of the B pillar I'll have to rebuild along with a small section below the D post. Fortunately all of it is repairable and the repairs will be hidden when done. There's also a small area in the drivers floor. I've cut it out and will start on that first.IMG_0068.JPG
big open interior
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Driver's side floor hole
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Lightweight bucket seat!
 
Well, driver's side hole patched. Passenger side too, this was worse, had to remove about 12" along the fold of the inner sill and floor. Sill floor was pretty thin for first 12 inches too so I cut that away too. New steel in floor and sill area now in. Sill front closing panel tomorrow then on to the B and D pillar areas mentioned above. Things I've learned today:
  1. My welding is improving rapidly.
  2. Youtube for welding tips is invaluable
  3. I can now weld upside down. Its not as pretty, but penetration is good and panel in stronger than when it came out of Solihul.
While I was in there I checked on the jacking point, all looked very good. As I was adding new metal to the lower half of the mount to the inner sill wall I plug welded and seam welded it back on. Again more than it needed but I felt better making it stronger.
 
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The battle continues. Finished off the front end of the sill this morning. Closing panel done, sill floor done. Feels super rigid around there now. Welding is improving, my upside down welding isn't too shabby now, beads a little heavy, but strangely found turning up the wire speed made a huge difference.


I've cut out a section of the sill under the B post where I also need to repair the curved box section. I've let in new steel for the sill. Tomorrow will be the curved section and the closing panel. After that just the rear end of the sill. Boot floor can wait as I want to drive a little more before winter hits.
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Passenger floor section finished
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Sill front closing panel
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Trail fit looks good
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Finished job!
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Rust harvest from mid section. Tomorrow's project.
 
that front sill closing panel thing is EXACTLY what I need to build next. Ran out of MIG wire which stopped play last weekend. Mine's all rotted off so that picture is extremely useful - thanks!
 
Tonight's update.

Finished the mid section and B post bottom box section. Very happy with results.
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Started investigation rear section. More work than I originally thought (what's new eh?). Kevin Watkiss (hermione149 on here) has done this (and way more) before and shared his album on FaceBook. So I'll have another look later this weekend and start repairs.
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Looking forward at rear of sill section.
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Box section under D post.
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End of a long day.

Getting better at making cardboard templates, welding and fabrication. Glad I left this to last. With luck I'll have the rear end done by the end of the weekend and I can start painting and using cavity wax (don't want to do this again!). Once that's done I can start on the insulation and carpets. That's basically where I thought I'd be by now - oh well....
 
1396midget said:
that front sill closing panel thing is EXACTLY what I need to build next. Ran out of MIG wire which stopped play last weekend. Mine's all rotted off so that picture is extremely useful - thanks!
Click to expand...

I would mention that cereal packet cardboard makes a great template material. Check out Project Binky on YouTube for some good fabrication hints.
 
Finally done with the welding! The box sections at the rear of the sill and under the D post are fixed at last. The base unit under the rear deck has been patched as well. There was a massive hole made by whoever fitted the antenna many years ago. Hence the rust in the boot and the rear end of the sill I think. I've given everything two coats of POR15 and will follow up with cavity wax, painting interior metal before fitting insulation, carpets and then, finally the interior proper!
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D post base finished
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Rear deck repair. I'm quite proud of my fabrication on this bit.
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Rear end of sill repairs. Three box sections meet under here.
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D post lower box section
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B post box section
 
Quick update. All steel repairs finished for now. I've cleaned up the interior steel and painted ready to accept the insulation. I do need to apply the cavity wax and plug the holes for that too. Body grommets will arrive on Monday.
But I feel like I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
 

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To cut the story short, apparently you have completed the body restoration in a just a couple of weeks!
You deserve to feel satisfied. ;)
 
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